Understanding Urban Structures: From Old Towns to Megalopolises
Urban Structures and Forms
Old Town
The pre-industrial city, typically surrounded by walls, with a disordered street plan. Examples: Cáceres, Seville.
Central Business District (CBD)
The area where business functions, sales, banks, and offices are concentrated. Example: World Trade Center (Barcelona).
City Bedroom
A town or neighborhood with limited services where people live and commute to work. Example: Móstoles (Madrid).
Conurbation
Formed when two separate cities grow and eventually join, but each retains autonomy. Example: San Sebastián de los Reyes and Alcobendas.
Shantytown
Neighborhoods or areas with socioeconomic problems such as unemployment, poverty, and crime. Example: Andalusia.
Ensanche
An urban expansion just outside the old city due to a lack of land and increasing housing demand from the bourgeoisie. Examples: Barcelona, Madrid.
Megalopolis
A large urban agglomeration with over 20 million inhabitants and advanced transportation systems. Examples: USA and Japan.
Metropolis
Large cities with a wide radius of influence at regional, national, and international levels. They include contiguous municipalities with developed transport and communication systems. Examples: Mexico City, USA.
Urban Morphology
The external form of a city, resulting from its layout, land use, and buildings.
Urban Map
A representation of a city’s surface, showing built and unbuilt areas, street layouts, and historical evolution.
Irregular Plan
Lacks a specific geometric shape and reflects spontaneous growth. Example: Toledo.
Orthogonal/Grid Plan
Streets intersect at right angles. Example: Barcelona.
Radiocentric Plan
Streets radiate from a central point, sometimes crossed by other streets. Example: Vitoria.
Linear City
Develops along a linear axis, often related to improved transportation and peripheral urbanization. Example: Arturo Soria (Madrid).
Suburban
Municipalities on the outskirts of a city, featuring garden cities, dormitory towns, farmland, and shopping malls.
Urban Function
The set of basic activities carried out by a city’s inhabitants, including specialized economic activities for businesses and the population.
Urban Hierarchy
Classifying cities into types or levels based on demographic size, number and specialization of urban functions, and area of influence. Example: Girona (trade and services).
Peri-urban Area
The rural strip surrounding a city, varying in extension. It can include the suburban fringe and areas further out.