Urban Structure and Planning in Spain: An Overview

Posted on Nov 9, 2024 in Geography

The Urban Structure of Spain

A) New Forms and Current City Structures

Influence Area of Cities

Cities are central places that supply goods and services to an area of influence. The German geographer Christaller in 1933 awarded to places of influence central hexagonal areas, so people within an influence area would have six villages, etc., to reach larger cities in the category. The result is an organized territory as a hexagonal grid.

Example: Madrid’s Influence in Spain

  • Madrid is the main center and its influence extends throughout Spain.
  • On the periphery are the nuclei that followed in influence (Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, La Coruña, and Bilbao).
  • At a middle distance are the mid-range cities (Burgos, Zaragoza, Murcia, Granada) and the nuclei of minor influence.

Transformation of the Peri-urban Areas

The years following the Civil War saw economic depression and low construction activity due to a lack of materials. But in the mid-1950s and 1960s, tremendous growth occurred due to population growth and the development of industry and services. The built-up area of cities widened, forming extensive peripheries. Today, the trend towards decentralization of population and economic activity results in “fuzzy cities.” With this came the peri-urban areas and urban agglomerations. Existing neighborhoods are structured in different areas characterized by contrasts in morphology, function, and social aspects:

  • Suburbs: Residential areas on the outskirts of the city.
  • Industrial Areas: Zones dedicated to manufacturing and production.
  • Areas of Residential Neighborhoods with Equipment: Areas with housing and essential services like schools and healthcare.
  • Periphery Without: Areas lacking basic infrastructure and services, including:
    • Slums or Shanties: Reached their maximum size in the early 1950s (e.g., the suburbs of Madrid).
    • Neighborhoods of Public Housing: Greater development between 1940 and 1960 (e.g., UVA Hortaleza de Madrid).
    • Housing Estates of Privately Developed: Emerged in the 1960s (e.g., Polygon in Segovia).
    • The Closed Block: Resurrected in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid).
    • The Single-family Housing Areas: Arose in the 1980s (e.g., Valdoviño in Madrid).
  • Industrial Areas of the Periphery: Created in the 1950s and 1960s, these were industrial sites or industrial plants and workshops out of control. Currently, new industrial spaces are being created, such as business parks.
  • Equipment Areas on the Periphery: Result from the decentralization of economic activities towards the urban periphery (e.g., schools, health centers, etc.).

Urban Areas

  • a) Conurbation: A continuous urban area formed by the parallel growth of two or more cities that join, but each town maintains its independence. The melting factor is usually a traffic shaft (e.g., Malaga-Marbella).
  • b) The Urban Region: A dotted area consisting of scattered cities but dense enough to hold urban characteristics throughout. Functionally, the cities form a unitary space. Also usually created by the parallel growth of several cities (e.g., Asturias).
  • c) Megalopolis: Formed by various urban elements with different functions, which grow and form a discontinuous urban fabric, but without major fractures (e.g., in Spain, the Mediterranean axis, comprising the Mediterranean areas of Barcelona, Valencia, and Alicante tourist or industrial conurbations, medium cities, and small industrial towns).

Metropolitan Areas

A large urban area surrounding a major city and administratively encompassing several towns, among which there are significant economic and social relations. They are characterized by:

  • Being headed by a major city (central city).
  • Having economic and social connections between the central city and its surrounding areas.
  • Having an essential communications network.
  • Having a large young population and social variety from a social point of view.
  • Having a spatial structure consistent with two models: the concentric crowns around the central core and the sectoral or radial model.

The origin of metropolitan areas goes back to the first third of the twentieth century in Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao, but the full metropolisation of large cities took place between 1960 and 1975 when economic activities attracted the rural population. At present, they have undergone major transformations since the 1975 crisis. These changes have created problems that some autonomous communities have addressed through specific plans for these areas.

The management of the metropolitan area includes four themes:

  • The management of urban settlements (to prevent excessive population densification and construction).
  • The management of economic activities (prevent the disappearance of primary activities, decentralizing the advanced tertiary sector, etc.).
  • Intervention in transport.
  • The organization of undeveloped space.

Urban Hierarchy

The categories are:

  • a) Metropolis: Cities that are at the top of the urban hierarchy. Their population exceeds 250,000 and they offer more specialized and diversified services. Within the metropolis are:
    • National Metropolis: Madrid and Barcelona. Their population exceeds 4 million. Their area of influence extends throughout the national territory, and they are closely related to other world metropolises.
    • Regional Metropolis: Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Malaga, and Zaragoza. They have senior services, and their area of influence is regional.
    • Sub-Metropolis: Valladolid, Oviedo, Murcia, etc. They have highly specialized functions, and their area of influence is sub-regional.
  • b) Average Cities: Most provincial capitals not included in the preceding paragraphs. Their functions are mainly tertiary but less specialized: trade and services at the provincial level. They have a dense network of buses.
  • c) Small Cities and Towns: Astorga, Pola de Siero, etc. Their functions are much less specialized, and their area of influence is the district.

B) Policies of Urban and Regional Planning

Urban planning, which has a theoretical and practical dimension (the urban approach), is responsible for the organization of urban space. In Spain, there are three phases:

  • Early (2nd half of the 19th century): Regularization of the plane, consolidation plans, improved urban services and equipment.
  • Between 1900 and 1975: Reconstruction of cities damaged by the Civil War, laws on housing, organization of urban growth, etc.
  • Post-industrial era: Urban Management Plan, etc.