Urban Systems and Environmental Impacts in Catalonia, Spain
The Catalan-Spanish Urban System
The Spanish urban system: Not a closed system, but cities relate to urban centers in other countries. These relationships have intensified, particularly after the incorporation of Spain into the EU in 1986 and from the globalization of the world economy. However, for reasons of proximity and economy, the Spanish urban system is integrated within the urban system of Western Europe. This system is connected via two communication lines: a principal axis, which is the Mediterranean through the cities of Lyon, Barcelona, and Marseilles, and a secondary shaft, the Atlantic shaft through Bilbao and Bordeaux.
As mentioned, the Spanish urban system is headed by the metropolitan areas of Madrid and Barcelona and is structured in six urban systems:
- Central: This is usually composed of the metropolitan area of Madrid. It is the only well-structured urban system within the IP. It builds its importance on the centralization of communication lines and the concentration of political and economic power.
- Mediterranean: It is more important, the quantity of habitat, the number of cities, and population density. This is clearly integrated into the Mediterranean Basin with large metropolitan areas. Among these, Barcelona and Valencia.
- Biscay: This area includes urban areas but has weak internal coordination, as the influence of Bilbao fails to articulate the system.
- The Ebro Valley: Linking the Mediterranean with the Cantabrian urban system through the valley of the Ebro, the main city of this system is Zaragoza.
- South (South): It has two axes: the Guadalquivir axis with cities like Seville and Cordoba and the coastal axis based primarily on tourism development with other cities like Malaga and Granada.
- Atlantic: Small towns like this abound in A Coruña, Vigo, and Santiago de Compostela. This connects with the Portuguese urban system through the city of Porto. This axis does not have economic or demographic dynamism.
The hierarchy of the urban network Catalan: The evolution of population and settlement, i.e., the location of the population in the territory of Catalonia, has now 80% of the population living in towns larger than 10,000 inhabitants, concentrated in the coastal area and the main river axes (Llobregat, Anoia, Cardener, Ebro, Segre, and Ter Kisses). Only 6.4% live in towns of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, considered rural villages. The urban network presents a hierarchical structure in terms of specialization services, as larger cities have more services and more specialties. In this network, there are different levels:
- The metropolitan region of Barcelona: It is the center of all this system-level administrative, financial, services, etc. This includes the counties around Barcelona: Maresme, Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental, Baix Llobregat, Alt Penedès, and Garraf, with 5 million inhabitants. Within this metropolitan area can be differentiated with Barcelona and the nearest towns (Badalona, Santa Coloma, L’Hospitalet, Sant Adrià del Besòs). The basin surrounding the metropolitan area includes a series of cities that are almost all regional capitals. Among these are Mataró, Granollers, Sabadell, and Terrassa.
- The regions of influence regional level: The influence of these cities reaches beyond the limits of their own region. Among these cities should be called Reus – Tarragona.
- Regional centers: These are capital regions that are service centers for their regional territory and often are related to the regional level centers. Among these cities are Figueres, Olot, Girona, Tollerosa, Balaguer, Lleida, and Puigcerdà.
- The supra-regional centers: Populations that are not county capitals but have some influence on the surrounding populations. Examples: Roses and Bellver.
Environmental Impact and Urbanization
The impact scattered urban model: The traditional Mediterranean city is characterized by concentration and densification. In this compact city model, it was relatively easy to navigate. Currently, the city is growing horizontally and has a lower density. In addition, it often grows in a disorganized manner. A city grows uncontrollably when the rate of increase of urban land is higher than the rate of population growth. In addition, there is a parallel specialization of functions of the spaces; shopping centers, entertainment, and residential areas are created.
This dispersion of urban areas of specialization has led to a series of consequences:
- An increased consumption of land in rural prejudice soil.
- An upregulation of individual mobility. Called pendular everyday travel, i.e., the displacements from home to work and to work at home have increased in number and distance.
- An increase in energy consumption, air pollution, and noise pollution.
- An increase in communications infrastructure, i.e., roads, fast rounds, etc., are mandatory to connect the different specialized areas in the dispersed city. This represents an increase of economic expenditure that usually must pay public institutions for the construction of these and their subsequent maintenance.
- An increase of public transport because the city is moving little, making it not profitable. Consequently, the automobile becomes the most practical means of transportation. However, the increase in car traffic has caused it to be chaotic in many cities at certain times of the day. Traffic jams occur, especially in city centers and their accesses.