The processes of urban sprawl in the environment of mid-size cities during the period of expansive urbanism. Territorial impact in an interior area (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain)

Abstract

[EN] The processes of urban sprawl have increased since the end of the century. They have occurred in a context of economic prosperity, in which part of the capital surplus has been directed towards the construction industry, and especially towards the dwellings. The dynamic has been reproduced in the different scales of the urban hierarchy. Much of the new urban developments and constructions have been directed to the peripheral areas. Urban sprawl has increased in the environment of big cities, but also around medium-sized cities. This reality is manifested differently, depending on the case, but it has also left some general processes. In this essay attention has been centered on the changes in the housing in the peripheries of the Spanish medium-sized cities. The changes between 1991 and 2011 in a radius of 30 around the cities selected have been analyzed in order to identify the scope of urban sprawl, the temporary differences in the process and the most common collected ones. As an object of analysis seven inner and remote cities of Castilla- La Mancha have been used. We can observe a priori differentiating processes, and others that respond to logics associated to the influence of the polynuclear metropolitan area of Madrid.