The anatomy of urban sprawl in the Mediterranean

The anatomy of urban sprawl in the Mediterranean region: the case of the Girona districts (1979 -2006) Juli VALDUNCIEL University of Girona SPAIN

1. Introduction 1) Analysis of the urbanisation process in the Girona districts from 1979 to 2006 2) The Spanish way towards globalisation was sustained by growth of the tertiary sector as well as the real estate boom ("housing bubble“) 3) Analysis of zone development plans, the documents that deploy the local plan in each new area of developable land 4) Interpretation was based on two complementary scales: the regional level and the scale of place (morphological typologies)

2. The study area: Girona districts -Area: 5, 500 km 2 -700. 000 inhabitants Girona -208 municipalities

3. The planning scenario 1) In 1979 the Generalitat assumed the authority for urban planning and then the main municipalities of the Girona districts began revising their local plans 2) Local plans aimed at moderating growth and resolving the deficiencies inherited from the desarrollismo 3) The new Government after the 1980 regional elections did not implement regional land use plans. They believed that planning was only a municipal affair 4) Municipalities begin designing plans according to their own expectations

4. The urbanisation model The temporal frame: zone development plans approved, 1979 -2006 522 zone development plans 5, 930 ha 70% of the developed land consisted in new plans 30% were illegal projects regularised

Spatial distribution

Urban extension areas

5. The morphological typologies 1. Urban extensions 2. Low-density housing estates New suburban centralities 3. Industrial and business parks “Strips”

6. Conclusion 1) The magnitude of the process was striking: 522 zone plans were approved and nearly 6, 000 ha 2) Dual reality: -Growth of core cities in urban areas starting from compact layouts -New suburban expansion and hyperspecialisation in second-home housing estates along the coast 3) Planning played an ambivalent role: a new development practice of compliance with the law was imposed. Nonetheless, the model was altered in 4 ways: -Inertia of the physical characteristics of the previous period -Plans oversized -Strategies aimed at modifying plans according to the needs of developers -Lack of land use planning at the supramunicipal and regional level