Industrial Sprawl and Residential Housing: Exploring the Interplay between Local Development and Land-Use Change in the Valencian Community, Spain

Ilaria Zambon, Artemi Cerdà, Filippo Gambella, Gianluca Egidi and Luca Salvati
Additional contact information
Ilaria Zambon: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
Artemi Cerdà: Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, ES-46010 Valencia, Spain
Filippo Gambella: Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari, Viale Italia, I-07100 Sassari, Italy
Gianluca Egidi: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
Luca Salvati: Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Viale S. Margherita 80, I-52100 Arezzo, Italy

Land, 2019, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Urbanization in Mediterranean Europe has occurred in recent decades with expansion of residential, commercial and industrial settlements into rural landscapes outside the traditional metropolitan boundaries. Industrial expansion in peri-urban contexts was particularly intense in Southern Europe. Based on these premises, this work investigates residential and industrial settlement dynamics in the Valencian Community, Spain, between 2005 and 2015, with the aim to clarify the role of industrial expansion in total urban growth in a paradigmatic Mediterranean region. Since the early 1990s, the Valencian industrial sector developed in correspondence with already established industrial nodes, altering the surrounding rural landscape. Six variables (urban hierarchy, discontinuous settlements, pristine land under urban expansion, isolated industrial settlements, within- and out-of-plan industrial areas) were considered with the aim at exploring land-use change. Empirical results indicate a role of industrial development in pushing urban sprawl in coastal Valencia. A reflection on the distinctive evolution of residential and industrial settlements is essential for designing new planning measures for sustainable land management and containment of urban sprawl in Southern Europe. A comparative analysis of different alternatives of urban development based on quantitative assessment of land-use change provides guidelines for local development and ecological sustainability.

Keywords: residential development; industrial development; land-use changes; Southern Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:8:y:2019:i:10:p:143-:d:269201

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