Evolving planning systems in Madrid, Rome, and Athens

Abstract

Although possessing ancient and distinguished histories, the recent urbanization and planning approaches of Madrid, Rome and Athens are relatively unknown to English-speaking planners and urban geographers. This paper reviews the development of each city from the mid-19th century to the present. Special attention is given to the planning instruments developed in each city to guide growth. Each city experienced rapid growth over the past century because of its capital city functions. As a result of strong growth pressures, city planning policies were frequently subverted by private sector interests. Only in the latter part of the 20th century have planning measures become effective in controlling and direct ing urban growth.Modern S European urbanization and planning have not been extensively studied by English language scholars. The ancient cities of Greece and the Roman Empire and the medieval and Renaissance city-states of Italy have been the subjects of considerable scholarly inquiry. However, 19th and 20th century urban development in Europe has not been as intensively analyzed. The present study is an effort to provide an overview and a comparison of the growth of planning activity and planning institutions in three S European capital cities -Madrid, Rome and Athens.

Changes in city vertical profile as an indicator of sprawl: Evidence from a Mediterranean urban region

“…The specific morphological traits in the city's development have been clearly described by changes in the vertical profile (Serra & Pinho, 2011). As commonly observed in other Mediterranean and middle-east urban agglomerations, compactness and diffusion in a mono-centric city such as Athens are reflected in both informal settlement expansion and chaotic urban planning (Costa, Noble, & Pendleton, 1991;Economidou, 1993;Gospodini, 2006Gospodini, , 2009Kourliouros, 1997;Paul & Tonts, 2005;Richardson & Chang-Hee, 2004;Turok & Mykhnenko, 2007;Weber & Puissant, 2003). The use of exploratory data analysis overcame the complexity found in Mediterranean urban contexts as far as city's forms and socioeconomic conditions are concerned (Muñoz, 2003).…”

“…The increased land consumption is therefore one of the consequences of the transition from 'compactness' to a 'dispersed' urban form (Gargiulo Morelli & Salvati, 2010). While in past policies mitigating the negative effects of urban expansion have revealed largely ineffective in several Mediterranean cities (Costa et al, 1991), the recent strategies inspired to the paradigm of 'polycentric' growth are at risk of failing as well the objective of sustainable land management in peri-urban areas (Plata-Rocha, Gómez-Delgado, & Bosque-Sendra, 2011). It is urged that multi-scale measures promoting the conservation of highquality agricultural land and reducing the environmental impact of soil sealing should be incorporated into a 'polycentric' regional planning strategy (Faludi, 2005) avoiding excessive settlement dispersion.…”

“…We thus calculated the percent changes in a and b coefficients during the investigated period. For each correlation test, both parametric (Pearson) and non-parametric (Spearman) coefficients were computed (see also Couch, Petschel-held, & Leontidou, 2007).…”

Lost in complexity, found in dispersion: ‘Peripheral’ development and deregulated urban growth in Rome

“…Taken together, these results may be linked to the fact that, after World War II, Rome's development was mainly driven by policies supporting traditional services and depressing the industrial growth at the same time (Costa, Noble, & Pendleton, 1991;Insolera, 1993;Krumholz, 1992;Seronde Babonaux, 1983). The negative influence of these policies on urban competitiveness was accompanied with a simplification of the city-economy-development nexus (Salvati & Gargiulo Morelli, 2014).…”

Land-Use Structure and Urbanization-Driven Land Fragmentation: Revisiting the Monocentric Model in a Sprawling Region

“…The landscape complexity described above, coupled with a multifaceted system of territorial actors and functions, makes the strategies to containing sprawl and land consumption partly ineffective (Gemmiti et al, 2012). Rome's development after World War II was driven by policies supporting traditional tertiary sectors and depressing the industrial growth (Costa et al, 1991;Krumholtz, 1992;Insolera, 1993;Fratini, 2000). Rome's municipality (1,285 km 2 : one of the largest in Europe) was subdivided into nineteen districts with a population similar to many middle-size Italian cities (i.e.…”