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

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.

Driving Forces behind Land Use and Land Cover Change: A Systematic and Bibliometric Review

“…Proximity to the city centre [18,30,73,79,88,90,96] and distance from built-up areas [10,94], accessibility to public facilities such as public transport stations [30,32], access to education and research centres (such as colleges, universities, school, etc.) [1,9,20,56,85], commercial/leisure centre/ park [1,30,56,68,[96][97][98], hotel [1,13,57], neighboring effects [16,99], medical care e.g., hospital [1,9] are all considered to be crucial in driving urban growth. This factor refers not only to the physical distance of one region/destination from another, but also to the functional distance or distance to access a region/destination.…”

Unraveling Causes and Consequences of International Retirement Migration to Coastal and Rural Areas in Mediterranean Europe

“…More scattered individual villas-alimenting an omnipresent sprawl in rural fringes [97]-also emerged in coastal Spain, being less relevant in term of surface area [98]. In Greece, while immigration still plays a key role in fueling population growth-leading to a more balanced age structure in local communities exposed to aging and depopulation-IRM could in turn impact negatively population dynamics, with the consequent acceleration of aging processes in some rural districts [99].…”

Reclassifying the Wildland–Urban Interface Using Fire Occurrences for the United States

“…Thus, fire-adapted communities do not rely solely on suppression, and associated fire protection services, but are able to tolerate fires. Zoning and planning authority for WUI development typically rests with county and municipal governments [33]. Planning guidelines that reduce WUI dispersion will result in easier wildfire defense and evacuation of people from WUI communities.…”

“…Coexistence of human societies with fire may be a relevant objective to integrate into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations to increase adaptation to fire in communities with high fire exposure [35][36][37]. Sustainable development involves recognizing and planning for effects of natural disturbances on ecosystem services while limiting housing sprawl, which relates to WUI definitions and management of fire and housing densities [33,36]. Presence of housing in wildlands also creates a cascade of ecological impacts, including changes in density and richness of native species and spread of non-native species, which may promote different fire regimes [12].…”