4.6 Article

Not only tourism: unravelling suburbanization, second-home expansion and rural sprawl in Catalonia, Spain

Journal

URBAN GEOGRAPHY
Volume 38, Issue 1, Pages 66-89

Publisher

ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2015.1113806

Keywords

Urban growth; metropolization; land consumption; Barcelona; Mediterranean Europe

Funding

  1. Catalan Autonomous Government [2014-SGR-1499-INTERFASE]
  2. Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [CSO2009-14397-C04-01]

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This study illustrates multifaceted urbanization patterns and processes in a coastal region of Catalonia (northeastern Spain) as a paradigmatic example of the socio-economic transformations typically observed in the northern Mediterranean basin since World War II. By focusing on the expanding tourism industry, second-home expansion, infrastructural development and sprawl around traditional rural centres, the paper assesses the effects of long-term economic, demographic, social and cultural transformations on rural landscapes in Alt Emporda, the so-called Catalan Tuscany. The stratification of distinct urbanization waves and the underlying socio-economic processes observed in Alt Emporda reflect population dynamics and settlement morphologies typical of rural districts moving rapidly towards a suburban spatial organization. Recent urban dynamics in Mediterranean rural systems deserve further investigation in order to shed light on latent suburbanization processes involving marginal European regions.

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