Title Processes and planning of peri-urban landscapes in Spanish cities

The role of Urban Planning, Environmental Planning and Landscape

Abstract

The phenomenon of suburbanisation is as old as cities themselves, as urban history shows. However, the ways in which cities have colonised new spaces have changed over the course of time. Contemporary urban landscapes show a widespread decentralisation of tertiary activities, whereas the industrial era witnessed the exponential growth of residential and industrial peripheries. The spread of various infrastructures, particularly roads and rail, has contributed to the formation of what is now commonly called "new peripheries" or "peri-urban zones." Existing in a transitional state between the purely rural and the urban, these areas have a distinct character. The paper seeks to identify and evaluate strategies implemented in six Spanish cities in recent decades, with a view to highlighting their importance in requalifying, preserving, or revitalising heritage and eco-cultural values within twelve case studies. The analysis relies on the identification of risks and opportunities for the 12 areas studied, which were derived from a previous study. We have analysed the transformation of these areas over the last 50 years (1970-2020) from different perspectives: land use, urbanisation processes, changes in the road and rail systems, use of buildings, green and blue infrastructures, etc. This is followed by a critical examination of the existing and emerging urban planning and landscape strategies and instruments in the cities under study, particularly concerning the selected areas. The study shows that the proliferation of planning instruments alone does not guarantee the conservation or revitalisation of these peri-urban landscapes. We focus on those strategies that seek to maintain and enhance environmental and landscape quality. Open space management, sectoral policies, comprehensive interventions such as soft infrastructure, river parks or green corridors have also been analysed in landscape plans and projects. The aim is also to identify the most effective ones, which can help guide future interventions.