Research Areas
This report aims to establish a typology of Spanish urban/rural spaces more complete and detailed than can be obtained using traditional criteria, which grant a decisive importance to population density as a differentiating dimension. Using geographical information systems (GIS), and in line with the recent European literature, we emphasize the need to integrate at least two other dimensions: the intensity of human intervention in the territory, measured by the prevailing type of soil coverage, and the degree of accessibility from rural municipalities to cities. We put forward a typological proposal that includes six different types of municipalities: urban and intermediate open and closed municipalities (according to land cover), and accessible and remote rural communities. A land-use-based classification does not discriminate enough between rural municipalities, just as, by definition, the accessibility dimension does not affect urban municipalities.
Reig, E., F.J. Goerlich and I. Cantarino (2016). Delimitación de áreas rurales y urbanas a nivel local: Demografía, coberturas del suelo y accesibilidad. Bilbao: Fundación BBVA (Informes 2016 Economía y Sociedad).