Does polycentrism reduce the consumption of urbanized land? A first approximation for the seven metropolitan Spanish areas

Abstract

The appearance of progressively extensive systems, in which the limits between the countryside and the city were eroded, is an established trend since the second half of last century. This way, the compact continuous growth has lost ground in favor of a low density, sprawled growth. The land, one of the most limited resources, has then been plundered in a dizzy way. Arguing sustainability, the agendas of the territorial planners have presented polycentrism as a solution to scattering. This article tries to analyze up to what point polycentrism is correlated with the use of land. To do so, based on information about population, employment and the use of land for the main Spanish metropolises, a model of regression is generated: the dependent variable is the use of land; the independent variables are indicators regarding the structure of the territorial matrix, of the cities (including polycentrism) and of the economic activities. The first results suggest that the impact of polycentrism for reducing the use of land is incipient and other factors, such as the type of dominant economic activity, the fragmentation of the urbanized fabrics or the complexity of the territorial matrix, point out its importance to explain the used land per capita