Urban sprawl in portugal based on urban systems spatial boundaries

Abstract

Nowadays, some European countries are facing the most complex process of land-use/landcover change – the urban sprawl, which in turn has a compound impact on the social and environmental structure of urban areas. This study intends to analyse urban sprawl in mainland Portugal through a comparison of urban land cover changes during the period of 1990-2006, using urban systems as spatial reference units. CORINE Land Cover maps were used to generate time series of urban land cover data. A methodology based on the interaction value was applied to identify the urban systems, using the commuting matrix supplied by the 2001 Census. Urban land cover change analyses, at the urban systems level, allowed for the identification of artificial areas spread patterns. Such spatial information is essential for rethinking new actions that may contribute to more efficient urban planning.