Sprawlscapes. Landscape transformation in periurban areas and the inherent rule of regional landscape planning: The case for metropolitan Barcelona, Spain

Based on a comprehensive database of town master plans and ancillary socioeconomic indicators of metropolitan development in Barcelona, a homogeneous classification of planned land-use was proposed with the objective to predict spatial directions and intensity in the expansion of built-up settlements. The spatial distribution of buildable land at the municipal scale revealed useful to assess the directions where cities will expand, in accordance with specific urbanization drivers. Our results shed light on short-term urban growth patterns and processes in a Mediterranean city emphasizing the progressive shift towards dispersed settlements that are going to replace the compact urbanization model observed since the 1980s. The planned expansion of urban settlements has contributed partly to a balanced and polycentric regional structure. Use of specific land-use indicators derived from local scale planning regulations and prescriptions for the assessment of future urbanization scenarios in Southern Europe was finally discussed.