Conferences
27–30 June 2018, Albacete and Valencia, Spain
XIV Coloquio de Geografía Urbana
Since the beginning of the century, important morphological and social changes have been taking place in many Spanish cities. This process has been marked by well-differentiated periods. The first decade has left intense transformations, in a context of economic growth and a regulatory framework that has reduced the role of the public sector in favor of private agents in new urban developments. In these years, the construction grew, the building typologies were modified and the urban sprawl extended and sometimes moved away from the traditional limits of the cities. As of 2008, the effects of the crisis left a very different scenario, characterized by the sudden brake on building and urban paralysis. This was a period of recession, during which arose many social conflicts stemming from the contradictions of the years of expansive urbanism, the effects of which affected a significant part of the population.
However, alongside the developments outside the cities, there has also been interest in reactivating the historical centers, and recovery, rehabilitation and regeneration projects have been undertaken. As a result the administrative presence and number of cultural activities has increased, which has attracted tourists due to the proximity to heritage areas and the offer of leisure activities. In a complementary manner, many initiatives have arisen that aim to re-define the urban image and to improve the connections between and within cities.
In this context, the conference draws attention to two scales of the urban system, namely medium-sized cities and large cities and their respective urban areas, although other analysis scenarios are not excluded. At a general level, the conference intends to debate issues related to the responses of cities to the processes that arose during the years of urbanism and expansive post-urbanism, at different scales and levels (intra-urban, interurban, etc.). It includes proposals on: a) the processes observed in medium-sized cities and their respective urban areas; b) the modifications carried out in the metropolitan areas of large cities; c) the social conflicts detected and the answers that have been proposed; d) urban regeneration; and e) government strategies.
