The construction of sustainable territorial models in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic: lessons from medium-sized mediterranean cities

Abstract

In recent decades, medium-sized cities have become the setting for new, complex urban development processes, which result from new forms of land use produced by improvements in technology, infrastructure and mobility. These processes have given rise to tensions and conflicts between competing land uses which are vying for control of the limited available resources. In many cases, this can deepen pre-existing spatial imbalances or give rise to new ones. Planning, in its different forms, has yet to provide an effective framework of reference in response to these new scenarios that can transcend the purely technical aspects of urban planning to provide a truly integrated form of territorial management. These processes also apply to medium-sized cities in the Mediterranean region, and to coastal cities in particular. Many of these cities enjoy great demographic, economic and social dynamism, but they are also the scene of major territorial imbalances which are reflected in the exorbitant growth proposed in current urban development plans. In this research, we study three representative examples of such cities—Vélez-Málaga, Motril and Roquetas de Mar (Andalusia-Spain)—analysing and describing the complex processes currently underway. We also propose new planning strategies and obtain a number of important lessons for the sustainable management of these areas.