Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Metropolitanization of Spanish Urban Areas: Trends, Challenges and the Special Case of Madrid

  • Symposium
  • Published:
European Political Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Urban growth and metropolitanization have characterised the spatial development of Spain in the second-half of the twentieth century. However, there is as yet no stabilised institutional model of how to respond to the governance challenges that Spanish metropolitan areas face. The article explores the organisation of metropolitan governance in Madrid, Spain's largest metropolitan area. It argues that state reforms in the wake of democratisation, EU accession and increasing international competition have led to the establishment of the Autonomous Community of Madrid as a strong metropolitan government.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alba, C. and Navarro, C. (2005) ‘Metropolitan Areas in Spain: A Diverse and Unknown Reality’, in V. Hoffmann-Martinot and J. Sellers (eds.) Metropolitanization and Political Change, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 265–296.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (1990) ‘Estrategias de desarrollo metropolitano en las grandes ciudades españolas: la articulación entre crecimiento económico y calidad de vida’, in J. Borja, M. Castells, R. Dorado and I. Quintana. (eds.) Las Grandes Ciudades en la Década de los Noventa, Madrid: Sistema, pp. 17–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinelt, H. and Kübler, D. (eds.) (2005) Metropolitan Governance: Capacity, Democracy and the Dynamics of Place, London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann-Martinot, V. and Sellers, J. (eds.) (2005) Metropolitanization and Political Change, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lefèvre, C. (1998) ‘Metropolitan government and governance in western countries: A critical review’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 22 (1): 9–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministerio de Fomento. (2000/2004) Atlas Estadístico de las Áreas Urbanas en España, Madrid: Ministerio de Fomento.

  • Navarro, C. and Tomas, M. (2007) ‘Madrid and Barcelona: Alternative Conceptions of Metropolitan Governance’, in P. Colin and M. Robertson (eds.) Governing Metropolitses: Profiles of Issues and Experiments on Four Continents, Montreal: Presses de l’Université Laval, pp. 209–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roca Cladera, J. (2001) La caracterización territorial y funcional de las áreas metropolitanas españolas, Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharpf, F.W. (1999) Governing in Europe: Effective and democratic? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University Autonoma of Madrid, Spain

    Carmen Navarro

Authors
  1. Carmen Navarro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Navarro, C. Metropolitanization of Spanish Urban Areas: Trends, Challenges and the Special Case of Madrid. Eur Polit Sci 11, 420–429 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2011.43

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2011.43

Keywords

Search

Navigation