RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Recent Transformations in the Morphology of Spanish Medium-Sized Cities: From the Compact City to the Urban Area A1 Andrés López, Gonzalo K1 Medium-sized cities K1 Urban areas K1 Urbanisation K1 Geografía K1 Geography K1 Urbanismo K1 City planning AB Over the last few decades, within the framework of remarkable urban expansion accompanying a real-estate boom in Spain, it has been medium-sized cities that have registered the most drastic changes in morphology. Currently, about 50% of urbanised land was developed after 1980. Historically compact and dense urban structures have been transformed, with new urbanised spaces expanding into the outskirts. High land consumption has created sprawling, fragmented and scattered urban areas. These are new, more complex and multifunctional urban structures, and there has been a change in the scale of urbanisation, in the forms and in the resulting urban landscape. However, the growth model which has caused these transformations is defined by hardly sustainable land-use patterns. The number of medium-sized cities has increased by around 50%, while the number of houses built has grown by 109% and developed land by 87% between 1981 and 2021. This paper analyses these recent dynamics through the statistical treatment of growth patterns and their cartographic analysis using GIS technology. The significant modification of urban forms at this scale in the Spanish urban system is confirmed. The paper also reflects on the lack of sustainability in the prevailing model with respect to the 2030 city strategy. PB MDPI YR 2023 FD 2023-06 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10259/8717 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10259/8717 LA eng NO This research was carried out thanks to funding received through the public call for R+D+i projects granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN): “Spanish medium-sized cities: urbanisation and urban policies. 40 years of democratic city councils:1979–2019” (RTI2018-096435-B-C21+C22) and “Fragmentation and socio-spatial segregation in Spanish medium-sized cities and their urban areas (2001–2021)” (PID2021-124511NB-C21+C22). DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos RD 09-may-2024