CRISIS AND CONTINUITY IN URBAN SPRAWL: THE BARCELONA METROPOLITAN REGION

The development of urban sprawl in Spain is recent and has evolved parallel to the real estate boom, leading to a new model of the dispersed city based on urbanizations. This article analyses the transformations experienced by residents due to urban sprawl in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region during the 2005-2017 period, focusing on the evolution of demographic, family, socioeconomic and residential changes. Its purpose is to identify the strategies that have developed as a way of adapting to the residential situation in this type of urban morphology in a context marked by the economic crisis. This article is based on the analysis of data from two ad hoc surveys of residents who have experienced dispersed urbanism. The results show a continuity in residential strategies developed in response to urban sprawl despite the onslaught of the crisis, while revealing changes that should be considered by those responsible for local policies of the municipalities experiencing high levels of dispersed urbanism.