A methodological essay for the definition of Spanish metropolitan areas

This paper presents a detailed methodological proposal for the definition of Spanish metropolitan areas. The methodology is based upon a key variable, commuting, which is highly used internationally, and it is applied to 2011 census data. The contribution of the article deals with two questions: firstly, the explanation and detailed discussion of all the steps and decisions taken in the delimitation process, and secondly, a comparison between the results obtained and those produced by the delimitation of the OECD and the INE-Urban Audit. The conclusions demonstrate both the robustness of the methodological process adopted for delimiting metropolitan areas and the need to add morphological data in order to consider the new forms and organization of contemporary metropolitan areas.