Long-term changes in 3D urban form in four Spanish cities

Abstract

Three-dimensional urban form has a considerable influence on urban sustainability, being the reason spatial planning regulate it. Yet, we know very little about the development of building density and building height over time. In this study, we characterize the horizontal and vertical patterns of urban development in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Zaragoza between 1965 and 2015. Our analysis is based on a unique combination of cadastral data and LiDAR point clouds, which we use to characterize building footprint, height, and volume, at decadal intervals. Subsequently, we characterize urban expansion and densification processes using building volume and Urban Form Types. We find that height of new buildings shows a significant downward trend during the 70′s for the four urban areas and a decreasing trend after the 2008 real estate bubble for the cases of Barcelona and Valencia. Over the analyzed period a decrease of 116, 313, 217 and 157 cm in average building height was observed for Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Zaragoza, respectively. Urbanized volume of all cities together has expanded by roughly 350% between 1950 and 2015. Sparse built-up form showed the largest absolute increase, although it contains only a low fraction of new built-up volume. A clear trend towards expansion is observed in city outskirts and the development of new urban clusters in municipalities closer to the main city. At the same time, settlements have followed incremental steps towards densification of the city-cores over time. This study provides a first step towards comprehensive understanding of long-term changes in 3D urban form, which can inform the development of policies that target the third dimension in urban form to steer sustainable urban growth.