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Spatial analysis of urban growth in Spain, 1900–2001

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to improve the knowledge of the Spanish urban system. We study the evolution of population growth among the group of 722 municipalities included in the Spanish urban areas over the period 1900–2001. A spatial SUR model is estimated for Zipf’s law and shows the existence of two main phases: divergence (1900–1980) and convergence (1980–2001). Then, the cross-sectional distribution of urban population is characterized by means of nonparametric estimations of density functions and the growth process is modeled as a first-order stationary Markov chain. Spatial effects are finally introduced within the Markov chain framework using regional conditioning. This analysis shows a low interclass mobility, i.e., a high-persistence of urban municipalities to stay in their own class from one decade to another over the whole period, and the influence of the geographical environment on urban population dynamism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRESE, Université de Franche-Comté, 45D, avenue de l’Observatoire, 25030, Besancon Cedex, France

    Julie Le Gallo

  2. Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Coro Chasco

Authors
  1. Julie Le Gallo
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  2. Coro Chasco
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Correspondence to Julie Le Gallo.

Additional information

Previous versions of this paper were presented at the 45th Congress of the European Regional Science Association (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 23–27, 2005) and at the International Workshop on Spatial Econometrics and Statistics (Rome, Italy, May 25–27, 2006). We would like to thank two anonymous referees, M. Bosker, P. Cheshire, A. Carrington, B. Fingleton, R. Guillain, E. Lopez-Bazo, J. Paelinck and the other participants of these meetings for their valuable comments. Coro Chasco acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science SEJ2006-14277-C04-01. The usual disclaimers apply.

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Le Gallo, J., Chasco, C. Spatial analysis of urban growth in Spain, 1900–2001. Empirical Economics 34, 59–80 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-007-0150-5

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