0000000000340707

AUTHOR

Joan Carles Membrado

Costa Blanca: Urban Evolution of a Mediterranean Region through GIS Data

This paper investigates the international retirement migration from elderly northern Europeans into Spain and its influence on expansion of urban sprawl there. Key themes analyzed in this paper include the urban sprawl expansion during the Spanish housing bubble, and the link between lifestyle migrants and urban sprawl development. This paper considers the reasons for moving to Spain, which are chiefly related with the climate and lifestyle. It also explores the benefits and drawbacks of these en masse lifestyle migration and the environmental and landscape impacts on Mediterranean Spain. In order to visualize better this international migration we have created some GIS maps from a GIS proj…

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Urban Sprawl and Northern European Residential Tourism in the Spanish Mediterranean Coast

Residential tourism from Northern European countries has influenced the process of urban development in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. We explain the recent urban growth in Spain (or “Spanish house bubble”) and then show the main characteristics of the influx of citizens from other European countries richer than Spain, especially into the Spanish Mediterranean coast and specifically into the Costa Blanca region. Finally we demonstrate the relationship between the development of residential tourism and the growth of urban sprawl in the Spanish Mediterranean coast and we analyze some of its consequences for the region..

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