Even allowing for error and the clear need for refinement, this
analysis offers evidence which clearly corroborates the
hypothesis of increased land consumption on the periphery of
Barcelona's metropolitan area.
Land cover class 1995 2003
Occupied 30,827,294 points | 44,554,426 points
All green areas 53,749,872 points | 43,710,583 points
Soil 10,097,770 points 234,581 points
Table 2: Broad land cover for the area of study - 1995 and 2003
Figure 2: 2003 SPOT Image following supervised maximum
likelihood classification (occupied area; green area; and soil)
© SPOT Image Copyright 2003, CNES
A SR A Rs ER vA E
Figure 3: 1995 SPOT Image following supervised maximum
likelihood classification (occupied area; green area; and soil)
© SPOT Image Copyright 1995, CNES
In purely visual terms, the evolution or change in urban
development over the 1995-2003 period, again in the broad
sense, can easily be discerned from the super-imposition of the
1995 and 2003 images. Figures 4 and 5 clearly illustrate the
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part Bl. Istanbul 2004
existing development in 1995 in blue tones, with new and or
redevelopment being represented by the red tones. Figure 4
shows a detail of Mataró, an important sub-centre of
Barcelona's wider metropolitan area, lying on the coast to the
north of Barcelona. The figure clearly identifies, amongst other
things, industrial redevelopment in the south-west, and new
commercial and industrial development lying to the north of the
new outer ring-road.
Figure 4: Mataró - comparison between 2003 (red) and 1995
(blue)
Q SPOT Image Copyright 1995/2003, CNES
T4 i
Figure 5: Vallés Occidental - comparison between 2003 (red)
and 1995 (blue)
© SPOT Image Copyright 1995/2003, CNES
In the same vein, Figure 5 clearly identifies important
infrastructure investment and/or improvements. In the area of
Vallés Occidental (Ripollet, Santa perpétua de Mogoda, La
Llagosta and Mollet del Vallés), the existing communication
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