Residential production new model and dispersed territory. Mallorca, 1998-2006

Abstract

The contemporary changes of capitalism, that boost the continuity of uneven economic development through different scales, have been basic for a new round of urban and metropolitan expansion in the world. In this context, the housing right retreats in front the expansive property investment and, also, increase the anthropic transformation of the territories. During two last decades the economic development in Spain is related with these global dynamics and more and more it rests on the building sector. It have produced an increasing development of the metropolitan areas combined with an urban sprawl that basically affects the coastal lines. We describe and analyse the recent residential production in Majorca (1998-2006), a process that blends the strengthening of the capital’s urban area, Palma, with the urban sprawl above all the island. Finally, some measures are proposed to renew these phenomena to a more fair and sustainable way.