Strategies renovation of industrial neighborhood in Spanish medium-sized cities. The experience of León

Abstract

Analysis of the transformation of industrial neighborhood in Spanish medium cities from the case of Leon in northern Spain. The focus is on the strategies and instruments of public officials to replace traditional uses and functions related to the new economy and urban competitiveness. With the formation of the historical approach called Leon West, where factories and railway boosted the urban change in the stage of industrialism is reviewed. The crisis of the Fordist model triggered the deindustrialization of the neighborhood, a challenge for urban planning and business for those involved in the production floor. As a solution, urban interventions that respond to the dual purpose of creating pockets of alternative centrality and opportunities depend on the tertiary specialization and high-speed rail, options not without risks and whose background the housing bubble that hampers the Spanish process of urbanization since 2008.