The Basque Country has important mobility infrastructures. Among European Union countries, the Basque Country's indices are some of the highest both in density of vehicles and kilometres of motorways, as well as rail electrification.(Note*)
21,000 km2 with unbalanced organisationA constant land development process is taking place before our eyes where the population is increasingly concentrated in urban areas offering employment and services. This is a global process and prospects indicate that this process is intensifying. The Basque Country is also witnessing a similar process, although with its particular characteristics.
Artificialisation of significant land areaMunicipalities that have received the most population over recent years or have developed significant industrial economic activity have very high land artificialisation rates. We can highlight the development process on the Lapurdi coast and districts with a strong industrial character (Tolosa, Duranguesado, Bajo Deba and Alto Deba, Goierri, etc.).
Some municipalities have a really high artificialisation rate on their land. By areas we can highlight places on the Lapurdi coast such as Anglet (83.52% of land), Biarritz (82.66%), Getaria (76.72%), Hendaye (67.09%), in the Pamplona Basin such as Burlada (77.27%), Pamplona (73.97%), Villaba (73.95%) and Barañain (67.99%) or around Bilbao such as Sestao (76.38%), Leioa (70.40%), Portugalete (69.41%) and Getxo (68.80%).
Artificial surfaces in Basque Country 2012*
This all leads us to the debate on conservation of natural areas as common property and its balance with land development. As highlighted in other sections, the Basque Country has serious imbalances within its actual territory.
Distanced areasThe infrastructure and service policies being applied in some areas of the Basque Country are causing, as previously mentioned, real concentration processes. These are planning and territorial reorganisation processes with a significant impact. One field of impact is precisely that of accessibility to activity centres and services. The further a municipality lies from these centres, the harder it is to maintain social and economic activity where it has always been. By analysing the current distance by road from each municipality to the district capital or the provincial capital, we can get an idea of the situation experienced by many Basque Country municipalities today.
In this field, we can highlight districts to the east and south of Navarre, with 7 districts over 60km from the capital (the same can be said of Alto Deba). This includes Cortes (116 km), Buñuel (112 km), Arguedas (108 km).
The Basque Country has important mobility infrastructures. Among European Union countries, the Basque Country's indices are some of the highest both in density of vehicles and kilometres of motorways, as well as rail electrification.
Territory OrdinanceTerritory organisation has been a real dilemma for several decades. The tendency to concentrate resources, doubtlessly encouraged to favour property speculation interested in maximising land value, has brought about a scenario where infrastructures and services are within reach of some zones but out of reach from others. Development respecting the environment keeping historical towns alive with their own idiosyncrasies requires going back to the drawing board in terms of organising territorial resources. If not, we are moving towards a Basque Country with 4 major conurbations instead of a network of interconnected municipalities.
Note: This text is purely informative, aiming to make it easier to read the data being presented. The text has been written by the Gaindegia technical team and does not reflect Udalbiltza‘s opinion.