The delimitation of metropolitan areas as a governance instrument: the case of the Valencian Community

Abstract

Based on the multidimensional, flexible and open nature of urban processes, the paper proposes a methodology for defining and delimiting metropolitan areas for normative purposes, assuming that there are as many potential delimitations as different perspectives from which it is possible to approach this task to suit public policy objectives. The proposed approach is articulated in several steps that take into consideration normative aspects, functional links, morphological characteristics, pre-existing delimitations, multilevel governance and intermunicipal cooperation networks. The paper illustrates this approach by applying it to the Valencian Community, whose metropolitan areas form an ideal case study as they are paradigmatic examples of different types of metropolitan configuration. The analyses carried out, which can be extrapolated to other territories, show that in the proposed approach the final product is not so much a map of the Valencian metropolitan areas as the systematization of the different aspects to be considered in the definition process and in making it available to the agents involved. Thus, the deliverable are the phases of the process, the discussion therein collected, and not only the boundaries that delimit the metropolitan areas. This facilitates that these are modulable, adaptable to the specific circumstances in which they are adopted, through the critical consideration of the decisions taken in each of the stages.