Sources of cartographic information for analysing the physical structure of the contemporary city. Similarities and differences between the corine land cover and the information system for land occupation in Spain

Abstract

The contemporary city, as a diffuse territorial unit, can only be analysed using a multi-scale, multi-criteria approach. For this reason, it is a question of prime importance to assess the role of the sources of information used to characterize the structural dimension of the metropolitan urban fabric. For over 20 years, the Corine Land Cover program has set the benchmark for this type of analysis, offering the security of accurate cartography and an accessible, shared, multiscale methodology using diachronic analysis. This has made it possible to address the issue of metropolitan urban development, both nationally and internationally, in a methodical way, over a long period of time. However, since the turn of the twenty-first century, various countries in the European Union have developed their own methodology, tools and spatial information which differ considerably in approach from the model presented in the CLC framework. In Spain, the Spanish Land Cover & Land Use Information System (SIOSE, in Spanish) is a new source and model for collecting information which provides a basis for designing urban cartography on a national scale. In this article, we aim to assess the contributions of new database to help us understand, assess and compare the physical structure of the urban environment and its dynamics.