How have Argentina's cities grown over the last 30 years?
Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area / Land Consumption Per Capita (1991-2019). Image via Ministry of the Interior, Public Works and Housing, Government of the City of Buenos Aires, under CC BY 4.0 License
The Federal Urban Observatory (OFU) of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Works, and Housing of Argentina surveyed and mapped urban data for 16 cities across the country, which are home to 50% of Argentina's total population. Based on data collected over 28 years—between 1991 and 2019—this series of maps and graphs illustrates how each city's urban footprint expanded over time. Overall trends show a sharp increase in urbanized land area (77%) compared to moderate population growth (35%), resulting in a general 23% decline in population density. In other words, city growth has predominantly followed a pattern where land expansion far outpaces population growth.
Infographic maps tracking population growth and territorial expansion are highly relevant to urban planning, as they reveal trends and behavioral patterns in cities, making it possible to compare different cases over time.
They also make it possible to project land consumption trends to align territorial policies with actual urban behavior, assess the long-term effectiveness of implemented urban policies, and flag cases that could lead to adverse environmental, social, and economic impacts.
Data and graphs courtesy of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Works, and Housing of Argentina. Access the full analysis at this link.
From the analysis of the data produced, a generalized increase in land consumption per inhabitant is observed, regardless of city scale or regional context of the cases. This is a process that has been identified and characterized in widely differing contexts worldwide. The evolution of this indicator raises the need to design public policies and land management instruments aimed at curbing indiscriminate urban sprawl, finding forms of densification that integrate into existing urban fabrics, and generating an equitable redistribution of the costs and benefits of urbanization.
This article was written by Belén Maiztegui. The translation is powered by AI.
Cite: Maiztegui, Belén. "How have Argentina's cities grown over the last 30 years?" [¿Cómo crecieron las ciudades de Argentina en los últimos 30 años?] 10 Dec 2019. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1119720/how-have-argentinas-cities-grown-over-the-last-30-years> ISSN 0719-8884
