FRAGMENTED OR COMPACT: THE CASE OF PERIURBAN MUNICIPALITIES IN THE NORTHWEST OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA OF BUENOS AIRES

Abstract. The accelerated growth of cities since the middle of the last century occupies a prominent place in urban agendas. The development of planning strategies depends on the knowledge and understanding this phenomenon. Therefore, identifying the modification pattern in the spatial configuration is of paramount importance. In this sense, the high level of detail offered by remote sensing technologies makes it possible to estimate the distribution of human settlements and their relationship to other coverages. The information obtained allows to analyze spatial contiguity and general expansion but other indicators are needed to identify spatial singularities. This work aims to present a compaction indicator and fragmentation indicator, useful for identifying local configuration patterns and their temporal variation. The study area consists of the Moreno, Pilar, Gral Rodriguez, Luján and Mercedes municipalities of the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) for the period 1986–2019. The results indicate an increase in impervious surfaces higher than 300% in this period and the detection of new urban centres in those municipalities. In the future it is hoped to replicate the techniques presented throughout the AMBA in order to contribute to medium and long-term territorial planning.