Crisis and restructuration in the Valencian Metropolitan Area.

Resumen

In this paper we present the results of an analysis of the changing socio-economic structure of the Metropolitan Area Valencia between 2001 and 2011, unveiling trends of recent territorial restructuring. Then, using the spatial typology found in this territorial analysis, we study the recent dynamics of industrial investment, one of the most important economic variables for the formation of the metropolitan area and often considered as a strategic factor in economic recovery. The analysis shows how an increasingly territorial and functional differentiation process is taking place leading to higher levels of economic segregation. The industrial investment recovery recorded in the years 2011-2013 is taking place with remarkable concentration patterns (at spatial, sectorial and firm level); this high polarization processes are probably affecting both the chances of economic recovery and the territorial future of the metropolitan spatial model.