Contrasting static versus dynamic-based typologies of land cover patterns in the Lisbon metropolitan area: Towards a better understanding of peri-urban areas

Abstract Peri-urban areas are usually a heterogeneous mosaic of rural, urban and natural systems which are quite dynamic across time. In this paper we contrast a static and a dynamic-based classification of local administrative units (LAU) in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) to gain further insights onto the current land cover patterns and recent land cover changes in urban and peri-urban areas of the LMA. Using 16 landscape pattern indicators, we characterized the 211 LAU in the region contrasting a static (2006 data) and a dynamic-based (changes during the period 1990–2006) approach, and used cluster analyses to identify LAU typologies. Using the static approach we identified seven types of LAU, of which two were clearly urban, two could be considered rural, and three could be considered peri-urban. These latter could be distinguished among themselves by the landscape matrix type where urban areas were inserted. The dynamic-based approach yielded five types of LAU with specific trajectories in time, ranging from stable to highly dynamic. The frequency of the different dynamic typologies was not independent from the static ones, with typically urban areas being predominantly stable and rural areas having characteristic and exclusive trajectories of change. Peri-urban LAU were mostly moderately dynamic but shared a typology profile mixing highly dynamic LAU with moderately dynamic and stable ones. The combination of a static and dynamic view provides added value for the formulation of spatial planning policies in peri-urban areas.