Case study report – Tarragona

Tarragona is a medium-sized coastal city in southern Catalonia with approximately 138,000 inhabitants and a population density exceeding 2,300 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is the capital of Tarragona province (pop. 860,000). It is one of two medium-sized cities in the Camp de Tarragona region, along with Reus, a city of 112,000 located 12km away, site of the principal airport of the province’s Costa Daurada. Considering these relationships, Tarragona and Reus form part of a Functional Urban Area as defined by OECD methodology. The city occupies a strategic position within the Camp de Tarragona metropolitan area, benefiting from port infrastructure, major road corridors, and regional rail connections. Historically, Tarragona’s urban form has been shaped by its Roman origins, its later role as a military and administrative centre, and — most decisively for contemporary inequalities — its rapid industrial expansion in the second half of the twentieth century (Oliveras i Samitier, 2025). The Camp de Tarragona contains 65% of the province’s population, whose economy is driven by the coastal petrochemical and tourism industry, with an agricultural inland. Governance is primarily municipal and sector-based, while the Camp de Tarragona metropolitan governance initiative (2023) seeks to increase metropolitan-level governance and planning.