An approach to the growth of urban areas by aerial photography and geographical information systems. The city of Tarrassa as a case study

This paper analyzes the physical growth of Terrassa between the second half of the 20thcentury and the beginning of the 21st century, through the management and interpretation of aerial photograph in a Geographical information system. Along its pages we focus on the properties and justify the use of aerial photograph in the analysis of the urban landscape and morphology. Moreover, it is showed how Gis technology has geoprocess functions that are useful for analysing the geographic information contained in aerial photograph from a spatial- time perspective. GIS becomes a tool that can be applied at the analysis of a city's morphology, an analysis that can provide new data for any project of urban planning.