María Ángeles Rodríguez-Domenech

El caso español del proyecto ¡Nosotros Proponemos! muestra que la enseñanza de la Geografía, cuando se orienta a la interpretación de problemas socioespaciales del entorno y a la formulación de propuestas fundamentadas, favorece el pensamiento crítico y opera como dispositivo de ciudadanía territorial. El proyecto se sostiene en una gobernanza local estable (universidad–ayuntamiento–escuela) y en una formación docente con progresión metodológica (Aprendizaje Basado en Problemas → ciencia ciudadana → Aprendizaje-Servicio). Este artículo analiza su evolución en España entre 2016 y 2026 mediante un estudio de caso longitudinal cualitativo basado en documentación institucional, programas de formación docente y producción científica asociada. Los resultados se estructuran en cuatro dimensiones interrelacionadas: disciplinar, institucional, metodológica y formativa. Se identifican tres fases evolutivas: una territorialización inicial (2016–2019), centrada en el modelo problema–propuesta y la implantación en Ciudad Real con incorporación sistemática de Educación Primaria; una etapa de digitalización y sostenibilidad (2020–2022), marcada por la adaptación al contexto COVID-19 y la consolidación de la ciudad como laboratorio ambiental en coherencia con el Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 11; y una fase de maduración metodológica (2023–2026), caracterizada por la integración de ciencia ciudadana, Design Thinking y Aprendizaje-Servicio. Se concluye que la articulación entre coherencia disciplinar, institucionalización de la gobernanza local y desarrollo profesional docente sostenido constituye el elemento estructural que consolida una educación geográfica orientada a la interpretación crítica del territorio.

Rural depopulation is one of the most significant territorial challenges facing many European regions and provides a relevant context for geography education. This study examines the impact of a GIS-based teaching intervention on the development of geographical competences among pre-service primary teachers. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was implemented with 95 students enrolled in a Primary Education Teacher Training Degree. The intervention combined geohistorical sources, official demographic data, GIS tools, scientific literature, and the creation of Story Maps. Learning outcomes were assessed across five dimensions: conceptual understanding, spatial thinking, quantitative competence, digital competence, and metacognitive awareness. The results show substantial improvements in digital (g = 0.71), quantitative (g = 0.62), and conceptual (g = 0.57) competences. In contrast, spatial thinking (g = –0.53) and meta-cognitive awareness (g = –0.43) did not show immediate gains. Rather than indicating learning loss, these findings suggest a process of cognitive readjustment associated with more complex spatial and reflective tasks. The study indicates that GIS-based approaches are effective for strengthening technical and procedural competences in teacher education. However, the development of higher-order geographical thinking and critical territorial awareness appears to re-quire longer interventions and more explicit reflective strategies. These findings contribute to powerful geography education by providing evidence on both the potential and limitations of GIS for addressing complex territorial issues and by offering a transferable teaching model for European educational contexts.

Medium-sized cities are increasingly affected by processes of urban fragmentation and residential segregation, despite having traditionally been perceived as more socially cohesive and territorially balanced than large metropolitan areas. Acting as functional connectors between metropolitan hubs and rural regions, these cities are particularly vulnerable to unplanned suburban growth, housing market polarization and uneven access to urban opportunities. This study develops and applies a multidimensional Urban Territorial Index (UTI) to diagnose socio-spatial inequality in medium-sized cities, using Ciudad Real (central Spain) and its functional urban area as a case study. The UTI integrates six indicators across three analytical dimensions—socioeconomic, sociodemographic and housing—through a PCA-informed weighting scheme and GIS-based spatial analysis. The index is calculated at census-tract and neighborhood scales and is validated through internal consistency checks, external comparison with a local Human Development Index (r = 0.87; p < 0.001), and qualitative robustness assessments. Results reveal a pronounced core–periphery polarization: central and strategically located neighborhoods associated with key infrastructures (university, high-speed rail station and hospital) concentrate higher income levels, educational attainment and land values, while peripheral municipalities and disadvantaged neighborhoods exhibit higher unemployment, lower housing values and greater social vulnerability. The analysis also identifies population–housing mismatches linked to suburban expansion without equivalent functional integration. Beyond the local case, the study provides a transparent and replicable methodological framework tailored to medium-sized cities, where metropolitan-scale indices often fail to capture fine-grained socio-spatial disparities. The UTI offers a practical tool for comparative analysis, temporal monitoring and evidence-based urban policy, supporting more inclusive and territorially balanced development strategies in diverse institutional and geographical contexts.

La importancia de la educación geográfica y su capacidad para desarrollar un pensamiento crítico espacial se ha visto incrementada en los últimos años por el avance de las nuevas tecnologías y la geolocalización. El dominio de estas tecnologías presupone la adquisición de unas competencias que son claves para la educación de los ciudadanos que han de conformar sociedades caracterizadas por la sostenibilidad de su desarrollo. En este trabajo, se analiza y ejemplifica la percepción del cambio global y de la sostenibilidad con estudiantes universitarios. La metodología se concreta en el diseño y elaboración de un cuestionario, y su aplicación en el marco de salidas de campo participativas, con recogida de datos reales, para iniciar al estudiantado en el manejo de geotecnologías como ArcGIS StoryMaps y Survey123. La aplicación se enmarca en asignaturas de Geografía del Grado de Maestro de Educación Primaria y del Máster de Formación del Profesorado de Enseñanza Secundaria de varias universidades españolas (dos universidades públicas de Castilla-La Mancha y Madrid y una privada de Madrid), y los resultados muestran algunos datos significativos sobre el nivel de comprensión y la utilidad de la herramienta. Se observa una mayor asimilación de los conceptos relacionados con la sostenibilidad (en temas como ruidos, urbanismo, etc.) así como una mayor sensibilidad hacia problemáticas de sostenibilidad urbanas.

Medium-sized cities are increasingly affected by processes of urban fragmentation and residential segregation, despite having traditionally been perceived as more socially cohesive and territorially balanced than large metropolitan areas. These cities often act as functional connectors between metropolitan hubs and rural regions, yet they are particularly vulnerable to unplanned suburban growth, housing market polarization and uneven access to urban opportunities. This study develops and applies a multidimensional Urban Territorial Index (UTI) to assess socio-spatial inequality in Ciudad Real, a medium-sized city in central Spain, and its functional urban area. The UTI integrates six indicators across three analytical dimensions—socioeconomic, sociodemographic and housing—using a weighted composite approach informed by principal component analysis and implemented through GIS-based spatial analysis. The index is calculated at census-section and neighborhood scales and externally validated against a local Human Development Index, showing a strong correlation (r = 0.87; p < 0.001). The results reveal a pronounced core–periphery polarization. Central and southern neighborhoods associated with strategic infrastructures—such as the university, high-speed rail station and hospital—concentrate higher income levels, educational attainment and land values, while peripheral municipalities and disadvantaged neighborhoods exhibit higher unemployment, lower rents and greater concentrations of migrant populations. The analysis also identifies suburban municipalities with intense housing construction but demographic stagnation, leading to population–housing mismatches, underutilized developments and service provision deficits. Methodologically, the UTI proves to be a robust and replicable tool for capturing multidimensional urban vulnerability in medium-sized cities, where metropolitan-scale indices often fail to detect fine-grained socio-spatial disparities. Substantively, the findings demonstrate that infrastructure-led development and suburban expansion can reinforce fragmentation and segregation in non-metropolitan contexts when not accompanied by integrative planning strategies. The study contributes to ongoing debates on spatial justice, urban governance and sustainable development, offering policy-relevant insights for medium-sized cities across Southern Europe and comparable urban regions.

The acquisition of map-based argumentation skills is of great importance to prepare learners for social participation in finding solutions to current global challenges. Since it is the task of geography education to teach students these skills, it requires adequately trained teachers who themselves have an appropriate conceptual understanding of map-based argumentation and are aware of the didactic advantages and challenges of this approach. This international study therefore investigated the didactic understanding of map-based argumentation among 246 geography students in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain using questionnaire in a pre–posttest design. Additionally, this study examined the importance they attach to teaching these skills in the context of map skills and whether their attitudes change as a result of completing a project seminar. It was shown that the majority of students had only a rudimentary understanding of the concept before the course and attributed little importance to map-based argumentation in relation to other map skills. Participation in seminars across the three countries, where map-based argumentation was explicitly taught and applied, enhanced students’ conceptual understanding and increased their appreciation of its didactic value. These findings underscore the importance of targeted training in teacher education to embed map-based argumentation as a core component of geography instruction.

In recent years, research in the smart city sector has experienced exponential growth, establishing itself as a fundamental and multifaceted field of study. Education is one of the sectors of interest in smart cities. Concurrently, the extensive academic literature on smart cities makes identifying the main areas of interest related to education, leading institutions and authors, potential interconnections between different disciplines, and existing gaps more complicated. This article maps the knowledge domain of education in smart cities through a bibliometric analysis to identify current trends, research networks, and topics of greatest interest. A total of 88 articles, published between 2000 and 2023, were examined using an interdisciplinary approach. The leading countries are mainly located in Europe and North America and include China. Bibliometrics provides an intellectual configuration of knowledge on education in smart cities; a co-word analysis identifies conceptual sub-domains in specific themes. In general, education within smart cities represents a universal challenge that requires a structured and interdisciplinary approach at all levels. Finally, this paper offers some suggestions for future research, adopting a more comprehensive view of the areas of investigation through a holistic analysis of stakeholders.

El uso para diferentes investigaciones de las fuentes geohistóricas en el ámbito nacional e internacional se ha incrementado notablemente en las últimas décadas. En este contexto, el estudio del medio natural, y su evolución a lo largo de los siglos para obtener una mejor y más completa comprensión del mismo, es el objetivo propuesto en este trabajo, si bien restringido al ámbito de las fuentes españolas del período comprendido entre los siglos XVI y XIX. Entre ellas, las fuentes catastrales y paracatastrales se erigen en protagonistas debido a la extensión territorial que generalmente abarcan y a la aplicación de interrogatorios idénticos para todas y cada una de las localidades analizadas. Una de las aportaciones de este estudio consiste en el análisis de este tipo de fuentes con el fin de reconstruir los paisajes naturales históricos examinando y valorando su aportación, así como la interpretación de la información suministrada. Estudio que hemos querido circunscribir a un territorio concreto -el de la antigua provincia de La Mancha- y ello con el fin de contextualizar espacialmente la información que esas fuentes proporcionan para así poderlo comprobar en un espacio determinado. La elección de esta región ha sido motivada por disponer de una mayor riqueza y mejor conservación de este tipo de fuentes.