Transport infrastructure in the context of "Ministry of Development (Spain)"

A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructure and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities, jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, cities, towns, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts and even states and nations in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.

In the United States, metropolitan areas are delineated around the core of a core based statistical area, which is defined as an urban area and includes central and outlying counties. In other countries metropolitan areas are sometimes anchored by one central city such as the Paris metropolitan area (Paris). In other cases, metropolitan areas contain multiple centers of equal or close to equal importance, especially in the United States; for example, the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area has eight principal cities. The Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area in Pakistan, the Rhine-Ruhr in Germany, and the Randstad in The Netherlands are other examples.

Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings (municipal buildings, schools, and hospitals), transport infrastructure (roads, railroads, bridges, pipelines, canals, ports, and airports), public spaces (public squares, parks, and beaches), public services (water supply and treatment, sewage treatment, electrical grid, and dams), environmental protection (drinking water protection, soil erosion reduction,wildlife habitat preservation, preservation and restoration of forests and wetlands) and other, usually long-term, physical assets and facilities. Though often interchangeable with public infrastructure and public capital, public works does not necessarily carry an economic component, thereby being a broader term. Construction may be undertaken either by directly employed labour or by a private operator.

Public works has been encouraged since antiquity. The Roman emperor Nero encouraged the construction of various infrastructure projects during widespread deflation.

The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MITMA) (Spanish: Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible), traditionally known as the Ministry of Development (MIFOM), is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for preparing and implementing the government policy on land, air and maritime transport infrastructure and the control, planning and regulation of the transport services on this areas. It is also responsible for guaranteeing access to housing; urban, soil and architecture policies; planning and controlling the postal and telegraph services, directing the services related to astronomy, geodesy, geophysics and mapping, and planning and programing the government investments on infrastructure and services related to this scope. The Ministry's headquarters are in the New Ministries government complex.

MITMA is headed by the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, who is appointed by the King of Spain at request of the Prime Minister. The Minister is assisted by two main officials, the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing and the Under Secretary of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda. Other senior officials of the ministry include the Secretary General for Infrastructure, the Secretary General for Transport and the Secretary General for Housing. Since 21 November 2023 the minister has been Óscar Puente.