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Sustainable development in peripheral regions - ebook/pdf
Sustainable development in peripheral regions - ebook/pdf
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Wydawca: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego Język publikacji: Angielski
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Niniejsza publikacja powstała dzięki współpracy Instytutu Studiów Regionalnych i Globalnych UW z Peruwiańskim Papieskim Uniwersytetem Katolickim w Limie oraz innymi uczelniami z Ameryki Łacińskiej, Azji i Europy. Zbiór składa się z tekstów w języku angielskim poświęconych rozwojowi zrównoważonemu obszarów peryferyjnych w Ameryce Łacińskiej oraz niektórych części Europy (Albania, Hiszpania, Polska, Portugalia, Włochy) i Azji (Nepal). Omówiono w nich uwarunkowania przyrodnicze, społeczne i kulturowe rozwoju wsi i dzielnic peryferyjnych miast, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem obszarów górskich, także możliwości rozwoju turystyki na obszarach wiejskich. Wpisują się one w prowadzoną obecnie w środowisku akademickim i planistycznym dyskusję na temat szans i ograniczeń rozwoju obszarów peryferyjnych.

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This publication is an effect of collaboration of the Institute of Regional and Global Studies of the University of Warsaw with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima and other universities from Latin America, Asia and Europe. A collection of selected texts is devoted to sustainable development of peripheral regions in Latin America and some parts of Europe (Albania, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain) and Asia (Nepal). These texts discuss natural, social and cultural conditions and possibilities of development of rural regions and peripheral urban areas, with particular attention to mountainous regions, as well as possibilities of tourism development in rural areas. They fall within the current discussion carried out in the academic environment and planning on the opportunities and constraints to the development of peripheral areas.

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CzerOK 9/1/15 1:27 PM Page 1 This publication is an effect of collaboration of the Institute of Regional and Global Studies of the University of Warsaw with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima and other universities from Latin America, Asia and Europe. A collection of selected texts is devoted to sustainable development of peripheral regions in Latin America and some parts of Europe (Albania, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain) and Asia (Nepal). These texts discuss the natural, social and cultural conditions and possibilities of development of rural regions and peripheral urban areas, with particular attention to mountainous regions, as well as possibilities of tourism development in rural areas. They fall within the current discussion carried out in the academic environment and planning on the opportunities and constraints to the development of peripheral areas. * * * From the 1980s onwards, sustainable development began to be regarded as one of the main development paradigms, as well as a fundamental component of regional policy. An exponent pointing to the need for – and means of – introducing the principles of sustainable development was in turn a famous document published by the UN in 1987 entitled Our Common Future. […] A challenge for development policy thus was and remains the means of introducing the sustainability concept in peripheral regions, in which the key problems to be resolved concerning nothing less fundamental than the daily existence of resident populations. The term periphery carries various connotations with it and can be understood in different ways depending on the function ascribed to thinking on it, and the way in which it is perceived or conceptualised. It is most frequent for geography to refer to the location of a given region in respect of the centre of a country, be that in the geometric, economic or political understanding of the term. To be peripheral thus relates to both distance and status. In each case, the terms periphery and peripheral entail a comparative element. from Introduction S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T I N P E R I P H E R A L R E G I O N S SUSTAINABLE D E V E L O P M E N T IN PERIPHERAL REGIONS Edited by _ MIROSLAWA CZERNY WOJCIECH DOROSZEWICZ www.wuw.pl/ksiegarnia ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== CzerST 8/20/15 11:49 AM Page 1 SUSTAINABLE D E V E L O P M E N T IN PERIPHERAL REGIONS ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== CzerST 8/20/15 11:49 AM Page 2 SUSTAINABLE D E V E L O P M E N T IN PERIPHERAL REGIONS Edited by _ MIROSLAWA CZERNY WOJCIECH DOROSZEWICZ Warszawa 2015 ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== Reviewer Prof. Dr. Hildegardo Cordova Aguilar Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Editor Małgorzata Yamazaki Proofreading Małgorzata Dehnel-Szyc English language consultant Izabela S´lusarek Layout Zofia Kosin´ska Cover design Wojciech Markiewicz Cover illustration Seixal – northern coast of Madeira; Mirosława Czerny Typesetting Logoscript ISBN 978-83-235-2057-3 Niniejsza monografia powstała dzie˛ki badaniom i wspo´łpracy mie˛dzynarodowej prowadzonych w latach 2012–2015 w ramach mie˛dzynarodowego projektu badawczego HARMONIA „Strategie wspieraja˛ce zro´wnowaz˙ony rozwo´j obszaro´w wiejskich w regionach o wysokim poziomie ubo´stwa. Koncepcja metodologii badan´ na przykładzie regionu go´rskiego w po´łnocno-zachodnim Peru”, finansowanego przez Narodowe Centrum Nauki 2012/04/M/HS4/00317. This book is founded upon the work carried out within the project entitled: ‘‘Strategies for promoting sustainable rural development in regions with high levels of poverty. The concept of research methodology applied to mountain regions in northwestern Peru” NCN, 2012/04/M/HS4/00317. # Copyright by Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa 2015 Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego 00-497 Warszawa, ul. Nowy S´wiat 4 www.wuw.pl e-mail: wuw@uw.edu.pl Internet Bookshop: www.wuw.pl/ksiegarnia ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== CONTENTS Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. How to understand sustainable development in peripheral rural regions? . . 17 Mirosława Czerny, Andrzej Czerny Part A Questions of rural sustainability 2. Recent changes of ways of life and livelihood in the Spanish rural mountain areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carmen Delgado Vin˜as 3. Maynas, an unsustainable territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicole Bernex 4. Identification of the relations between socio-geographic space and sustainable development. Case study: Male¨sia e Madhe in Albania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sokol Axhemi, Resul Hamiti 5. Agroecological sites as expressions of territorial identities and as perspectives to the traditional marginal populations development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Geralda de Almeida 6. Sustainable development and marginal rural areas in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . Guillermo Torres Carral 31 47 67 75 93 7. Generating sustainable development through the alternative treatment of water for human consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jhoan Sebastian Jaramillo Peralta, Hildebrando Ramı´rez Arcila 107 Part B Rural sustainable tourism 8. The family-based agroecological production: a space for sustainable development of rural tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cleomar Antonio Zocholini, Eurico de Oliveira Santos 125 ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 6 CONTENTS 9. Creative tourism: perspectives and challenges for development of rural areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Sandra Guerra Ashton, Eurico de Oliveira Santos 137 10. Tourism and gastronomy: opportunities to rural communities .. . . . . . . . . 153 Roslaine Kovalczuk de Oliveira Garcia, Alexandra Marcela Zottis, Daniel Vicente Bohno 11. Cultural tourism and Nepal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Kamal Maiya Pradhan 12. The use of biodiversity in the Brazilian tourism promotion: analysis of state tourism websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rosane Maria Lanzer, Leonardo Reichert, Leidh Jeane Sampietro Pinto, Denise de Souza 181 13. Problems of the development of tourism in the rural area of the region of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caminhos de Pedra: Bento Goncalves/RS, Brazil Camille Bonotto, Eurico de Oliveira Santos 195 Part C Social, cultural and natural environment 14. A natural environment and cultural landscape approach to community rural heritage preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alejandro Cabeza 209 15. Environment and sustainability in Sierra de Piura, Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Wojciech Doroszewicz 16. San Gabriel de Azteca cemetery as heritage to save people’s identity . . . . . 237 Rocı´o Lo´pez de Juambelz 17. Problems of sustainable rural development in the highlands of Piura, Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ana Sabogal Dunin Borkowska 18. Spatiotemporal patterns of agricultural and settlement frontier in the tropical Andes of Northern Ecuador: a socio-ecological perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Fernanda Lo´pez Sandoval, Felipe Valdez 19. Turnover in rural hospitality: the case of family rural properties in the southern half of Rio Grande do Sul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paula Carina Mayer da Silva, Ana Roberta Trentin de Bittencourt, Eurico de Oliveira Santos, Lizbeth Souza-Fuertes 20. On the fringe: tracking and evaluating changes in land use in the areas surrounding three parks in Spain and Portugal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marı´a-Jose´ Prados, Marı´a A´ ngeles Barral, Claudia Hurtado, Julia Lourenc¸o 259 265 281 297 ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== CONTENTS 7 Part D Urban periphery from sustainable perspective 21. Sustainable development in 4 fraccionamientos from Fomento Metropolitano Monterrey (Fomerrey), Nuevo Leo´n, Mexico, 2009–2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diana R. Villarreal Gonza´lez, Johny Morales Basilio 317 22. Environmental impacts of development in Mexico City, Mexico, 1980–2012 331 Felipe Albino Gervacio 23. Health, urbanization and suburbanization in Bogota and neighboring municipalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William H. Alfonso Pina, Clara Ines Pardo Martinez 341 24. The new land use in urban areas: social agriculture in the case study of Rome 359 Carmen Bizzarri 25. Foreign direct investment and environment in the Toluca-Lerma industrial zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Antonia Correa Serrano 373 ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== AUTHORS Mirosława Czerny Institute of Regional and Global Studies Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies University of Warsaw, Poland e-mail: mczerny@uw.edu.pl Andrzej Czerny Department of Cartography and Geomatic Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska, Lublin, Poland e-mail: aczerny@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl Carmen Delgado Vin˜as Department of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain e-mail: delgadoc@unican.es Nicole Bernex Applied Geography Research Center (CIGA) Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima e-mail: nbernex@pucp.edu.pe Sokol Axhemi Department of Geography, Faculty of History and Philology University of Tirana, Albania e-mail: saxhemigraphy@yahoo.co.uk Resul Hamiti Department of Geography University of Tetova, FYR Macedonia Maria Geralda de Almeida Socio-Environmental Studies Institute (IESA) Federal University of Goia´s, Goiaˆnia, Brazil e-mail: mgdealmeida@gmail.com ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 10 AUTHORS Guillermo Torres Carral Department of Rural Sociology Autonomous University of Chapingo, Mexico e-mail: gatocarr@hotmail.com Jhoan Sebastian Jaramillo Peralta Investigation Group AQUA Cooperative University of Colombia, Ibague´, Colombia e-mail: jhoan.jaramillo2208@gmail.com Hildebrando Ramı´rez Arcila Investigation Group AQUA Cooperative University of Colombia, Ibague´, Colombia e-mail: hildebrandoramirez13@yahoo.es Cleomar Antonio Zocholini Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil e-mail: cleomar_kiko@hotmail.com Mary Sandra Guerra Ashton Master’s Program in the Creative Industry Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil e-mail: marysga@feevale.br Eurico de Oliveira Santos Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil e-mail: eurico58@terra.com.br Roslaine Kovalczuk de Oliveira Garcia Graduate Program in Tourism Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil e-mail: rgarcia@feevale.br Alexandra Marcella Zottis Graduate Program in Tourism Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil Daniel Vicente Bonho Graduate Program in Tourism Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== AUTHORS 11 Kamal Maiya Pradhan Department of Geography, Tri-Chandra College Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal e-mail: kamalpradhan1@hotmail.com Rosane Maria Lanzer Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil e-mail: rlanzer@ucs.br Leonardo Reichert Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil e-mail: reichertleonardo@gmail.com Leidh Jeane Sampietro Pinto Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil Denise de Souza Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil Camile Bonotto Master’s and Doctoral Program in Tourism and Hospitality University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), Brazil e-mail: camilebonotto@gmail.com Alejandro Cabeza Pe´rez Natural and Cultural Conservation Laboratory Master’s and PhD Program in Architecture National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) e-mail: alejandro.cabeza@gmail.com Rocı´o Lo´pez de Juambelz Conservation Laboratory of Natural and Cultural Heritage National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) e-mail: rocio.ldej@gmail.com Wojciech Doroszewicz Institute of Regional and Global Studies Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies University of Warsaw, Poland e-mail: w.doroszewicz@uw.edu.pl ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 12 AUTHORS Ana Sabogal Dunin Borkowska Faculty of Liberal Arts and Humanities Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima e-mail: asabogal@pucp.pe Marı´a F. Lo´pez Sandoval Department of Development, Environment and Territory Latin American Faculty of Social Science (FLACSO), Quito, Ecuador e-mail: maflopez@flacso.edu.ec Felipe Valdez School of Geographic Science Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador Marı´a Jose´ Prados Velasco Department of Human Geography University of Seville, Spain e-mail: mjprados@us.es Marı´a A´ngeles Barral Mun˜oz Department of History II and Geography University of Huelva, Spain e-mail: mabarral@dgf.uhu.es Claudia Hurtado Departament of Geography, History and Philosophy University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain Julia Lourenc¸o Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction University of Minho, Guimara˜es, Portugal Diana R. Villarreal Gonza´lez Department of Economic Production Metropolitan Autonomous University in Xochimilco, Mexico e-mail: dvillarreal@correo.xoc.uam.mx Johny J. Morales Basilio Department of Economic Production Metropolitan Autonomous University in Xochimilco, Mexico Felipe Albino Gervacio Master’s and Doctoral Program in Architecture and Urban Planning, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico e-mail: algefe_puma@yahoo.com.mx ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== AUTHORS 13 William H. Alfonso P. Faculty of Science Policy and Government University of Rosario, Bogota´, Colombia e-mail: william.alfonso@urosario.edu.co Clara Ine´s Pardo Martinez Faculty of Administration University of Rosario, Bogota´, Colombia e-mail: clara.pardo@urosario.edu.co Carmen Bizzarri Department of Human Science European University of Rome, Italy e-mail: carmen.bizzarri@gmail.com Antonia Correa Serrano Department of Economic Production Metropolitan Autonomous University in Xochimilco, Mexico e-mail: acorrea@correo.xoc.uam.mx ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== INTRODUCTION ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PERIPHERAL RURAL REGIONS?1 Miroslawa Czerny Andrzej Czerny Introduction While it is true to say that the sustainable development concept grew in popularity in the 1970s, and particularly with the 1992 Earth Summit (World Conference on the Environment and Development) in Rio de Janeiro, it was, in fact, known still earlier, since its roots can be traced back to the end of the 19th century, when foresters began to take note of the irreversible nature of certain ecological processes arising out of over-exploitative forestry management [Fritz, Huber, Levi 1995]. In turn, in 1922, the German urban planner Cornelius Gurlitt launched a debate on ‘‘the modern development of the city”, proposing that the implementation of programs for the development of construction in a city should take account not only of purely technical matters, but also of social and cultural aspects not only from a historical point of view, but also by reference to ongoing transformation processes [Gurlitt, as cited by Petzold 1997: 19]. The postulates put forward by Gurlitt constitute an inseparable element of today’s definition of sustainable development [Hauff 1987]. From the 1980s onwards, sustainable development began to be regarded as one of the main development paradigms, as well as a fundamental component of regional policy. An exponent pointing to the need for – and means of – introducing the principles of sustainable development was in turn a famous document published by the UN in 1987 entitled Our Common Future. The report from the World Commission on the Environment and Development headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland accepted that the Earth’s resources were running out to the extent that the opportunities for future development of the planet and humankind would depend on wise and rational utilization and management of the said resources. A further attendant assumption was that the environment should be managed in such a way as to curtail any further dramatic changes in it and its further impoverishment. A pointer given here concerned the role of humankind, and 1 This article is founded upon the work carried out within the project entitled: ‘‘Strategies for promoting sustainable rural development in regions with high levels of poverty”. The concept of research methodology applied to mountain region in Northwestern Peru: NCN 2012/04/M/HS4/00317. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 18 MIROSLAWA CZERNY, ANDRZEJ CZERNY necessary changes in ways of thinking about day-to-day (ad hoc) interests and investments in the economic sphere. A challenge for the development policy thus was and remains the means of introducing the sustainability concept in peripheral regions, in which the key problems to be resolved concern nothing less fundamental than the daily existence of resident populations. The sustainable development idea Notwithstanding the elaboration and publication over the last half century of countless official publications invoking a need for sustainable development principles to be put into effect, a host of scientists, politicians and planners continue a (heated) debate on the significance of contemporary society’s understanding and heeding of the principles in question [Petzold 1997]. An idea proposed several decades ago has become one of the most important paradigms in development policy, and a key to analyses of directions to development on different spatial reference levels. Indeed, the theoretical and planning-related discussions on the subject are participated in by representatives of different scientific disciplines, notably geographers [Gutry-Korycka 2005]. Therefore, it might seem that the identity of the issue under discussion is well known and understood, which means that now we know what sustainable development entails. It was with such a conviction as to the existence of some broad knowledge of sustainable development among the inhabitants of today’s world that a decade of education in its name was launched by UNESCO, with this period in fact coming to an end officially in 2014. This would logically imply that the last ten years have already seen a broadening of society’s knowledge on the subject, its objectives and the effects of its implementation. Indeed, all age groups should have found themselves brought within an educational process allowing us all to face up to and address the challenges associated with sustainable development that have been identified at international fora. The sustainable development idea in fact assumes that the socioeconomic development ongoing in the contemporary world will proceed in such a way that key existing features of our natural (but also our social and cultural) environment, and hence our ‘‘surroundings” in the broader sense, will remain in such a state of preservation that the generations coming after us will be in a position to use and draw benefit from them just as we have. While this relatively well-known assumption seems clear and obvious, certainly it does not make full reference to achievements in science and technology which may, as time goes by, alter our understanding of criteria like durability, persistence and sustainability itself, when it comes to various elements of the environment – up to and including the conditions underpinning the development of agriculture. However, the real truth is that now, as from the outset, the discussion on sustainable development has entailed many and various conceptualisations and ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PERIPHERAL RURAL REGIONS? 19 ways of understanding the very concept, let alone its manifold aspects, which are treated differently at both the interpretation stage and when actual procedures or activities are put into effect. These differences are such as to ensure that quite disparate directions can be followed as efforts to achieve sustainable development move forward. One clear and readily noticeable evolution of the concept has proceeded from approaches entirely (or almost entirely) focused on the natural environment and the need to protect or secure its air, waters, soils and natural resources [Czerny 2005] in the direction of approaches that now seek to integrate many different tiers of life and types of human activity, in particular assigning value to (and hence encouraging the protection of) elements of our heritage, be this natural, cultural or even political. Another division into the approaches of sustainable development entails an analysis of local and regional potential where the stimulation or continuation of growth is concerned. What it therefore ushers in is a critical analysis seeking such means of proceeding and applying techniques and technologies which will cause the least modification to natural environmental conditions and also (in theory at least) to existing social and cultural conditioning. We thus arrive at issues of the dynamics of socioeconomic change, proceeding in doing so from a priori assumption that a given fragment of territory experiences such changes constantly, with the result that geographical space also undergoes a change. A very simple diagram can help show the relationships pertaining in a territorial system which is defined in this way. In this understanding the territory and its natural conditions are given, and they most often change over long periods of time. However, as will be noted later, the territory involved in given considerations can also be treated as a variable where development in the simple model of development, the two most important factors determining the trajectory, dynamics and structure of favorable changes in a given region or territory are seen to be human capital on the one hand, and economic capital on the other. is concerned. In any case, A more complex model of development will bring in a series of further variables, including those of importance to sustainability, like historical condition- ing (the tradition of a historic region), psychological and emotional features (not least prejudices and schemes where ways of thinking are concerned), and cultural conditioning (within it religious conditioning can be of key importance in determining, setting or shaping models of living and types of conduct). The question is whether a return to a simple development model is still possible, as consideration is given to the structure of sustainable development and its main actors. In general, yes, though with the proviso that the actions of both human capital and economic capital should be in line with sustainable development principles. What should this then entail? Answer: 1. Awareness (among all members of a given society) that any kind of a human action (or intervention) in whatever geographical space causes change to – and in extremis the destruction of – the existing natural environment. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 20 MIROSLAWA CZERNY, ANDRZEJ CZERNY 2. In all kinds of human activity the use of those techniques and technologies that do least to change the character of the given region, this extending to its environment, obviously, but also the skills of its inhabitants, customs and habits, and so on. 3. Financial (economic) capital invested in a given region that first and foremost takes care of the interests, wellbeing and living environment of the inhabitants of the said (or any) region. In the face of the above, can the sustainable development concept be adhered to as we seek to develop peripheral regions (in which by definition raised income levels and an improved quality of life are called for)? Peripheral regions The term ‘‘periphery” carries various connotations and can be understood in different ways depending on the function ascribed to thinking on it, and the way in which it is perceived or conceptualized. It is most frequent for geography to refer to the location of a given region in respect of the center of a country, be that in the geometric, economic or political understanding of the term. ‘‘To be peripheral” thus relates to both distance and status. In each case, the terms periphery and peripheral entail a comparative element. By definition a periphery can only exist if there is also a center somewhere else. The geographical connotations often also link up with psychological matters, in that ‘‘a region lying at the periphery of a country is poorly developed” (Janicki .... Łopuszna) – a contention that need not be true, even if it is mostly imagined to be. It is thus clear that relationships between the center and remaining (more or less peripheral) regions, or else between a more literally (geographically) defined center and a periphery indicate unequivocally the situation a given area finds itself in. The concept of the center and the relationships that make possible its definition have been written on at length by K. Handke [1993]. According to that author: ‘‘the center fulfils functions that we conceive of as central, while the region is situated somewhere beyond the relationships that are thought of in this case. Historically, what was met with more often was the contradistinction between the capital and the provinces or the capital and the periphery” [Handke 1993: 105]. Yi-Fu Tuan in turn puts emphasis on the importance of words like ‘‘close” and ‘‘distant”, which attest to relationships between people that also extend in the directions of friendship or hostility, as well as closeness in the geographical sense of familiarity with a given area [Tuan 1987]. In the view of Handke [1993], any schematic depiction of what is not the center, and is thus the periphery, has as its components: 1. Horizontal spatial elements, i.e. a subordinate place in the system (at some distance from the center or the zero point); 2. Vertical spatial elements, i.e. some position in a hierarchical system, always lower than the most elevated (below the top on the axis); ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PERIPHERAL RURAL REGIONS? 21 3. Evaluating elements, i.e. subordination to the center, often extensive in lesser independence or entirely deprived of spatial independence, and also with lesser authority and prestige; terms, but of 4. Such linguistic elements which emphasize subordination [ibidem: 117]. ‘‘The very relationship of center versus non-center is universal in nature, because such a configuration is generated in every social space, if with the process of delimitation involving the content and nature of the main component parts (...). In societal practice and looked at from the perspective of history, the system undergoes many and varied modifications, since the essence of the center is based first and foremost on authority, strength, prestige and money (...)” [ibidem]. Alongside markedly geographically relationships ! being at the periphery and being peripheral, there are also cultural and psychological connotations influencing the way a given region or part of given territory is perceived. The term is associated with a presence on the margins of the main currents to economic political and social life, and hence with features of being weaker, not taken seriously or underrated. Analyses carried out in relation to developing countries do not offer an unequivocal definition of what the periphery might be. In line with the original concept of the center versus the periphery arising from the discussion on dependent development taking place among Latin American intellectuals and economists (with Raul Prebisch to the fore), the world has regions that are highly developed economically (the center) as well as regions that are only poorly developed (and hence peripheral), but which do supply the former areas with their main raw materials [Ros´ciszewski 1974]. Analyzing the situation Latin American countries find themselves in, Prebisch states that the underdevelopment of the region is structural in nature, reflecting circumstances first put in place in the colonial era, and entrenched from the 19th century onwards – i.e. from the time countries in this part of the world gained their independence and headed off along the path towards the diversification of international economic relations. Among the countries whose positions as regards commerce with and investment in Latin America were highest were: the USA, the UK, France and (from the end of the 19th century) Italy and Germany. From that day to this, many countries of South America like Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile have continued to assign a key role to the export sector, whose structure continues to be dominated by raw materials and primary products, be these mineral, natural or agricultural. At most these are augmented with articles that have been processed to a limited degree [Prebisch 1959]. The directions the economic development of peripheral countries has followed are thus the ones subordinated to the demand exerted – and the strategies for development pursued – by countries of the ‘‘center.” This means that the center-periphery relationship has been unfavorable for the countries forming the latter, from the point of view of the development and diversification of their economies. However, from the point of view of further research into underdevelopment, the contribution made by geographers proved to be important, since these ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 22 MIROSLAWA CZERNY, ANDRZEJ CZERNY workers stressed that the center-periphery scheme repeated itself and had become entrenched in the spatio-economic and social structure of the South American countries [Czerny 1980]. Of pioneering significance in this area was the work of Milton Santos, which inspired a discussion on internal disparities to levels of development [Santos 1971]. As early as in 1974, M. Ros´ciszewski wrote that ‘‘In the countries of the Third World, the greater part of the territory, inhabited by a majority of the population, would need to be assigned to peripheral space. Matters of the development of the countries under discussion here also mostly extend to a remodelling of socioeconomic relations of just this peripheral space. From these points of view, research into the nature, functions and internal differentiation of peripheral space, and (...) the latter’s linkages with central space is also of great importance (...)” [Ros´ciszewski 1974: 13]. In the Polish geographical literature of the 1980s, this train of thought was inter alia developed by M. Czerny, as she wrote many times on the spatial disparities that characterize development within given national territories [Czerny 1980, 1985, 1986]. Since the 1980s, disparities in levels of development within given Latin American states have started to widen. Beginning to appear alongside what are unambiguously ‘‘central” regions – most often countries’ capital cities – there are regions that have come within the orbit of world trade thanks to globalization, their relationships with the external market in turn becoming stronger than those binding them within the country. Urban centers have also been involved, whether these be industrial or service-related, or offering their products on the global market and modernizing rapidly the production process on farms almost entirely geared to the global market (for example through super-automation of the production of wine, meat and cheeses, fruit and vegetables designated either directly for the world market [in the case of avocadoes, apples, melons, pears, American blueberries, artichokes and so on], or else for processing in the factories of the large multinationals like Dole, Heinz, Del Monte and others). The appearance of such enclaves of modern agriculture differing from the large latifundia from earlier times that were more engaged in extensive than intensive agricultural production has only served to widen the gap between regions in which the farming is relatively up-to-date and those in which there is a continued prevalence of subsistence agriculture to meet farmers’ own needs, with only limited use made of modern techniques and technologies, to the extent that the main thrusts to development have somehow passed them altogether. Regions in which this kind of farm production holds sway may obviously be regarded as peripheral [Czerny, Co´rdova 2014]. The analysis of the socioeconomic situations of rural regions ought to offer an answer to a question as to why they have remained peripheral. Of course, peripherality may be also ascribed to regions where mining is carried on, but perhaps to a declining extent; or where other kinds of industry from the Ford era were in place but have since collapsed. However, it is the purpose of this article to focus on rural areas, and there the In fact, studies and opinions on the causes of under- focus will remain. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PERIPHERAL RURAL REGIONS? 23 development in this sphere are seen to be exceptionally wide-ranging and multi- faceted. But here the author seeks to engage in the more systematic organization of causes which have in her view helped determine the peripherality of rural areas of the Andes, most especially in Peru. The peripherality of rural areas in the Andes Several decades of research and analyses devoted to Latin America allow the author to arrive at certain conclusions regarding underdevelopment, and especially the marginalization and peripherality of rural areas. While the list is not exhaustive, and is subjective, it is generated on the basis of what has been read, as well as interviews carried out. The causes of uneven development need to be looked for among factors of an environmental, political, cultural, social and finally also economic (or more correctly a technical) nature. Beyond that it is clear that it would be difficult to ascribe disparities to the impact of any one of these factors. There are a host of possible and actual interactions and feedbacks between the factors mentioned that ensure each region a unique image in general terms and as regards spatial management. The natural environment offers opportunities for development, with condi- tions different at each location ensuring a diversity of forms of agricultural use around the world. The inhabitants of rural regions tend to make optimal use of the environmental conditions they are exposed to as they seek to meet their needs. From this point of view, the environment may not be regarded as a factor hindering development – for in those places where human beings make use of their environment there are by definition conditions in which food may be produced. Those rather few places that do not allow food to be obtained are uninhabited. In these circumstances it becomes paradoxical that the natural environment is the factor most often invoked as a primary obstacle to development, though there are of course many recognized reasons why this should be so. One of these concerns the fact that environmental conditions are subject to variability that reduces output and sometimes leads to outright hunger. The climate may vary, as well as soil conditions, conditions as regards water resources and so on, these all being elements that can determine amounts of food produced in a very marked way. If issues arise in this sphere, the talk then is of conditions unfavorable for agriculture. Abrupt, unexpected and in fact unpredict- able natural events ensure that conditions for human management can become altered even in an environment that is and has been occupied. Historical descriptions of situations of this kind characterizing South America are in fact many in number, and relate to the times of the pre-Columbian civilization (most notably the well-known fall of the Maya due to far-reaching change in an environment that had been managed rather intensively), as well as to modern-day climate change genuinely giving rise to the destruction of crops and places of ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 24 MIROSLAWA CZERNY, ANDRZEJ CZERNY habitation alike. In such ways an apparently well-rooted socioeconomic structure in a given area needs to alter as a result of the environmental change. However, the assigning of value to these changes is not something to be attempted here. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the main causes of developmental disparities that characterize and have continued to maintain a mosaic of better- and worse-developed regions are of a political and cultural nature. Since colonial times complex ethnic relations between indigenous peoples and incomers from Europe have been giving rise to marginalization, first of the said native peoples, and later of slaves from Africa and their offspring. Feudal-type relations were maintained into colonial times, and their non-reform in the newly-independent states arising in the 19th century has continued to ensure a place on the margins of socioeconomic life for the greater part of the population in what was previously Spanish America. Discrimination, usury and disdain for everything of indigenous origin were for decades markers of the relationships between different social groups in this part of the world. And it is a sad fact that these problems have come through to the present day in some areas. Regions inhabited by indigenous peoples thus remain poorly developed, to the extent that (without state assistance, at least) they have no chance of joining the global market. Certainly, things might have been (or still be) different if the state had been (or now is) interested in the sale of mineral resource concessions to international concerns (as in the case of the Conga Mine in Peru). However, the effect here is merely to worsen an already tragic situation faced by local people, with a further fall in agricultural output in areas encompassed by mining activity, as well as emigration of the rural population to the cities (this most often ends in the depopulation of regions in poverty by farmers deprived of the means they need to live, expelled from their land, or left with no alternative but to sell it). Further causes of the maintenance of peripheral rural regions are a lack of structural change in agriculture – not only a lack of effective farm reforms (for which most countries were not prepared politically when some decided to embark upon them in the 1960s), but also a failure to create effective legal and financial mechanisms that would allow small farmers to increase farm sizes, join in with the commercial production of food, and modernize production. These matters arose repeatedly as field work was being carried out in the Andean states. Political clientelism, strong solidarity within groups in society (an origin in the same place, proximity of residence, affiliation with the same ethnic group, etc.), frequently occurring corruption and ongoing illiteracy (especially among women) all combine to ensure a lack of development impulses among the region’s entire population. Some are even deliberately pushed to the margins of political and social life in order that they might be left in no position to benefit from any possible economic attainments, should these eventually arise in the region. Ultimately, there is nothing more than a small group of inhabitants of each region that are able to hold sway over each region from the economic point of view. In Latin America these are the descendants of Creole families whose wealth arose from the mere fact of the ownership of huge areas of land, as well as the ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PERIPHERAL RURAL REGIONS? 25 possession of large labor forces and access to raw materials and resources. When Latin America began to experience a modernization associated with the develop- ment of capitalism, part of the old colonial elite was in a position to invest in the developing industry. At the same time, new investors from other European countries (beyond the old colonial metropolises) were able to locate their capital in the ports or capital cities of the Latin American states. Location policy was then a reflection of the link between the supplier and the external market. Whole areas of different countries began to represent some kind of raw-materials-related, agricultural and livestock-rearing hinterland for the trade with Europe and North America. The capital cities and ports were in turn bridgeheads for foreign investors, who bought here the raw materials turned into manufactured goods in the factories of the north. Relationships between centers and peripheries thus took on the form of internal dependences and economic links between the main economic center of the given country and its remaining parts. Thus, for example, in the 1970s, Mexico City concentrated more than 54 of Mexico’s industrial output, and almost the same proportion of its entire industrial workforce [Czerny 1985]. A serious obstacle to the reduction of disparities in the level of economic development between regions was constituted by poorly-developed infrastructure, most especially roads. For example, in the mid-1970s, Bolivia had just a single hard- surfaced road some 300 km long, while in Colombia as recently as in the late 1970s a car could only be taken along two asphalt-covered roads running north-south (i.e. one that led south from Bogota as well as a little to the north, and a second that followed the Cauca Valley from Medellin in the north to the border with Ecuador), as well as one running east-west which linked Bogota with Cali. To this day there is no section of the Pan-American Highway that would link Panama with Colombia, and at the same time facilitate the flow of information, not so much about the resources and opportunities this region has to offer, as about the violence and unjust treatment meted out to indigenous peoples by the old and new political/military/ economic elites that control the land and the access to all resources. The peripherality of the Sierra de Piura from the point of view of environmental, political, cultural, social and economic-infrastructural factors The peripheral nature of a given study region manifests itself in terms of various features. In the case of the region under study here these are both physical features – a location on the margins of the national territory in northern Peru, and others of a social or economic nature. In the case of indicators of social and economic development it is only possible to compare the existing situation in the area under study with values reported for the country as a whole. However, it needs to be recalled that many indicators at national level do not meet criteria for a high level of development and so might be also considered to represent features otherwise typical for peripheral areas. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 26 MIROSLAWA CZERNY, ANDRZEJ CZERNY One of the key indices where peripherality and marginalization are concerned is the one relating to the level of education attained. Given below are data obtained in the course of fieldwork as regards the level of illiteracy in the communities studies, as well as the proportions that have completed either primary or secondary education. Table 1. Level of education in three regions of Frias District, 2012 Level of education Sector Bajo Sector Medio Sector Alto Level of education achieved ( ) Illiterate Non-completed primary Completed primary Non-completed secondary Completed secondary Higher No response 3.17 30.2 22.22 12.82 8.05 4.05 19.45 9.21 32.26 20.01 8.41 8.91 8.1 13.05 6.2 22.6 17.4 4.5 9.23 8.46 31.5 Source: Questionnaire-based research, December 2012 in: Co´rdova-Aguilar [2013: 42]. The table reveals that more than half of the population in the area studied has education to primary level at best. Furthermore, the interviews carried out make it clear that those claiming to have non-completed primary education are often unable to read and write. In the course of the interviews, local people complained about the quality of teaching – the lack of assistance, difficult conditions present in schools, and poor teachers with inadequate preparation to do their job. The three main postulates regarding an improvement in quality of life mentioned by respondents include raising of the level of education. According to data from Peru’s statistical office [Compendio Estadı´stico del Peru´ 2011, vol. 1: 134], as of 2010 Frias District had one doctor’s surgery and seven medical rooms. This number is insufficient to serve all the residents of the district’s villages, all the more so when reaching one of the medical rooms may be a process taking several hours to achieve. The crisis of medical care is further deepened by the fact that these potential treatment points are lacking both equipment and medicines. In the circumstances of lack of efficient medical care, diseases (including those of parasitic origin and with insect vectors) can spread effectively. There is a high mortality rate among infants and young children, as well as an under-nourishment problem among infants that is first and foremost the result of an inappropriate diet lacking protein and vitamins. Average life expectancy in Frias District is 67, as compared with 69.4 in Piura region and 72 in Peru as a whole [ibidem]. Among the economic factors which attest to peripherality is a prevalence of subsistence agriculture over other forms of economic use. In these circumstances, ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 1. HOW TO UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PERIPHERAL RURAL REGIONS? 27 the crop structure is dominated by food plants grown to meet families’ own needs. A poor state of roads makes any commercialization of agriculture difficult, such that the few attempts made to achieve this are the exception rather than the rule, with farmers who need also to overcome many challenges and obstacles of an institutional or bureaucratic nature if they wish to stay in business. In the course of discussions run with them, farmers complain about the role of ‘‘middle-men”, who buy at times of a glut in production and often therefore offer prices that fail to cover production costs incurred. Conclusions: rural peripheries – problems and opportunities for development in Peru When it comes to the criteria of peripherality presented above, all are met by the region in the north-western part of the Peruvian Andes selected by us to serve as an example. 1. To begin with the simplest (geographical) criterion, it can be noted how the region is at the edge of the country, not far from the border with Ecuador. It is thus literally peripheral in respect of the center, which is the Peruvian capital Lima. Peripherality thus denotes a great distance from the center, and hence a marginal location. 2. The consequence of such a location – far from the capital and in a natural environment quite different from that characterizing even the seat of the regional authorities (with Piura located on the Pacific Lowland) – is neglect as regards education and environmental protection. Doctors are absent, and the level of education is very low, inter alia because there is also a shortage of teachers. 3. A poor system of infrastructure (most especially as regards roads) makes it difficult to incorporate local producers into global supply chains, and even to have them meet requirements on the domestic market as regards on- time deliveries, freshness and continuity of supply. The further conclusion arising from the analysis is that circumstances of shortages and shortfalls are combined with a low quality of life to hinder the incorporation of sustainable development principles into the local economy. While the slogan is currently popular among local politicians and authorities, it is seen to mean very little in practice. Only once a certain level of development is achieved, as well as increased awareness and an entrenchment of the idea at middle levels (including also in agriculture) will it be possible to commence with a discussion on the introduction of sustainable development principles. At any earlier stage, this will just be a slogan that inhabitants will fail to respond to. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 28 Bibliography MIROSLAWA CZERNY, ANDRZEJ CZERNY Czerny M. 1985. Działalnos´c´ obcego kapitału a regionalne dysproporcje w Ameryce Łacin´skiej. In: Neokolonializm. Warszawa: PAN. Czerny M. 1986. Planes del desarrollo regional y la integracio´n del espacio en Ame´rica Latina. ‘‘Actas Latinoamericanas de Varsovia”, vol. 2, pp. 89–102. Czerny M. 1980. Urbanizacja w warunkach rozwoju zalez˙nego na przykładzie Kolumbii. Materiały z sympozjum: ‘‘Rozwo´j zalez˙ny krajo´w Trzeciego S´wiata”. Kozubnik. Czerny M., Co´rdova Aguilar H. 2014. Livelihood – Hope and Conditions of a New Paradigm for Development Studies. The Case of Andean Regions. New York: Nova Publishers. Czerny M. (red.). 2013. Bieda i bogactwo we wspo´łczesnym s´wiecie. Warszawa: WUW. Fritz P., Huber J., Levi H.W. 1995. Nachhaltigkeit in naturwissenschaftlicher und sozialwissenszaftlicher Perspektive. Stuttgart: S. Hirzel, Wissenschaftlich Verlaggesellschaft. Handke K. 1993. Poje˛cie ‘‘region” a symbolika ‘‘s´rodka”. In: Region, regionalizm – poje˛cia i rzeczywistos´c´. Warszawa: Instytut Slawistyki PAN, pp. 105–120. Hauff V. (ed.). 1987. Unsere gemeinsame Zukunft. Der Brundland-Bericht der Weltkommission fu¨r Umwelt und Entwicklung. Greven. Petzold H. 1997. Nachhaltigkeit und ‘‘neuzeitlicher Sta¨dtebau” – zur kulturellen Dimension der nachhaltiger Stadtentwicklung. IO¨ R-Schriten. Prebisch R. 1959. Commercial policy in the underdeveloped countries. ‘‘American Sociological Review”, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 251–273. Roszkowska-Ma˛dra B. 2009. Koncepcje rozwoju europejskiego rolnictwa i obszaro´w wiejskich; 5http:// gospodarkanarodowa.sgh.waw.pl/.../gospodarka_narodowa_2009_10_05.pdf4 (21.04.2015). Ros´ciszewski M. 1974. Przestrzen´ krajo´w Trzeciego S´wiata – problemy metodologiczne. In: M. Ros´ciszewski (red.) Przestrzen´ krajo´w Trzeciego S´wiata. Przegla˛d Zagranicznej Literatury Geograficznej, zeszyt 1–2. Warszawa: IGPAN. Santos M. 1971. La spe´cificite´ de l’espace en pays sous-de´veloppe´s: quelques aspects significatifs. Institut d’Etude du De´veloppment Economique et Social, Doc. De Travail, no. 28. Tuan Yi-Fu. 1987. Przestrzen´ i miejsce. Warszawa: PIW. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== PART A QUESTIONS OF RURAL SUSTAINABILITY ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 2. RECENT CHANGES OF WAYS OF LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD IN THE SPANISH RURAL MOUNTAIN AREAS1 Carmen Delgado Vin˜as Abstract: In this paper we present the results of the analysis of territorial dynamics that the mountain areas of Spain have had in recent decades from the identification and definition of factors, processes and outcomes. To this end, we have chosen several representative case studies of various autonomous commu- nities corresponding to different regions of the mountains of northern Spain (the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees Atlantiques), mountains of the north- west of Castilla and Leo´n, the Central System, the Iberian System and the Mounts of Toledo. Keywords: territorial development, socioeconomic dynamics, productive diversi- fication, mountain areas, Cantabria, Spain Cambios recientes de los modos y los medios de vida en las a´reas rurales de las montan˜as espan˜olas Resumen: El trabajo que aquı´ se presenta aborda el ana´lisis de las principales transformaciones sociales y econo´micas que han tenido lugar en las a´reas de montan˜a de Espan˜a en los u´ltimos decenios, a partir de la identificacio´n y definicio´n de procesos y resultados. A tal fin se han elegido varios casos de estudio representativos correspondientes a diferentes comarcas de las montan˜as del norte de Espan˜a (Montan˜as Canta´brica y Pirineos Atla´nticos), las montan˜as del Noroeste de Castilla y Leo´n, el Sistema Central, el Sistema Ibe´rico y los Montes de Toledo. 1 This paper summarizes the most significant results of a research project that has been developed over three years and which has involved researchers from several Spanish universities (Cantabria, Leo´n, Oviedo, Basque Country, Salamanca and Valladolid). Part of the overall results of the research was published by the members of research team in: C. Delgado Vin˜as and J.I. Plaza Gutie´rrez (ed.). 2012. Territory and Landscape in the Spanish Mountains. Spatial Structures and Dynamics. Santander: Liberia Estvdio, pp. 249]. The research that has given rise to this article is also financed by the research project ‘‘Landscape and Heritage of the Atlantic Spain and Navarra” CSO2012-39564-C07-05, 2013–2016. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 32 CARMEN DELGADO VIN˜ AS Palabras clave: Desarrollo territorial, Dina´mica Socioecono´mica, Diversificacio´n productiva, A´reas de Montan˜a, Cantabria, Espan˜a The main objective of the research project that supports this paper has been to detect and diagnose the conditions in which the current process of renewal and socioeconomic innovation is taking place in the Spanish mountain areas. We also attempt to prepare proposals for valorization of mountain landscapes and to identify the areas of greatest transformation and the areas with sensitive potential impact. To achieve the aims specified above, which constitute the core of the analysis in this study, we have taken different mountain areas as case studies (Figure 1) selected by voluntary basic criteria regarding the degree of change, the economic growth and the level of development reached. All mountain counties studied are singular territories with an extraordinary richness of resources, but also with a remarkable weakness, and some of the features are shared by most of these spaces put in evidence. Figure 1. Geographical location of studied mountain areas Source: Prepared by the team of researchers project from the map basis of the National Geographic Institute of Spain (IGN). ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 2. RECENT CHANGES OF WAYS OF LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD IN THE SPANISH... 33 The reality and the risks of depopulation One of the main problems suffered by many of these mountainous areas at present is the low level of human occupancy, as is evidenced by the predominance of an extremely low population density. Almost half of the studied municipalities have a lower average density of 10 inhabitants per km2 (Figure 2), a number considered as the threshold of ‘‘demographic desertification”, which makes territorial revitalization very difficult and stifles their chances of development without external populational contributions. Moreover, there are few munici- palities that do not even reach 5 inhabitants per km2; such a situation is in the Cabrera in Len, in the Highlands of Soria, in the Sierra de Ayllon and in the Serrota in Avila, while in Sanabria and the Villuercas data are obtained with a great difficulty. Only in those cases where the mountain areas are close to urban areas or strongly influenced by urbanization, as well as in those in which there is one or two important population centers, are densities higher, as in the Asturian Central High Mountain, the Sierra of Be´jar-Candelario, the Hernio Massif, the Valley of Tie´tar and the Gorbea Massif. On a regional scale, 9 out of the 17 study cases tackled surpass the average density (13.9 inhabitants per km2), whereas the remaining 8 do not reach it. Figure 2. Population density at municipal scale in 2010 Source: Project prepared by the team of researchers based on data of the National Statistics Institute (INE), census of inhabitants. ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 34 CARMEN DELGADO VIN˜ AS Apart from small differences introduced by the uneven surface dimensions of the studied counties, the faint current human occupancy is a relatively recent phenomenon linked to the low volume of population today living in these territories. In turn, the demographic shortage is the result of a regressive dynamic marked by the continuing population losses since the mid-20th century, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, but with temporal and spatial differences. And, what is even more serious, the intense decrease of human resources has been prolonged many times to the present. It is true that the decline has slowed in recent years, especially since the beginning of the 21st century, and sometimes population growth is produced in some centers that function as county towns, which on the other hand has contributed to rising of the intraregional imbalances. However, many of the mountain areas analyzed continued to lose population even in the years when their territorial contexts had significant growth; or when these territories decreased, the mountain areas suffered a much more pronounced reduction of their population. This is a common denominator which also affects well-placed mountainous regions. They have a positive economic dynamism because of their proximity and accessibility to urban-industrial centers, values of decline are much smaller. Some of these last counties have started to gain population in the last decade due to the development of their role as peri-urban residential space for nearby urban areas. The key factors of the decrease are: first, the persistence of rural exodus motivated both by the continuation of the crisis of traditional agricultural models and, at the same time, though at first sight it seems contradictory, by rapid modernization, especially due to difficult living conditions in the mountain areas and the lack of employment opportunities, particularly for women, the main protagonists of the recent rural emigration. A socioeconomic reality, on the other hand, explains the second factor, a negative natural balance which has existed for years and shows a state of biological exhaustion due to the falling birth rate and increased mortality. The corollary of this demographic decline is represented by the processes of masculinizing and aging in different degrees, which go to the extreme in some cases (La Serrota) and remain at somewhat lower levels in others, but they are always severe for the stability of the demographic structures, defined for clear features of dislocation. The recent presence of non-resident linked population, although favors the increase of population effective for a few weeks in the middle of the summer, does not help solve the fundamental problems of mountain populations. The regressive evolution of the population has also induced changes in the pattern of settlement of these counties. Except for some cases (Tierra de Pinares), the traditional system of settlements has consisted in the existence of numerous tiny villages, hamlets and ‘‘neighborhoods”, whose dimensions have been reduced more and more as the process of depopulation has progressed to the point that many of them, even without physical disappearance, have lost all their inhabitants ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 2. RECENT CHANGES OF WAYS OF LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD IN THE SPANISH... 35 and have increased the number of depopulated villages existing in some counties (Sierra de Ayllon, the northwestern Merindades). At the same time, there has been a redistribution of the few people who have remained in these villages and they tend to concentrate in the county towns, where they can have more facilities and services (healthcare, education, etc.) and can significantly improve their quality of life. Thus, with a few exceptions (Massif of Hernio), the mountain areas studied share today the population growth with the county capitals to the detriment of other towns. In another aspect, a cursory and rapid analysis of the data on the distribution of employment by productive sectors reveals that the areas where more traditional traits survive and are demographically most regressive are those where the weight of the agricultural sector is more evident and dominant in employment. The change of traditional economic basis of rural space One of the functions that the Spanish mountain areas played until today has been the exploitation of natural resources to be used in industrial and urban areas, sometimes in very remote areas. The best examples are located in the western part of the Cantabrian Mountains, both in the northern and in the southern slopes. This type of use remains today, even sometimes it has increased. But further, recently wind power production has acquired great importance and takes place on big wind farms in all regions studied. These farms are changing the landscape of the mountain areas being located even in the limits of natural protected areas, national and natural parks. However, they have been supported by the institutions and the inhabitants themselves because they provide income to the municipalities or to neighbors and generate employment for people. Mining activities have also had a special protagonism in some of the areas studied. Such is the case of the extraction of coal in the Asturian mountain counties since the late 19th century, in almost artisanal mines, although the large takeoff came from the demand generated during the First World War. Since then, coal became the main economic resource of the Central Asturian Mountain, at least until the second half of the 20th century. From the 1960s, mining activity began to take the first symptoms of a structural crisis which stretched during the 1990s and hit bottom in the 2000s, with the significant closure of mineshafts and open-cut mines, washing places and adjacent installations. Something similar happened in the county of Sanabria where, along the 1990s, the crisis in the mining sector was reflected in a progressive rise in unemployment, the gradual closure of local shops overly dependent on the mining industry, and in an alarming depopulation caused by early successive retirement plans that were implemented by the coal companies in the area. To the dismantling of mining, the mismatch of urban facilities and services and the emigration and aging of the population as the main obstacles to ##7#52#aSUZPUk1BVC1WaXJ0dWFsbw== 36 CARMEN DELGADO VIN˜ AS socioeconomic recovery, the social deterioration caused by a dramatic growth of unemployment, and the degradation of landscape and environment provoked by the use of highly risky production systems are now added. However, in general, the towns that exercise the function of county centers are being affected by all these damages with less virulence due to the centralization of public and private services and immigration of both many young and old people from smaller villages and hamlets with fewer facilities. Some forms of mining are a new risk for numerous mountain counties: the obtaining of gas via the technique of hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Behind this Anglicism there is the work consisting in fracture of the subsurface by injecting water, sand and chemical substances about 3,000 m deep in order to obtain the upwelling of gas. The environmentalist groups opposed this procedure because they fear damaging aquifers, moreover, the increasing tension in the geological faults and it is also generating a great alarm and the social rejection. Even if the name is new, the technique is not, because similar mining works have been practiced from the first century in some areas of Spanish mountains (Montes de Leo´n) with names more linked to their territorial consequences: arrugia (gallery) and, above all, ruina montium (collapse of the mountains), a technique that consisted in damming up water at the top of a mountain, dropping it hard, building underground corridors and extracting minerals. To the current procedure adds the use of more powerful chemical resources, but basically it is the same. Although there are still
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Sustainable development in peripheral regions
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