The terms rural environment, rural landscape, rural zone and others allude to concepts that identify the geographical space of the countryside, seen or qualified as opposite to the urban (what relates to the town "Town (rural population)" as opposed to the city). It is studied by rural geography.
A community is rural when, due to its supply of natural resources, its inhabitants manage to develop a sense of belonging to the territory such that they are willing to build a society based on said resources.
It is equivalent to the usual uses of the terms "field (agriculture)")" and "agro". The agrarian should not be confused with the agricultural, because while the former includes all of the rural, the latter is limited to agriculture (not including livestock or other rural activities). Sometimes the term "agricultural" is used.
The concept of rural is applied, at different scales, to the territory of a region or a locality whose economic uses are agricultural, agro-industrial, extractive, forestry and environmental conservation activities. Depending on each legislation, there are legal figures that protect or delimit it (as a non-urbanized or non-urbanizable area, differentiated from urban areas or urban expansion), especially to limit urban growth.
The rural landscape also includes areas dedicated to other uses (residential, industrial, transport or services) in municipalities previously classified as rural (according to numerical criteria of population - in Spain, centers of less than 10,000 inhabitants, in other countries more or less - or functional - that the predominant economic sector is the primary one -). The concept of agrarian landscape (limited to specifically agricultural, agro-industrial, extractive, forestry and environmental conservation uses) is then usually distinguished from rural landscape (more inclusive), although traditional rural habitat is also usually included as an element of the agricultural landscape, especially when it is dispersed. The rural landscape presents great diversity, which is based on its very different physical aspects (geomorphology, climate) and its human occupation (historical, legal, economic factors, etc.). Characteristic elements of the rural landscape are livestock and crops, as well as the different facilities and equipment used in each form of cultivation (dry or irrigated, livestock and intensive or extensive, subsistence or market agriculture, monoculture or polyculture); and especially the plots, which are classified by their size (not necessarily coinciding with the terms latifundio and minifundio, indicators of property concentration), shape and characteristics (open fields -, ,[1] - and closed fields --, etc.).
Delimitation of rural centers
Introduction
The terms rural environment, rural landscape, rural zone and others allude to concepts that identify the geographical space of the countryside, seen or qualified as opposite to the urban (what relates to the town "Town (rural population)" as opposed to the city). It is studied by rural geography.
A community is rural when, due to its supply of natural resources, its inhabitants manage to develop a sense of belonging to the territory such that they are willing to build a society based on said resources.
It is equivalent to the usual uses of the terms "field (agriculture)")" and "agro". The agrarian should not be confused with the agricultural, because while the former includes all of the rural, the latter is limited to agriculture (not including livestock or other rural activities). Sometimes the term "agricultural" is used.
The concept of rural is applied, at different scales, to the territory of a region or a locality whose economic uses are agricultural, agro-industrial, extractive, forestry and environmental conservation activities. Depending on each legislation, there are legal figures that protect or delimit it (as a non-urbanized or non-urbanizable area, differentiated from urban areas or urban expansion), especially to limit urban growth.
The rural landscape also includes areas dedicated to other uses (residential, industrial, transport or services) in municipalities previously classified as rural (according to numerical criteria of population - in Spain, centers of less than 10,000 inhabitants, in other countries more or less - or functional - that the predominant economic sector is the primary one -). The concept of agrarian landscape (limited to specifically agricultural, agro-industrial, extractive, forestry and environmental conservation uses) is then usually distinguished from rural landscape (more inclusive), although traditional rural habitat is also usually included as an element of the agricultural landscape, especially when it is dispersed. The rural landscape presents great diversity, which is based on its very different physical aspects (geomorphology, climate) and its human occupation (historical, legal, economic factors, etc.). Characteristic elements of the rural landscape are livestock and crops, as well as the different facilities and equipment used in each form of cultivation (dry or irrigated, livestock and intensive or extensive, subsistence or market agriculture, monoculture or polyculture); and especially the plots, which are classified by their size (not necessarily coinciding with the terms latifundio and minifundio, indicators of property concentration), shape and characteristics (open fields -, ,[1] - and closed fields --, etc.).
openfield
rang
township
bocage
The definition of "space" or "rural environment" is necessarily as ambiguous as that of urban space, given that the criteria for determining what is a rural population center versus an urban one are not uniform: the quantitative criteria (number of inhabitants) are different in each country or region, while the qualitative criteria (functions or socioeconomic indicators) are affected by different distortions, especially those produced by globalization, which has homogenized and tertiaryized ways of life throughout the world, also affecting the rural space; In whose own activities many of the scientific, genetic and technical advances carried out since the middle of the century in the so-called green revolution have been especially focused. Furthermore, compared to the traditional rural exodus (emigration from the countryside to the city), in recent decades there has also been the so-called "urban exodus" or "neo-ruralization" typical of post-industrial societies that has taken a significant number of people from the city to the countryside, either temporarily or definitively, for different reasons: leisure and rest, rural repopulation initiatives, teleworking, rural tourism, etc.
World distribution of agrarian landscapes proposed by Derwent Stainthorpe Whittlesey"):[2].
Soft pink and soft brown: extensive market livestock "and stable ranches") - low rainfall areas of western North America, South America (Venezuela, Argentina, much of Brazil), southern Africa, Central Asia or Australia.
Intense brown: slash-and-burn agriculture (in tropical areas such as the Amazon, Central Africa), Indonesia.
Purple: traditional sedentary agriculture in tropical areas") -Ethiopia, Great Lakes of Africa, Senegal, areas of the Andes and Mesoamerica, areas of Burma, the Philippines, interior of New Guinea-.
Soft green: intensive subsistence agriculture without dominant riciniculture") -in lower rainfall areas of Asia (northern China, western India"), Mesopotamia), Nile Valley and areas of southern Africa-.
Red: plantation agriculture") - tropical commercial monocultures such as coffee, sugar cane, cocoa, rubber.
Orange: Mediterranean agriculture") -southern Europe, Maghreb, Mediterranean Levant, areas of California, Chile and South Africa-.
Intermediate green 1: extensive market cereal agriculture") -in the grain belt and corn belt of the United States, the extensive or intensive condition of the exploitation is very variable, but in any case they are oriented to the market; the regional division of belts or "belts" is a disputed concept-[3].
Intermediate green 2: intensive market livestock and cereal agriculture") -great European plain-.
Intermediate green 3: livestock and subsistence agriculture in mid-latitudes"), subjected to strong recent transformations that orient them to produce for the market -inland Turkey and other areas of the Near East, areas of the former Soviet Union, areas of Mexico-.
Blue: dairy farming") -areas of northern Europe, areas between Canada and the United States called dairy belt")-.
Intense pink: specialized horticulture") -areas of the southern and eastern United States, in the south called cotton belt") due to the dominance of cotton-.
Gray: unproductive areas.
See[4] other simplified and updated versions based on the division: subsistence agriculture (itinerant - intensive - extensive - ricoculture) / market agriculture (plantation - Mediterranean - mechanized extensive cereal - polyculture and intensive pastures for food).
Other definitions and characteristics
When talking about the rural landscape, the fact that it is not uniform stands out, traditionally distinguishing in Europe, closed fields and open fields, with intermediate variants, the result of not only natural conditions but, above all, legal and historical.
Although traditionally these areas have been primarily used for agriculture or livestock, currently large surfaces can be protected as an area of environmental conservation (flora, fauna or other natural resources), indigenous lands, extractive reserves and have other economic importance, for example, through rural tourism or ecotourism.
Territorial planning in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Contenido
Para delimitar el área rural cada país en América Latina y el Caribe utilizan criterios particulares, como por ejemplo: (i) cantidad de habitantes, (ii) tamaño del asentamiento poblacional, (iii) disponibilidad de servicios básicos, (iv) población económicamente activa. Si bien no existe un único criterio para definir las áreas rurales, sin embargo es muy común considerar definiciones excluyentes entre el concepto de territorio urbano y el rural, no considerando áreas intermedias. En pocos casos, como en Colombia, la legislación de ordenamiento territorial considera el concepto de área de expansión urbana, refiriéndose a zonas que siendo rurales, por estar muy próximas del límite de la zona urbana, puede, previsiblemente cambiar de uso del suelo hacia actividades características del ámbito urbano.[5].
La necesidad de establecer criterios objetivos para definir áreas rurales y urbanas, ha llevado a establecer algunos parámetros que permiten aclarar estos conceptos, necesarios para la formulación de políticas públicas y la asignación de recursos públicos. En este sentido, puede considerarse una caracterización cualitativa, teniendo en cuenta aspectos jurídicos, administrativos y las actividades económicas desarrolladas en el área; y una caracterización cuantitativa, considerando la distribución espacial y la densidad de la población.
Por lo demás, hay que considerar que la organización del espacio, en particular entre las comunidades de las poblaciones naturales de las regiones rurales, responde a sus particulares cosmovisiones.[6].
Qualitative characterization
Administrative legal aspects. The instruments that address the issue range from the political constitution to laws and public policies that seek to frame the concept of rurality. For example:.
Activities developed in the area. In rural areas, primary activities predominate, such as: cultivation, fishing, mining, forestry extraction, and other agricultural activities.
Quantitative characterization
In Latin American and Caribbean countries, the number of inhabitants residing in a certain area is the most used method to differentiate urban space from rural space. Most countries consider that the limit for considering an area to be urban is having at least 2,000 inhabitants. Smaller towns would be considered rural.
Rural areas, in turn, can be classified into two large groups: dispersed rural areas; and nucleated rural area.
The dispersed rural area in turn can be:
The core rural area can be:
The precision of the word develop leads us to think about action for development, which requires forces internal and external to individuals; There are also push and pull factors to enter into a development process. At this point we open the discussion on development, not as a monolithic concept, but as a set of dynamic theoretical and philosophical ideas about the different ways to progress, grow or increase various areas of social life based on concrete and significant actions.
Territorial planning in rural Spain
If the limit of rural areas is established in municipalities with less than 2,000 inhabitants, there are around 5,800 municipalities in which some 3 million inhabitants would reside in Spain. The fact that, in many cases, each municipality includes several districts or smaller local entities stands out, which means that the number of rural localities is greater and therefore the number of inhabitants per locality decreases.
It is worth noting the great differences in the size of human settlements in rural areas. As an example in Spain, the difference between the average 327 inhabitants per municipality in Castilla y León compared to the 864 in Andalusia (INE in 2006. Note: it does not count districts, so counting population centers the figures would vary would increase the differences, since Castilla y León has more districts per municipality than Andalusia).
References
[1] ↑
[2] ↑
[3] ↑ Joel Garreau, The Nine Nations of North America, New York, Avon Books, 1981, 1re éd., 427 p. ISBN 0-380-57885-9 Fuente citada en Ceintures régionales des États-Unis.
[5] ↑ William C. Mantilla. Políticas públicas para la prestación de los servicios de agua potable y saneamiento en las áreas rurales. CEPAL- Naciones Unidas. Santiago de Chile. 2011.
The definition of "space" or "rural environment" is necessarily as ambiguous as that of urban space, given that the criteria for determining what is a rural population center versus an urban one are not uniform: the quantitative criteria (number of inhabitants) are different in each country or region, while the qualitative criteria (functions or socioeconomic indicators) are affected by different distortions, especially those produced by globalization, which has homogenized and tertiaryized ways of life throughout the world, also affecting the rural space; In whose own activities many of the scientific, genetic and technical advances carried out since the middle of the century in the so-called green revolution have been especially focused. Furthermore, compared to the traditional rural exodus (emigration from the countryside to the city), in recent decades there has also been the so-called "urban exodus" or "neo-ruralization" typical of post-industrial societies that has taken a significant number of people from the city to the countryside, either temporarily or definitively, for different reasons: leisure and rest, rural repopulation initiatives, teleworking, rural tourism, etc.
World distribution of agrarian landscapes proposed by Derwent Stainthorpe Whittlesey"):[2].
Soft pink and soft brown: extensive market livestock "and stable ranches") - low rainfall areas of western North America, South America (Venezuela, Argentina, much of Brazil), southern Africa, Central Asia or Australia.
Intense brown: slash-and-burn agriculture (in tropical areas such as the Amazon, Central Africa), Indonesia.
Purple: traditional sedentary agriculture in tropical areas") -Ethiopia, Great Lakes of Africa, Senegal, areas of the Andes and Mesoamerica, areas of Burma, the Philippines, interior of New Guinea-.
Soft green: intensive subsistence agriculture without dominant riciniculture") -in lower rainfall areas of Asia (northern China, western India"), Mesopotamia), Nile Valley and areas of southern Africa-.
Red: plantation agriculture") - tropical commercial monocultures such as coffee, sugar cane, cocoa, rubber.
Orange: Mediterranean agriculture") -southern Europe, Maghreb, Mediterranean Levant, areas of California, Chile and South Africa-.
Intermediate green 1: extensive market cereal agriculture") -in the grain belt and corn belt of the United States, the extensive or intensive condition of the exploitation is very variable, but in any case they are oriented to the market; the regional division of belts or "belts" is a disputed concept-[3].
Intermediate green 2: intensive market livestock and cereal agriculture") -great European plain-.
Intermediate green 3: livestock and subsistence agriculture in mid-latitudes"), subjected to strong recent transformations that orient them to produce for the market -inland Turkey and other areas of the Near East, areas of the former Soviet Union, areas of Mexico-.
Blue: dairy farming") -areas of northern Europe, areas between Canada and the United States called dairy belt")-.
Intense pink: specialized horticulture") -areas of the southern and eastern United States, in the south called cotton belt") due to the dominance of cotton-.
Gray: unproductive areas.
See[4] other simplified and updated versions based on the division: subsistence agriculture (itinerant - intensive - extensive - ricoculture) / market agriculture (plantation - Mediterranean - mechanized extensive cereal - polyculture and intensive pastures for food).
Other definitions and characteristics
When talking about the rural landscape, the fact that it is not uniform stands out, traditionally distinguishing in Europe, closed fields and open fields, with intermediate variants, the result of not only natural conditions but, above all, legal and historical.
Although traditionally these areas have been primarily used for agriculture or livestock, currently large surfaces can be protected as an area of environmental conservation (flora, fauna or other natural resources), indigenous lands, extractive reserves and have other economic importance, for example, through rural tourism or ecotourism.
Territorial planning in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Contenido
Para delimitar el área rural cada país en América Latina y el Caribe utilizan criterios particulares, como por ejemplo: (i) cantidad de habitantes, (ii) tamaño del asentamiento poblacional, (iii) disponibilidad de servicios básicos, (iv) población económicamente activa. Si bien no existe un único criterio para definir las áreas rurales, sin embargo es muy común considerar definiciones excluyentes entre el concepto de territorio urbano y el rural, no considerando áreas intermedias. En pocos casos, como en Colombia, la legislación de ordenamiento territorial considera el concepto de área de expansión urbana, refiriéndose a zonas que siendo rurales, por estar muy próximas del límite de la zona urbana, puede, previsiblemente cambiar de uso del suelo hacia actividades características del ámbito urbano.[5].
La necesidad de establecer criterios objetivos para definir áreas rurales y urbanas, ha llevado a establecer algunos parámetros que permiten aclarar estos conceptos, necesarios para la formulación de políticas públicas y la asignación de recursos públicos. En este sentido, puede considerarse una caracterización cualitativa, teniendo en cuenta aspectos jurídicos, administrativos y las actividades económicas desarrolladas en el área; y una caracterización cuantitativa, considerando la distribución espacial y la densidad de la población.
Por lo demás, hay que considerar que la organización del espacio, en particular entre las comunidades de las poblaciones naturales de las regiones rurales, responde a sus particulares cosmovisiones.[6].
Qualitative characterization
Administrative legal aspects. The instruments that address the issue range from the political constitution to laws and public policies that seek to frame the concept of rurality. For example:.
Activities developed in the area. In rural areas, primary activities predominate, such as: cultivation, fishing, mining, forestry extraction, and other agricultural activities.
Quantitative characterization
In Latin American and Caribbean countries, the number of inhabitants residing in a certain area is the most used method to differentiate urban space from rural space. Most countries consider that the limit for considering an area to be urban is having at least 2,000 inhabitants. Smaller towns would be considered rural.
Rural areas, in turn, can be classified into two large groups: dispersed rural areas; and nucleated rural area.
The dispersed rural area in turn can be:
The core rural area can be:
The precision of the word develop leads us to think about action for development, which requires forces internal and external to individuals; There are also push and pull factors to enter into a development process. At this point we open the discussion on development, not as a monolithic concept, but as a set of dynamic theoretical and philosophical ideas about the different ways to progress, grow or increase various areas of social life based on concrete and significant actions.
Territorial planning in rural Spain
If the limit of rural areas is established in municipalities with less than 2,000 inhabitants, there are around 5,800 municipalities in which some 3 million inhabitants would reside in Spain. The fact that, in many cases, each municipality includes several districts or smaller local entities stands out, which means that the number of rural localities is greater and therefore the number of inhabitants per locality decreases.
It is worth noting the great differences in the size of human settlements in rural areas. As an example in Spain, the difference between the average 327 inhabitants per municipality in Castilla y León compared to the 864 in Andalusia (INE in 2006. Note: it does not count districts, so counting population centers the figures would vary would increase the differences, since Castilla y León has more districts per municipality than Andalusia).
References
[1] ↑
[2] ↑
[3] ↑ Joel Garreau, The Nine Nations of North America, New York, Avon Books, 1981, 1re éd., 427 p. ISBN 0-380-57885-9 Fuente citada en Ceintures régionales des États-Unis.
[5] ↑ William C. Mantilla. Políticas públicas para la prestación de los servicios de agua potable y saneamiento en las áreas rurales. CEPAL- Naciones Unidas. Santiago de Chile. 2011.