Integration Versus Fragmentation, the Role of Minor Rural Networks in Rural Cultural Landscapes. A Study-Case in Spain

Julio Plaza Tabasco,Héctor S Martínez Sánchez-Mateos

doi:10.3390/su13094765

Julio Plaza Tabasco, Héctor S Martínez Sánchez-Mateos

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094765

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Apr 23, 2021
Citations: 1	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Castilla-La Mancha

Abstract

This work deals with the dichotomy between integration and fragmentation caused by artificial elements in the cultural landscapes, especially minor rural roads. In Europe, the rural matrix dominates the configuration of landscapes, and the agents of fragmentation can be analysed from different perspectives. For this purpose, the Land Parcel Information System, designed for the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is used as a data source to feed the indicators, allowing a high detail analysis, down to the parcel unit. It is applied to a case-study in Spain: the province of Ciudad Real. Here we find different landscape units with different rural and agrarian profiles to test the hypothesis. We use three indicators that allow us to explore the configuration of different cultural landscapes under the fragmentation perspective, using minor rural roads and other elements of the rural matrix that can only be observed at large scale. Then we calculate a composite indicator summarizing the fragmentation results of each unit. Results reveal a significative variability of fragmentation results regarding the land use and spatial patterns of the different cultural landscapes dominated by agrarian and rural factors, with a strong correspondence with the minor rural network underneath. Therefore, fragmentation can be interpreted as a dual process in cultural landscapes where the different land uses have different relations with the infrastructure network.

Highlights

The basic premise of this research is that rural roads are ambivalent elements in cultural landscapes: while they are responsible for territorial functionality and the cohesion of spaces at the local/landscape scale, their presence leads to fragmentation and internal division of the landscape
We develop our objectives by focusing on two specific aspects developed by two Research Questions (RQ, Table 1): firstly (RQ1), we will try to understand the importance of the minor rural road network together with other elements in the fragmentation of cultural landscapes
The fragmentation of cultural landscapes is a phenomenon that can be interpreted as a gradient and in different ways depending on the factors considered

Summary

Introduction

The basic premise of this research is that rural roads are ambivalent elements in cultural landscapes: while they are responsible for territorial functionality and the cohesion of spaces at the local/landscape scale, their presence leads to fragmentation and internal division of the landscape. Our main objective is to study the role of minor rural road network from the perspective of cultural landscapes and as an expression of the processes that fragment and integrate them. In Europe, the landscape is characterised by the strong influence of the interaction between natural conditions and the agricultural use of the territory [3], forming for the most part a mosaic of cultural landscapes, a combination of natural and social aspects. The road network is strongly interdependent with the rest of land uses of landscapes, since its essential function is to provide the best possible connectivity between places and activities, but at the same time it generates impacts in the ecological sphere, essentially fragmenting landscape units. The integrity and continuity of the units in which the landscape is arranged and differentiated is considered an essential factor in the balance

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Conclusion