Author(s)

S. Garcia-Ayllon

Abstract

The model of urban development in settlements based on sprawl growth systems generates a strong problematic in terms of resource consumption. The management of these environments located between city and the countryside is complex, especially due to the difficult cohabitation between real estate development and agriculture. Water rights, land distribution, urbanistic regulation, etc. are elements to evaluate in order to establish real diagnoses about which must be the future of these territories. This paper presents the orchard of Murcia, an illustrative case study of anarchic urban development (a peri-urban area largely influenced by its traditional irrigation system). With the help of geospatial analysis systems, they will be raised as orchard-city integration models to enable an ordered growth of the urban plot, allow the survival of smallholder agriculture and minimize the impact on the landscape.

Keywords

peri-urban areas, sprawl growth, urban management, rural studies, land transformation