The rural–urban dichotomy is one of the most debated topics by the scientific community in territorial issues. In addition, many public entities and scientific studies have established the distinctive elements of rural and urban spaces by relating the decline of the rural ones with factors such as aging, low birthrate, the primary sector, unemployment, or poverty, among others. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to spatially study the current model of territorial organization of Spanish urban and rural municipalities as well as their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. To this end, GIS (Geographic Information System) tools were used to carry out a spatial autocorrelation (SA) analysis and to identify homogeneous groups of the variables considered. In conclusion, there are different demographic and socioeconomic realities in Spain, an urban one located on the coast with a positive situation and, on the other hand, a regressive reality composed of rural municipalities, among which there are villages whose situation is worrying, mainly located in the north of Spain.
RESUMENLa ordenación del territorio en partenariados rurales-urbanos es una de las cuestiones más en boga actualmente. El objetivo que con ellos se persigue es la organización óptima de los recursos y equipamientos en espacios rurales en crisis y con graves problemas demográficos y socioeconómicos. La región que se analiza en este trabajo, Extremadura, es un espacio predominantemente rural en el que existen desigualdades en sus realidades sociales, económicas y demográficas, agravadas en algunos espacios y que no son resueltas a través de las diferentes comarcalizaciones establecidas en su territorio. Así, en este estudio, se revisan las diferentes divisiones comarcales de la región extremeña con el fin de detectar su grado de solapamiento y de localizar, aplicando una metodología basada en el Análisis de Componentes Principales, los núcleos que están ejerciendo en la actualidad como cabecera comarcal y que podrían actuar como centros de una futura y única organización territorial. Para comprobar el nuevo diseño, se aplican modelos de accesibilidad y gravedad a través de Sistemas de Información Geográfica y softwares estadísticos.Palabras clave: Comarca; Ordenación del Territorio; Sistemas de Información Geográfica; Análisis de Componentes Principales; Análisis de Redes. SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF THE PARTNERSHIPS DIVISION IN RURAL AREAS WITH LOW POPULATION DENSITY: THE CASE OF EXTREMADURA ABSTRACTTerritorial planning trough the creation of rural-urban partnerships is one of the hottest issues today. The purpose is to organize efficiently the resources and equipment of rural areas in crisis y with demographic and socioeconomic problems. In this work, Extremadura is analyzed, which is a predominantly rural space in which inequalities in its social, economic and demographic realities exist. This situation is more worrying in some spaces and it is not solved through the different comarcalizations established in its territories. In this way, we review the different territorial divisions of the Extremadura in order to detect their degree of overlap and to locate, applying a methodology based on the Principal Components Analysis, the towns that are currently exercising as county seats, which could act as centers of a future and unique territorial organization. To verify the new design, accessibility and gravity models are applied through Geographic Information Systems and statistical software.
Due to the problems of the European rural environment, the European Union introduced territorial development strategies called the Leader Method (LEADER Initiatives and the now extinct PRODER Operational Programs implemented only in Spanish territory). The objective was to activate the economic development of these areas, to maintain the population and to slow down the migration and aging processes. During the last 25 years, these initiatives have been implemented in European rural areas, and more particularly in Extremadura, establishing new activities such as rural tourism, which has become the economic backbone of many families, complementing agricultural incomes. The development of rural tourism has led to the implementation of accommodation and catering services throughout Extremadura, adapting to the new tourist demands. However, after 25 years, its sustainability has been very different, with contextual variables that have conditioned its success. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the economic sustainability of the tourism offer financed by Leader and the extinct Proder in order to identify the factors that have determined its success in a territory with very diverse characteristics. For this purpose, a methodology based on two statistical analysis techniques (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) has been designed to establish behavioral patterns through the different context variables used. The results obtained have shown that factors such as investment, location, the presence of protected resources and accessibility are determining factors for the survival of the tourism offer.
Extremadura recibe desde hace 25 años fondos de la Unión Europea, aplicados bajo el Método Leader, encaminados a mantener la población y a complementar las rentas agrarias de las zonas rurales. Una de las actividades que más se ha promocionado ha sido el turismo mediante la creación de una oferta (alojamientos y de servicios de restauración), que sirva de soporte para satisfacer las necesidades de una creciente demanda. Sin embargo, el estudio del mantenimiento de dichas infraestructuras ha sido escasamente analizado dentro de la comunidad científica, y, por ello, este estudio tiene el objetivo de analizar el éxito y la permanencia de las empresas de alojamientos y restauración en dos de los Grupos Leader de la región extremeña con mayor inversión: Sierra de Gata y Valle del Jerte. Todo ello, mediante diferentes análisis estadísticos y de correlación que permitan no solo comprobar el grado de éxito, sino también que variables de contexto están favoreciendo al mantenimiento de estas empresas. Los resultados obtenidos indican, como media, que el 50 % de los negocios turísticos cofinanciados siguen activos, con diferencias entre los dos territorios estudiados y que variables como el índice de vejez, el tamaño de la población, la renta por hogar o la inversión realizada afectan directamente a la supervivencia de las infraestructuras financiadas.
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