Poly-nuclear urban system, landscape identity and economic development: The Vega Baja of the Segura River (Alicante) case study

The geographical area of this study -the Vega Baja alluvial plain- is characterized by its intensively irrigated agricultural pattern. It is one of the last remaining Huerta European landscapes identified in the Dobris Report and dates back to the ninth-century. Since the 1990s, the introduction of new land uses has modified the configuration patterns of otherwise stable traditional settlements. The exceptionally rapid pace of this process has had a significant impact on the landscape, the environment, and on how the local population relates to their surroundings. Moreover, in the last twenty-five years, the local economy has undergone restructuring, producing a mind-shift among local communities and resulting in a meaningful loss of crop production surface to make way for town-planning developments. The preservation of the Huerta’s landscape identity requires a comprehensive and integrated reference framework to ensure sustainable development which is a goal advanced by this work. To this end, four key categories -Landscape, Agriculture, Habitat and Tourism- are defined and analyzed over three separate time periods that reflect the evolution of the territory. The aim of this paper is to provide an analytical territorial framework that can inform and guide future decision making —in the context of sustainable economic development— that should embrace a comprehensive approach to Huerta landscape identity values