Settlement and Land Management: A Spanish Territory Study
Settlement and Land Management
Settlement refers to the process of establishing settlements and residential areas for populations. It also involves the exploitation and occupation of previously uninhabited territories.
We can distinguish between rural and urban settlements. In Spain, a municipality with fewer than 2,000 residents is considered rural, while one with more than 10,000 is considered urban.
Rural settlements are those where more than a quarter of the workforce is employed in the primary sector.
If the proportion of the population engaged in the primary sector is less than a quarter, the settlement is classified as semi-urban.
A particular case is that of municipalities with more than 10,000 people whose economy depends heavily on primary sector activities. These are called agrociudades.
Studying a settlement involves examining the evidence of human occupation, such as houses and buildings, and how they are distributed and related to the landscape. These elements determine the management of a defined territory and its settlement system. The territory is organized based on the relationships between different settlement systems and subsystems.
This relationship is the product of economic, social, and political factors. It depends on how the territory was settled and how it has evolved over the centuries.
Pre-Roman Antiquity
Many Spanish people trace their origins to pre-Roman times, including the indigenous cultures and the colonies founded by Mediterranean civilizations.
Many settlements built by indigenous people had a defensive purpose, as they were walled and located on high hills.
The settlements founded by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks were located in easily defended coastal sites, such as peninsulas. These settlements have evolved into populations that survive today, such as Cadiz, Malaga, Cartagena, and Alicante.
Roman Times
As defense became less important, settlements were abandoned, and new settlements were founded near cropland or at the crossroads of communication routes.
The creation of a dense network of roads and an efficient administration led to the emergence of a network of cities. Many Spanish cities have their origins in Roman cities or camps.
The Middle Ages
With the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a ruralization of the territory. During the Middle Ages, conflicts between Muslims and Christians led to the depopulation of vast areas, known as “no man’s land” due to insecurity.
In the lands conquered by the Christian kingdoms, repopulation occurred through the founding of new, concentrated settlements that were easy to defend, often next to a castle.
In Valencia, Murcia, Extremadura, and Andalusia, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations coexisted.
Modern and Contemporary Times
In the eighteenth century, during the reign of Charles III, new towns were founded to address the depopulation of the southern peninsula. These towns were located between Écija and Córdoba and in Sierra Morena, including the foundation of La Carolina.
The nineteenth-century industrialization marked the beginning of the growth of industrial cities, the construction of urban extensions, and migration from the countryside to the city.
During the twentieth century, urban growth accelerated, and rural depopulation increased.