The Agrarian Park in the planning of urban sprawl in drylands: the case of Guaymallén, Mendoza (Argentina)

The urban sprawl on rural lands generates urban-rural interface areas, characterized by the loss of historical agricultural activities and ecosystem services, spatial fragmentation, and social segregation due to how the new neighborhoods materialize. In a dryland ecosystem with limited availability of natural assets, it is essential to plan the growth of the city growth over fertile land. The objective is to investigate the figure of the agrarian park for the protection and enhancement of agricultural territories and its articulation with new residential uses. To do this, primary and secondary sources of information were analyzed along with semi-structured interviews with local actors and direct observation in fieldwork based on a case of study: the department of Guaymallén, in the province of Mendoza (Argentina). The characteristics of the case are analyzed through the analysis of the cultural landscape, and the articulation between natural and cultural factors generates a singular landscape in the urban- rural interface. The agrarian park allows the expression of social, economic, and environmental benefits for protecting and enhancing agricultural landscapes and creating complementary activities for residential uses that are established nearby. The conclusions indicate that the figure of the agrarian park is adequate to rescue the characteristics of the varied agricultural territories, besides ensuring the interaction between different uses and actors to achieve local development.