Facing the (un)sustainability of rural settlement systems in Southern Europe: towards a new territorial architecture based on cooperative territorial governance?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37230/CyTET.2025.226.2Keywords:
Rural depopulation, Institutional fragmentation, Territorial cooperation, Territorial reorganisation, “Defensive” functional thresholdsAbstract
We question the (un)sustainability of the rural settlement system within the broader context of rural shrinking in Southern Europe. Several structural challenges are common across many rural regions: depopulation, institutional fragmentation, loss of territorial functionality and weakened governance. The Spanish case, which clearly illustrates these issues, is analysed in detail. To address the unsustainability of the rural settlement system, it is proposed moving towards organisational models based on territorial cooperation, as an initial step towards a necessary and unavoidable functional reorganisation. It is highlighted: (1) the need to reorganise according to functional rather than solely administrative logic; (2) the importance of defining “defensive” functional thresholds; (3) the strengthening supralocal leadership; and (4) the consolidation of stable, territory-adapted institutional ecosystems that legitimise cooperation as a fundamental organisational principle.
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