Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
how little the politicians prioritized the active participation of the local population,
but it also constituted a handicap in terms of involving the population in actions and
projects that were already defined and under way before they were given the chance
to participate. This difficulty was further exacerbated by the fact that the participation
offered was restricted almost exclusively to “consultations,” with practically no capac-
ity to intervene in the decision-making and management processes—a far cry from au-
thentic participation.
However, I do not merely intend to criticize the politicians in charge of this proj-
ect for their lack of a determined willingness to promote real and effective citizen par-
ticipation, nor of the highly restricted understanding they have of this concept. Simi-
larly, I do not wish to overemphasize the attitudes of the technicians, who were not
particularly open to participation, or the insufficient resources devoted to the partici-
patory process. These factors are, of course, very important for social participation to
take place and develop as such, but the focus of this chapter is on the factors that af-
fect the capacity for participation among those who theoretically should have been
leading the Green Corridor participatory process, namely, the local populace. Several
conditions prevented (and continue to prevent) the local population from identifying
with the Green Corridor as a consequence of the geographical, socioeconomic, and
cultural characteristics of the area; this lack of identification works against the re-
silience of the space in terms of overcoming future crises.
Lack of Territorial Identity and Unity
The first issue is precisely the lack of territorial unity in the space of the Green Corri-
dor, and in a broader sense of the Guadiamar River, which acts as its axis. The Gua-
diamar runs from north to south through three clearly defined areas, not only geo-
graphically and ecologically speaking, but also sociologically, which is of greater
interest to us here. This separation is not a new phenomenon; it originated a long time
ago, although these differences have been accentuated in recent times. The protected
landscape of the Green Corridor is limited to the area affected by the toxic spill, but
this space and its development cannot be considered in isolation from the territorial
context in which the boundaries of this protected area are inscribed. From a human
perspective, there are three structural unities within the Guadiamar River basin,
based on the uses and affective bonds established by the local population with the
river. The Green Corridor contains fifteen municipalities, some of which have only a
very weak bond with the river. Of the total 797-square-mile (2,065-km
2
) area, 386
square miles (999 km
2
) are located in the southern sector, a transition space between
Aljarafe and the Guadalquivir Marshlands, acting as a nexus with the Doñana
marshes. This sector constitutes almost half the total area. A further 284 square miles
(736 km
2
) corresponds to the northern sector around the upper course of the Guadia-
mar, a transition area between the Sierra Morena and Aljarafe, linking the Sierra de
Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park and the Sierra Norte Natural Park in Seville,
and more closely connected with another peculiar protected landscape, the area of
