Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Río Tinto.
2
This sector has been marked historically, geographically, and socioeco-
nomically by the presence of mining, an activity that is currently in decline, and by
livestock and forestry activities, which occupy over a third of the area.
Finally, the central sector, corresponding to the central-western part of the district
of Aljarafe, spans an area of 127 square miles (330 km
2
). Although it occupies slightly
more than one-sixth of the whole area, it has the highest population density and the
greatest physical proximity to the Guadiamar, although, paradoxically, its population
has the weakest bond with the river. Its traditional agricultural character is undergoing
a major and rapid change as it is increasingly absorbed by the urban sprawl of Seville's
second outer ring. Furthermore, as the east-west axis grows stronger, due to the
Seville-Huelva motorway, the north-south orientation of the Guadiamar is broken,
and the central section is becoming increasingly detached from both the northern
and the southern sectors of this area.
The total area has a population of 85,337 inhabitants (data from the 2007 Elec-
toral Register). However, it is still a relatively important population that represents sig-
nificant population growth (12.4 percent in comparison with the 1996 Electoral Reg-
ister
3
), in spite of the apparently rural nature of a large part of the area. This fact
clearly reflects the trend toward urban development in the area, particularly in its cen-
tral sector, corresponding to the western edge of Aljarafe, within the aforementioned
urban sprawl of Seville's second outer urban ring. Here, demographic growth was 17.5
percent over the 1996-2007 period. In this sector, the 2007 population was 44,919,
which accounts for over half the total population in the area. This gives an idea of the
weight and importance of the participation of this population for the consolidation
and development of the Green Corridor specifically and as a means of strengthening
the resilience of this territory as a critical link in the Mountain-Aljarafe-Marshland
system.
Another figure that accentuates the detachment of much of the population from
the territory in which they live—in general and, more specifically, regarding the Gua-
diamar River—is the comparatively low percentage of people who are native to the
municipality where they currently reside. Native residents, by this definition, repre-
sented just 54.7 percent of the total (data from the 2007 Electoral Register), which,
even though it is over half of the current resident population, still represents a decline
of over five percentage points in just eight years. This figure reflects the arrival of a sig-
nificant number of people born outside the territory and, therefore, arriving without a
material or affective bond with the area or the Guadiamar. This is confirmed by the
fact that the highest reduction in the native population between 1996 and 2007 was
found in the central sector, Aljarafe.
In addition to the foregoing, another factor that is indicative of the disconnection
of the local population from the territory in which they live, and specifically from the
river, is the change in economic activity. The economies in most of the municipalities
included in the area are rapidly losing their agrarian nature, with agriculture, live-
stock, and fishing activities currently employing more than half the population in just
two of the fifteen municipalities. In the other municipalities, the population engaged
in nonagricultural/livestock/extractive activities varies between 52 and 89 percent, av-
