Abstract

POTOCKO, Alejandra. Transformations of a river territory: Urbanization and water regulation of the Reconquista river (Buenos Aires, Argentina). GOT [online]. 2018, n.14, pp.283-305. ISSN 2182-1267.  https://doi.org/10.17127/got/2018.14.012.

Reconquista is one of the three great rivers that cross the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires. It is a typical plain river whose natural conditions were not always considered in land occupation and in particular, in the metropolitan expansion of Buenos Aires that occurred since the mid-twentieth century. As a consequence, the natural overflows of the river affected an increasing number of population settled in the flood valley despite the fact that, since the 1970s, major hydraulic engineering works attempted to reduce the risk of flooding. Considering the relationships between urbanization and technical solutions against flooding, it is possible to identify three moments in the transformations of the Reconquista fluvial territory: the one of water retention in the springs, the one of rapid drainage and the one of the integral hydric regulation.

Keywords : Reconquista river; Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region; territorial transformations; urbanization; hydraulic works; interpretative cartography..

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