Abstract

PINHEIRO, Catarina de Almeida. Sustainability in diffuse territory: reflections on the way forward. CIDADES [online]. 2021, vol.sp21, pp.139-156.  Epub Apr 15, 2021. ISSN 2182-3030.  https://doi.org/10.15847/cct.20487.

Sustainability entered on media's agenda, and by that on territorial planning, with the Brundtland report in 1987. These preoccupations were renewed with Rio Declaration in 1992. The 17 Sustainable Development goals defined in 2015 constitute the most recent guide to the sustainable transformation of the world. Urban sustainability assumes especially concern given the continuous increase of spatial extent, population, and ecological transformations. Considering the interdependences on ecological functioning, urban sustainability demands a holistic and systemic view of the territory and the adoption of relational thinking. In addition, it also requires the eradication of the common vision of cities as 'sterile islands', which denies categorically the ability of urban areas to perform any ecological function. As well, the abandonment of old dichotomies (e.g., city/country, urban/rural), which do not capture the complexity of the territory, in particularly the diffuse urbanization context characteristic of the Northwest of Portugal (known as Minho). Where the continuity between the city and countryside and the permeability of functions always has been present. In this context, we seek to highlight the challenges in operationalization and achieving sustainability in the specific context of diffuse urbanization. Concurrently, we intend to promote a debate - neither deified nor demonized - about this unique urban reality.

Keywords : Diffuse urbanization; land management; sustainability; 'bioregion'; ecological network; resilience..

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