New policies for the management of periurban agricultural spaces. The case of L Horta de València (Spain)

Abstract

[EN] on march 12, 2018, the law of l¿horta de valència was approved. this law is the result of a very long process of technical and social maturity, of more than 20 years. the peri-urban agricultural area of l¿horta de valència has historical, environmental, economic and social values that have been recognized for a long time and currently occupies some 23,000 ha. however, the protection established in territorial planning is a passive protection only for land uses control, but does not include actions or initiatives to maintain agricultural activity which is precisely the object of protection. in the year 2000, a popular legislative initiative collected 118,000 signatures in favour of the approval of a law to protect l¿horta. this law was not approved, but it opened a period of consolidation of public awareness for the protection of this space and analysis of the active measures to be taken to ensure the maintenance of agricultural activity in a manner compatible with the landscape, as well as environmental and historical qualities. all this process, in which a large number of social agents have intervened, has finally culminated in the law approved this year. the present article synthesizes the contributions made on the subject and analyses the actions that the law finally regulates as instruments for the protection and revitalization of this agricultural space. particularly the article analyses its general approach; the elements to protect that includes especially the agricultural economic activity; the legal framework of the territorial plan; the treatment of abandoned lands through measures such as the `land bank¿; zoning and classification of agricultural land including measures for the treatment of urban edges; the creation of a council of l¿horta de valència to manage this area; the definition of the agrarian development plan; and the implementation of the general register of agricultural production.