Strategic Territorial Plan for the Calderona Mountain Range

Abstract

Calderona´s outstanding environmental and visual resources have made it one of the preferred destinations for the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Valencia Metropolitan Area, imposing at the same time a strong pressure for urbanization and public use. In this context, the creation in the year 2002 of a Natural Park, has positively released the pressure over this territory but, at the same time, has emphasised some of the most typical rural conflicts: the role and continuity of agriculture, the low sustainability levels of some urban typologies, the lack of a diversified economy, the preservation of local identities and the need of a balanced governance. All these issues are analyzed and developed in the Strategic Territorial Plan for the central area of the Calderona Mountain Range. A plan promoted by 5 municipalities and prepared by a multidisciplinary team. The document includes a multilayer analysis of the territory, the definition of a set of strategies and, finally, 10 thematic plans (Landscape and Territory, Forestry and Natural Heritage, Agriculture & Stockbreeding, Hunting, Urban Planning, Infrastructures and Transport, Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Public Use, Socioeconomic development & Sustainability, and Governance), which were accompanied by 18 pilot studies that exemplified some of their key aspects. The whole Plan shows the benefits of regional and transversal planning and was developed in collaboration with regional and local authorities and in parallel with a public participation process.