Market regulation for conserving agricultural soil. Urban-rural interface, metropolitan area of Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

The uncontrolled urban expansion leads to strong speculative real estate pressure and consequently to the disappearance of small farms.The focus is on the urban-rural interface of the metropolitan area of Mendoza, Argentina, in which it is tried to demonstrate that this phenomenon is due to the normative instruments applied to order the land uses have not been able to regulate the urban land market nor conserve agricultural land. The competitive relationships of the land market and the differentiations that arise between land uses are analyzed and the role of the State is addressed to correct imperfections and speculative biases. The theoretical contributions of Ciriacy-Wantrup make it possible to assess the contributions of Territorial Planing to plan and regulate land uses through the application of instruments proposed in Law Nº 8051/09 Territorial Planning and Uses of Soil of Mendoza. Although the results achieved can not be generalized, as it is a case study, the applicability of the methodology to other cases of similar characteristics is verified and new contributions are provided to the problem, contributing to maintaining the conditions of urban and rural sustainability and improve the living conditions of those who live in urban-rural interface.