Territorialization, Tourism and Protected Areas in Neuquén

A Periodization of Territorial Development in Neuquén from the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present

Abstract

This article reconstructs the models of tourism management and natural protected area conservation in the province of Neuquén, Argentina, in relation to the successive accumulation models and state intervention frameworks that have prevailed from the late nineteenth century to the present. Through a historical-territorial analysis structured around periods defined by changes in the accumulation pattern, the Nation-Province relationship and public intervention instruments, it examines how the Neuquén territorialization shaped a concentrated productive landscape dependent on energy rents, in which tourism and protected areas occupied subordinate and mainly discursive roles rather than structural ones. The methodology combines the analysis of secondary sources on regional history and political economy with the review of provincial and national regulatory instruments. The findings support the argument that the dominant extractivist matrix persistently constrained the management capacity of natural protected areas and limited the consolidation of tourism as a genuine diversification axis. The article provides an original periodization that integrates the dynamics of tourism, conservation and territorial development over a long-term horizon, contributing to debates on protected area governance models in Latin American extractivist contexts.