Assessment Methodology for Physical Vulnerability of Vernacular Architecture in Areas Affected by Depopulation: The Case of Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Eva Tortajada Montalvá, Camilla Mileto () and Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares
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Eva Tortajada Montalvá: Centro de Investigación en Arquitectura, Patrimonio y Gestión para el Desarrollo Sostenible (PEGASO), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Camilla Mileto: Centro de Investigación en Arquitectura, Patrimonio y Gestión para el Desarrollo Sostenible (PEGASO), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares: Centro de Investigación en Arquitectura, Patrimonio y Gestión para el Desarrollo Sostenible (PEGASO), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-25

Abstract: The intensity with which the phenomenon of depopulation has affected rural municipalities in Spain between 1950 and 2022 has led to a loss in the intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge, values and customs. Sociocultural loss entails associated physical risks: the abandonment, demolition, and loss of vernacular architecture. This research analyzes the evolution of this type of architecture in a period of acute depopulation and its current state of conservation. A total of 180 case studies in the region of Comunidad Valenciana are analyzed through four factors affecting the physical vulnerability of dwellings: year of construction, state of conservation, type of use, and a combination of all three. Data management software is used to combine all the information and produce the results in a tabular and graphical format, while the Geographic Information System is used to draw up risk maps showing the results. These results are then divided into analysis groups created according to the degree of depopulation observed in the years mentioned. This made it possible to identify the relationship between depopulation and the conservation of vernacular architecture, showing the risk level for each case study, and thus creating an analysis methodology applicable in other territories affected by depopulation at a national and international level.

Keywords: depopulation; vernacular architecture; risks; vulnerability; dwelling; resilience; sustainable development; assessment methodology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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