Urbanization of the countryside affects rural areas, especially in the immediate surroundings of large cities. Normally, this occurs as an unpromoted process, but in Chile, it is driven by the legal framework. This research focuses on rural residential plots (RRPs) around the capital city, Santiago. The analysis seeks to understand the significance and consequences of RRPs during the last four decades and the role of a favorable legal framework in affecting their development. By examining data and official cartography on rural residential plots, the analysis shows a large phenomenon of rapid RRP development in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile (MR). The study confirms the existence of an ongoing process that is still partially latent and potentially both uncontrolled and evolving. This work demonstrates the negative effect that land liberalization policies can have by promoting territorial transformations that policymakers cannot subsequently control. The conclusions provide a critical perspective on the counter-urbanization process in the context of fragility and scarce resources.

European rural spaces are assuming a new residential role. In some such as Extremadura (Spain), the low population density and the practice of an extensive primary sector has allowed the survival of large areas and natural spaces that are desirable for urbanites. The residential growth caused by economic changes and tourist attractiveness has generated a new paradigm in which recreational use competes with agricultural and livestock use (until now the sustenance of the local economy). To record this change, it is essential to spatially determine what the rural environment means in this specific regional context and quantify the number of new existing homes. First, we resorted to the future competent legislation (born of experience and local knowledge) and territorial and urban planning, while second, we used the potentiality of all of the available free series of orthophotography and aerial photography including other tools such as Google Street View. This methodological process led us to discover a recent and important advancement of the recreational residential function. On balance, the data showed that recreational residential use is a leading actor in the change of the landscape and productive model of rural areas.

The dehesa is one of the main agricultural landscapes in the Extremadura region. It is currently undergoing a production crisis caused by changes in the market, including the abandonment of uses linked to its exploitation. This situation could lead to the disappearance of this unique landscape due to its anthropogenic nature. It is therefore necessary to develop alternative activities to improve its productive profitability, which could include sustainable hunting. The hunting literature recognizes the role it plays in environmental, economic, and social sustainability, with hunting tourism being one of the productive activities that generates the most wealth within the sector, where big game hunting is of great importance. In this scenario, the regions of Villuercas-Ibores-Jara and La Siberia have an ideal landscape for the development of this modality due to their physical characteristics. For this reason, this study carried out an analysis of the situation of hunting tourism in these areas through the dissemination of a questionnaire among the managers of rural accommodation in the study area. The responses recorded were processed using statistical techniques that allowed us to extract interesting results such as the importance of hunting as a tourist resource, with a large number of big game species living in these areas, the high presence of hunters in these lodgings during the hunting season, the role that hunting plays in environmental, economic, and social sustainability, and the need to create a specific tourist product that meets the needs of the demand of hunters.

The illegal urbanization of rural areas near cities has unveiled failures in urban management. In many cases, urban policies have ignored this fact until the spaces have consolidated. This is the example of the Sierra de Santa Bárbara (Plasencia, Spain), where legalization becomes one of the most feasible solutions. The present work analyses its residential evolution during the last four decades through historical orthophotos review. Along with this, it evaluates public–private conflicts (homeowners vs municipal government) using regional newspaper archives. The results indicate that the strategy of ignoring illegal development increases these problems, leading to legalization as the only possible urban policy. In conclusion, the administration’s response is delayed and forced by critical consequences, which prevents learning in urban policies and new solutions that join legality and sustainability.

La proliferación del alquiler turístico ha adquirido dimensiones importantes en muchos destinos, favorecida por algunas plataformas digitales como Airbnb. Su auge supone un incremento notable en la planta de hospedaje. De ello se deduce que es posible que actúen como competencia desleal, ya que no están sometidos a las normas que deben cumplir los alojamientos legales, desmitificando en este sentido el papel de la economía colaborativa para erigirse en un modelo de negocio más. Extremadura no ha sido ajena a esa tendencia, lo que hace que se haya planteado como hipótesis que la proliferación de este tipo de hospedaje profundiza en los problemas ocasionados por la competencia de establecimientos registrados, sobre todo en determinados tipos de alojamiento. Para comprobarla, se obtuvieron los alquileres promocionados en la plataforma digital, a la vez que se procedió a su georreferenciación, junto a la oferta registrada legalmente. Mediante una matriz de correlación se obtuvieron coeficientes que determinan una correspondencia importante entre el alquiler ilegal y las plazas ofertadas en hoteles y apartamentos turísticos, aunque al realizar el análisis territorial se observa cómo afecta a otras variedades de alojamiento, a la vez que tienen una clara vocación por las áreas más turísticas o sus proximidades.

Las dinámicas generadas por las urbes rebasan sus propias fronteras, trasladando parte de su crecimiento urbanístico a su área de influencia. Ciudades de rango pequeño, como Cáceres, proyectan una sombra que afecta notablemente a su entorno rural inmediato. La dispersión y multiplicación de viviendas en el suelo no urbanizable de pequeños municipios rurales comprometen la sostenibilidad del sistema de poblamiento. El objetivo del presente estudio es caracterizar teóricamente las particularidades que un fenómeno general como la rururbanización presenta en este contexto, y medir el influjo que tiene la presencia de una ciudad en los cambios experimentados en el medio rural. Para ello, el análisis debe además cuantificar y localizar las edificaciones aisladas y dispersas en el campo. La catalogación se complementa con un estudio de la legislación y el planeamiento urbanístico, así como una fiscalización temporal del problema. La conjunción de todas las variables (legales, ambientales, demográficas, etc.), entre ellas la espacial, se realiza con la ayuda de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica. De este modo, se descubre que el grueso de este crecimiento urbanístico además de transferido es irregular, incontrolado y se ubica fuera del suelo urbano y urbanizable de los municipios rurales.