Contributions to Strategic Planning for the PeriurbanArea in the Municipality of Girón (Colombia)

Abstract

Objective: The absence of specific Colombian regulations governing peri-urban land and the rapid urban growth of the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area have had a negative impact on the organization and distribution of activities in areas that are part of the conurbation of its constituent municipalities: Bucaramanga as the core, Floridablanca, Girón, and Piedecuesta. In this regard, the peri-urban condition of these areas makes it difficult to carry out planning processes that recognize their particularities, qualities, and differences. Specifically, the río de Oro riverbank in the municipality of Girón, as a border territory between urban and rural areas, exhibits complex environmental, social, and economic dynamics. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the conceptual and regulatory notions that define and regulate peri-urban land in Colombia; to recognize the territorial transformations and strategic role of the area under study; and to propose alternatives for the adequate development of the physical environment, support infrastructure, and land use, based on a review and interpretation of the strategic vision proposed by public entities, the specific conditions of the area and the possibilities of guiding integrated development that responds to environmental characteristics, community needs, and rational land use. 

Materials and methods: The hermeneutic methodological framework, which was deductive, interpretative, and cross-sectional in nature, drew on three types of methodological tools: a literature review, physical observation and variable correlation matrices. The literature review of archives, technical documents, sectoral studies, and municipal and metropolitan spatial planning instruments was supplemented by physical observation of the study area, recorded in a field diary and through a photographic record. The deductive approach encompassed not only a review of the literature but also a contextual approach, supported by technical studies and fieldwork, on environmental and socioeconomic aspects that affect the transformation of the banks of the rio de Oro, specifically in the Chimita industrial park area, from an integrative perspective that allowed for the interpretation of the territorial dynamics of the peri-urban area under study.  

This laid the foundation for the development of three sequential and complementary stages: territorial characterization, situational analysis, and a strategic management proposal for the territory in the rio de Oro basin. The first phase, carried out using cartographic and georeferencing tools, identified three key components of the metropolitan peri-urban context: the physical environment, basic infrastructure, and land use. The diagnostic phase involved classifying, systematizing, and prioritizing information using variable correlation matrices that allowed for the interpretation of physical, operational, and functional interrelationships. Finally, the proposal phase enabled the definition of intervention strategies and actions, as well as a land use model aimed at optimizing spatial configuration, existing infrastructure, and land use and occupation dynamics. 

Results: The results correspond to the objectives set and the methodological phases carried out to achieve them. In particular, they materialize through identification of transdisciplinary conceptual bases of peri-urban development with an emphasis on its endogenous characteristics; the determination of categories of metropolitan peri-urban analysis in terms of the physical environment, the infrastructure supporting human relations, and land use; and the integrative analysis of the physical environment, basic infrastructure, and land use, carried out from an external approach that enabled the determination of opportunities and threats, and from an internal approach that enabled the recognition of strengths and weaknesses, all aimed at exploiting the potential to reverse conflicts of land use and occupation and convert comparative advantages into competitive ones. Finally, peri-urban planning strategies and actions were defined, complemented by the formulation of a land use planning model that seeks to leverage the relationships between urban and rural land, offer alternatives for regulating metropolitan urban expansion, and harmonize the location and distribution of human activities with criteria of sustainability, equity, and competitiveness, enabling the effective management of peri-urban land in Girón on the banks of the Río de Oro. Accordingly, the occupation model is geared toward the configuration of a polycentric metropolitan system, with a new centrality based on a park that combines sustainable agro-industrial activities, prioritizes the regeneration of the water cycle, and boosts the economy.   

Conclusions: Regarding the conceptualization, the findings reveal that, in terms of Colombian land use planning, peri-urban land does not receive the recognition it deserves nor is it subject to adequate regulations. Therefore, despite its value as a key element in strengthening urban and rural links, the prevalence of land use planning that prioritizes urban expansion over ecological protection and biodiversity conservation has led to technical contradictions in the regulation and management of socio-environmental and economic conflicts resulting from the rapid or uncontrolled expansion of peripheral areas. 

Concerning the territory under analysis, it was confirmed that the ineffective implementation of planning instruments in conurbations leads to uncontrolled urban expansion, while the prevalence of macroeconomic constraints ignores the agroecological potential of the territory and its capacity to offer social integration activities. In particular, even though the peri-urban areas located on the western bank of the rio de Oro in the municipality of Girón have ecological strengths represented by the dry forest and local biodiversity, they lack effective planning and management tools to protect the riverbank, regulate urban expansion and agro-industrial activities, prevent the formation of informal settlements, and harness the area's landscape potential for community recreation. In turn, land use conflicts are associated with the deterioration of natural resources, the concentration of agro-industrial waste and wastewater from Bucaramanga as the central metropolis and other surrounding municipalities, and the presence of informal settlements in risk areas.  

Contributions to peri-urban land use planning are aimed at coordinating development plans and planning instruments to recognize the strategic role of peri-urban land in controlling urban expansion; leveraging the presence of the primary road network and agro-industrial companies to offer productive chains of technological innovation that increase local competitiveness; and creating multipurpose areas for community facilities and public spaces for tourism, education, integration, leisure, recreation, ecological protection, agroecological use, and the reduction of atmospheric pollutants and socio-environmental vulnerability, formulated with criteria of sustainability, inclusion, and territorial competitiveness.