Ribeiro, C.; Viana, C.M.; Girão, I.; Figueiredo, E.; Rocha, J. The Spatiotemporal Links between Urban and Rural Regions through the Sale and Consumption of Agri-Food Products. Sustainability2023, 15, 12038.
Ribeiro, C.; Viana, C.M.; Girão, I.; Figueiredo, E.; Rocha, J. The Spatiotemporal Links between Urban and Rural Regions through the Sale and Consumption of Agri-Food Products. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12038.
Ribeiro, C.; Viana, C.M.; Girão, I.; Figueiredo, E.; Rocha, J. The Spatiotemporal Links between Urban and Rural Regions through the Sale and Consumption of Agri-Food Products. Sustainability2023, 15, 12038.
Ribeiro, C.; Viana, C.M.; Girão, I.; Figueiredo, E.; Rocha, J. The Spatiotemporal Links between Urban and Rural Regions through the Sale and Consumption of Agri-Food Products. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12038.
Abstract
The links between rural and urban have often been the subject of study in Portugal. Nevertheless, the asymmetries between rural and urban have not ceased to increase over the last decades, contributing to an imbalance of economic, social, and territorial dimensions between regions. In order to counter this trend, policies to attract the population and tourism have been endorsed but have not been sufficient to promote territorial cohesion. This makes it necessary to rethink the capacity and the potential of rural territories in terms of mobilising their resources and, through them, promoting new and/or renewed relations with urban territories. This article aims to explore and map the links between urban and rural areas by analysing the routes taken by agri-food products, from production to marketing, with the support of a spatial analysis, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For that, we analysed a set of specialised and/or gourmet shops in Oorto and Lisbon, and their relations with the territories from which the commercialized agri-food products come. Most of these products originate in the inland rural regions of the country, and there is a clear geographical connection between the shops analysed and specific territories. Thus, it was possible to verify the increase in interest and consumption of agri-food products of rural origin and the spontaneous increase of this type of shop in the cities analysed, as well as identify the target audience of the shops and the spatial influence they have in the respective cities. These shops, in addition to selling agro-food products, are also promoters of rural territories in an urban environment.
Keywords
Specialized store; Gourmet store; Agri-food products; Urban-rural linkage; Local production; Territorial cohesion; Spatial analysis; Geographic Information Systems
Subject
Social Sciences, Geography, Planning and Development
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
