The (Evolving) Vineyard’s Age Structure in the Valencian Community, Spain: A New Demographic Approach for Rural Development and Landscape Analysis

Abstract

Vineyards have assumed a key role as rural landmarks in recent decades. Investigating vineyard dynamics and contexts may reveal various economic, cultural, and environmental aspects of rural landscapes, which can be linked to land-use changes and major soil degradation processes, including soil erosion. As a contribution to rural landscape studies, the purpose of this work is to investigate the spatial distribution of vineyard plots in the Valencian community, located in the eastern area of the Iberian Peninsula, focusing on the final product, the type of vineyard and how long each vineyard has been settled over time. The work provides a comprehensive analysis of a wine-growing landscape, considering strategic (spatial) assets in present and past times. Vineyards were interpreted as a distinctive landmarks that give value to local economies; basic knowledge of how long different types of wine plots have been present in the Valencian community is useful when estimating their degree of sustainability and formulating suggestions, policies, and strategies to prevent processes of landscape degradation at various spatial scales.