Toward a More Integrated Approach to Planning and Implementing Local Development Policies to Tackle Rural Depopulation in Empty Spain

This study explores depopulation in municipalities with a very low population density in rural Spain. This issue has risen up the political and social agendas recently and represents one of the greatest challenges that face rural communities, which threatens their viability and causes many settlements to disappear. Despite the concept’s complexity, depopulation has been approached in a partial, unilateral manner by disciplines such as geography and economics. There has been a lack of research in important fields for territorial development, such as urbanism and regional planning. This study considers the need to incorporate these two disciplines into the study and management of depopulation. It suggests a more integrated, strategic approach to land use and regional planning in rural areas that is based on statutory spatial and urban master planning. This new approach could allow realistic, effective measures to be planned and implemented to contribute to the development of rural communities and tackle the population decline that threatens their survival. This study highlights the fundamental role that is played by urban and regional planning, integrated into the management of rural depopulation, particularly in what is termed Empty Spain. Using a comprehensive and strategic approach to spatial and urban planning that was developed in relation to territorial socioeconomic policy measures, innovative initiatives are determined that contribute significantly to the sustainability and development of rural communities, which consider the particularities of each territory and the structured participation of different territorial agents. Based on this, this study proposes the design and application of integrated planning strategies to achieve integrated and sustainable territorial development and counteract the adverse effects of population decline, therefore guaranteeing the preservation and revitalization of rural areas that are at risk of socioeconomic disappearance.