Latent Rural Depopulation in Latin American Open-Pit Mining Scenarios

The increasing expansion of open-pit mining and the drastic transformations of land use in Latin America have led to processes of rural depopulation among traditional inhabitants, causing unsustainability in rural life systems. In the context of profound, worldwide territorial and environmental tran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Land (Basel) 2022-08, Vol.11 (8), p.1342
Main Authors: Uribe-Sierra, Sergio Elías, Mansilla-Quiñones, Pablo, Mora-Rojas, Alejandro Israel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anniversaries
Case studies
Climate change
Deforestation
Demographics
depopulation
Economic aspects
Environmental aspects
Environmental conditions
extractivism
Geographic information systems
Land use
Literature reviews
Lodging
Measurement
Migration, Internal
Mines and mineral resources
Mining
mining territory
Natural resources
Open pit mining
Population decline
Real estate
Remote sensing
Rural areas
Rural environments
Rural populations
rural territory
Social aspects
socio-environmental conflict
Sparsely populated areas
Urban development
Water availability
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Summary:The increasing expansion of open-pit mining and the drastic transformations of land use in Latin America have led to processes of rural depopulation among traditional inhabitants, causing unsustainability in rural life systems. In the context of profound, worldwide territorial and environmental transformations, it is necessary to anticipate change scenarios and identify territories prone to rural depopulation. The objective of this article is to determine rural depopulation propensities through an exploratory multivariate study of the demographic, social, economic, and environmental conditions of territories where open-pit mining projects are being installed. First, a theoretical model is created using the grounded theory method for the literature review. Subsequently, indicators are analyzed using quantitative methods and geographic information systems. The results show that latent rural depopulation tends to be generated in territories with socio-environmental vulnerability, where advanced mining extractivism makes them prone to future depopulation. Some factors possibly leading to decreased rural population include the reduction of water availability; deforestation and depeasantization, due to urban development; gentrification, due to real estate speculation in providing lodging and food services to the mining project; and drastic changes in land use.
ISSN:2073-445X
2073-445X
DOI:10.3390/land11081342