Content area
The present research focuses on the construction of the rural landscape in the Ribacoa border region, which corresponds to the current municipalities of Almeida, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Pinhel, Sabugal, and Vila Nova de Foz Coa. The study aims to identify the spatial organization logics shaped by the interaction between natural systems and human settlements, particularly within the context of territorial valorization in the late 18th century and its subsequent repercussions.
As a starting point, we reflect on the methodological and conceptual approaches used to interpret classic studies of the Portuguese rural landscape. Our research is based on an inquiry and relational analysis of the units that define the social organization of space. These include urban structures and rural agglomerations, agricultural lands, grazing areas, water management systems, manufacturing sites, surveillance and defense structures, taxation mechanisms, circulation networks, and symbolic landmarks. This analysis considers how border communities in Ribacoa navigated industrialization and modernization at the end of the Ancien Régime.
Beyond fieldwork and material evidence surveys, the investigation incorporates drawings of the region created by military and civil engineers during the military reorganization of the Portuguese border, which was driven by political instability in the Iberian Peninsula and broader European territories. These historical cartographic sources also provide insight into economic development proposals for the territory in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Regarding the liberal period, we examine the most relevant projects for regional economic development, which aligned with the physiocratic principles that guided state intervention at the time. The landscape analysis of Ribacoa integrates a terminological and morphological characterization of spatial organization units, combining semantic definitions with direct observation and evidence mapping at a regional scale. A localized approach to three central places in the Ribacoa region highlights the socio-spatial dynamics that shaped the transformation of its key rural, peri-urban, and urban areas.
This methodological framework not only contributes to the study of the region's historical landscape but also helps define operational strategies for the socioeconomic development of border territories. By understanding past landscape construction processes, this research offers insights applicable to future territorial interventions, both in Ribacoa and in other regions with similar developmental characteristics.