Methodology for the determination of environmental systems in the periurban sectors. Mar del Plata-Argentina

The expansion of the Mar del Plata city, Argentina, generated a heterogeneous and highly dynamic periurban space. This paper characterized the major environmental systems in the southern periurban sector of the city. Its main objective is to provide initial basis for the understanding of this sector and to generate alternatives to solve or mitigate social and environmental problems. A methodological procedure divided into five phases was adopted: definition of ecological systems; identification of areas of socioeconomic vulnerability; characterization of dominant land uses; impact-assessment of activities and integration of results. The last activity allowed us to define eight environmental systems and three subsystems. The results provided a methodological framework for the differentiation of environmental units in areas of high heterogeneity from an integrated diagnosis of the ecological and socioeconomic conditions.