A Politico-Ecological Approach of Transitional Spaces In Social Ecological Systems

Abstract

As spatial properties that systems theoretically have, Socio-Ecological Systems are characterized by dynamism and mobility, therefore, are subject to changes in the space they occupy in the biosphere. In land ecosystems, these changes are understood as processes of evolution over time, or the result of extreme natural events, or transformation of the natural space induced by human activities. These spatial changes produce effects on the land surface and groundwater of ecosystems colonized or penetrated by elements, individuals or populations belonging to other ecosystems. These are the so-called Transitional Spaces between ecosystems. Throughout the continuous geographical space, these spatial transitions affect human and not human ecosystems in different ways. Given their ambiguous characteristics and their indefinite temporal location between urban, rural or natural spaces, transition spaces deserve to be investigated in order to know their properties and functions within the cartography that represents complex socio-ecological systems. The research is conducted from a particular perspective of Political Ecology. For this I proceed to develop an epistemological exercise on the political ecology syntagma in order to approach its concept and object of study as a hybrid discipline between social sciences and natural sciences. Interdisciplinarity as a practice, a dialectic vision regarding anthropocentrism, environmental perception as a method for an ontology of human ecology, The ecosystem as a unit of spatial analysis. These would be some of the characteristics of my ecological-political perspective. But what does transitional space mean for political ecology and what does it add to its theory? The question led me to seek the integral concept of ecosystem and to support myself in the General Systems Theory to analyze the notions of boundary and external environment as part of the classic concept of system. At that point, the notion of transitional spaces emerges implicit when recognizing the dynamic spatiality of other existing systems. v Since the research is not linear but interdisciplinary and convergent, a brief anthology of geographic and socio-spatial political thought is presented in order to connect the issue of transitional spaces with the point of view of the social sciences. Various socio-geographical, deterministic, anthropocentric, Darwinian, Marxist, modernist theories give an overview of the issues related to space and nature. With the emergence of the spatial turn, new concerns for political sociology, geography and environmental sciences are explained by the phenomenon of urban growth at the global level. In the same way, I introduce the topic of ecological spaces, specifically the concept of Ecotone, the space of transition between diverse natural ecosystems. The use of the notion of ecotone is based precisely on the perspective of the concept of political ecology developed previously. This, in turn, will allow me to introduce the FLACAM methodology into the research, which among its components has the virtue of identifying and analyzing the spatial phenomenon of physical and social Interfaces, that is, spaces of transition within human ecosystems. Several graphics and charts show the potential properties and functions of different kind of existing interfaces and ecotones. My proposal converges in using these concepts as planning tools for transitional spaces identified as Rurban Regions and metropolitan areas. A final reflection on the need for spatial research on global urban expansion and the theoretical and pragmatic advantages of the concept of intermediate cities closes the main body of the investigation.