Crecimiento urbano y transformaciones territoriales en el sector sur del periurbano marplatense.

As cities grow and expand, transition zones called peri - urban areas are created, which present several difficulties for local administration. Mar del Plata peri-urban areas are not an exception, as they constitute a dynamic territory, which is subject to a number of territorial transformations. The southern area of this territory (the study area) has shown a high dynamism, especially during the last 4-5 years, although this has not been properly recorded in previous papers. It also presents a wide range of activities and significant socio-territorial imbalances and environmental impacts. Within this context, this paper analyzes the territorial transformations in the mentioned area since the 1990s up to present day, taking into account the main stages of urban development (expansion, consolidation and densification). On the basis of previous studies, it comprehensively analyzes the transformations based on the definition of territorial spheres (concept of regime), which symbolize the main uses of the area lands and, at the same time, it qualitatively assesses the intensity of changes produced in each territorial sphere (concept of rupture). An in-depth knowledge about the sector's dynamics and the territorial transformations will constitute the basis to generate territorial ordering strategies for the area, methodology which could be applied later to other peri-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]