Modelo multiobjetivo de asignación sostenible de usos de suelo

Resumen

Land use distribution is the core of the complex process of spatial planning as it constitutes the basis for most productive activities; it exhibits, therefore, the rate of resources exploitation by man. Spatial regulations and the establishment of maximum limits of resources utilization are urgent tasks at any territorial level as they would allow significant contributions to environmental preservation and biodiversity protection. The challenge is not simple; major economic interests, those emerged from the irrational forms of resources exploitation, are at stake. Ibero-American countries illustrate that situation; the Amazon forest devastation, the higher deforestation rate of Mexican forests, the chaotic and extended urban expansion of main cities, the unregulated and polluting mining activities, the agricultural soil degradation among others, epitomize their land use dynamics, besides the lag in developing integral systems for spatial planning. The development of scientific tools for a territorial sustainability is critical for any region, especially for poor and undeveloped countries. Spatial optimization models as informatics tools for decision making support systems have hardly been used in developed countries with a few traces of sustainability criteria. Facing this problem, a spatial optimization model (MAUSS for its Spanish initials) is developed in this thesis. It was applied to “Los Llanos de San Juan” in Puebla State (Mexico) due to the great land use transformations ongoing after an industrial allocation of the automotive sector (Audi) in a predominantly agricultural region. This thesis holds seven chapters and several appendices with supplementary information. Chapter 1 contextualizes the land use allocation problem whereas chapter 2 details the thesis structure and objectives. In Chapter 3 study areal is characterized; it is constituted by a population of 80.000 inhabitants from 5 municipalities that occupies an area of 526,5 square kilometers in an endorheic basin. It is surrounded from West to Southeast by a small mountain range. The importance of grain production and livestock products (for self-consumption and regional trade), the national significance of local pulses production, the agri-food industry specialization of the region as much as its ecological fragility calls into a question the feasibility of new industrial and urban allocations on the alluvial plain. The methodology of MAUSS is outlined in chapter 4; territorial evaluation criteria are defined including environmental, social and economic issues. In the first case, main global aspects are addressed for local assessments, such as water (through the concepts of Water footprint and polluting potential for surface and ground water) and Green House Gas emissions, quantifying the emissions per human activity defined, in both cases, as land use type. As another crucial challenge towards future population growth, social aspects refer to the alimentary self-sufficiency in the region which is inextricably linked to the environmental and economic subjects. This latter included as GDP at regional scale.