Peripheral Transformations of Reindustrialization Expansion in Granada’s Second Periphery: The Case of the Temple Subregion

Abstract

The growth of the urban agglomeration of Granada has been accompanied by a centrifugal displacement of activities considered undesirable—such as logistics, industrial uses, waste management, or energy production—towards rural areas. As an illustration of this process, this research focuses on the analysis of the Temple region, a territory located southwest of the Granada urban agglomeration, which has undergone a significant transformation in land use since the late 20th century. Traditionally agrarian, this area has come to host facilities associated with reindustrialization, such as technology parks, solar plants, and other infrastructures linked to metropolitan processes. The main objective is to understand how and why this territorial mutation has occurred and its landscape implications. To this end, a mixed methodology has been developed, structured in two simultaneous phases. First, a review of specialized literature, urban planning documents, and techniques of photointerpretation and remote sensing has been carried out. Secondly, this has been complemented by semi-structured interviews with key territorial actors. Preliminary results point to increasing pressure on rural space to accommodate metropolitan functions that cannot be in the central area of the urban agglomeration. It is concluded that the Temple has become a functional "second periphery" of Granada. This case raises relevant questions about territorial governance, the redistribution of impacts, and the limits of diffuse urban growth.