L’AGRICOLTURA PERIURBANA : UN NUOVO IMPORTANTE SOGGETTO NELLA STORIA DEL PAESAGGIO AGRARIO

The current situation of the agricultural suburban areas seen as strategic framework for the management of the territory is firstly described. Then a research focused on the transformation processes occurring in productive agricultural tissue is shown carried out through a survey on the structural and social conditions of a sample of farms located in the peri-urban area of Parma. By comparing the current data with those obtained in a identical survey conducted twenty-five years earlier the major changes in the production structure are highlighted. The identification of the factors that led to the decay or the survival of farms, together with the analysis of the land evolution and the spatial planning policies can provide useful information relevant to a strategy of protection and promotion of an important part of the countryside.