Territorial resources in irrigated arid regions: processes of reterritorialization and regeneration

The Gargantini Winery, Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

In contemporary productive rural territories, global economic restructuring and the loss of the functional centrality of historical infrastructures have triggered processes of obsolescence and progressive abandonment of heritage assets, with impacts on the sustainability of these systems. This dynamic is particularly relevant in irrigated arid regions. In the department of Rivadavia, in the eastern part of the province of Mendoza (Argentina), habitat deterioration is expressed through the underutilization and abandonment of heritage infrastructures and systems. The objective of this study was to analyse the process of symbolic reterritorialization activated by the enthronement of the Virgin of the Carrodilla at the Gargantini Winery, a viticultural heritage building, and to assess its effects on the sense of belonging, territorial integration, and the projection of future uses of the site. The methodological design integrates territorial analysis using GIS with an ex-post evaluation of social perception based on surveys. The results reveal the presence of associated territorial resources, acceptance of the intervention, strengthened sense of belonging, and enhanced territorial integration. Prospective proposals prioritize tourism and cultural uses (46%), together with recreational and community functions (36%), highlighting the importance of community participation (37.9%) and cultural and environmental education (37.9%) articulated with local partnerships. Productive integration (26.5%) and the development of renewable energy (20.7%) are also valued from a prospective perspective. It is concluded that the symbolic activation of heritage, when articulated with territorial resources, generates conditions of social legitimacy and symbolic appropriation that enable potential processes of reterritorialization and territorial regeneration.