The transformation of the oases of Mendoza (Argentina): How the provincial socio-spatial structure was reversed by the crises of the 1980s and 2000s

Abstract

The oases of the Province of Mendoza, sited on the arid piedmont of the Argentinian Andes, have experienced some changes in their organisation, according to the civilisations that have cultivated these lands: Huarpes, Incas, Spanish colonisers and European migrants. Although these changes in societies transformed the agricultural orientation, the crises of the 1980s and 2000s did not radically change the typical Mediterranean landscape of such spaces. However, on the one hand they created a new type of landscape and, on the other hand, they had a deep impact on the socio-spatial and economic structures: former cores became secondary, and what used to be desert margins were developed until they became the new economic centre of the Province.