Landscape changes in the Algarve region, Portugal ('85-'07) - diagnosis, prospective and a proposal for a green-infrastructure in the Algarve central coast.

In the last two decades Portuguese landscapes are changing, in some parts dra- matically, and regional asymmetries have become more profound. The rural land- scapes, mostly in the interior, are subject to either marginalization or intensifica- tion. The coastal areas are increasingly dominated by urbanization. Sustainable landscape planning is needed to counteract the negative effects of such transfor- mations, namely landscape fragmentation, and provide alternative directions for future urban expansion. Hereby we present some results of an ongoing project entitled "Landscape - Algarve", which focus on land use changes in the Algarve region in the last two decades, both in the rural interior areas and in the more urban, coastal areas. Based on Corine Land Cover (1985-2006) and COS Maps (1990-2007) we developed a multi-scale spatial analysis, and build a trend scenar- io (2025) for one of the most compromised sections of the Algarve coast, mostly rural but rapidly changing. We present the preliminary results of a proposal for a green infra-structure for this section. This proposal aims to contribute for the im- plementation of the Regional Environmental Structure (ERVPA) at a sub-regional level, to the debate on the actual and potential spatial consequences on coastal landscapes caused by urbanization trends and on subsequent planning strategies.