The Horta de Valencia is a special agricultural landscape in the Mediterranean world.
There are only five similar locations in the European Union, in accordance to the Report Dobris of the European Environment Agency about European agricultural spaces.
It is a rich location in terms of productive, environmental, historical and landscaping values that should be protected in order to guarantee its survival.
The Horta de Valencia has an important symbolical value for the Valencian society. The crops provide the metropolitan area of Valencia with agricultural products.
Nonetheless, the value of the landscape of the Horta is endangered by urbanisation, transport facilities and the crisis of agricultural prices, which causes the abandonment of the land use.
In the last decades, the surface of the Horta has been reduced by two thirds in the district of Horta. In 1960, there were 15,000 hectares. In 1985, there were 8,600 hectares. In 1995, there were 7,300 hectares. Currently, there are only 5,000 hectares.
Apart from reducing the number of terrains for agriculture, many cultural and heritage elements have disappeared progressively.
The lines of work of the Chair of the L'Horta de València: Heritage, Life and Sustainable Future intends to advertise this unique Valencian heritage and landscape so that people value and understand it better, and therefore protect it.
The lines of work consist in:
- Debate meetings on aspects that are present in the Horta de València. The meetings will count on representatives of the social sectors that are affected.
- Actions of dissemination: conferences
- Making audio-visual material about the Horta de València
- Making a catalogue of the Historical Heritage of the Horta de València
- Creation of Geographic information systems on heritage and routes in the Horta de València
- Studies and research on the Horta de València
- Creation of image data bases of the Horta de València
- Historical documents of the Horta de València
