LA DIFERENCIACIÓN SOCIAL EN UN ESPACIO PERIFÉRICO: LAS CIUDADES DE VILLENA, YECLA Y ALMANSA

Abstract

The analysis of socio-economic and demographic variables in the provinces of Alicante, Murcia and Albacete reveals the existence of a series of inland towns that display a distinctive specialisation in industrial activities, in addition to other functional relations. In this area, several city networks can be defined, linked by various natural corridors, which for many years have been helping to ensure the economic diversification of these provinces. By reducing the scale of study, an exceptional network of intermediary cities appears —Villena (Alicante), Yecla (Murcia) and Almansa (Albacete)— located on the outskirts of their respective provinces, far from the main metropolitan areas, and ostensibly also from the demographic and territorial dynamics of the coastline. Through the use of multivariable analysis techniques, this paper aims to examine the relationships between different neighbourhoods in these cities in depth, in order to define and classify the most influential factors in terms of the creation of socially homogenous areas, which in this case are: the life cycle and socio-economic status of the town.