Rural habitat and urbanisation process in Catalonia. The masia and the “disturbing modern influences”

Abstract

The article analyses the impact of the contemporary urbanisation process on the masia (a traditional type farmhouse), one of the most outstanding features of the rural settlement in Catalonia. This impact has transformed radically the functions and relevance of the masia as a unit of production, household and environmental agent. The contribution is divided into three sections: the first describes the origins of the crisis of traditional forms of rural settlement in Catalonia; the second analyses the relationship between this crisis and the vindication (in ethnological, cultural and political terms) of the Catalan farmhouse since the begining of the twentieth century; the third part, outlines the main outcomes of the impact of urbanisation on the masia.

Keywords: human settlement; farmhouse; rural areas; urbanisation process.