The cultural embeddedness of population mobility in the Alps: Consequences for sustainable development

This article investigates the impact of culture on population mobility, settled landscapes, and regional sustainability in the European Alps over the past c.1500 years. For older developments, the authors analysed existing research on specific areas in the Alps, and for developments that are more recent they analysed census, agricultural, and tourism data at municipal level. They find that, following immigration in Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages, different historical settlement and socio-demographic systems have evolved in the Alps as a result of various cultural traditions of the local population. These cultural differences have essentially persisted over centuries and still influence socio-ecology and regional development indirectly, especially via fundamentally different developments in agriculture and tourism. The way that culture affects the relationships between socio-demographic, economic, and even ecological sustainability is discussed. The authors conclude that the Alps may serve as a case in point to suggest that culture might be a steering component for regional sustainability, as different cultural practices lead to regionally diverse developments.