Density matters? Settlement expansion and land degradation in Peri-urban and rural districts of Italy

0553572 - ÚVGZ 2023 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Coluzzi, R. - Bianchini, L. - Egidi, G. - Cudlín, Pavel - Imbrenda, V. - Salvati, L. - Lanfredi, M.
Density matters? Settlement expansion and land degradation in Peri-urban and rural districts of Italy.
Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Roč. 92, JAN (2022), č. článku 106703. ISSN 0195-9255. E-ISSN 1873-6432
Institutional support: RVO:86652079
Keywords : environmental degradation * mediterranean europe * landscape evolution * urban expansion * water-resources * cover changes * soil-erosion * desertification * sensitivity * sprawl * Urban growth * Local districts * Desertification * Land-use change * Mediterranean Europe
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 7.9, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0195925521001530?token=3356B975CE4128F6A87823D373BFE07F251818E67114E42DB44110E8F95E8B0A1AD26317773FCEF6769771E0356F3B88&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20220426114223

Being a relatively less known driver of land vulnerability to degradation in Southern Europe, the net impact of urban expansion on land quality depletion requires a comparative investigation in peri-urban and rural districts. An empirical approach based on the Environmentally Sensitive Area Index (ESAI) was illustrated here with the aim at assessing long-term changes in the level of land vulnerability during a time interval that reflects divergent socioeconomic dynamics in Italy, an affected country according with the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The degree of land vulnerability increased in a spatially heterogeneous manner over the last 50 years thanks to the synergic impact of climate aridity and landscape transformations. At the same time, urbanization shaped the spatial distribution of vulnerable land at both regional and local scale. Urban-rural gradients were at the base of renewed spatial disparities in land vulnerability between Northern Italy (classified as a 'non-vulnerable' region in the National Action Plan to combat desertification) and Southern Italy (classified as a 'highly vulnerable' region). These dynamics reflect the expansion of peri-urban areas towards high-quality, productive soils less vulnerable to degradation. By documenting a complex pattern of soil depletion due to ur-banization in Italy, the present study contributes to a wider knowledge of the intrinsic linkage between peri-urbanization, (un)sustainable development, and desertification risk in advanced economies.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0330966