TeMA Special Issue (2023) Burn or sink. The planning and management of the land

2022-10-25

Throughout the summer of 2022, several alarming episodes related to the growing climate and energy crises have exposed vulnerabilities in the social and economic organization of the territories.

While the appropriate regenerative, adaptative, and mitigative actions must be carried out for cities, other approaches should be pursued simultaneously regarding the natural resources present in the territory. In particular, water, food (hence, soil), and energy, which are often exchanged with other territories.

Natural resources are one of the bases of the economy of a territory and can come to represent its identity, especially when they can be used to obtain high value-added goods which are recognized outside their place of origin. Furthermore, they represent an indicator of the equilibrium between environment and man in a territory. Natural resources are the focus of global attention, as indicated in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the environmental action programs of the European Community.

For this reason, natural resources must be protected from climate change and from excessive use that causes destructive and dispersive effects. Furthermore, they must be considered as strategic resources to be fully included in the processes of territorial planning.

This Special Issue wants to deepen the topic through articles that investigate the following points:

  1. The first is scientific. The research in progress (see, for example, that on ecosystem services, on natural capital and on FEW Nexus) should be further deepened and addressed towards the identification of theoretical principles deepening the relationships between resources and territory, to be developed through models and quantitative or qualitative/quantitative techniques (scenario techniques, and others).
  2. The second point is related to the research effects. Theoretical results must be the building blocks of real action systems that can enhance the broader planning actions. Deepening case studies is relevant for this second point.
  3. The third point is social. The papers should explore what changes in individual and collective behaviour are required to steer society towards the greater collective well-being. This point could be investigated using case studies centred on particularly problematic areas, such as, for example, inland areas or urban and metropolitan peripheries. Case studies, in parallel with the regeneration actions, can be the starting point to build new social relationships and behaviours.
  4. The fourth point concerns the decision-making systems and the evolution of the legislation. The research and applications could significantly contribute to the process of simplifying and updating the legislation, becoming an authoritative source for the new rules regarding the management and sustainable regulation of land use processes.

The Special Issue of TeMA is mainly addressed to urban and planning scholars interested in deepening the topic's evolutionary aspects which the processes of climate change have made necessary. In consideration of the aforementioned points, the call is open to contributions of scholars of other research sectors too, with the objective of cultivating a healthy exchange of knowledge with the urban planning field.

Papers must deepen the analysis of ongoing processes and workable solutions, focusing on the development and utilization of quantitative and/or qualitative techniques and models highlighting the acceleration of the processes occurring in recent decades and building scenarios for the future.

 

Key words

Natural resources; Ecosystem services; FEW Nexus; Natural capital; Food; Energy; Water; Territorial planning; Resilience; Climate change

 

Submission deadline

30th June 2023

 

Guest editor

Giuseppe Mazzeo

National Research Council – Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean (CNR-ISMed), Naples.

E-mail: giuseppe.mazzeo@ismed.cnr.it

 

For submissions click here