The impact of land taken by logistics in two Italian regions

Detection methods and policy suggestions

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/10112
Keywords: E-commerce, Logistic hubs, Land use, Lombardy region, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region

Abstract

In recent years, global e-commerce has grown exponentially due to the evolution of markets and companies’ selling strategies. Moreover, COVID-19 has accelerated this trend, increasing the demand for new logistic hubs, responding to the growing request for the online buying/selling of goods/ or services, while generating a remarkable land take process. The national database on LULC and municipal land use plans do not detect logistics, thus limiting the adoption of strategies and policies for contrasting the associated phenomenon of land taken. Photo-interpretation and manual validation techniques, in combination with ancillary geodata, could fill the gap through an in depth classification of selected land use categories for mapping logistic hubs in a simple, accessible and economic way. The method was tested in two northern Italian regions (Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia). Results display radical differences between the two con-texts, emphasising the heterogeneous impacts generated by logistics on the landscape. Lombardy has a significant concentration of new hubs located in the municipalities surrounding the Milan metropolitan area, whereas, in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, this type of land take is only a marginal problem when compared to other land use change. Findings confirm the need to define tailor-made land classification methodologies that support the definition of site-specific land take management policies.

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Author Biographies

Silvia Ronchi, DAStU Politecnico di Milano

Assistant professor in Urban planning, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano (Italy). She is a member of the LabPPTE (Plans Landscape Territories Ecosystems Lab), and Land Take Research Centre CRCS. She obtained a PhD in Urban Planning, Design and Policy (Politecnico di Milano) with a thesis on the integration of Ecosystem services in Spatial planning. She is a member of the scientific editorial board of the journal ‘Territorio’ (FrancoAngeli). From 2015 to 2018, she collaborated with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Territorial Development Unit – B3). In January 2017, she was visiting scientist at the University of Salzburg, Research Group Urban and Landscape Ecology. She is a member of the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP), the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) and the Italian National Institute of Urban Planning (INU). Her research focuses on ecosystem services mapping, landscape and urban planning, environmental assessment, green and blue infrastructure design. She is (co)author of over 90 scientific publications.

Stefano Salata, DAStU Politecnico di Milano

PhD in Territorial Government and Urban Design, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano. He is Assistant Professor of Ecological Planning at Politecnico di Milano and, previously at the Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey). He has been Research Technologist of the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, Politecnico di Torino and worked on the project EU LIFE SAM4CP for the same Department. He works at the intersection of ecosystem service assessment and urban planning, and his actual research focuses the examination of how to increase the sustainability and resilience of urban systems in the face of climate change. His interests concern both the theory and practice of urban and territorial planning.

Andrea Arcidiacono, DAStU Politecnico di Milano

Associate Professor in Urban Planning, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Coordinator of the Bachelor of Science programme in ‘Urban Planning’, AUIC School. Member of the Board of the PhD Programme in Urban Planning, Design and Policy UPDP. Director of the LabPPTE (Plans Landscape Territories Ecosystems Lab), and Land Take Research Centre CRCS. From 2016 to 2023 he has been vice-president of the National Institute of Urban Planning, INU. He is a member of the Editorial board of the journal ‘Urbanistica’. Research interests include Urban planning and design, Landscape and environmental planning, Green Infrastructure design, Ecosystem Services analysis and Nature-based solutions for spatial planning, policies and planning strategies for land take limitation. He is involved in European and national research programmes. He authored over 150 scientific publications.

Elisabetta Peccol, Università degli studi di Udine

Tenured Assistant Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences of the University of Udine. Her main research interests focus on analysis methods of urban - rural land use change, evaluation and mapping of ecosystem services supplied by Nature-based Solutions, green infrastructure planning. Lecturer in the courses of "Rural land analysis and planning" and "Geographical Information Systems" in master's degree programs of the University of Udine. Previously, she was research fellow at the Rural Land Use Department of the Cranfield University, UK and at the Soil Survey and Land Research Centre of the same university. She took part in national and European research projects. She authored over 70 scientific publications in national and international journals.

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Published
2023-12-30
How to Cite
RonchiS., SalataS., ArcidiaconoA., & PeccolE. (2023). The impact of land taken by logistics in two Italian regions. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 16(3), 523-544. https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/10112
Issue
Vol 16 No 3 (2023): The city challenges and external agents. Methods, tools and best practices
Section
Focus

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