Urban Development in Tuscany. Land Uptake and Landscapes Changes

  • Francesco Zullo University of L'Aquila
  • Gabriele Paolinelli University of Florence
  • Valentina Fiordigigli University of L'Aquila
  • Lorena Fiorini University of L'Aquila
  • Bernardino Romano University of L'Aquila
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2864
Keywords: Soil Sealing, Landscape, GIS

Abstract

The phenomenon of urban sprawl has been already recognized as one of the major anthropic threats to natural ecosystems and landscapes while the negative aspects of the phenomenon are still only marginally taken into consideration in the scientific and local government circles. The recent decision of the European Parliament points out that the degradation, fragmentation and non-sustainable use of land in the EU is jeopardizing several important ecosystem services, threatening biodiversity and increasing Europe’s vulnerability to climate change, natural disasters and desertification. The study regards the processing of data on urban land conversion over the past 50 years and the effects in the areas of high environmental vulnerability in one of the most important Italian region: Tuscany. The historical data were compared from a qualitative and quantitative viewpoint with the present-day geography of settlements, which showing changes found in today’s settlement-territorial structure. The conclusion reports focuses on collated environmental criticalities and the margins for recovery of the compromised territories that still today receive little attention from central institutions and local authorities, in addition to data on landscape effects to be construed as signs of specific trends underway today and scarcely taken into account by land management tools.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Francesco Zullo, University of L'Aquila
Adjunct Professor in Analysis and Environmental  Evaluation and Ph.D. in Environmental Science at the University of L’Aquila, where he performs research in Landscape Ecology and Environmental GIS Application. His research interests include ecological network planning, land use change, GIS techniques for territorial analysis and spatial statistics. Is author of 30 scientific publication on environmental research issues.
Gabriele Paolinelli, University of Florence
Gabriele Paolinelli, architect, is researcher and professor at the Department of Architecture of Florence. He teaches Landscape Design at the master degree programme in Landscape Architecture and is coordinator of the Landscape Architecture ph.d. programme. He is editor in chief of the scientific journal Ri-Vista - Research for Landscape Design, referee for national and international scientific journals and consultant for public institutions and private companies.
Valentina Fiordigigli, University of L'Aquila
Bachelor student in Engineering for the Environment and Territory. University of L’Aquila. His thesis focused on the landscape effects of land uptake in Tuscany.
Lorena Fiorini, University of L'Aquila
Graduated in Environmental Engineering in 2014 with the thesis in land planning: “Urban development and environmental dynamics: the case of Region Sicily”. She is currently a PhD student in "Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering" at the University of  L'Aquila. Her research, in particular, is focused in the Italian Database on Land Uptake over the past 50 years and she is author of  some papers and publications about landscape ecology and land planning.
Bernardino Romano, University of L'Aquila
Professor of Land Planning at the University of L'Aquila . His research is mainly oriented towards the effects of settlements on the environment. Significant results have been experimenting with different indices of environmental fragmentation, the study of regional ecological networks and the inclusion of these concepts in various regional plans, including Umbria and Veneto, and the National Strategy of Biodiversity. He is consultant for various government agencies, reviewer of international journals and author of over 150 publications. Among these one of the first books on Italian ecological networks ( Andromeda , 1996) , four volumes on the implications of landscape planning (Andromeda, 2000; Gangemi, 2003; Gangemi, 2007; De Agostini, 2007) and three of the first works on international journal about the land take in Italy.

References

Benassi, F. & Porciani, L. (2010). The dual demographic profile of migrants in Tuscany. In T. Salzmann, B. Edmonston, J. Raymer (Eds.), Demographic Aspects of Migration (pp. 209-226). Location: Springer doi:10.1007/978-3-531-92563-9_8.

Bibby, P., & Shepherd, J. (2000). GIS, land use, and representation. Environment and planning B, 27(4), 583-598. doi:10.1068/b2647.

Cappellini, E. (2009). L’immigrazione in Toscana: il saldo fiscale. Firenze: IRPET. Retrieved from http://www.irpet.it/storage/pubblicazioneallegato/223_eBook%20n.6.pdf.

Migrantes, C. F. (2011). Dossier Statistico Immigrazione 2011. 21° Rapporto. Roma: Publisher

Catalán, B., Saurí, D., & Serra, P. (2008). Urban sprawl in the Mediterranean?: Patterns of growth and change in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region 1993–2000. Landscape and urban planning, 85(3), 174-184. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2007.11.004.

Christensen, A.A., Svenningsen, S.R. & Brandt, J. (2012). Land valuation and marginalization processes in cultural landscapes: a comparative study of valuation systems related to natural and semi-natural areas. PECSRL, The permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape, 25, 1-21.

Di Giacomo, T. V. (2015). Interactivity of WebGIS for the Simulation of Land Development. Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 7(1), 69-81. doi:10.6092/1970-9870/2885.

Ellis, C.E. & Ramankutty, N. (2008). Putting people in the map: anthropogenic biomes of the world. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6(8), 439-447. doi:10.1890/070062.

Falqui, E., Paolinelli, G., Pavoni, P., Schirò, R. & Tredici, C. (2014). La pre/occupazione dei “vuoti”: consumo di suolo e pianificazione territoriale. In G.F. Cartei, L. De Lucia (Eds.), Contenere il consumo di suolo: saperi ed esperienze a confronto (pp 3-137). Napoli: Editoriale Scientifica.

Fregolent, L. (2012). La città a bassa densità: Problemi e gestione. TeMA Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment. 5(1), 7-20. doi: 10.6092/1970-9870/742.

Garcia-Call, A. (2011). The process of residential sprawl in Spain: Is it really a problem? Urban Research and Practice, 4(3), 250-263. doi: 10.1080/17535069.2011.616744.

Geri, F., Amici, V. & Rocchini, D. (2010). Human activity impact on the heterogeneity of a Mediterranean landscape. Applied Geography, 30(3), 370-379. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.10.006.

Grubler, A. (1994). Technology. In W.B. Meyer, B.L. Turner II (Eds.), Changes in Land Use and Land Cover: A Global Perspective (pp. 287-328). Cambridge: Univ. of Cambridge Press.

Hall, P., Gracey, H., Drewett, R. & Thomas, R. (1973). The Containment of Urban England, London and Beverly Hills. Vol. I (pp. 9-58). Location: Publisher

Hauri, E., Steiner, V. & Vinzens, M. (2006). Human Settlement in Switzerland, Spatial Development and Housing. Housing Bulletin, (pp. 78, 1-80). Location: Publisher

Heilig, G.K. (1994). Neglected dimensions of global land-use change: reflections and data. Population and Development Review, 20(4), 831–859. doi:10.2307/2137664.

Iommi, S.(2002). Firenze e le sue popolazioni. Firenze: IRPET. Retrieved from ???

Illy, A., Hornych, C., Schwartz, M. & Rosenfeld, M.T.W. (2009). Urban Growth in Germany. The Impact of Localization and Urbanization Economies. IWH Discussion Papers, 19, 1-53, Halle Institute for Economic Research.

IRPET (2010). Urbanizzazione e reti di città in Toscana. Firenze: IRPET. Retrieved from http://www.irpet.it/storage/agendaallegato/594_Testo%20unito%20def.pdf.

IRPET, Unioncamere Toscana (2012). La situazione economica della Toscana. Consuntivo anno 2011. Previsioni 2012-2013. Firenze: IRPET. Retrieved from http://www.provincia.pisa.it/uploads/2013_12_17_18_04_12.pdf.

IRPET (2014a). Rapporto sul turismo in Toscana. La congiuntura 2013. Firenze: IRPET. Retrieved from http://www.regione.toscana.it/documents/10180/915115/Rapporto_Turismo_2014.pdf/ac20f4b4-462d-4036-a7dc-3833e3544b32.

IRPET (2014b). Il Sistema rurale toscano tra congiuntura e struttura alla vigilia della nuova programmazione. Rapporto 2013. Firenze: IRPET.

Irwin, E.G. & Bockstael, N.E. (2007). The evolution of urban sprawl: Evidence of spatial heterogeneity and increasing land fragmentation. PNAS, 104(52), 20672-20677. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0705527105.

ISPRA (2004). Carta dei tipi e delle unità fisiografiche d’Italia, scala 1:250.000. Retrieved from http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/site/ itit/Servizi_per_l’Ambiente/Sistema_Carta_della_Natura/Carta_della_Natura_alla_scala_1_250.000.

Lambin, E.F., Turner, B.L., Geist, H.J., Agbola, S.B., Angelsen, A., Bruce, J.W., Coomes, O.T., Dirzo, R., Fischer, G., Folke, C., George, P.S., Homewood, K., Imbernon, J., Leemans, R., Li X., Moran, E.F., Mortimore, M., Ramakrishnan, P.S., Richards, J.F., Skanes, H., Steffen, W., Stone, G.D., Svedin, U., Veldkamp, T.A., Vogel, C. & Xu, J. (2001). The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths. Global Environmental Change, 11, 261-269. doi:10.1016/S0959-3780(01)00007-3.

Lowry, I.S. (1990). World Urbanization in Perspective. Population and Development Review, 16, 148-176. doi:10.2307/2808068.

Magherini, C., & Mencarini, L. (2001, November). La fecondità a Firenze, 1981–2000: Un ‘analisi dei dati anagrafici ‘. In workshop, La bassa fecondità italiana fra costrizioni economiche e cambio di valori ‘, University of Florence (pp. 8-9). Retrieved from http://local.disia.unifi.it/ricerca/pubblicazioni/working_papers/2005/wp2005_04.pdf

Mas, J.F. (1999). Monitoring land-cover changes: a comparison of change detection techniques. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 20, 139-152. doi:10.1080/014311699213659.

Mazzeo, G. (2012). Scenario analysis. Toward a change in the use of the soil consumption paradigm. TeMA Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment. 5(1), 21-32. doi: 10.6092/1970-9870/746.

Mellor, R. (1983). The urbanization of Britain, a review. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 7(3), 380-403. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2427.1983.tb00600.x.

Munafò, M. & Tombolini, I. (2014). Il consumo di suolo in Italia. Rapporti 195/2014. Roma: ISPRA. Retrieved from http://www.urbinfo.it/UI/UI247.pdf#page=21.

Nemmour, H. & Chibani, Y. (2006). Multiple support vector machines for land cover change detection: an application for mapping urban extension. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing, 61(2), 125-133. doi:10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2006.09.004.

Pagliara, S., Viti, C., Gozzini, B., Meneguzzo, F. & Crisci, A., (1998). Uncertainties and trends in extreme rainfall series in Tuscany, Italy: Effects on urban drainage networks design. Water Science and Technology, 37(11), 195-202. doi:10.1016/S0273-1223(98)00333-3.

Paolinelli, G. (2012). Esperienze di pianificazione paesaggistica regionale in Italia e indicazioni per il PIT. In D. Poli (ed.), Regole e progetti per il paesaggio. Verso il nuovo piano paesaggistico della Toscana (pp. , 99-106). Firenze: Firenze University Press. doi:10.1400/199602.

Paolinelli, G. & Valentini, A. (2009). Atlante della Regione Toscana e pianificazione paesaggistica. Urbanistica, 138, 30-32.

Pileri, P. & Lanzani, A., (2007). Appunti per una proposta di legge. Limitare il consumo di suolo, riqualificare i suoli non edificati, dare primato alla formazione di natura e paesaggio, compensazione ecologica preventiva, promuovere un’urbanizzazione sostenibile e responsabile. Milano: Legambiente, DIAP, Politecnico di Milano.

Pileri, P. & Maggi, M. (2010). Sustainable planning? First results in land uptakes in rural, natural and protected areas: the Lombardia case study (Italy). Journal of Land Use Science, 5(2), 105-122. doi: 10.1080/1747423X.2010.481078.

Regione Toscana (2012). Specifiche tecniche per l’acquisizione in formato digitale di dati geografici tematici. Uso e copertura del suolo della Regione Toscana. Firenze: Regione Toscana. Retrieved from www.regione.toscana.it.

Reid, J. & Joseph, D. (1975). Sharecropping in history and theory. Agricultural History, 49(2), 426–440.

Regina, F., Salvini, S. & Vignoli, D. (2003). La popolazione a Firenze. Il profilo demografico della città. Firenze: Comune di Firenze. Retrieved from http://statistica.fi.it/opencms/multimedia/documents/1265189632414_Comune_di_Firenze_-_La_popolazione_a_Firenze.pdf.

Rinaldi, M. (2003). Recent channel adjustments in alluvial rivers of Tuscany, Central Italy. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 28(6), 587-608. doi:10.1002/esp.464.

Romano, B. & Zullo, F. (2013). Models of urban land use in Europe assessment tools and criticalities. International Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Information Systems ,4(3), 80-97. doi:10.4018/ijaeis.2013070105.

Romano, B. & Zullo, F. (2014)a. The urban transformation of Italy’s Adriatic Coast Strip: fifty years of unsustainability. Land Use Policy, 38, 26-36. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.10.001.

Romano, B. & Zullo, F. (2014)b. Dai modelli trasformativi alla politica per il suolo: riflessioni su mezzo secolo di eventi. Reticula, 7, 23-28. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/269689529_Dai_modelli_trasformativi_alla_politica_per_il_suolo_riflessioni_su_mezzo_secolo_di_eventi

Romano, B., Zullo, F., Ciabò, S., Fiorini, L. & Marucci, A. (2015). Geografie e modelli di 50 anni di consumo di suolo in Italia. Scienze e Ricerche, 6.

Romano, B. & Zullo, F. (2015). Consumo di suolo ed ecosistemi. Analisi quantitative e prospettive di diagnosi qualitative. In E. Falqui & G. Paolinelli (Eds.), Reti e Sostenibilità nella Pianificazione territoriale in Toscana. Pisa(inserire pagine). Pisa: Edizioni ETS. Retrieved from http://www.edizioniets.com/Priv_File_Libro/2641.pdf.

Rombai, L. (2002). Storia del paesaggio e paesaggi storici: il caso della Toscana. Storia e futuro, 1. (dubbi)

Rosignoli, S., Conti E. & Viviani, A. (2013). Local Impact of tourism: The case of Tuscany. Scienze Regionali, 3, (89-109). doi:10.3280/SCRE2013-003004.

Sala, E.O., Chapin, F.S., Armesto, J.J., Berlow, E., Bloomfield, J., Dirzo, R., Huber-Sanwald, E., Huenneke, L.F., Jackson, R.B., Kinzig, A., Leemans, R., Lodge, D.M., Mooney, H.A., Oesterheld, M., Poff, N.L., Sykes, M.T., Walker, B.H., Walker, M. & Wall, D.H. (2000). Global Biodiversity Scenarios for the Year 2100. Science, 287(5459), 1770-1774. doi: 10.1126/science.287.5459.1770.

Salvati, L., Munafò, M., Gargiulio, Morelli, V. & Sabbi, A. (2012). Low-density settlements and land use changes in a Mediterranean urban region. Landscape and Urban Planning, 105(1-2), 43-52. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.11.020.

Shaban, R.A. (1987). Testing between competing models of sharecropping. Journal of Political Economy, 95(5), 893–920.

Sharma, L., Pandey, P.C. & Nathawat, M.S. (2012). Assessment of land consumption rate with urban dynamics change using geospatial techniques. Journal of Land Use Science, 7(2), 135-148. doi: 10.1080/1747423X.2010.537790.

Singh, N. (1989). Theories of sharecropping. In P. Bardhan (Ed.), The economic theory of agrarian institutions. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 33-72.

Villa, N., Paegelow, M., Camacho, O.M.T., Cornez, L., Ferraty, F., Ferré, L. & Sarda, P. (2007). Various approaches for predicting land cover in mountain areas. Communication in Statistics-Simulation and Computation, 36 (1), 73-86. doi: 10.1080/03610910601096379.

Vos, W. (1993). Recent landscape transformation in the Tuscan Apennines caused by changing land use. Landscape and urban planning, 24(1-4), 63-68. doi:10.1016/0169-2046(93)90084-Q.

Yanitsky, O. (1986). Urbanization in the USSR, theory, tendencies and policy. IJURR, 10(2), 265-287. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2427.1986.tb00015.x

Zaninetti, J.M. (2006). Urban Sprawl in France, a regional typology of urbanization trends and its demographics and economy background. Bulletin of Geography, 5, 5-20. Retrieved from http://apcz.pl/czasopisma/index.php/BGSS/article/viewFile/2468/2464.

Published
2015-07-27
How to Cite
ZulloF., PaolinelliG., FiordigigliV., FioriniL., & RomanoB. (2015). Urban Development in Tuscany. Land Uptake and Landscapes Changes. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 8(2), 183-202. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2864
Issue
Vol 8 No 2 (2015): Cities, Energy and Built Environment
Section
LUME (Land Use, Mobility and Environment)

Copyright (c) 2015 Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following:

1. Authors retain the rights to their work and give in to the journal the right of first publication of the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons License - Attribution that allows others to share the work indicating the authorship and the initial publication in this journal.

 

2. Authors can adhere to other agreements of non-exclusive license for the distribution of the published version of the work (ex. To deposit it in an institutional repository or to publish it in a monography), provided to indicate that the document was first published in this journal.


3. Authors can distribute their work online (ex. In institutional repositories or in their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and it can increase the quotations of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access)