Economic structure, urban growth and spatial distribution of soil sealing: An exploratory analysis

This study investigates the spatial distribution of soil sealing in Italy by adopting an exploratory approach of multivariate statistics and spatial analysis. The study demonstrates how simple indicators developed on a local scale can provide relevant indications for territorial analysis and environmental monitoring. Each local system was profiled using a principal component analysis, with the support of a high-resolution landuse map, basing on the geographical distribution of the surface area covered by each of 12 levels of soil sealing. For each spatial unit, two indicators, representing intensity and frequency of soil sealing, have been proposed. The results suggest that the spatial distribution of soil sealing rates in Italy differs, at least in part, from the population dynamics that are reflected in the distribution of urban settlements, while the economic structure and the density of infrastructures are important territorial constraints to soil sealing. The analysis outlines differences in the territorial structure of residential/commercial settlements: these elements are associated with distinctive urban models and reflect the transition from a polycentric morphology, which is more typical of the Po River Valley, to mono-centric and more compact structures that prevail in Southern Italy. It emerges that quantitative analyses with high spatial resolution - such as those proposed in this study - have direct implications for policies of urban containment in light of local sustainability.