Caring of the Fringe? Mediterranean Desertification between Peri-Urban Ecology and Socioeconomics

Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir, Alvaro Marucci, Rosanna Salvia, Giovanni Quaranta, Adele Sateriano, Massimo Cecchini and Leonardo Bianchini
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Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir: Department of Overland Communication Ways, Foundation and Cadastral Survey, Politehnica University of Timisoara, 300224 Timisoara, Romania
Alvaro Marucci: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
Rosanna Salvia: Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics, University of Basilicata, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Giovanni Quaranta: Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics, University of Basilicata, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Adele Sateriano: Independent Researcher, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Massimo Cecchini: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
Leonardo Bianchini: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: This commentary debates on the role of multiple socioeconomic drivers of fringe land degradation (including, but not limited to, population and social dynamics, economic polarization, and developmental policies), as a novel contribution to the desertification assessment in Southern European metropolitan regions, a recognized hotspot of desertification at the global scale. Expanding rapidly all over the world, metropolitan regions are a geographical space where land degradation drivers and processes assume typical relationships that require further research supporting dedicated policy strategies. To assure a better comprehension of the environmental-economic nexus at the base of land degradation in peri-urban areas, we provided a classification of relevant socioeconomic and territorial dimensions in both macro-scale and micro-scale degradation processes. We also identified the related (contextual) factors that determine an increased risk of desertification in metropolitan regions. Micro-scale factors, such as agricultural prices and off-farm employment, reflect some potential causes of fringe land degradation, with a mostly local and on-site role. Technological change, agricultural prices, and household income influence land vulnerability, but their impact on fringe land degradation was less investigated and supposed to be quite moderate in most cases. Macro-scale factors such as population density, rural poverty, and environmental policies—being extensively studied on a qualitative base—were taken as important drivers of fringe land degradation, although their impact still remains undefined. Regional disparities in land resource distribution, rural poverty, and unsustainable management of environmental resources like soil and water were indirect consequences of land degradation in peri-urban districts. Based on a comparative review of theoretical and empirical findings, strategies mitigating degradation of fringe land and reducing desertification risk in potentially affected metropolitan regions were finally discussed for the Northern Mediterranean basin and generalized to other socioeconomic contexts.

Keywords: land degradation; economic system; local development; macro-scale drivers; micro-scale drivers; southern Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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