Mitigating Land Degradation Through Sustainable Urban Landscapes Planning

Erica Maria Lovello, Donatella Valente () and Irene Petrosillo
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Erica Maria Lovello: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Donatella Valente: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Irene Petrosillo: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Land-take leads to the loss of natural and semi-natural areas. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights the important role played by land-take and degradation mitigation to promote sustainable cities. This research aims to assess (1) the temporal dynamics of land-take and land degradation, (2) their spatial configuration, and (3) their ecological effects in three Italian urban landscapes. Spatial analyses from 2006 to 2022 reveal a significant urban sprawl, with an increase in land-take across all municipalities, with the highest land-take per capita in Nardò, higher than the national value. The land-take patterns showed the highest aggregation in Galatone, the smallest municipality. This municipality showed the highest percentage of degraded land (60% of the total area), followed by Lecce (about 47%) and then Nardò (about 42%), where it is possible to notice several areas of improvements (743 ha) scattered throughout the landscape. Degraded areas have increasingly impacted natural areas (25% in Lecce, 22% in Galatone, and 10% in Nardò). The results are discussed in terms of methodology limitations and policy-making implications, highlighting the important role of tools like Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in assessing the coherence of landscape plans with sustainable development targets.

Keywords: land take; land degradation; SDGs; urban planning; Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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