Sprawl Dynamics in Rural–Urban Territories Highly Suited for Wine Production. Mapping Urban Growth and Changing Territorial Shapes in North-East Italy

Luca Simone Rizzo, Filippo Smerghetto, Maria Giuseppina Lucia and Raffaela Gabriella Rizzo
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Luca Simone Rizzo: Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Giuridiche e Studi Internazionali, Università di Padova, Via del Santo, 28-35123 Padova, Italy
Filippo Smerghetto: Senvion Chile, Av. Apoquindo 4800 piso 20, Las Condes, 7560969 Santiago, Chile
Maria Giuseppina Lucia: Dipartimento Interateneo di Scienze, Progetto e Politiche del Territorio, Università di Torino, Viale Pier Andrea Mattioli, 39-10125 Torino, Italy
Raffaela Gabriella Rizzo: Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Trieste, 17-25121 Brescia, Italy

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: In Italy, large-scale changes in the structure of land use can be observed. These are caused primarily by socio-economic pressures, generally determining the conversion of agricultural land into artificial surfaces. Our aim was to investigate if and how sprawl dynamics influence viticultural landscapes (that is, if they result in scattered, intermediate, or compact urban developments). We focused on selected territories in North-East Italy, where vine-growing provides almost uninterrupted land cover, as case study areas. Using GIS-based techniques, we documented the processes of land use, analyzing the resulting changes of urban-rural forms and in territorial shapes. Results at the Provincial level showed decreasing dispersed artificial surfaces and increasing clustered urban developments. This trend is also detected in areas under vine, but in general is more modest. Our research indicates that typical agricultural productions can determine resistance to the alienation of land, maintaining a sufficient consistency for areas to develop in a more varied and articulated (for example touristic) manner.

Keywords: rural–urban interface; landscape change; LUCC modeling; sprawl; sustainability; GIS; viticulture; Veneto Region (Italy) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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