Unraveling Latent Aspects of Urban Expansion: Desertification Risk Reveals More
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Data, Variables and Indices
2.2.1. Land Use Planning and Land Zoning
2.2.2. Soil Quality
2.2.3. Land Sensitivity to Desertification
2.3. Analysis Framework Development
- Class 1: Conservation-protection land regulated by restrictions or with constrained urban development (red in Figure 2).
- Class 2: Consolidated urban fabric (grey in Figure 2) concentrating on the most compact and dense urban area in the two case cities. Consolidated urban areas, including the historical city, as well as service and infrastructural systems, coincided with the most dense settlements, with non-urbanized land mainly used for commercial activities.
- Class 3: Restructuring (urban and non-urban) areas, which are expected to be restored and redeveloped, including urban infill (yellow in Figure 2).
- Class 4: Transforming (non)urban areas, which will undergo residential development (orange in Figure 2).
- Class 5: The environmental system including green spaces, protected natural areas, water and coastal environments (green in Figure 2). This class includes rural (agricultural) areas (e.g., the ‘Agro Romano’, the traditional countryside around the city of Rome, and the ‘Collserola’ park and a small part of the agricultural land in the Llobregat Agrarian park in Barcelona).
Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Soil Quality Index (SQI)
3.2. Sensitivity to Desertification Index (SDI)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Zoning Class | Code | Description of Land-Use (Zoning) Classes in the Strategic Plan for: | |
---|---|---|---|
Rome | Barcelona | ||
Conservation-Protection Area | 1 | Areas of Constrained Transformation of the Environmental System, Services, Infrastructure; Structuring Projects | Areas of Urban-Mixed Conservation, not Urbanizable, Protection Systems, Rustic |
Consolidated Area | 2 | Service and Infrastructure System Settlement System—Including Consolidated Area and Historical City | Commercial/Service Settlements; Urban: Including Economic Activity, Services, industrial, Residential-Isolated houses, Residential-Grouped Houses, Residential-Traditional Urban, Residential-Old Town; Systems: Including equipment, Railway, Public Housing, Services, Roads and Urban Soils |
Restructuring Area | 3 | Settlement System: Private/Public Spaces to be Restored/Redeveloped (Urban Infill); Local Central Units | Urban-Mixed |
Transforming Area | 4 | Settlement System: Urban Transformation | Buildable, Including Residential Development; Residential, Open and Mixed Spaces; Systems: Including Ports, Roads, Structural Axes |
Environmental System | 5 | Water, Agro Romano, Protected Natural Areas | Systems, Including Green Areas, Coastal, Hydrographic |
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Egidi, G.; Zambon, I.; Tombolin, I.; Salvati, L.; Cividino, S.; Seifollahi-Aghmiuni, S.; Kalantari, Z. Unraveling Latent Aspects of Urban Expansion: Desertification Risk Reveals More. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 4001. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114001
Egidi G, Zambon I, Tombolin I, Salvati L, Cividino S, Seifollahi-Aghmiuni S, Kalantari Z. Unraveling Latent Aspects of Urban Expansion: Desertification Risk Reveals More. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(11):4001. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114001
Chicago/Turabian StyleEgidi, Gianluca, Ilaria Zambon, Ilaria Tombolin, Luca Salvati, Sirio Cividino, Samaneh Seifollahi-Aghmiuni, and Zahra Kalantari. 2020. "Unraveling Latent Aspects of Urban Expansion: Desertification Risk Reveals More" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 11: 4001. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114001