3,972 research outputs found
A composite index of sustainable development at the local scale: Italy as a case study
No full textIn the present study a methodology integrating geographic information systems and multivariate statistics was illustrated with the aim to provide a measure of sustainable development at the local scale. The Factor Weighting Model (FWM) originally proposed by Salvati and Zitti (2008) was used to compose 99 variables (relevant to different research domains such as economic structure, labour market, population dynamics, social characteristics, agriculture and environment) into an index of sustainable development at the municipality scale in a rich but polarized European country (Italy). A Principal Components Analysis has been carried out to explore the relationship among indicators and to estimate their contribution to an a priori defined sustainability target by way of an objective weighting system. Labour market, income and wealth, population dynamics and social structure accounted for the highest weights. The derived index of sustainable development shows a spatially complex distribution in Italy with a marked north-south gradient reflecting the classical socioeconomic disparities observed between competitive and disadvantaged regions. Results can be used as an informative base to implement sustainability policies in countries characterized by persistent socioeconomic disparities. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Demographic transition, immigration, gentrification: Unravelling early signs of re-urbanisation in a European city
No full textPopulation growth and decline have been investigated in the last century adopting multiple qualitative and quantitative approaches, indicators and statistical techniques analysing data on vastly different spatial levels (Frenkel and Kaplan 2014; Haase et al. 2010; Salvati et al. 2016; Van Criekingen 2010). Recent studies have demonstrated a transition towards complex dynamics of urban development, featuring polycentric expansion and spatially heterogeneous population dynamics (Andersen et al. 2011; Arapoglou and Sayas 2009; Catalan` et al. 2008; Cohen 2006). In this framework, advanced and wealthy regions are now undergoing a process of demographic transition which is attracting the attention of many scholars worldwide (Angel et al. 2011)
Soil sealing, population structure and the socioeconomic context: a local-scale assessment
No full textGeoJournal (2016) 81:77-88
DOI 10.1007/S10708-014-9608-0 CrossMark
Soil sealing, population structure and t
context: a local-scale assessment
Luca Salvati
Published online: 28 October 2014
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract In the most recent decades European urban
regions underwent functional changes reflecting het-
erogeneous land-use patterns and specific urban foot-
prints. Several mono-centric cities shifted towards a
scattered development with impact on the socio-spatial
structure. Discontinuous expansion determined, in
some cases, a net increase in land consu
‘Sub-Optimal’ by Chance: Insights from a Long-term Analysis of Municipal Areas and Population Size
No full textIn the search of a better administrative efficiency, change in municipal boundaries and creation (or suppression) of local administrative units reflect a progressive adjustment to an increasingly variable spatial distribution of population. With intense population growth, municipal size is regarded as a proxy for amount (and spatial concentration) of services and infrastructures, being functionally related with agglomeration factors, land availability to building, and specific socioeconomic contexts. Based on these premises, the intrinsic relationship between settlement expansion, population growth, and municipal size in a metropolitan region of Southern Europe was investigated extensively in this study. A quantitative analysis of the relationship between population density and municipal area provides a pivotal knowledge to policy and planning adjustments toward a more balanced spatial distribution of population and administered land among local government units. Descriptive statistics, mapping, correlation analysis and linear regressions were used to assess the evolution of this relationship over a long time spam. Average municipal size in Athens decreased moderately over time with increasing spatial heterogeneity. Conversely, average population density per municipality increased even more rapidly with a considerable reduction in spatial heterogeneity. The observed goodness-of-fit of the linear relationship between population density and municipal area increased significantly over time. Empirical results of our study indicate that municipal size has progressively adjusted to population density across metropolitan areas, determining a more balanced spatial distribution of resident population, which was consolidated by the recent administrative reform of local authorities in Greece (the so called ‘Kallikratis’ law). Such conditions represent a base for informed analysis of the spatial structure of local administrative units and contribute to the debate on optimal size of municipalities and other administrative districts with relevant impact on both urban and metropolitan scales of governance
From manufacturing to advanced services : the (uneven) rise and decline of Mediterranean city-regions
No full textUneven changes in the global urban hierarchy have given way to new forms of relationships between urban and rural areas based on complementarities, cooperative and specialized exchange of services and goods, abandoning the additive processes of growth guided by industrialization and urbanization. Representing a distant notion from traditional concepts in regional studies such as 'compact cities' or 'suburbs', 'gravitation' or 'hierarchy', the 'city-region' paradigm has stimulated different visions to be recomposed within the 'sustainability' framework. With global changes, the 'mega-city region' model has starting to take the lead in the development of contemporary urban agglomeration. In this study, considerations over the emergence of this urban model in the Mediterranean region will be presented to investigate the relationship between dispersed urbanization and consolidating southern European city-regions. While Mediterranean cities have been considered for long time as ‘ordinary’ cities, rather distant from the 'globalized' northern urban models, most of these cities are characterized by distinctive socioeconomic traits possibly open to competition and globalization. The present contribution describes the emergence of a Mediterranean urban area, Athens, as a new 'city-region' in the context of urbanization processes in Greece and in the Mediterranean basin as a whole. One of the clearest indications of urban competitiveness amongst emerging and established large city-regions is the fight for hosting mega-events. The final objective of the study is to understand how the efforts for increasing urban competitiveness are impacting new forms of city-regions, mainly based on low-density settlements reflecting discontinuous urbanization.peer-reviewe
Economic Causes and Consequences of Desertification
No full textLand degradation and desertification are composite processes that reflect how components of land capital have worsened over time, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Land degradation is intended as a truly socioeconomic issue because the idea and practice of use (and misuse) of land are socially constructed. In this perspective, soil productivity and land capacity, water consumption and landscape fragmentation, agriculture and sustainable development all reflect the vast ensemble of human-nature interactions. The intrinsic heterogeneity of land degradation processes at the global scale limits the development of mitigation actions. Comprehension of the socioeconomic processes underlying land degradation can benefit from a multidisciplinary approach that considers the intricate feedback between biophysical and economic dimensions. The mutual relationship between economic growth, social inequality, political action, and land degradation provides examples of the interplay among proximate causes and factors underlying desertification
Landscape Degradation in Italy: an Environmental Perspective
No full textLandscape Degradation in Italy: an Environmental Perspectiv
Statistica, economia e sostenibilità. Indicatori per l'analisi regionale
No full textL’analisi esplorativa dei dati fornisce un quadro interpretativo dei fenomeni
sociali, economici e territoriali più complessi, grazie all’uso di tecniche statistiche multivariate. Questo testo propone una visione empirica sul tema della rappresentazione multidimensionale dei sistemi geo-economici e demografici in
rapida evoluzione, integrando esempi concreti di processi, articolati nel tempo
e nello spazio, misurati tramite indicatori di statistica ufficiale. Le applicazioni
offrono una panoramica di temi e problemi che legano prospettive operative
differenti, rilevanti sia dal punto di vista teorico che pratico, consentendo riflessioni originali e didatticamente rilevanti. Esempi pratici, casi di studio e una ricca iconografia conducono il lettore verso interpretazioni semplificate della
realtà osservata tramite le tecniche multivariate, risultando accessibili anche a
chi ha poca dimestichezza con le analisi quantitative e contestualizzando i risultati nell’ottica delle scienze sociali
Introduction to a New Open Access Journal by MDPI: Geographies
No full textWith big data and advanced tools becoming available to scientific communities, geographical research is constantly addressing new issues and questions [...
Supplemental Material - Agglomeration v<i>s</i> amenities? Unraveling the latent engine of growth in metropolitan Greece
No full textSupplemental Material for Agglomeration vs amenities? Unraveling the latent engine of growth in metropolitan Greece by Margherita Carlucci, Gloria Polinesi, and Luca Salvati in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science.</p
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