Implementing Green Infrastructures beyond Protected Areas

Ecosystem Services Multifunctionality: An Analytical Framework to Support Sustainable Spatial Planning in Italy

A growing demand at several levels of territorial government concerns the need for tools to support policy-making oriented towards sustainable planning. That of Ecosystem Services (ES) represents a well-structured and robust methodological framework for developing tools to assess environmental performances and territorial transformations linked to different development needs. The paper fits into this frame by proposing an analytical framework based on the ES multifunctionality approach, i.e., the joint provision of multiple ES, and applying it to the Italian national context. The methodology defines a spatial model based on three aggregate indices (abundance, diversity and richness) assessed considering the Provinces as reference territorial units. Derived from ecological disciplines, these three dimensions of ES multifunctionality describe the variability with which territorial units deliver multiple services for community well-being and support the analysis of the relationships between anthropic components of territorial systems and the ecosystems’ multifunctionality. The evaluation of how the three indices’ spatial distribution varied as a result of land use changes in the period 2000–2018 allows us to highlight specific aspects of territorial units useful to improve the knowledge framework from a sustainable planning perspective. The results highlight its potential to support decision-making processes and formulate recommendations for sustainable spatial planning.

Why Italy First? Health, Geographical and Planning Aspects of the COVID-19 Outbreak

COVID-19 hit Italy in February 2020 after its outbreak in China at the beginning of January. Why was Italy first among the Western countries? What are the conditions that made Italy more vulnerable and the first target of this disease? What characteristics and diffusion patterns could be highlighted and hypothesized from its outbreak to the end of March 2020, after containment measures, including a national lockdown, were introduced? In this paper, we try to provide some answers to these questions, analyzing the issue from medical, geographical and planning points of view. With reference to the Italian case, we observed the phenomenon in terms of the spatial diffusion process and by observing the relation between the epidemic and various environmental elements. In particular, we started from a hypothesis of the comparable economic, geographical, climatic and environmental conditions of the areas of Wuhan (in the Hubei Province in China, where the epidemic broke out) and the Po Valley area (in Italy) where most cases and deaths were registered. Via an ecological approach, we compared the spatial distribution and pattern of COVID-19-related mortality in Italy with several geographical, environmental and socio-economic variables at a Provincial level, analyzing them by means of spatial analytical techniques such as LISA (Local Indicators of Spatial Association). Possible evidence arose relating to COVID-19 cases and Nitrogen-related pollutants and land take, particularly in the Po Valley area.

A Dashboard for Supporting Slow Tourism in Green Infrastructures. A Methodological Proposal in Sardinia (Italy)

Spatial planning and territorial promotion can benefit largely from the application of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) at different scales. From knowledge acquisition to management and planning, their role in building an image of the territory, and constantly updating it to the benefit of users and planners, is of paramount importance. Institutional channels, together with social networks, are the means by which both a local community and a wider community of users share experiences and perceptions. ICTs are therefore strategic in supporting and promoting a sustainable tourism development of territories. Data and information aggregators as dashboards represent examples of decision support systems where digital data are organized and processed to produce an information output. The present paper is part of a wider research, related to the valorization of a former mining area in the Sulcis-Iglesiente area (Sardinia, Italy), where the extraction activity has left the place to abandonment, and only recently to tourism, stressing the concept of slow tourism. Such new opportunity has been launched with the Santa Barbara Walk (SBW), an ancient mining route currently trying to consolidate as a tourism attraction area. Such a territory is in constant transition with unique characters of anthropic and naturalistic characterization, setting itself as a green infrastructure, capable also of attracting a wide community of regional and extra-regional users. However, its digital network—consisting of intangible infrastructure and flows—is fragmented in terms of policies and contents. Additionally, a state of disorganization in slow tourism promotion activities can be observed. To implement the SBW capabilities, the present paper aims to develop a proposal for the framework of a circular dashboard applied to the SBW. In particular, we implement a set of indicators of performance of the SBW for the organization of information on the walk’s main characters, to facilitate a shared governance and an effective tourism promotion. The SBW is recognized as a network connecting the main points of interest preferred by the slow tourism (This paper is based on the Research project TSULKI—Tourism and Sustainability in the Sulcis (Sardinia-Italy)—and on the agreement protocol between DICAAR Department of Cagliari University and Foundation of the Santa Barbara Walk, signed in December 2018).

Local Development and Protection of Nature in Coastal Zones: A Planning Study for the Sulcis Area (Sardinia, Italy)

In 2008, the Council of the European Union adopted the “Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management” (ICZM Protocol), then ratified by Decision No. 2010/631/EU. The ICZM Protocol defines integrated coastal zone management as a dynamic and flexible process that accounts for the relations between coastal ecosystems and landscape as well as the activities and the uses that characterize coastal areas. Integrated management of coastal zones is still a critical process in terms of translating theory into practice. In this theoretical framework, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) helps to improve decision-making processes related to coastal spatial planning by integrating development goals and sustainability criteria. This study proposes a methodological approach concerning ICZM-based decision-making processes at the local level. The methodology is implemented in relation to three case studies concerning three towns located in southwest Sardinia. The results show a general consistency between the analyzed plans in terms of objectives and themes. Three specific issues are particularly relevant in terms of integration of economic and social objectives and sustainability goals, that is, relations between beach services and coastal ecosystems, protection of coastal ecosystems, and accessibility to the coastal zones.

Assessment of Municipal Masterplans Aimed at Identifying and Fostering Green Infrastructure: A Study Concerning Three Towns of the Metropolitan Area of Cagliari, Italy

Building upon a recent piece of research that maps a regional green infrastructure (RGI) in relation to four components (natural value, conservation value, landscape value, and recreational value), this study aims at identifying planning policies that can foster the enhancement of the RGI by increasing one or more of its components at the sub-regional scale. To this end, the RGI suitability map is overlaid with the planning schemes of the municipal masterplans (MMPs) of three towns belonging to the Metropolitan City of Cagliari (Italy), and multiple linear regressions are performed. The outcomes of the study imply that the eligibility of a land parcel to be part of the RGI depends on several factors related to planning policies entailed by the zoning schemes of the MMPs, such as presence and spreading of conservation and safeguard areas within urban fabrics, improved accessibility of historic and natural landmarks, planned use of nature-based solutions within the regulating codes of MMPs, improvement of habitat quality in the spatial context of rural areas. Main limitations of the proposed methodology concern the fragile theoretical foundations concerning the assessment of the recreational value, and the need for structured integration of nature-based solutions into the proposed methodology.