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One size does not fit all: A tale of polycentric development and land degradation in Italy

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  • Lanfredi, Maria
  • Egidi, Gianluca
  • Bianchini, Leonardo
  • Salvati, Luca

Abstract

Polycentric development is one of the fundamental components of the European Spatial Planning and Development (ESPD) strategy and substantiates the legitimacy of a decentralized governance framework. Spatial planning in polycentric regions has often been found to be ineffective in achieving a truly sustainable development. Relatively few studies have explored the nature of the relationship between polycentric development and the increasing sensitivity of Mediterranean landscapes to desertification. This knowledge gap is somewhat surprising given that economic development has often been considered to be a driver of land degradation. Italian socioeconomic and territorial variables were investigated to determine if levels of land sensitivity to desertification (measured using a composite indicator) had increased more rapidly in mono-centric or polycentric systems. Distinctive settlement models have epitomized the spatio-temporal evolution of the composite indicator for the last 50 years. The first model, from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, reflects a spatially centralized and functionally mono-centric development with density, concentration, and agglomeration acting as key factors of change. Local systems with a purely mono-centric structure exhibited increasing levels of land sensitivity. The increase in land sensitivity from the early 1990s to the early 2010s, was spatially decentralized and mostly dependent on place-specific dynamics. Local systems reorganized themselves on the basis of individualized development models, attempting highly differentiated and poorly coordinated development paths. This study documents how the evolution toward spatially balanced polycentric models can mitigate the growth of land sensitivity in specific contexts. Managing transitions towards polycentric models with positive environmental implications calls for a proactive analysis of the background context, a clarification of socio-economic constraints and spatial limits to centralized and/or decentralized development processes.

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  • Lanfredi, Maria & Egidi, Gianluca & Bianchini, Leonardo & Salvati, Luca, 2022. "One size does not fit all: A tale of polycentric development and land degradation in Italy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:192:y:2022:i:c:s0921800921003153
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107256
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    2. Narkis S. Morales & Ignacio C. Fernández & Leonardo P. Durán & Waldo A. Pérez-Martínez, 2023. "RePlant Alfa: Integrating Google Earth Engine and R Coding to Support the Identification of Priority Areas for Ecological Restoration," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Salvati, Luca, 2023. "Two wrongs don't make a right: A multi-step decomposition of latent dimensions of sustainable development and desertification risk in Italy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    4. Vito Imbrenda & Rosa Coluzzi & Valerio Di Stefano & Gianluca Egidi & Luca Salvati & Caterina Samela & Tiziana Simoniello & Maria Lanfredi, 2022. "Modeling Spatio-Temporal Divergence in Land Vulnerability to Desertification with Local Regressions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Maria Lanfredi & Rosa Coluzzi & Vito Imbrenda & Bogdana Nosova & Massimiliano Giacalone & Rosario Turco & Marcela Prokopovà & Luca Salvati, 2023. "In-between Environmental Sustainability and Economic Viability: An Analysis of the State, Regulations, and Future of Italian Forestry Sector," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Caterina Samela & Vito Imbrenda & Rosa Coluzzi & Letizia Pace & Tiziana Simoniello & Maria Lanfredi, 2022. "Multi-Decadal Assessment of Soil Loss in a Mediterranean Region Characterized by Contrasting Local Climates," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-25, July.

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