Salvaguardia e contenimento del consumo del suolo: politiche e prospettive in Unione europea e in Italia [Safeguard and containment of land consumption: policies and perspectives in the European Union and in Italy]

Abstract

The issue of land consumption is one of the great challenges of the present and the near future, given the importance of this natural resource, not renewable limited, for the survival of mankind on this planet. The containment of land use, even up to its zeroing, is therefore a goal of primary importance which, in order to be achieved, must be pursued taking into account its correlation with urban sprawl phenomena and the increase in the urban population. In consideration of this relationship, some policies have been developed in the European Union as well as in Italy to support urban sustainability and urban regeneration, also aimed at containing land consumption. Such interest has intensified at European level thanks to the European Parliament resolution on soil protection and to the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, both issued in 2021, and in Italy thanks to the new National Recovery and Resilience Plan NextGenerationItalia approved in May 2022. These documents highlight the legislative gap due to the lack of a specific legislation on land use, both at EU and national level, whose issuing represents the next necessary step towards containing severe damages to the ground and, perhaps, towards their solutions.

Keywords

• soil use
• policies for containing soil use
• sustainable urban development
• urban regeneration
• reuse of built spaces
• geography
• italy