Consumo di suolo o consumo di ambiente?

Economic development always determines a transfer of the factors of production from low-profit activities to high-profit ones. From this point of view, land consumption can be considered a result of economic development and it is not possible to state a priori whether an overexploitation occurred. Urban growth can assume different forms, some of which could determine a waste of land. At the same time urban sprawl can generate social and environmental costs that are usually ignored by urban planners and policy makers. It is important to underline that we do not have correct information about the quantity of the artificial surfaces and the artificialisation trends today in Italy. The data collected from various sources show that the rise of artificial land in the last years does not seem to be justified neither by the population growth nor by the variation of the gross domestic product per capita in Italy. Therefore it is important to focus on the improvement of our knowledge about the environmental and social effects of urban sprawl and to monitor the urban development dynamics.