Daniele La Rosa | University of Catania (original) (raw)

Books by Daniele La Rosa

Non-Urbanized Areas (NUAs) are outdoor places in urban context with significant amounts of vegeta... more Non-Urbanized Areas (NUAs) are outdoor places in urban context with significant amounts of vegetation, representing the last remnants of nature in metropolitan areas. As part of the agricultural and green infrastructure, NUAs provide a different range of Ecosystem Services, such as purification of air and water, mitigation of floods and droughts, re-generation of soil fertility, moderation of temperature extremes and enhancing of landscape quality. Like other natural ecosystems, NUAs today are endangered by urbanization processes, which are the main cause of their fragmentation and loss of evapotranspiring features. For these reasons, the protection of these areas is a fundamental issue for land use planning, and it requires appropriate methods and strategies for their management. This book explores the role and importance of NUAs in metropolitan contexts and presents a method for their characterization for urban planning. The method produces a scenario of new land uses of existing NUAs, aimed at enhancing the production of urban ecosystem services within the agricultural and green infrastructure. The method is based on different phases such as analysis of Land Cover, Fragmentation, Proximity and Compatibility.

Papers by Daniele La Rosa

Environmental Pollution, 2011

Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosys... more Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosystem services. Their role is fundamental for the minimization of urban pollution and adaptation to climate change. Like all natural ecosystems, NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl. The regulation of sprawl is a key issue for land-use planning. We propose a land use suitability strategy model to orient Land Uses of NUAs, based on integration of Land Cover Analysis (LCA) and Fragmentation Analysis (FA). With LCA the percentage of evapotranspiring surface is defined for each land use. Dimensions and densities of NUAs patches are assessed in FA. The model has been developed with Geographical Information Systems, using an extensive set of geodatabases, including orthophotos, vectorial cartographies and field surveys. The case of the municipality of Mascalucia in Catania metropolitan area (Italy), characterized by a considerable urban sprawl, is presented.► Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are crucial for land planning and pollution minimization. ► NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl in Catania metropolitan areas (Italy). ► NUAs can be characterized by Land Cover and Fragmentation analysis. ► Results from analysis are used in a Land Use Suitability Strategy Model (LUSSM). ► By LUSSM application seven new prospective land uses for NUAs are proposed.

The relationship between sustainable urban development and environmental sustainability is crucia... more The relationship between sustainable urban development and environmental sustainability is crucial to every strategy of urban transformation, renewal and regeneration. In particular, urban regeneration entails programmes of urban transformation that involve the rehabilitation of existing parts of a city, re-use previously built-up area and abandoned buildings, and redevelop blighted urban spaces to increase urban sustainability. Few existing studies have evaluated the real environmental outcomes and effectiveness of regeneration programmes in terms of physical variables such as newly provided green spaces, access to public transportation, climate change or seismic-risk reduction.
This paper proposes a method for spatially quantifying the benefits of regenerating areas with reference to environmental and urban factors, such as reduction of seismic risk, increase in accessibility and diversity of land use. Each aspect is evaluated by spatial indicators, calculated at different geographical units that steadily increase in size, in order to understand the effects of a single regeneration area and of a number of concurrent areas. The work focuses on the municipality of Catania (Italy), a high-density urban context, with a general lack of green spaces, and high levels seismic risk exposure.
Results show that positive benefits can be extended from regeneration areas to contiguous relevant portions of the city, and that even a limited number of regeneration areas can produce relevant benefits. These benefits rely on the combination of characteristics of regeneration areas and urban environments in which they are located, such as population density, presence/accessibility of urban services, and land-use diversity.

L’obiettivo della ricerca è la classificazione degli spazi pubblici di un quartiere della città d... more L’obiettivo della ricerca è la classificazione degli spazi pubblici di un quartiere della città di Catania, secondo il grado di sicurezza percepito da chi si muove nello spazio. Viene qui considerato come fattore determinante della sicurezza percepita, secondo la tradizione sociologica americana, il grado di visibilità, cioè la possibilità di essere visti da un “occhio sulla strada”, nel momento in cui ci si muove nello spazio pubblico. Una tale classificazione ha una diretta applicazione nell’implementazione di politiche per la sicurezza urbana. La metodologia utilizzata per la classificazione dello spazio pubblico si è fondata sulle creazione all’interno di un GIS di “isoviste”, vale a dire di coni ottici di visibilità, costruiti a partire da una finestra o da un accesso pedonale di un edificio, che rappresentano le porzioni di spazio effettivamente visibili da un osservatore all’interno degli spazi privati prospicienti la strada. La sovrapposizione di più isoviste, mediante una d...

Ecological Indicators, 2015

Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems, 2015

La letteratura scientifica degli ultimi anni sembra aver ampiamente sancito il ruolo fondante del... more La letteratura scientifica degli ultimi anni sembra aver ampiamente sancito il ruolo fondante della sostenibilità alla base delle trasformazioni urbane e territoriali. In particolare, le pratiche di rigenerazione urbana costituiscono un potenziale strumento per orientare le trasformazioni della città verso criteri di sostenibilità ambientale. Per contro, pochi sono gli studi che hanno approfondito il ruolo effettivamente svolto dagli interventi di rigenerazione urbana nella costruzione della città sostenibile e le ricadute che tali processi innescano sull'intero sistema urbano. Il presente studio approfondisce alcuni aspetti delle progetti di rigenerazione urbana, al fine di individuare regole e indirizzi progettuali per calibrare i contenuti dei progetti ed aumentare l'efficacia delle trasformazioni verso modelli di sostenibilità e di città resiliente. Questa prospettiva è discussa con particolare riferimento alla recente esperienza di revisione del piano urbanistico della ...

This paper presents an Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) design approach aimed at re-defining the ... more This paper presents an Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) design approach aimed at re-defining the role of green area network as part of the Land Use Masterplan of the city of Catania (Italy), a southern Mediterranean city. It is a particularly relevant and challenging case considering the substantial lack of green spaces, which characterizes the urban environment of this city. The proposed approach is intended as a tool for implementing planning actions that aim to include existing Non Urbanized Areas (NUAs) into the construction of a Green Infrastructure. Actions are proposed to define and build different design scenarios including longitudinal, radial and urban core connections through specific Design Elements (Green Lines, Green Wedges and Green Hooks). As a result, UGI would provide an increase of green spaces up to 2250 % compared to the current amount of public green areas. Integrating rural landscapes into leisure areas, through protection and promotion of urban and peri-urban...

The concept of Ecosystem Services has gained traction on the scientific agenda and has found its ... more The concept of Ecosystem Services has gained traction on the scientific agenda and has found its way into research on urban environments. Cities and towns, like any other ecosystem, provide specific services to their inhabitants and communities and they are benefited by surrounding ecosystems as well. Among the different categories, typical Ecosystem Services categories such as food production and erosion control usually have a lesser importance within urban contexts. However, the very diverse range of land uses and ecosystems in urban contexts provide specific Cultural Ecosystem Services including recreational, cultural and educational values.

However, to date only limited attention has been given to the provision of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), especially considering the relevant benefits that communities and urban planning processes can derive from them. In this document we review existing approaches for the assessment of CES in urban contexts and provide a critical overview of how indicators are used to assess and measure CES. We first conduct a literature review on the indicators used for CES in urban contexts then the paper addresses some specific issues with reference to both operability and benefits of the use of CES indicators for urban planning and management.

Our results show that existing CES indicators have limited usability for urban planning and management. Moreover a lack of appropriate data use is a significant obstacle for proper CES assessment. This impacts the potential for sustainable decision-making concerning CES in urban contexts. These issues, together with fact that most identified indicators are proxy ones, identify an urgent need to develop proper assessment indicators for CES.

Land Use Policy, Nov 1, 2014

Contemporary cities are threatened by urban development decreasing the overall environmental qual... more Contemporary cities are threatened by urban development decreasing the overall environmental quality and fragmenting natural and agricultural landscapes. As a result of this fragmentation the number of Non Urbanized Areas (NUAs) present in urban contexts is dramatically decreasing. These areas include cultivated land, Abandoned Farmlands, Grassland, Woods and Shrubs that are often located at the peri-urban cities’ fringes. Among NUAs, farmlands and other forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture provide all three major categories of ecosystem services, provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Recently, New Forms of Urban Agriculture (NFUA) have gained increasing attention from researchers for their promising multifunctionality. Incorporating NFUA into the urban environment will thus improve the sustainability of cities, taking advantage of the multiple benefits and services they can provide.
This paper presents a method for the characterisation of NUAs in terms of their physical, ecological and social features. These areas are analysed with different criteria and related indicators structured according to a GIS-based Multi Criteria Suitability Model. The proposed model checks the suitability of transformation of the NUAs toward NFUA, thereby enhancing their ecological and social function as well as accessibility and overall connectivity. Different scenarios of spatial configurations for NFUA have been explored with a sensitivity analysis on the values of used indicators. The method was tested for the municipality of Catania, south Italy, an urban context characterised by a relevant shortage of public green spaces and services.

Ecological Indicators, 2013

The issue of accessibility to urban greenspaces is raising as one of the most debated in sustaina... more The issue of accessibility to urban greenspaces is raising as one of the most debated in sustainable urban planning, especially in topics such as environmental justice and health inequalities. This is mainly due to the growing attention that is recognized today to health and well-being benefits from greenspaces. Different people interpret accessibility based on their individual needs and priorities, but it is generally acknowledged that access to greenspaces may be particularly beneficial for children, lower socioeconomic groups and for people with other mental/psychological illness. However, if accessibility is the measure of the ease of reaching valued destinations, clarifying its definition is an important pre-requisite for further analysis aimed at supporting urban planning choices on greenspaces.
The following paper presents a set of accessibility indicators aimed at quantifying different measures of accessibility to existing open spaces for the city of Catania, south Italy, an urban context characterized by a general lack of greenspaces and high density of urban settlements.
Proposed indicators are divided into two main categories: simple distance indicators (SIs) and proximity indicators (PIs). The first accounts for the number of people or users that can have access to a particular open space, while the second weights these people or users with the distance from their location to the open spaces. Indicators are calculated using different thresholds of Euclidean and network distances.

GIScience & Remote Sensing, Jun 14, 2013

Detailed urban land-cover maps are essential information for sustainable planning. Land-cover map... more Detailed urban land-cover maps are essential information for sustainable planning. Land-cover maps assist planners in designing strategies for the optimisation of urban ecosystem services and climate change adaptation. In this study, the statistical software R was applied to land cover analysis for the Catania metropolitan area in Sicily, Italy. Six land cover classes were extracted from high-resolution orthophotos. Five different classification algorithms were compared. Texture and contextual layers were tested in different combinations as ancillary data. Classification accuracies of 89% were achieved for two of the tested algorithms.

Journal of Environmental Management

Maintaining existing levels of landscape diversity is becoming more and more important for planni... more Maintaining existing levels of landscape diversity is becoming more and more important for planning considering the increasing pressures on agricultural ecosystems due to soil sealing, sprawl processes and intensive agriculture. Norms for land-use regulation and measures for landscape Safeguard and Rehabilitation have to take into consideration these threats in landscape planning. Evaluating the diversity of agricultural ecosystems is a fundamental step for proposing sound approaches to planning and managing both soil and landscape, as well as maintaining the related ecosystem services. The paper proposes a method aimed at the qualitative evaluation of spatial diversity of agricultural landscapes using a reduced set of ecological indicators based on land-use vector data. Indicators are calculated for defined landscape units characterized by landscape homogeneity. GIS geoprocessing and spatial analysis functions are employed. The study area is the Province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), which is characterized by cultivation mosaics in its southern region, cereal cultivation in the central region and prevailing natural environments in the northern region.

Results from the indicator calculations are used to define measures to be included in a Landscape Protection Plan. Safeguard and Rehabilitation measures are introduced, which link indicator scores to planning protection aims. The results highlight the relevance of some agricultural mosaics in proximity to streams and seasonal fluvial environments, where some undamaged natural environments are still present. For these areas, specific landscape safeguard measures are proposed to preserve their diversity features together with their original agricultural functions. The work shows that even with a reduced number of indicators, a differentiated set of measures can be proposed for a Landscape Protection Plan.

The innovative approach to the protection and management of water resources at the basin scale in... more The innovative approach to the protection and management of water resources at the basin scale introduced by the European Union water framework directive (WFD) requires new scientific tools. WFD implementation also requires the participation of many stakeholders (administrators, farmers and citizens) with the aim of improving the quality of river waters and basin ecosystems through cooperative planning. This approach encompasses different issues, such as agro-ecology, land use planning and water management. This paper presents the results of a methodology suggested for implementing the WFD in the case of the Seveso river contract in Italy, one of the recent WFD applications. The Seveso basin in the Lombardy region has been one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in Italy over the last 50 years. First, land use changes in the last 50 years are assessed with the use of historical aerial photos. Then, elements of an ecological network along the river corridor are outlined, and different scenarios for enhancing existing ecological connections are assessed using indicators from graph theory. These scenarios were discussed in technical workshops with involved stakeholders of the river contract. The results show a damaged rural landscape, where urbanization processes have decimated the system of linear green features (hedges/rows). Progressive reconnections of some of the identified network nodes may significantly increase the connectivity and circuitry of the study area.

Landscape protection planning is a complex task that requires an integrated assessment and involv... more Landscape protection planning is a complex task that requires an integrated assessment and involves heterogeneous issues. These issues include not only the management of a considerable amount of data to describe landscape features but also the choice of appropriate tools to evaluate the hazards and risks. The landscape assessment phase can provide fundamental information for the definition of a Landscape Protection Plan, in which the selection of norms for protection or rehabilitation is strictly related to hazards, values and risks that are found. This paper describes a landscape assessment methodology conducted by using GIS, concerning landscape hazards, values and risk. Four hazard categories are introduced and assessed concerning urban sprawl and erosion: landscape transformations by new planned developments, intensification of urban sprawl patterns, loss of agriculture land and erosion. Landscape value is evaluated by using different thematic layers overlaid with GIS geoprocessing. The risk of loss of landscape value is evaluated, with reference to the potential occurrence of the previously assessed hazards. The case study is the Province of Enna (Sicily), where landscape protection is a relevant issue because of the importance of cultural and natural heritage. Results show that high value landscape features have a low risk of loss of landscape value. For this reason, landscape protection policies assume a relevant role in landscapes with low-medium values and they should be addressed to control the urban sprawl processes that are beginning in the area.

Non-urbanized areas (NUAs) are outdoor places with significant amounts of vegetation. They are ma... more Non-urbanized areas (NUAs) are outdoor places with significant amounts of vegetation. They are mainly semi-natural patches that represent the last remnants of nature in metropolitan areas. As part of the agricultural and green infrastructure that provide ecosystem services, such as purification of air and water, mitigation of floods and droughts, re-generation of soil fertility, moderation of temperature extremes and enhancing of landscape quality. Like all natural ecosystems, NUAs today are endangered by urban sprawl, which is the main cause of their fragmentation and loss of evapotranspiring features. For these reasons, the protection of these areas is a fundamental issue for land use planning, and it requires appropriate strategies for their management.
We propose a Land Use Suitability Matrix, based on five different analytical phases, to orient the use of NUAs. Land Use and Land Cover Analysis quantifies the percentage of evapotranspiring surface for each land use. Fragmentation Analysis assesses the dimensions and density of NUAs. Proximity Analysis takes into account the degree to which NUAs are close to residential areas. The results from these analyses are integrated in a suitability matrix, which returns new Prospective Land Uses for NUAs. The last phase verifies the correspondence of these new land uses with the current ones to confirm or modify the proposed land uses. The resulting scenario allows the user to enhance the production of ecosystem services and define new appropriate land uses for NUAs within the agricultural and green infrastructure.
The case of three municipalities within the Catania metropolitan area (Italy), characterized by a considerable urban sprawl, is presented.

The value of a landscape is an important issue for landscape protection planning, as different ru... more The value of a landscape is an important issue for landscape protection planning, as different rules or land-use limitations can be defined according to the intensity of values that are visible from certain positions. Viewshed analysis is often used in landscape evaluation, classifying an area by its degree of visibility. This approach however may be not able to consider the value of landscape features that can be observed, as it is only based on terrain morphology features. A landscape assessment methodology is proposed here, by integrating both viewshed analysis and landscape values assessment. In the first part of the work, a viewshed is calculated from a set of viewpoints of panoramic roads. The landscape value is then assessed, using different available thematic layers that are overlaid with GIS geoprocessing tools. Finally, an index of visible landscape values is calculated, through the overlay of the viewshed and landscape value rasters previously obtained. The study area is the province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), where landscape protection is a relevant issue due to the importance, as well as the number, of cultural and natural elements. The resulting visibility map of landscape values is a useful tool to find appropriate policies for landscape protection and design plans.

Non-Urbanized Areas (NUAs) are outdoor places in urban context with significant amounts of vegeta... more Non-Urbanized Areas (NUAs) are outdoor places in urban context with significant amounts of vegetation, representing the last remnants of nature in metropolitan areas. As part of the agricultural and green infrastructure, NUAs provide a different range of Ecosystem Services, such as purification of air and water, mitigation of floods and droughts, re-generation of soil fertility, moderation of temperature extremes and enhancing of landscape quality. Like other natural ecosystems, NUAs today are endangered by urbanization processes, which are the main cause of their fragmentation and loss of evapotranspiring features. For these reasons, the protection of these areas is a fundamental issue for land use planning, and it requires appropriate methods and strategies for their management. This book explores the role and importance of NUAs in metropolitan contexts and presents a method for their characterization for urban planning. The method produces a scenario of new land uses of existing NUAs, aimed at enhancing the production of urban ecosystem services within the agricultural and green infrastructure. The method is based on different phases such as analysis of Land Cover, Fragmentation, Proximity and Compatibility.

Environmental Pollution, 2011

Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosys... more Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosystem services. Their role is fundamental for the minimization of urban pollution and adaptation to climate change. Like all natural ecosystems, NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl. The regulation of sprawl is a key issue for land-use planning. We propose a land use suitability strategy model to orient Land Uses of NUAs, based on integration of Land Cover Analysis (LCA) and Fragmentation Analysis (FA). With LCA the percentage of evapotranspiring surface is defined for each land use. Dimensions and densities of NUAs patches are assessed in FA. The model has been developed with Geographical Information Systems, using an extensive set of geodatabases, including orthophotos, vectorial cartographies and field surveys. The case of the municipality of Mascalucia in Catania metropolitan area (Italy), characterized by a considerable urban sprawl, is presented.► Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are crucial for land planning and pollution minimization. ► NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl in Catania metropolitan areas (Italy). ► NUAs can be characterized by Land Cover and Fragmentation analysis. ► Results from analysis are used in a Land Use Suitability Strategy Model (LUSSM). ► By LUSSM application seven new prospective land uses for NUAs are proposed.

The relationship between sustainable urban development and environmental sustainability is crucia... more The relationship between sustainable urban development and environmental sustainability is crucial to every strategy of urban transformation, renewal and regeneration. In particular, urban regeneration entails programmes of urban transformation that involve the rehabilitation of existing parts of a city, re-use previously built-up area and abandoned buildings, and redevelop blighted urban spaces to increase urban sustainability. Few existing studies have evaluated the real environmental outcomes and effectiveness of regeneration programmes in terms of physical variables such as newly provided green spaces, access to public transportation, climate change or seismic-risk reduction.
This paper proposes a method for spatially quantifying the benefits of regenerating areas with reference to environmental and urban factors, such as reduction of seismic risk, increase in accessibility and diversity of land use. Each aspect is evaluated by spatial indicators, calculated at different geographical units that steadily increase in size, in order to understand the effects of a single regeneration area and of a number of concurrent areas. The work focuses on the municipality of Catania (Italy), a high-density urban context, with a general lack of green spaces, and high levels seismic risk exposure.
Results show that positive benefits can be extended from regeneration areas to contiguous relevant portions of the city, and that even a limited number of regeneration areas can produce relevant benefits. These benefits rely on the combination of characteristics of regeneration areas and urban environments in which they are located, such as population density, presence/accessibility of urban services, and land-use diversity.

L’obiettivo della ricerca è la classificazione degli spazi pubblici di un quartiere della città d... more L’obiettivo della ricerca è la classificazione degli spazi pubblici di un quartiere della città di Catania, secondo il grado di sicurezza percepito da chi si muove nello spazio. Viene qui considerato come fattore determinante della sicurezza percepita, secondo la tradizione sociologica americana, il grado di visibilità, cioè la possibilità di essere visti da un “occhio sulla strada”, nel momento in cui ci si muove nello spazio pubblico. Una tale classificazione ha una diretta applicazione nell’implementazione di politiche per la sicurezza urbana. La metodologia utilizzata per la classificazione dello spazio pubblico si è fondata sulle creazione all’interno di un GIS di “isoviste”, vale a dire di coni ottici di visibilità, costruiti a partire da una finestra o da un accesso pedonale di un edificio, che rappresentano le porzioni di spazio effettivamente visibili da un osservatore all’interno degli spazi privati prospicienti la strada. La sovrapposizione di più isoviste, mediante una d...

Ecological Indicators, 2015

Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems, 2015

La letteratura scientifica degli ultimi anni sembra aver ampiamente sancito il ruolo fondante del... more La letteratura scientifica degli ultimi anni sembra aver ampiamente sancito il ruolo fondante della sostenibilità alla base delle trasformazioni urbane e territoriali. In particolare, le pratiche di rigenerazione urbana costituiscono un potenziale strumento per orientare le trasformazioni della città verso criteri di sostenibilità ambientale. Per contro, pochi sono gli studi che hanno approfondito il ruolo effettivamente svolto dagli interventi di rigenerazione urbana nella costruzione della città sostenibile e le ricadute che tali processi innescano sull'intero sistema urbano. Il presente studio approfondisce alcuni aspetti delle progetti di rigenerazione urbana, al fine di individuare regole e indirizzi progettuali per calibrare i contenuti dei progetti ed aumentare l'efficacia delle trasformazioni verso modelli di sostenibilità e di città resiliente. Questa prospettiva è discussa con particolare riferimento alla recente esperienza di revisione del piano urbanistico della ...

This paper presents an Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) design approach aimed at re-defining the ... more This paper presents an Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) design approach aimed at re-defining the role of green area network as part of the Land Use Masterplan of the city of Catania (Italy), a southern Mediterranean city. It is a particularly relevant and challenging case considering the substantial lack of green spaces, which characterizes the urban environment of this city. The proposed approach is intended as a tool for implementing planning actions that aim to include existing Non Urbanized Areas (NUAs) into the construction of a Green Infrastructure. Actions are proposed to define and build different design scenarios including longitudinal, radial and urban core connections through specific Design Elements (Green Lines, Green Wedges and Green Hooks). As a result, UGI would provide an increase of green spaces up to 2250 % compared to the current amount of public green areas. Integrating rural landscapes into leisure areas, through protection and promotion of urban and peri-urban...

The concept of Ecosystem Services has gained traction on the scientific agenda and has found its ... more The concept of Ecosystem Services has gained traction on the scientific agenda and has found its way into research on urban environments. Cities and towns, like any other ecosystem, provide specific services to their inhabitants and communities and they are benefited by surrounding ecosystems as well. Among the different categories, typical Ecosystem Services categories such as food production and erosion control usually have a lesser importance within urban contexts. However, the very diverse range of land uses and ecosystems in urban contexts provide specific Cultural Ecosystem Services including recreational, cultural and educational values.

However, to date only limited attention has been given to the provision of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), especially considering the relevant benefits that communities and urban planning processes can derive from them. In this document we review existing approaches for the assessment of CES in urban contexts and provide a critical overview of how indicators are used to assess and measure CES. We first conduct a literature review on the indicators used for CES in urban contexts then the paper addresses some specific issues with reference to both operability and benefits of the use of CES indicators for urban planning and management.

Our results show that existing CES indicators have limited usability for urban planning and management. Moreover a lack of appropriate data use is a significant obstacle for proper CES assessment. This impacts the potential for sustainable decision-making concerning CES in urban contexts. These issues, together with fact that most identified indicators are proxy ones, identify an urgent need to develop proper assessment indicators for CES.

Land Use Policy, Nov 1, 2014

Contemporary cities are threatened by urban development decreasing the overall environmental qual... more Contemporary cities are threatened by urban development decreasing the overall environmental quality and fragmenting natural and agricultural landscapes. As a result of this fragmentation the number of Non Urbanized Areas (NUAs) present in urban contexts is dramatically decreasing. These areas include cultivated land, Abandoned Farmlands, Grassland, Woods and Shrubs that are often located at the peri-urban cities’ fringes. Among NUAs, farmlands and other forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture provide all three major categories of ecosystem services, provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Recently, New Forms of Urban Agriculture (NFUA) have gained increasing attention from researchers for their promising multifunctionality. Incorporating NFUA into the urban environment will thus improve the sustainability of cities, taking advantage of the multiple benefits and services they can provide.
This paper presents a method for the characterisation of NUAs in terms of their physical, ecological and social features. These areas are analysed with different criteria and related indicators structured according to a GIS-based Multi Criteria Suitability Model. The proposed model checks the suitability of transformation of the NUAs toward NFUA, thereby enhancing their ecological and social function as well as accessibility and overall connectivity. Different scenarios of spatial configurations for NFUA have been explored with a sensitivity analysis on the values of used indicators. The method was tested for the municipality of Catania, south Italy, an urban context characterised by a relevant shortage of public green spaces and services.

Ecological Indicators, 2013

The issue of accessibility to urban greenspaces is raising as one of the most debated in sustaina... more The issue of accessibility to urban greenspaces is raising as one of the most debated in sustainable urban planning, especially in topics such as environmental justice and health inequalities. This is mainly due to the growing attention that is recognized today to health and well-being benefits from greenspaces. Different people interpret accessibility based on their individual needs and priorities, but it is generally acknowledged that access to greenspaces may be particularly beneficial for children, lower socioeconomic groups and for people with other mental/psychological illness. However, if accessibility is the measure of the ease of reaching valued destinations, clarifying its definition is an important pre-requisite for further analysis aimed at supporting urban planning choices on greenspaces.
The following paper presents a set of accessibility indicators aimed at quantifying different measures of accessibility to existing open spaces for the city of Catania, south Italy, an urban context characterized by a general lack of greenspaces and high density of urban settlements.
Proposed indicators are divided into two main categories: simple distance indicators (SIs) and proximity indicators (PIs). The first accounts for the number of people or users that can have access to a particular open space, while the second weights these people or users with the distance from their location to the open spaces. Indicators are calculated using different thresholds of Euclidean and network distances.

GIScience & Remote Sensing, Jun 14, 2013

Detailed urban land-cover maps are essential information for sustainable planning. Land-cover map... more Detailed urban land-cover maps are essential information for sustainable planning. Land-cover maps assist planners in designing strategies for the optimisation of urban ecosystem services and climate change adaptation. In this study, the statistical software R was applied to land cover analysis for the Catania metropolitan area in Sicily, Italy. Six land cover classes were extracted from high-resolution orthophotos. Five different classification algorithms were compared. Texture and contextual layers were tested in different combinations as ancillary data. Classification accuracies of 89% were achieved for two of the tested algorithms.

Journal of Environmental Management

Maintaining existing levels of landscape diversity is becoming more and more important for planni... more Maintaining existing levels of landscape diversity is becoming more and more important for planning considering the increasing pressures on agricultural ecosystems due to soil sealing, sprawl processes and intensive agriculture. Norms for land-use regulation and measures for landscape Safeguard and Rehabilitation have to take into consideration these threats in landscape planning. Evaluating the diversity of agricultural ecosystems is a fundamental step for proposing sound approaches to planning and managing both soil and landscape, as well as maintaining the related ecosystem services. The paper proposes a method aimed at the qualitative evaluation of spatial diversity of agricultural landscapes using a reduced set of ecological indicators based on land-use vector data. Indicators are calculated for defined landscape units characterized by landscape homogeneity. GIS geoprocessing and spatial analysis functions are employed. The study area is the Province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), which is characterized by cultivation mosaics in its southern region, cereal cultivation in the central region and prevailing natural environments in the northern region.

Results from the indicator calculations are used to define measures to be included in a Landscape Protection Plan. Safeguard and Rehabilitation measures are introduced, which link indicator scores to planning protection aims. The results highlight the relevance of some agricultural mosaics in proximity to streams and seasonal fluvial environments, where some undamaged natural environments are still present. For these areas, specific landscape safeguard measures are proposed to preserve their diversity features together with their original agricultural functions. The work shows that even with a reduced number of indicators, a differentiated set of measures can be proposed for a Landscape Protection Plan.

The innovative approach to the protection and management of water resources at the basin scale in... more The innovative approach to the protection and management of water resources at the basin scale introduced by the European Union water framework directive (WFD) requires new scientific tools. WFD implementation also requires the participation of many stakeholders (administrators, farmers and citizens) with the aim of improving the quality of river waters and basin ecosystems through cooperative planning. This approach encompasses different issues, such as agro-ecology, land use planning and water management. This paper presents the results of a methodology suggested for implementing the WFD in the case of the Seveso river contract in Italy, one of the recent WFD applications. The Seveso basin in the Lombardy region has been one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in Italy over the last 50 years. First, land use changes in the last 50 years are assessed with the use of historical aerial photos. Then, elements of an ecological network along the river corridor are outlined, and different scenarios for enhancing existing ecological connections are assessed using indicators from graph theory. These scenarios were discussed in technical workshops with involved stakeholders of the river contract. The results show a damaged rural landscape, where urbanization processes have decimated the system of linear green features (hedges/rows). Progressive reconnections of some of the identified network nodes may significantly increase the connectivity and circuitry of the study area.

Landscape protection planning is a complex task that requires an integrated assessment and involv... more Landscape protection planning is a complex task that requires an integrated assessment and involves heterogeneous issues. These issues include not only the management of a considerable amount of data to describe landscape features but also the choice of appropriate tools to evaluate the hazards and risks. The landscape assessment phase can provide fundamental information for the definition of a Landscape Protection Plan, in which the selection of norms for protection or rehabilitation is strictly related to hazards, values and risks that are found. This paper describes a landscape assessment methodology conducted by using GIS, concerning landscape hazards, values and risk. Four hazard categories are introduced and assessed concerning urban sprawl and erosion: landscape transformations by new planned developments, intensification of urban sprawl patterns, loss of agriculture land and erosion. Landscape value is evaluated by using different thematic layers overlaid with GIS geoprocessing. The risk of loss of landscape value is evaluated, with reference to the potential occurrence of the previously assessed hazards. The case study is the Province of Enna (Sicily), where landscape protection is a relevant issue because of the importance of cultural and natural heritage. Results show that high value landscape features have a low risk of loss of landscape value. For this reason, landscape protection policies assume a relevant role in landscapes with low-medium values and they should be addressed to control the urban sprawl processes that are beginning in the area.

Non-urbanized areas (NUAs) are outdoor places with significant amounts of vegetation. They are ma... more Non-urbanized areas (NUAs) are outdoor places with significant amounts of vegetation. They are mainly semi-natural patches that represent the last remnants of nature in metropolitan areas. As part of the agricultural and green infrastructure that provide ecosystem services, such as purification of air and water, mitigation of floods and droughts, re-generation of soil fertility, moderation of temperature extremes and enhancing of landscape quality. Like all natural ecosystems, NUAs today are endangered by urban sprawl, which is the main cause of their fragmentation and loss of evapotranspiring features. For these reasons, the protection of these areas is a fundamental issue for land use planning, and it requires appropriate strategies for their management.
We propose a Land Use Suitability Matrix, based on five different analytical phases, to orient the use of NUAs. Land Use and Land Cover Analysis quantifies the percentage of evapotranspiring surface for each land use. Fragmentation Analysis assesses the dimensions and density of NUAs. Proximity Analysis takes into account the degree to which NUAs are close to residential areas. The results from these analyses are integrated in a suitability matrix, which returns new Prospective Land Uses for NUAs. The last phase verifies the correspondence of these new land uses with the current ones to confirm or modify the proposed land uses. The resulting scenario allows the user to enhance the production of ecosystem services and define new appropriate land uses for NUAs within the agricultural and green infrastructure.
The case of three municipalities within the Catania metropolitan area (Italy), characterized by a considerable urban sprawl, is presented.

The value of a landscape is an important issue for landscape protection planning, as different ru... more The value of a landscape is an important issue for landscape protection planning, as different rules or land-use limitations can be defined according to the intensity of values that are visible from certain positions. Viewshed analysis is often used in landscape evaluation, classifying an area by its degree of visibility. This approach however may be not able to consider the value of landscape features that can be observed, as it is only based on terrain morphology features. A landscape assessment methodology is proposed here, by integrating both viewshed analysis and landscape values assessment. In the first part of the work, a viewshed is calculated from a set of viewpoints of panoramic roads. The landscape value is then assessed, using different available thematic layers that are overlaid with GIS geoprocessing tools. Finally, an index of visible landscape values is calculated, through the overlay of the viewshed and landscape value rasters previously obtained. The study area is the province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), where landscape protection is a relevant issue due to the importance, as well as the number, of cultural and natural elements. The resulting visibility map of landscape values is a useful tool to find appropriate policies for landscape protection and design plans.

Environmental Pollution, Jan 1, 2010

Non Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosys... more Non Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosystem services. Their role is fundamental for the minimization of urban pollution and adaptation to climate change. Like all natural ecosystems, NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl. The regulation of sprawl is a key issue for land use planning. We propose a land use suitability strategy model to orient Land Uses of NUAs, based on integration of Land Cover (LCA) and Fragmentation Analyses (FA). With LCA the percentage of evapotranspiring surface is defined for each land use. Dimensions and densities of NUAs patches are assessed in FA. The model has been developed with Geographical Information Systems, using an extensive set of geodatabases, including orthophotos, vectorial cartographies and field surveys. The case of the municipality of Mascalucia in Catania metropolitan area (Italy), characterized by a considerable urban sprawl, is presented.

In times of global process of urbanization, typical rural-urban dichotomies are diluting, losing ... more In times of global process of urbanization, typical rural-urban dichotomies are diluting, losing explanatory power. Landscape ecology has to deal with the increasing irruption of different technological elements - green, blue, grey nexus in landscapes. Cities are expanding at rates higher than most geographic landscape forces. The need to include technological elements in spatial planning and landscape assessment is increasingly being accepted. Nevertheless, new methods, theoretical frameworks and tools to assess these challenges are needed. Ecotopes are different than technotopes, the new hybrid homogeneities resulting of technological elements embedded in landscape's compartments. The increase in the pace at what technological materials are being stocked in landscape compartments is asking for the inclusion of metabolic assessment, to better understanding of current landscape changes and drivers. The technomass is growing at fast rates, as statistics of urban expansion, stocks and global demand of materials have shown. It is necessary to put together different disciplinary approaches to better understand the growing role of technological elements as driving forces changing landscape structure, pattern and processes, to outline a techno-metabolic approach, aiming a better understanding of current disciplinary as well as conceptual, methodological and operational challenges in an urban world.