Sustainable land use planning in protected rural areas in Italy

• Published in: Landscape and urban planning Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 107 - 117
• Main Authors: Senes, Giulio, Toccolini, Alessandro
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15-06-1998; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agricultural development. Rural area planning; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping; General agronomy. Plant production; General aspects; Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development; GIS; ITALIA; ITALIE; ITALY; LAND USE; LANDSCAPE; LOISIR; NATURAL RESOURCES; PAISAJE; PAYSAGE; PLANIFICACION; PLANIFICATION; PLANNING; RECREACION; RECREATION; RECURSOS NATURALES; RESSOURCE NATURELLE; RURAL AREAS; Sustainable; TOURISM; TOURISME; TURISMO; UTILISATION DES TERRES; UTILIZACION DE LA TIERRA; ZONAS RURALES; ZONE RURALE; Southern Europe; Italy; Europe; Lombardy; GIS; Sustainable; Planning; Natural resources; Landscape; Regional planning; Ultimate limit; Sustainable development; Land use; Tourism; Geographic information system; Environment impact; Rural area planning; Natural park; Resource management; Anthropogenic factor; Environmental protection
• ISSN: 0169-2046; 1872-6062
• DOI: 10.1016/S0169-2046(97)00064-9

Sustainable land use planning requires an in depth analysis of the existing resources (localization, features, sensitivity to development) and an understanding of development characteristics (resource needs and collateral effects) in order to identify an use for the natural resources that will not prejudice future development. Activities must be developed where the necessary natural resources exist and only when the environment is capable of absorbing the impact of the development. In this context, various methodologies have been developed for determining a rational use of existing resources that anticipates the possible long-term effects on the environment of the decisions taken and that takes into consideration all the existing relations between the natural resources and the planned operations. Some of these methods use the `threshold' concept to establish the limits of the environment's ability to support the planned development. One of these methods is the UET (Ultimate Environmental Threshold), developed and applied during the creation of the Regional Plan for the Tatry National Park with the aim of identifying the environmental thresholds for tourism. The present study is concerned with evaluating the possibility of extending the application of the method to an area, such as the `Parco del Serio' (Italy), characterized by an environment rich in natural features but profoundly modified by human intervention, in order to define a `plan of the environmental preconditions' to be adopted during a sustainable planning process and which indicates the restrictions and the potential for development of human activities (with particular regards to tourism and recreational activities) in relation to the existing environmental resources and the ecological stability of the territory. This application of the UET method made use of the GIS (Geographical Information System) technology for the analysis and processing of the data acquired and the presentation of the results.