Abstract
The definition and the subsequent development of eco-industrial parks (EIPs) have been deeply based on the application of industrial ecology theory, which pays specific attention to metabolic exchanges within industrial processes to address a deep reduction of limited resource consumption and a minimization of waste production in the framework of a sustainable development approach. Despite the EIPs configurations being essentially based on the overall idea of sustainability, the problem of defining their proper location inside the territory and the consequent land use model, to minimize land consumption, have not always been central in the wide range of studies and practices concerning the EIPs. Nevertheless, the specific problem of a drastic reduction of land consumption at the EIP planning stage acquires a crucial role and, therefore, needs to be carefully assessed inside the perspective of sustainable urban development. In this framework, the paper firstly aims at facing the nontrivial relationship between the EIPs’ theorizations and implementations and the reduction of land consumption by referencing specific studies and shared tools, where new developments have been favored despite the conversion and redevelopment of existing industrial parks; secondly, it focus on an Italian case study and its emblematic EIP planning processes, in order to deepen the contradictions between sustainable spatial planning and eco-industrial parks. Finally, some final conclusions will be presented, in order to integrate some main issues concerning the reduction of land consumption inside the more traditional EIP design processes.
Highlights
As is well known, sustainable development has been defined as ―development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‖ [1] (p. 8)
By considering what has emerged by the general dissertation concerning eco-industrial parks (EIPs) implementations and especially by the case study analysis, some mismatch between the EIPs’ features concerning the ecosystem organization of the industrial processes and the localizing and planning choices can be perceived
The failures of the EIP implementations do not seem to have any relationship with this lack of synergy; they suggest new controversial issues to be addressed in order to reconcile spatial sustainability principles with the environmental sustainability of industrial processes
Summary
Sustainable development has been defined as ―development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‖ [1] (p. 8). As a matter of fact, unlike the traditional industrial districts, which base their aggregating model mainly on economic opportunities or decide to localize themselves in highly accessible areas, close to the main transport infrastructures, the eco-industrial parks call the common way of production into question by paying special attention to the management of environmental and resource issues, including energy, water and materials to meet the highest reduction of natural and non-renewable resources consumption, emissions and wastes [14] In other words, they have been introduced as an alternative model for more sustainable industrial area planning; for this reason, it is desirable, if only from a theoretical point of view, that the implementation of eco-industrial parks will be in close relation with sustainable spatial planning principles, which are very interested in non-renewable resources conservation, including soil, and in guaranteeing a high quality of life, urban livability and ecosystem conservation, at the same time. Our paper will study the Italian context and especially an Emilia-Romagna case study to stress such a tendency and to define a specific planning approach that is more careful regarding the problems concerning land consumption, in order to reconcile EIP development and sustainable spatial planning
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
