Abstract
The relationships between territorial governance and the pursuit of sustainable development are evidenced to be critical. Exploratory tools, like Geographic Information Systems (GIS), enable us to comprehend the patterns, dynamics, and parameters of land-use changes over the years. The results from such studies could be used in the design of a sustainable territorial governance strategy. Contextually, a study has been conducted based on the changes that occurred in land uses in the Canary Archipelago in the years 1990, 2000, 2012, and 2018 using CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) data. Even if most of the land uses have been stable over the analyzed period, the investigation shows a decrease in agricultural areas. By contrast, it is possible to verify an increase in semi-natural areas and urban agglomerations. Moreover, the authors believe that an assessment of the land-use changes on these ultra-peripheral areas will also enable us to disclose some obstacles and opportunities for sustained development.
Highlights
The shifts in land use and territorial occupation are a topic of great relevance at global, national and regional levels, due to the impacts that these changes can have on the ecological, environmental and socio-economic systems [1,2]
Through the analyses of the land-use changes (LUC) models, together with the practical information of the territory, instructions, and guidelines for sustainable development, are possible to describe as follows
The changes that occurred in the land use are a direct indicator of the evidence of human activity upon natural environments [1,2]
Summary
The shifts in land use and territorial occupation are a topic of great relevance at global, national and regional levels, due to the impacts that these changes can have on the ecological, environmental and socio-economic systems [1,2] Those changes in land use and territorial occupation are a direct manifestation of human activity upon the natural environment [1,2]. In this regard, the evaluation of land-use changes (LUC) has become essential in several areas such as spatial and urban planning, environmental monitoring, in policy-making, economic and social levels, among many other fields. It is essential to have more profound knowledge and learn to better manage the existing territorial resources, in a more efficient and integrated way; it is crucial to make territory more resilient, Land 2020, 9, 232; doi:10.3390/land9070232 www.mdpi.com/journal/land
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