Patterns of Sprawl: The Socioeconomic and Territorial Profile of Dispersed Urban Areas in Italy

Abstract

Salvati L. and Carlucci M. Patterns of sprawl: the socioeconomic and territorial profile of dispersed urban areas in Italy, Regional Studies. The debate on the causes and consequences of urban sprawl has not led to a widely accepted interpretative framework so far. However, to formulate effective sustainable development policies, a comprehensive analysis of sprawl is becoming more and more urgent in Europe. Through an exploratory data analysis of the spatial distribution of 132 indicators (regarded as socioeconomic and environmental factors of urban sprawl) in 8100 Italian municipalities affected by different levels of settlement dispersion, this study discusses place-specific factors that depend on the socioeconomic context and lead to diverging models of sprawl throughout the country. The illustrated methodology produces an informative base possibly supporting urban containment and sustainable development policies in ‘sprawling’ regions.