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Exploring forest ‘fringescapes’: urban growth, society and swimming pools as a sprawl landmark in coastal Rome

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Abstract

The present study analyses the spatial distribution of urban settlements and residential swimming pools on the southern fringe of a large Mediterranean city (Rome, Italy) characterized by a mixed urban–rural landscape dominated by the forest of Castelporziano, one of the best preserved example of coastal flat oak wood in central Italy. Pool density was considered as a proxy for dispersed urbanization negatively impacting natural ecosystems at the local scale. We assess occurrence, frequency and dispersion of residential swimming pools as an indicator of urban sprawl around relict forest patches. A total of 6,336 swimming pools (29.4 % of total swimming pools found in Rome’s province concentrated in 19.6 % of the total surface area) were surveyed in coastal Rome (1,048 km2). The distribution of pools is spatially heterogeneous and reflects a mixed landscape structure alternating forests, cropland and human settlements with different density and compactness degree. Swimming pools concentrated in a few hotspots, especially in the western side of Castelporziano forest (Casalpalocco and Castelfusano districts) and along the coast (in Pomezia and Ardea municipalities), with a potentially higher pressure on forest ecosystem. The proposed approach based on spatial analysis proved to be effective in the study of latent landscape changes at the urban–wildland interface. Swimming pools are considered a reliable ‘sprawl’ landmark identifying dispersed settlements and indirectly quantifying the anthropogenic impact on fringe forests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning, University IUAV of Venice (IUAV), Palazzo Badoer 2468, S. Polo, 30125, Venice, Italy

    Ilaria Zambon

  2. Department of Geography, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Building B, Campus UAB, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Ilaria Zambon

  3. Italian National Institute of Statistics, Via C. Balbo 16, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Alberto Sabbi

  4. Department of Architecture, College of Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 440-746, Republic of Korea

    Thorsten Schuetze

  5. Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Via della Navicella 2-4, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Luca Salvati

Authors
  1. Ilaria Zambon
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  2. Alberto Sabbi
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  3. Thorsten Schuetze
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  4. Luca Salvati
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Correspondence to Alberto Sabbi.

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Zambon, I., Sabbi, A., Schuetze, T. et al. Exploring forest ‘fringescapes’: urban growth, society and swimming pools as a sprawl landmark in coastal Rome. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 26, 159–168 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-015-0377-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-015-0377-6

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