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Changes at the fringe: Soil quality and environmental vulnerability during intense urban expansion

  • Genesis and Geography of Soils
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Abstract

The present study illustrates a framework to evaluate soil consumption in Mediterranean regions experiencing rapid urban growth. Results indicate that high-quality soils more suitable for agriculture and forestry were mostly consumed by urbanization especially in flat areas. The consumption of these soils was not concentrated in the first observation period (1948–1975) corresponding to the development of compact settlements, but increased significantly in the last period (1975–2010) mainly characterized by discontinuous and low-density urban expansion. The study underlines the urgent need to inform development policies and urban planning with an in-depth quantification of the soil resource base lost by urbanization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro per lo studio delle Relazioni Pianta-Suolo (CRA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, I-00184, Rome, Italy

    L. Salvati, C. Ferrara & F. Ranalli

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  1. L. Salvati
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  2. C. Ferrara
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  3. F. Ranalli
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Correspondence to L. Salvati.

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Published in Russian in Pochvovedenie, 2014, No. 10, pp. 1273–1280.

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Salvati, L., Ferrara, C. & Ranalli, F. Changes at the fringe: Soil quality and environmental vulnerability during intense urban expansion. Eurasian Soil Sc. 47, 1069–1075 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106422931410010X

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