In 2023, in Italy every second 2,4 m2 of soil are lost. This means that in only one year 77 km2, approximately little less than the half the surface of the city of Milan, were built with new buildings or infrastructure (data by ISPRA).
Among the forms of degradation that afflict not only the Italian but all European soils, that related to the loss of land due to changes in use, in favor of infrastructures, buildings, landfills, quarries or other interventions that involve the removal of soil and its vegetation, represents the most aggressive and least reversible form.
Italian soil consumption costs 8 billion euros per year
In Italy, urban transformations have made the soil impervious, causing flooding, heat waves, loss of green areas, biodiversity and ecosystem services, with economic damage estimated at almost 8 billion euros per year (data by ISPRA).
Soil consumption is concentrated in lowland areas, in the North and in the coastal strips, which in a region with an irregular morphology such as Italy represents a scarce and precious regional resource. Furthermore, the consumption of soil mainly leads to the loss of agricultural land. This also means an economic loss. If we don’t produce food, we need to buy it.
In May 2023 the Emilia Romagna flood has done the tour of the world. Most of the people thought it was the climate change fault, I know this because I live in Emilia-Romagna, but The New York Times in May 27th, 2023 titled “Flood-Battered Italian Region May See More Violent and Frequent Storms. Experts have linked recent deadly rains in the north of the country to climate change, but decades of urbanization and neglect helped lay the groundwork for a calamity.”. It was not the only one. Unexpectedly many people still think it’s only a climate change problem. This means that we aren’t doing enough to inform people and politics are not adequate. Climate change is aggravated by soil consumption. To face the challenges of climate change, some experts have suggested stopping land consumption and redeveloping or reclaiming abandoned, polluted or degraded areas. Where new construction is deemed unavoidable, it should consider existing hydraulic conditions and guarantee that they would be maintained after completion.
In Italy there isn’t a national law to limit soil consumption
A law arrived at the early 2023 to stop this increasing tendency to overbuild, so 160 million euros are allocated to re-naturalize the soil, even in case of neglect of urban soils. But now there is still no national law that limits land consumption because all the legislative proposals presented have not been successful. The National Association of Building Contractors (ANCE) found that in 26 years 76 attempts to amend the 1942 urban planning law and approve a law for urban regeneration have failed. In fact, also the last law of 2023, to re-naturalize land, is proceeding very slowly, because the economic impact estimated is too high.
It is even worst that while discussions on the economic impact and regulatory processes don’t find a closure, land consumption does not stop.
We need to see and pursue great objectives: the Agenda 2030, goal 15 says:
the Goal 15 focuses specifically on managing forests sustainably, restoring degraded lands and successfully combating desertification, reducing degraded natural habitats and ending biodiversity loss.
In Italy it is estimated that since the 1950, the 7% of soil has been built. This percentage is still increasing, laws are not developing as fast. Do we really need another flood?
References:
https://soil4life.eu/en/il-consumo-del-suolo/
www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/attivita/suolo-e-territorio/suolo/il-consumo-di-suolo
www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/world/europe/italy-floods-emilia-romagna.html
