Marinas and other ports and facilities for the recreational craft sector: an ontology domain to support spatial planning.

Marinas and other ports and facilities for the recreational craft sector in Sardinia (Italy) can host more than 19,000 pleasure boats and yachts, according to a recent estimate (Osservatorio Nautico Nazionale, 2010); this capacity, at the national level, is second only to that of the Liguria region. However, Sardinian infrastructures and facilities are not part of a coherent network. Moreover, they are unevenly scattered along the coastline and are very diverse, in terms of type, dimension, and endowment of facilities for sailors. A key issue to be taken into account in the early stages of the preparation of a plan for the pleasure craft sector, which might create the conditions for the setting up of a coherent network, is the lack of a proper, detailed knowledge of the system of Sardinian marinas and other facilities. To this end, this paper begins with an analysis of current information (both spatial and non-spatial) and attempts to build a spatial database that integrates available data. The analysis identifies differences in structure and semantics, together with differences in purpose and date of production/update of the data, as the roots of inconsistencies among existing data produced by different sources. Such differences in structure and semantics risk, if not properly identified, considered and handled, to cause an incorrect integration of data. Following the methodology provided by the guidelines produced by the Ordnance Survey with regards to domain ontologies (Hart et al., 2007; Hart e Goodwin, 2007; Kovacs et al., 2006), the construction of an ontology of the domain of infrastructure and facilities for the recreational craft sector is therefore proposed as a possible solution to the problem. By applying this methodology, a ‘knowledge glossary,’ consisting of a shared vocabulary of core and secondary concepts and of relationships (some of which spatial) among concepts is developed, leading to the construction of a conceptual model of the domain, later formalized by means of the software Protégé.

Management Plans for Natura 2000 Sites and the Wider Planning System: Imperfect Advancements from Sardinia (Italy).

Natura 2000 is a European coherent network of areas to be protected for their ecological importance, established under the Habitats Directive (HD) and under the Birds Directive (BD); it is aimed at protecting biodiversity and especially habitats and species rare, valuable or threatened. With reference to the management of sites composing the network, article 6 of the HD requires that Member States ‘establish the necessary conservation measures involving, if need be, appropriate management plans specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans.’ While conservation measures are compulsory, it is therefore up to each Member State to establish whether management plans are necessary and what form they will take. This paper analyzes the implementation of Natura 2000 in Sardinia (Italy), whose ecological network consists of 92 Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) and 37 Special Protection Areas (SPAs), accounting for nearly a 19% of the total land area of the island. In Italy management plans for Natura 2000 sites are not compulsory; however, following a call for proposals, in Sardinia 76 management plans concerning 87 SCIs were prepared by local administrations in compliance with both the 2002 national guidelines and the 2005 regional guidelines. As a result of the recent approval of 72 (as of February 2011) of these plans by the regional executive, approximately a 57% of the Sardinian ecological network is planned by means of management plans aimed at maintaining natural habitats or restoring them at a favourable conservation status. This raises a series of questions, two of which will be addressed in this paper by looking at specific case-studies. First, it is still unknown what role these plans will play in the Sardinian multi-level planning system; in fact, although municipalities have agreed to make their land-use plans compliant with management plans, this is a voluntary agreement and not a statutory requirement. Second, it is not yet clear how management plans will fit into the appropriate assessment of the implications of projects and plans (including land-use plans) for the site in question required by the HD.

Geographic Information Systems and Decision Processes for Urban Planning: A Case Study of Rough Set Analysis on the Residential Areas of the City of Cagliari, Italy

In Italy, urban planning is based on the city Masterplan. This plan identifies the future urban organization and a system of zoning rules. Land-use policies are based on these rules. The zoning rules should synthesize environmental and spatial knowledge and policy decisions concerning the possible futures, with reference to the different urban functions. In this essay, a procedure of analysis of the city Masterplan of Cagliari, the regional capital city of Sardinia (Italy), is discussed and applied. This procedure is referred to the residential areas. The procedure tries to explain the urban organization of the housing areas using a system of variables based on the integration of different branches of knowledge concerning the urban environment. The decisions on the urban futures that the zoning rules entail are critically analyzed in terms of consistency with this knowledge system. The procedure consists of two phases. In the first phase, the urban environment is analyzed and described. This is done by defining and developing a geographic information system. This system utilizes a spatial analysis approach to figure out the integration of the residential areas into the urban fabric. The second phase is inferential. Based on the geographic information system developed in the first phase, a knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) technique, the rough set analysis (RSA), is applied. This technique allows to recognize the connection patterns between the urban knowledge system and the city planning decisions. The patterns, the decision rules, which come from the RSA implementation are important starting points for further investigation on the development of decision models concerning urban planning.

Anthropization processes and protection of the environment: an assessment of land cover changes in Sardinia, Italy

Protection of the environment is implemented through preventive and mitigating measures aimed at hindering anthropization processes. These measures may possibly entail the establishment of natural protected areas and sites where conservation measures are stated under the provisions of the “Habitats” Directive (no. 92/43/EEC) and Directive no. 2009/147/EC (the so-called “Birds” Directive, which modifies Directive no. 79/409/EEC). A straightforward way of assessing widespread anthropization processes consists in analyzing land cover changes related artificialization processes concerning natural areas. In this study, we assess land cover changes by using the simplified land cover taxonomy of the Land and Ecosystem Account classes and by analyzing transition processes; in addition, we propose a comparative appraisal of land cover changes occurring in areas characterized by different protection regimes, as follows: areas protected under the provisions of national or regional acts or regulations, sites belonging to the Natura 2000 network, that is protected under the Habitats or Birds Directives, and unprotected areas. We analyze anthropization processes that take place in Sardinia, an Italian insular region characterized by the presence of several national and regional protected areas and by a significant system of Natura 2000 sites, and assess land cover changes over a twelve-year period (2000-2012). The outcomes of our study put in evidence important lessons related to the definition and implementation of planning policies aiming at preventing anthropization processes in Sardinia. Moreover, the assessment methodology we implement in our study can be exported to other European regions in order to set up planning processes which fit the local features of land cover changes

Sustainable Spatial Planning based on Ecosystem Services, Green Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions

Theoretical and methodological contributions as well as critical discussions on policy implementation characterize this Special Issue, with special reference to the following themes and research questions: 1) Integration of ecosystem services within spatial plans and strategic environmental assessment: “What function do ecosystem services play, or could play, within plan-making processes and strategic environmental assessments?”; “What are the most important challenges in putting integration into practice, and/or the most significant obstacles to achieving integration?”; and “What roles do scientific and technical expertise vs. community values and local knowledge play in integrating ecosystem services within spatial plans and environmental assessments?”; 2) Consideration and use of green infrastructure within spatial plans: “What function do green infrastructure play within plan-making processes?”; “What kinds of spatial plans are most suited for, or most effective in, designing and implementing green infrastructure?”; and “Does scale (local, regional, etc.) make a difference in the way green infrastructure are implemented within spatial plans?”; 3) Relationship between nature-based solutions and spatial plans: “Since nature-based solutions are increasingly promoted at the very strategic level, i.e., that of broad policies, and implemented at the very detailed level, i.e., that of projects, what is the role of nature-based solutions within spatial plans?” and “What tools are at planners’ disposal to effectively integrate nature-based solutions in planning processes and promote their use, especially in urban contexts?”

An analysis of regional drivers of land take over a 50-year time span: The case of Sardinia, Italy

Land take is a significant issue in the European Union (EU), where, according to the Communication of the European Commission no. 571 of 2011, no net land take should be achieved by 2050 and impacts on land take should be taken under strict control. It is therefore vital not only to understand what the main drivers of land takes are, but also whether they act similarly over time. To this end we analyze land-taking processes over two time periods, 1960-1990 and 1990-2008,and take the region of Sardinia as a case study so as to investigate if the main drivers of land take identified in previous studies bring about similar, or different, effects in the two periods

An ontology of the appropriate assessment of Municipal master plans related to Sardinia (Italy)

This paper discusses some key points related to the ontology of the “Appropriate assessment” (under Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992, the so-called Habitats Directive) procedure concerning plans significantly affecting Natura 2000 sites. We study this ontology by discussing its implementation into the adjustment process of the Masterplans of the regional municipalities of Sardinia (Italy) to the Regional Landscape Plan (RLP), and put in evidence some important general observations, coming from the case study, concerning the utility and effectiveness of the ontological conceptual framework in order to help planners and decision makers understand and structure the assessment process of plans

The influence of Natura 2000 Sites on land-taking processes at the regional level: an empirical analysis concerning Sardinia (Italy)

This article focuses on the role that the provisions of the Natura 2000 Network play in affecting land-taking processes by looking at the Italian region of Sardinia, where strict rules on land development have been enforced since 1993 through regional landscape plans and where an extensive Natura 2000 Network, covering nearly 19% of the regional land mass, was established in compliance with Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora and Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds. The results and inferences of our study could be easily generalized to other European Union regions, provided that similar geographic datasets are available. By shedding some light on the relation between land take on the one hand, and nature conservation and landscape protection on the other, it is possible to enhance regional planning policies to prevent or hinder land-taking processes, and, by doing so, to help implementing the European Commission recommendation on no net land take by 2050 into the EU regional policies

Planning for fragile territories: A comparative analysis of land take in two Italian regions

The phrase “Land take” refers to the loss of agriculture, natural and semi-natural land generated by human development. Recent research has focused on quantitative measurement of land take; however, not many scholars have so far analysed the quantitative relation between land take and its drivers, and still little explored is the connection between land-taking processes and spatial planning. By building upon previous studies, this paper explores drivers at the regional scale; the results are relevant for policy makers, as the key differences here highlighted relate to regional policies and planning measures in force

Factors Affecting Land-Taking Processes in Italy at the Regional Scale: Empirical Findings from Sardinia

Land take is a process of significant relevance in the countries of European Union (EU), defined as the “Change of the amount of agriculture, forest and other semi-natural and natural land taken by urban and other artificial land development” (European Environment Agency, 2013a). In 2011, the European Commission (EC) put in evidence that an important milestone for the EU should be to reach the goal of no net land take by 2050, and to take under strict control the impact on land-taking processes of the EU policies in the new Structural Funds programming period (2014-2020) (Communication of the EC to the European Parliament COM(2011) 571 of 20.9.2011). In a previous paper, we analyzed the land-taking process in the period 2003-2008 through the land cover maps of Sardinia, made available in 2003 and 2008 by the Sardinian regional administration (Zoppi and Lai, 2014), as related to factors which are identified as relevant variables in several studies concerning land take, such as area size, accessibility, proximity to main cities and small settlements, to the coastline, or to nature conservation areas. In this paper we study the Sardinian land-taking process in two time periods, 1960-1990 and 1990-2008. We assess if, and to what extent, these factors reveal similar, or different, effects in the two periods, and try to identify consistencies concerning the determinants of land take