Towards a More Sustainable Use of Land. A Comparative Overview of the Italian Regional Legislation

The contribution explores how the different spatial planning laws that characterise the Italian regions approach sustainable land-use issues and what implications for instruments and practices they entail. At first, the national situation on soil consumption is presented, drawing on existing studies. Then, the analysis shifts its focus to how sustainable land-use issues are considered within the 21 regional/provincial legislative frameworks that define the functioning of spatial governance and planning in the country. To this end, a number of characterizing elements have been identified and used to assess the different spatial planning laws. From the analysis, it is possible to reflect on the legislative, economic-productive and morphological factors that explain the differences observed among the various Italian regions in terms of soil consumption.