IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i5p2137-d1603441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mapping Opportunities for Floating Urban Development Along Italian Waterfronts

Author

Listed:
  • Livia Calcagni

    (Department of Planning, Design and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, 00196 Rome, Italy)

  • Alessandra Battisti

    (Department of Planning, Design and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, 00196 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

In Italy, the number of people living in coastal areas reaches 70% of the total population. By the end of the century, the sea level rise estimated along Italian coasts is between 1.31 and 1.45 m on a non-conservative basis. Considering its high vulnerability to rising sea levels and flooding, Italy holds a strong potential for floating urban development due to its extensive coastline and inland hydrographic network. The main drivers of floating urban development include these increasing threats posed to waterfront communities and the shortage of land for urban expansion, food production, and energy harvesting. However, not all waterfront areas are suitable for accommodating urban development on water because of site-specific urban, social, cultural, infrastructural, climate, and hydrographic features. This paper presents the results of a geospatial analysis carried out using geographic information systems and a statistical analysis of instrumental measurements to map the most suitable regions for floating urban expansion along Italian waterfronts. The mapping identifies six potential zones of interest marked by the co-existence of environmental and socio-urban needs. This study reveals how coastal–riverine interface zones are generally more susceptible to the cumulative effects of climate change and, at the same time, are centers of intense economic, cultural, and social activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Livia Calcagni & Alessandra Battisti, 2025. "Mapping Opportunities for Floating Urban Development Along Italian Waterfronts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-24, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:2137-:d:1603441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/2137/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/2137/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrea Strollo & Daniela Smiraglia & Roberta Bruno & Francesca Assennato & Luca Congedo & Paolo De Fioravante & Chiara Giuliani & Ines Marinosci & Nicola Riitano & Michele Munafò, 2020. "Land consumption in Italy," Journal of Maps, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 113-123, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tommaso Orusa & Annalisa Viani & Enrico Borgogno-Mondino, 2024. "Earth Observation Data and Geospatial Deep Learning AI to Assign Contributions to European Municipalities Sen4MUN: An Empirical Application in Aosta Valley (NW Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Andrea Molocchi, 2021. "Circular Economy and Environmental Sustainability: A Policy Coherence Analysis of Current Italian Subsidies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-38, July.
    3. Giulia Cecili & Paolo De Fioravante & Pasquale Dichicco & Luca Congedo & Marco Marchetti & Michele Munafò, 2023. "Land Cover Mapping with Convolutional Neural Networks Using Sentinel-2 Images: Case Study of Rome," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Marini, Michele & Caro, Dario & Thomsen, Marianne, 2023. "Investigating local policy instruments for different types of urban agriculture in four European cities: A case study analysis on the use and effectiveness of the applied policy instruments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    5. Daniela Smiraglia & Alice Cavalli & Chiara Giuliani & Francesca Assennato, 2023. "The Increasing Coastal Urbanization in the Mediterranean Environment: The State of the Art in Italy," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Rita Nicolau & Beatriz Condessa, 2022. "Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-31, July.
    7. Giacomo Bernello & Elena Mondino & Lucia Bortolini, 2022. "People’s Perception of Nature-Based Solutions for Flood Mitigation: The Case of Veneto Region (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-13, April.
    8. Giulia Cecili & Paolo De Fioravante & Luca Congedo & Marco Marchetti & Michele Munafò, 2022. "Land Consumption Mapping with Convolutional Neural Network: Case Study in Italy," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Alessia D’Agata & Giovanni Quaranta & Rosanna Salvia & Margherita Carlucci & Luca Salvati, 2023. "Mixed Land Use as an Intrinsic Feature of Sprawl: A Short-Term Analysis of Settlement Growth and Population Distribution Using European Urban Atlas," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, April.
    10. Anna Biasin & Mauro Masiero & Giulia Amato & Davide Pettenella, 2023. "Nature-Based Solutions Modeling and Cost-Benefit Analysis to Face Climate Change Risks in an Urban Area: The Case of Turin (Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-32, January.
    11. Francesca Assennato & Daniela Smiraglia & Alice Cavalli & Luca Congedo & Chiara Giuliani & Nicola Riitano & Andrea Strollo & Michele Munafò, 2022. "The Impact of Urbanization on Land: A Biophysical-Based Assessment of Ecosystem Services Loss Supported by Remote Sensed Indicators," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Elena Di Pirro & Peter Roebeling & Lorenzo Sallustio & Marco Marchetti & Bruno Lasserre, 2023. "Cost-Effectiveness of Nature-Based Solutions under Different Implementation Scenarios: A National Perspective for Italian Urban Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, March.
    13. Nicola Ricca & Ilaria Guagliardi, 2023. "Evidences of Soil Consumption Dynamics over Space and Time by Data Analysis in a Southern Italy Urban Sprawling Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, May.
    14. Sara Mastrorosa & Mattia Crespi & Luca Congedo & Michele Munafò, 2023. "Land Consumption Classification Using Sentinel 1 Data: A Systematic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-25, April.
    15. Giuseppe Cillis & Dina Statuto & Pietro Picuno, 2021. "Historical GIS as a Tool for Monitoring, Preserving and Planning Forest Landscape: A Case Study in a Mediterranean Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Andrea Molocchi, 2020. "From production to consumption: An inter-sectoral analysis of air emissions external costs in Italy," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(2), pages 155-180.
    17. Federico Falasca & Alessandro Marucci, 2024. "Supporting Sustainable Development Goals through Regulation and Maintenance Ecosystem Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-16, August.
    18. Angela Cimini & Paolo De Fioravante & Nicola Riitano & Pasquale Dichicco & Annagrazia Calò & Giuseppe Scarascia Mugnozza & Marco Marchetti & Michele Munafò, 2023. "Land Consumption Dynamics and Urban–Rural Continuum Mapping in Italy for SDG 11.3.1 Indicator Assessment," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-24, January.
    19. Giulia Guerri & Alfonso Crisci & Irene Cresci & Luca Congedo & Michele Munafò & Marco Morabito, 2022. "Residential Buildings’ Real Estate Values Linked to Summer Surface Thermal Anomaly Patterns and Urban Features: A Florence (Italy) Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:2137-:d:1603441. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.