What Type of Soil Was Consumed in the Metropolis of the Mediterranean Area? Land Quality and the Forms of Urbanization

Mediterranean European cities have undergone a transition from compact growth to a more discontinuous and dispersed spatial pattern during the last decades. It is characterized by the irregular expansion of low-density settlements. In many urban areas, the expansion of compact settlements first consumed low-quality soils and moderately degraded landscapes (pastures, abandoned fields and low-intensity agricultural areas) bordering large cities. Also, a progressive increase of the consumption of fertile and in good environmental condition agricultural land has been observed, more and more distant from the urban nuclei, as a result of the sprawl not only causing the fragmentation of natural ecosystems and semi-natural, but also deteriorating the productive capacity and potential of the agrosystems, and the esthetical value of the rural landscape. Representing these dynamics a serious threat to the cohesion and stability of local communities as well as to the quality and diversity of the landscapes. In this chapter, we explore the link that exists between the spread of urbanized soil and the context in which it occurs, investigating how the various forms of urban expansion affect land quality at the metropolitan scale. This exploratory analysis will be treated in the following sub-paragraphs, illustrating the methodology, the study area and the results that emerged.