Sustainable development and socio demographic patterns: A coastal-inland perspective

Population dynamics along 150 years (1871-2021) were investigated in Latium, an administrative region of Central Italy, considering municipalities as the elementary analysis’ domain. A multivariate approach including factor analysis and hierarchical clustering aimed at summarizing the formation (and consolidation) of a coastal-inland gradient in population distribution and demographic density was applied. The main outcomes of the exploratory analysis outlined the importance of internal migrations along elevation (mountain areas versus lowlands) and urban-rural gradients (countryside versus Rome, the Italian capital city), determining a relevant socioeconomic gap between more intensified agricultural districts and inland mountain areas, economically peripheral and poorly accessible. Based on such dybamics, differences in population density enlarged further, following coastalization and suburbanization processes. The study finally documents the importance of exploratory analysis in spatial population dynamics.