Economic environmental convergence and the quest for sustainable development

The notion of “land capital” reflects multiple knowledge processes based on the kaleidoscopic interpretation and assessment of land resources that ecological and social sciences routinely develop in several theoretical assessments and operational exercises. Earlier studies have considered land quality and degradation as composite notions, and contributed to describe how one or more components of “land” capital has (have) deteriorated overtime, either quantitatively or qualitatively. Moreover, in recent years there seems to be an increasing interest in more systematic investigations of the socioeconomic factors that interact with natural capital (mainly soil and water) and that determine its possible degradation, through the use of both theoretical and empirical approaches. However, despite some scientific contributions, the relationship between sustainable rural development, land disparities and global changes (climate, soil, landscape) still appears to be underexplored. Based on these premises, we contribute the recent literature by (1) commenting on the distinctive development environment relationship in different ecological and economic contexts, and (2) discussing the positive and normative importance of (rapidly changing) economic structures and selected socio-demographic characteristics at the base of this relationship. Assessing the drivers of socioeconomic convergence and divergence processes at the regional scale and evaluating the possible impact on the increasing spatial disparities in selected ecological backgrounds seem to be a valuable contribution to the environmental economics discipline with implications to sustainable development strategies. In this perspective, developmental policies are demonstrated the urgent need to incorporate measures reducing the impact of volatile changes in the economic base of a district—especially when a shift from traditional rural systems with low population density and limited accessibility to service-oriented, high-density territories is observed.