Sabrina Lai

Empirical Evidence on Agricultural Land-Use Change in Sardinia, Italy, from GIS-Based Analysis and a Tobit Model

ABSTRACT An important part of the Sardinian Regional Operational Programme (ROP) 2000–2006 is represented by the policies funded by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), aimed at maintaining agricultural land uses and improving the quality of agricultural land. Such investments, spread over almost all Sardinian cities, attempted to support local development based on the traditional primary sector of production. This article analyses the investment policies implemented by the Sardinian Region through the 2000–2006 EAGGF-based part of the ROP (2000–2006 ROP-EAGGF), in order to assess their effectiveness. This assessment of effectiveness, implemented in the context of other signals concerning local development such as income and urbanization, is very important to address the ongoing policies of the 2007–2013 Rural Development Programme and the question of geographic concentration of investments. The article analyses the results of the 2000–2006 ROP-EAGGF through a geographic informat...

Four Perspectives of Applied Sustainability: Research Implications and Possible Integrations

How is applied sustainability being understood and implemented in academics’ and practitioners’ circles? Participants to the workshop “Sustainability Performance Assessment” within the ICCSA 2017 conference are confronted with this overarching question, which they address from their specific backgrounds and theoretical standpoints.

An Ontology of the Strategic Environmental Assessment of City Masterplans

Following a discussion on the semantics of the term “ontology”, this paper discusses some key points concerning the ontology of the Strategic Environmental Assessment procedure applied to city Masterplans, using sustainability as a reference point. It also assumes the implementation of Guidelines of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia as an experimental context, with the objective of proposing the SEA ontology as an important contribution to improve SEA’s effectiveness.

An Ontology of the Appropriate Assessment of Municipal Master Plans Related to Sardinia (Italy)

This paper discusses some key points related to the ontology of the “appropriate assessment” [1] procedure concerning plans significantly affecting Natura 2000 sites. We study this ontology by discussing its implementation into the adjustment process of the master plans of the regional municipalities of Sardinia (Italy) to the Regional Landscape Plan (RLP) and put as evidence some important general observations, coming from the case study, concerning the utility and effectiveness of the ontological conceptual framework in order to help planners and decision-makers understand and structure the assessment process of plans.

Bridging Biodiversity Conservation Objectives with Landscape Planning Through Green Infrastructures: A Case Study from Sardinia, Italy

The definition of Green Infrastructure (GI) provided by the European Commission in its 2013 Communication “Green Infrastructure: Enhancing Europe’s Natural Capital” regards GI as a network having the Natura 2000 sites at its core, able of delivering numerous ecosystem services, and “strategically planned”, stressing the importance of GI in integrating ecological connectivity, biodiversity conservation, and multi-functionality of ecosystems. Consequently, the spatial identification and management of GI is an important issue in planning, and especially in landscape planning as understood in the European Landscape Convention.

Integrating Green Infrastructure and Ecological Corridors: A Study Concerning the Metropolitan Area of Cagliari (Italy)

Green Infrastructure (GI) is defined as a network of natural and semi-natural areas that need to be planned in a strategic way to deliver ecosystem services (ESs). This definition highlights two important concepts: multifunctionality and connectivity. Multifunctionality concerns the capacity of a single area to deliver several benefits and to perform multiple functions. The concept of connectivity is often linked to ecological corridors (ECs), defined as spatial elements that connect habitats, allowing species migration and genetic exchange. Consequently, the spatial identification of GIs and ECs in spatial planning is a noteworthy topic. In this study, we propose a three-step methodological approach to identify a multifunctional GI and ECs connecting Natura 2000 sites (N2Ss) in the case study of the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Italy.

Planning for the Conservation of Historic Districts in Sardinia, Italy

A comparison between Sardinian strategic plans (SPs) and implementation plans of historic centers (IPHCs) shows that a general lack of coordination and integration among these municipal planning instruments and a sort of a communicative short circuit are taking place. On the one hand, SPs tend to neglect the importance and the intrinsic value of cultural heritage within historic districts, and, consequently, to undervalue the systemic and general potential of interventions (often limited to punctual and fragmented restorations of buildings) in the historic centers; and, on the other hand, IPHCs propose analyses of municipal historic settlement systems characterized by excessively philological and self-referential attitudes. This paper proposes a discussion on the definition and implementation of IPHCs with the general goal of orienting their conservative character, mainly based on the urban settlement system’s restoration and restructuring, in order to generate conditions favorable to local economic and social development, following the strategic planning conceptual framework. Moreover, within the framework of the Regional Landscape Plan (RLP), and after providing the reader with a thorough presentation of some important technical issues related to IPHCs and a discussion on the semantics of the term “ontology,” this paper discusses some key points concerning the ontology of the IPHCs procedure, that is the spatial analysis of the IPHCs and implied planning measures.

An Ontology of Implementation Plans of Historic Centers: A Case Study Concerning Sardinia, Italy

This paper discusses some key points related to the ontology of implementation plans of historic centers (IPHCs). We study this ontology by discussing its implementation in the context of the provisions of the Sardinian Regional Landscape Plan (RLP), and put in evidence some important general observations, coming from the case study, concerning the utility and effectiveness of the ontological conceptual framework in order to help planners and decision makers understand and structure the assessment process of implementation plans.