The issue of urban sustainability is considered within the context of the metropolis of Rome, the capital of Italy. The aim is pursued through an Urban Biosphere Reserve proposal, drawn up by an interdisciplinary group of experts comprising landscape ecologists, geologists, plant ecologists, zoologists, geographers, city planners and environmental psychologists. The potential applicability of this project on an international level is discussed, with particular focus on its importance as (i) one of the first proposals of an Urban Biosphere Reserve encompassing the whole municipality of a large city, (ii) an original approach to urban ecosystem investigations within the framework of landscape ecology principles, and (iii) a good example of cooperation between scientists and local decision-makers to preserve the cultural and landscape identity in an urban and periurban context
The UNESCO-MAB Programme, and in particular the Biosphere Reserve Network, is described within the context of international strategies aimed at ecological sustainability in cities. An innovative acceptation of Biosphere Reserves for urban areas, based on the landscape ecology principle of the integration of natural, social, economic and cultural knowledge, is proposed. The interdisciplinary definition of structure and functions for Urban Biosphere Reserves envisages: (i) the inclusion of the whole metropolitan territory within the Reserve's boundaries; (ii) specific criteria for the delimitation of core areas and buffer zones in urban and periurban contexts; (iii) special focus on transition area requirements; (iv) the improvement in living conditions and a solution to the conflict between humans and the environment by enhancing and harmonizing the overall natural, economic, social and cultural qualities of cities; and (v) support for sustainable planning strategies on a local scale rather than the imposition of new conservation ties
ABSTRACT. In this paper we provide an overview of the main causes of death in the province of Rome in 1981 and, showing the most relevant variations which have been recorded over time. Using ArcGIS 9.2 software, we have drawn up several medical-geographical thematic maps and specific land use maps which corroborate the temporal and spatial analysis, and which provide suggestions about the relation between causes of death and certain risk factors. Particular attention is given to the diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms which caused, respectively, 38.4% and 32.6% of deaths in 2007 and which followed substantially different trends. Then, we focus on the city of Rome, where we examine the evolution of land use between 1980 and 2001 in order to investigate, by means of detailed screening, the changes recorded in a city where, in 2007, 67% of the inhabitants of Rome province lived.
A re-evaluation of the demographic risk per number of inhabitants due to volcanic eruptions in the Vesuvius area was made on the basis of the Census data of 2001. We introduced other variables (population density and number of houses) which permit to upgrade the existing models. Using the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and particularly ArcGIS 9.0 software we have elaborated a land use map, an urbanization map and a series of new risk maps which lead us to obtain a map of what we call "social risk" due to volcanic eruptions, derived from the combination of the data used and the overlay of the maps. We have proposed an integrated model which can be easily updated to follow the evolution of the volcanic risk in the overpopulated Vesuvius area, with the aim of supporting the planning of Civil Protection and Local Authorities, for an evacuation scenarios and the possibility of taking into account the potential infrastructural damages. This methodology can be tested in other volcanic regions
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