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Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape...
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Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition)

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 24 October 2026 | Viewed by 6325

Editors

Dr. Maurizio Pollino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development Casaccia Research Centre, 00123 Rome, Italy
Interests: geomatics; GIS; critical infrastructures; natural hazards; risk assessment; remote sensing; web mapping; spatial analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sergio Cappucci

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Territorial and Production Systems Sustainability Department, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), 00123 Rome, Italy
Interests: anthropocene; geomorphology and engineering geology; natural resources; ecosys-tems; natural and anthropogenic impacts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Emiliana Valentini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (ISP CNR), 00015 Rome, Italy
Interests: ecosystems; vegetation patterns; geospatial models; climate; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following the success of the Special Issue “Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management”, we are happy to announce the opening of a second volume.

Most of modern inland and coastal urban areas are strongly affected by anthropogenic impacts. Lifelines are critical infrastructures that need to provide essential services and security for both residential and migratory populations.

The main effect of this anthropization is the land use change and exploitation of natural resources that may have an impact on the climate and economy of entire countries. The ensemble of geomatics methodologies (mainly by means of GIS and remote sensing techniques) can provide several tools for monitoring and investigating the dynamics of complex processes and supporting stakeholders in decision making. Such phenomena include urban development, soil degradation and consumption, land cover changes, landscape dynamics, etc.

Thus, these methodologies can enrich the geographical information available and support the development of more exhaustive analysis aiming at supporting effective urban and landscape management, which is a critical issue in our current “Anthropocene” age. Human activities are still the major cause of global environmental change. Particularly focusing on sustainability issues, geomatics represents a fundamental pillar for implementing interdisciplinary methodological workflows, so as to provide for and deepen our understanding of human/environment interrelations. These techniques (spatial modelling, geo-computational techniques, geographical analyses, etc.) therefore foster sustainable development planning and monitoring, and facilitate the decision-making process at all levels.

Thus, this Special Issue will assemble innovative and original contributions considering current research and activities related to the abovementioned Issues.

In this Special Issue, we invite papers focusing on, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Geomatics for analyzing territorial issues and spatio-temporal patterns;
  • Urban, landscape, and natural resources management;
  • Land–climate interaction;
  • Natural hazards;
  • Development of new algorithms and science-based criteria in the above-listed topics.

Dr. Maurizio Pollino
Dr. Sergio Cappucci
Dr. Emiliana Valentini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • geomatics
  • GIS and remote sensing application
  • land and landscape management
  • natural resources management (soil, water, sediment)
  • urban development
  • critical infrastructures
  • land–climate interaction
  • coastal erosion
  • landslides
  • natural hazards
  • wetland reclamation
  • agricultural land detection

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 5868 KB  
Article
Impact Assessment of Coastal Defense Strategies on Critical Infrastructures and Beaches: Application of Coastal Degradation Calculator (CoDeC) to San Lucido, Italy
by Sergio Cappucci, Maurizio Pollino, Lorenzo Rossi, Alberto Tofani and Emiliana Valentini
Land 2026, 15(5), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050696 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 378
Abstract
Coastal erosion poses a growing threat to natural systems and critical infrastructures, particularly in touristic coastal areas where beaches represent both ecological assets and economic resources. Beyond shoreline retreat, erosion processes progressively reduce emerged beach surfaces and increase the exposure and vulnerability of [...] Read more.
Coastal erosion poses a growing threat to natural systems and critical infrastructures, particularly in touristic coastal areas where beaches represent both ecological assets and economic resources. Beyond shoreline retreat, erosion processes progressively reduce emerged beach surfaces and increase the exposure and vulnerability of coastal roads, railways, and urban settlements, with cascading socio-economic consequences. This study presents an integrated geomorphological and economic assessment of coastal erosion impacts. The Coastal Degradation Calculator (CoDeC) is applied along the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy, focusing on the municipality of San Lucido. Shoreline variations are quantified to reconstruct long-term changes in the Surface of the Emerged Beach (SEB) before and after major coastal defense interventions using multi-temporal remote sensing data (1954–2018). Simple, science-based box models are implemented to estimate sediment deficits, restoration needs, and associated economic damages, expressed in both €/m2 and €/year. Results highlight a reduction in SEB area exceeding 60%, significant downdrift erosion linked to hard defenses and additional losses caused by coastal urbanization. The methodology proved effective in supporting damage quantification and informed the resolution of a long-standing legal dispute between public authorities. Owing to its transparency and reproducibility, the proposed framework offers a transferable tool for coastal risk assessment and management under increasing climate-driven pressures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition))
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27 pages, 24035 KB  
Article
Olive Tree Cultivation and the Olive Oil Industry in Palestine: Trends of Growth and Decline from the Late Mamluk Period to the End of the British Mandate
by Kate Raphael, Gideon Avni, Ido Wachtel, Roi Porat, Tamer Mansour, Oz Barazani and Guy Bar-Oz
Land 2026, 15(4), 609; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040609 - 8 Apr 2026
Viewed by 1210
Abstract
This article analyzes the scale, fluctuations and geographical distribution of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in Palestine over 550 years, from the Late Mamluk period (1300–1517), through the Ottoman era (1517–1917), until the end of the British Mandate in 1947. Although olive oil played [...] Read more.
This article analyzes the scale, fluctuations and geographical distribution of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in Palestine over 550 years, from the Late Mamluk period (1300–1517), through the Ottoman era (1517–1917), until the end of the British Mandate in 1947. Although olive oil played a dominant role in the diet and the local economy, there is currently no research that measures and quantifies the number of olive trees or the number of villages and towns that cultivated olive trees and produced olive oil. We reconstruct the agricultural landscape with its vast olive groves and examine the cultural history of olive tree farming, the growth of the olive oil industries and their economic role and importance. The earliest figures we have, that are from the year 1596, show that 400 villages cultivated 1,400,794 olive trees. By 1943, there were 6,053,367 olive trees that were cultivated by 644 villages. We found a strong correlation (R2 = 0.96, p < 0.01) between the number of olive trees and the number of villages, indicating that olive oil demand and the olive oil industry align with population size. The research data derives from a variety of medieval local chroniclers, as well as diaries by European, North African and Middle Eastern travelers who provide descriptions of olive groves and the olive oil industry. Among the most important sources are the 1596 Ottoman tax registers. The tax registers are the first document that present clear-cut figures on the numbers of olive trees, olive presses and the names of the villages that cultivated olive groves. The main sources for the last period dealt with in this study are the British Mandate maps (1943), which display the acreage of the different crops across Palestine. The data from the maps is supplemented by two modern works on olive cultivation written by agronomists Assaf Goor (b. 1894) and Ali Nasouh (b. 1906) who were born in Palestine and employed by the British department of agriculture. The analysis of data shows that demands of local and oversea markets; the olive oil soap industry, which was based on the local olive oil; as well as competing agricultural crops like sugarcane, cotton and citrus, contributed to a complex economic structure. Olive tree cultivation did not depend on government investment. Olive groves in Palestine were rain fed, and, except for the harvest, they required relatively few working days a year. Hence, moderate policies (low taxation during periods of drought and low yields) adopted by enterprising local rulers and the central British government created a unique and relatively balanced relationship between rulers and farmers, which encouraged olive cultivation and led to a constant increase in the number of olive trees and the development of the olive oil industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition))
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20 pages, 31093 KB  
Article
GIS-Based Analysis and Thematic Mapping of LULC Changes over 35 Years in the Historical Lateral Mobility Zone (HLMZ) of the Sele River (Southern Italy)
by Edoardo Guido D’Onofrio, Floriana Angelone and Paolo Magliulo
Land 2026, 15(4), 581; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040581 - 1 Apr 2026
Viewed by 585
Abstract
The Historical Lateral Mobility Zone (HLMZ) represents the portion of the alluvial plain occupied by the river channel over the last decades or centuries and represents the most flood-prone sector of the floodplain. Mapping Land-Use–Land Cover (LULC) changes within HLMZs helps reconstruct human-driven [...] Read more.
The Historical Lateral Mobility Zone (HLMZ) represents the portion of the alluvial plain occupied by the river channel over the last decades or centuries and represents the most flood-prone sector of the floodplain. Mapping Land-Use–Land Cover (LULC) changes within HLMZs helps reconstruct human-driven land-use dynamics and identify the areas potentially exposed to the highest flood risk. Among the rivers of Southern Italy, the Sele River is characterized by one of the largest mean annual discharges and has experienced extreme and destructive floods, such as those from 1935 and 2010. Over the last 150 years, it has also undergone remarkable channel adjustments, consisting of narrowing up to ~120 m, morphological changes, and riverbed degradation. In this study, LULC changes that occurred between 1988 and 2023 within the HLMZ of the Sele River, formed over the last 150 years, were analyzed and mapped in a GIS environment. Active channels were digitized from historical maps, topographic maps, and orthophotos to map the HLMZ. LULC changes were assessed through visual interpretation of orthophotos and Google Earth imagery in a GIS environment. Results show a transition, over 35 years towards more pristine conditions, with forest expansion, reduction in agricultural areas, and absence of further artificialization. LULC dynamics appear to be strictly controlled by an increased awareness of the high flood hazard within the HLMZ, with positive implications in terms of flood risk, which, however, should be further assessed quantitatively in future studies and, possibly, reduced, given the high proneness of the Sele River to destructive floods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition))
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25 pages, 66508 KB  
Article
Rainfall-Induced Shallow Landslide Susceptibility for Risk Management of Underground Services in a Mediterranean Metropolitan City
by Guido Paliaga, Martino Terrone, Nicola Bazzurro, Alessandra Marchese and Francesco Faccini
Land 2025, 14(11), 2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14112118 - 24 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1607
Abstract
Shallow landslide susceptibility assessment is an essential research activity for land management and risk assessment. In this study, a GIS-based approach was developed to assess rain-induced landslide susceptibility in the Municipality of Genoa, a Mediterranean anthropized area historically characterized by intense rainfall events [...] Read more.
Shallow landslide susceptibility assessment is an essential research activity for land management and risk assessment. In this study, a GIS-based approach was developed to assess rain-induced landslide susceptibility in the Municipality of Genoa, a Mediterranean anthropized area historically characterized by intense rainfall events that frequently trigger shallow landslides with high destructive power. Based on a detailed inventory of historical landslides, a semi-quantitative method was applied to assess the influence of seven causal factors of natural and anthropogenic landslides. The areas were categorized into five classes of rain-induced shallow landslide susceptibility, indicating slopes where newly triggered landslides may occur. The landslide susceptibility map was subsequently integrated with the map of gas and water utilities, whose features were used to assess their vulnerability. Finally, an early-stage risk assessment of the two utility networks was developed to serve as a decision support tool for strategic planning and integrated asset management in the context of climate change. The results show that about 9.8% and 6.8% of the total length of water and gas pipelines are exposed to higher risk classes 4 and 5. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition))
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24 pages, 4105 KB  
Article
Best Siting for Small Hill Reservoirs and the Challenge of Sedimentation: A Case Study in the Umbria Region (Central Italy)
by Lorenzo Vergni, Nicola Pasquini and Francesca Todisco
Land 2025, 14(7), 1401; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14071401 - 3 Jul 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1144
Abstract
This study presents a GIS-based Weighted Overlay Process (WOP) for Small Hill Reservoir Best Siting (SHRBS) in the Umbria region (central Italy), with a focus on supporting regional-scale planning rather than site-specific engineering design. The WOP incorporated commonly adopted SHRBS criteria, with suitability [...] Read more.
This study presents a GIS-based Weighted Overlay Process (WOP) for Small Hill Reservoir Best Siting (SHRBS) in the Umbria region (central Italy), with a focus on supporting regional-scale planning rather than site-specific engineering design. The WOP incorporated commonly adopted SHRBS criteria, with suitability scores defined through two approaches: Model A, based on scoring scales from the literature, and Model B, which assigns scores based on the frequency distribution of the various attributes observed in a database of over 3000 existing SHRs in the region. The comparison between the models revealed significant differences, particularly in the scores assigned to texture, precipitation, and contributing area. Models A and B, tested on the existing SHRs, indicated quite different average suitability values (2.68 and 3.30, respectively, on a 5-point scale) and only a slight agreement (weighted Cohen’s kappa Kw ≤ 0.13). Both models also showed poor agreement (Kw < 0) when compared with a third suitability model based solely on sedimentation risk, which was developed using the Sediment Delivery Ratio from the InVEST suite. This indicates that many sites considered highly suitable by models A and B were also highly susceptible to sedimentation. Given the economic and environmental implications of sedimentation, this study recommends explicitly incorporating sedimentation risk criteria into SHRBS methodologies to enhance the effectiveness of siting decisions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geomatics and Sustainability: Examples and Application in Urban and Landscape Management (Second Edition))
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