Functions follow structures? The long-term evolution of economic dynamics, social transformations, and landscape morphology in a Mediterranean metropolis

• Egidi, Gianluca ^[2] ; Mosconi, Enrico Maria ^[3] ; Turco, Rosario ^[4] ; Salvati, Luca ^[1]
  1. [1] Università de Roma La Sapienza

     Università de Roma La Sapienza

     Roma Capitale, Italia

     
  2. [2] University of Tuscia, Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE), Via S. Camillo De Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
  3. [3] University of Tuscia, Department of Economics, Engineering, Society, Business Organization (DEIM), Via del Paradiso 47, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
  4. [4] Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Research Centre for Forestry and Wood (FL), Contrada Li Rocchi Vermicelli, I-87036 Rende, Italy

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• Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 129, 2023
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Identification of the intrinsic properties regulating complex systems’ development contributes to a refined comprehension of their inherent transformations over time. Seen as a local context undergoing non-linear changes as a response to socioeconomic dynamics, landscape evolution over time provides a paradigmatic issue when examining the key property of ‘rapidity-of-change’ characteristic of any complex system. The present study introduces an exploratory approach grounded on mathematical morphology to investigate ‘rapidity-of-change’ of a landscape system evolving in response to external stimuli over 70 years (1948–2018). This framework was applied to a real case (metropolitan Athens, Greece) assessing structural changes in built-up settlements reflected in seven landscape types derived from mathematical morphology. A Multi-way Factor Analysis (MFA) quantified the evolution of landscape types from diachronic land-use maps. A standardized metric of ‘rapidity-of-change’ was calculated from MFA outcomes over six sub-periods and confronted with the background socioeconomic context. Taken as an intrinsic attribute of complex systems, ‘rapidity-of-change’ in Athens’ landscape was largely heterogeneous over time, being more intense during the last economic expansion (2000–2006) under the impulse of the Olympic Games. Intermediate values of ‘rapidity-of-change’ were associated with population growth and intense social transformations. The lowest level of ‘rapidity-of-change’ was finally recorded in correspondence with 2007 recession. Reflecting the intrinsic pressure of socioeconomic growth in contemporary cities, ‘rapidity-of-change’ in landscape systems demonstrated to be a honest proxy of metropolitan cycles, economic downtowns, and socio-demographic dynamics. Delineating long-term transformations in the ‘form-function’ relationship allows evaluation of (direct or indirect) planning impacts on metropolitan development.