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Elsevier

Local Development and Sustainability

Territorial Dynamics Between Economy and Ecology

  • 1st Edition - January 1, 2027
  • Latest edition
  • Editors: Luca Salvati, Ioannis Konaxis
  • Language: English

Local Development and Sustainability: Territorial Dynamics Between Economy and Ecology advances a novel synthesis of local development by integrating diverse disciplinary perspe… Read more

Description

Local Development and Sustainability: Territorial Dynamics Between Economy and Ecology advances a novel synthesis of local development by integrating diverse disciplinary perspectives including applied economics, regional science, sociology, demography, ecology, and planning. This edited volume examines the relationships between social inequalities, demographic change, territorial disparities, and environmental challenges in advanced economies, with empirical evidence spanning Europe, the Middle East, and global contexts. The book uniquely links local development with sustainability, wellbeing, and quality of life, emphasizing the kaleidoscopic and unpredictable nature of territorial transformations. The book is organized into four thematic sections covering geo-economic and territorial issues, socio-demographic implications, socio-environmental perspectives, and planning and governance. Topics include urban expansion, landscape valorization, spatial demography, wildfire behavior, land degradation, administrative reforms, and resilience plans. Each chapter is authored by respected scholars from various countries, offering case studies, visual data, and comprehensive analyses that highlight applied approaches and policy implications. This reference benefits academics, researchers, and students in economics, geography, sociology, demography, socio-environmental science, and planning. It also serves practitioners such as planners, architects, and policymakers interested in sustainable local development and territorial governance. The book supports teaching at B.A., M.Sc., and Ph.D. levels, providing an accessible yet advanced resource for understanding complex socio-ecological systems and their sustainable management.

Key features

  • Provides an interdisciplinary perspective linking economics, ecology, sociology, demography, and planning to elucidate complex local development processes, benefiting readers seeking holistic understanding
  • Presents case studies, maps, graphs, and visual aids to facilitate comprehension of territorial dynamics and sustainability challenges
  • Offers a structured, homogeneous chapter format aiding readers in systematic learning and comparison across diverse territorial and socio-economic contexts

Readership

Academic scholars; researchers; university students (B.A., B.Sc., M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. levels) in applied economics, regional economics, economic geography, urban-rural sociology, spatial demography, spatial planning, agricultural economics, human ecology, socio-environmental sciences

Table of contents

1. Social inequalities, demographic change, territorial imbalances, and the environmental crisis: experiences from advanced economies

Section 1. Geo-Economic and Territorial Issues

2. Urban expansion, economic growth and spatial convergence of background socio-demographic contexts in Europe

3. Territorial disparities and optimal management of common resources: the role of landscape valorization in local development

4. Urban challenges and local development: metropolitan trajectories revisited

5. Local development and the contribution of Jane Jacobs

Section 2. Socio-Demographic Implications

6. Territorial evaluation of socially equitable wellbeing: the case of Italy

7. Local development and spatial demography: the case of Spain fertility at the municipal scale

8. Education and local development: the contribution of students in contemporary Iran

9. Looking at the global scene: the long-term evolution of mortality rates tells you more on local development

Section 3. Socio-Environmental Perspectives

10. A spatial Zipf's law applied to wildfire behavior in Greece

11. Land consumption, soil sealing and local development in urban Mediterranean landscapes

12. Land degradation, sustainable income and local development in complex socioeconomic contexts: understanding the European peculiarity

13. Regional disparities and land-use: envisioning latent contributions to local development

Section 4. Planning, Management, Governance

14. Decentralization, administrative reforms, and local government performance: the impact of inter-communality in a pre-crisis time

15. Land, environment and forests in local finance: a focus on municipal budgets

16. The role of European resilience Plan (PNRR) at the local scale and its intrinsic contribution in local development

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: January 1, 2027
  • Language: English

About the editors

LS

Luca Salvati

Luca Salvati is an Associate (staff) professor of applied economics and economic statistics at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Since 2001 he has been staff researcher at the National Council for Research in Agriculture and the Analysis of Agricultural Economics (CREA). He is an expert in official statistics, spatial statistics, Geographic Information Systems and Remote sensing applied to socioeconomic and environmental issues. He has conducted studies on topics of economic statistics, urban economics, regional demography, and sustainable development, using exploratory multivariate statistics and geographic information systems for decision support. He has held courses in Economic Statistics (University of Rome Tor Vergata), Basic Mathematics (University of Rome La Sapienza), Multivariate Statistics (University of Roma Tre), Regional Economics (University of Camerino, University of Eastern Piedmont), Strategic Evaluation of environmental impact (University of Roma Tre). He has supervised master's and doctoral theses and has published more than 30 printed books and over 600 scientific publications in English.

Affiliations and expertise
Associate (staff) Professor of Applied Economics and Economic Statistics, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

IK

Ioannis Konaxis

Ioannis Konaxis, M.Sc. Architecture, Ph.D. Landscape Architecture and planning at Sapienza University of Rome, is senior researcher and assistant professor (staff) of sustainable eco-tourism and nature conservation at the Business School of the public University of Piraeus, Greece. He teaches tourism business and economics, ecological conservation of protected areas, landscape, spatial planning, developmental policies, and sustainable development. He has published scientific articles on spatial planning, environmental protection, and regional issues in Europe. He also published theoretical and applied research in sustainable tourism management in prestigious international journals and book series.

Affiliations and expertise
Department of Tourism Studies, University of Piraeus, Greece