Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for Studying the Large Roman Urban System Expansion during the Last Twenty Years: A Combined Approach

Several factors, such as rapid population shifts, poorly organized areas, and a lack of data for monitoring urban growth and land use change, may contribute to the ongoing challenges for spatial planning and policy in megacities such as Rome. This study was conducted to investigate the past and present effects of the urbanization process, occurred over the large Roman urban system, on the basis of multi-source and multi-temporal optical remote sensing (RS) data, collected between 1990 and 2013. These modifications were then validated using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques in a specific procedure for urban land/agricultural transformations. The proposed method, which is based on geostatistical methods, was used to calculate the index of innovative space (AP Index), which is useful for monitoring the phenomenon of urban sprawl. There is strong evidence of urban expansion in the city's north-eastern quarter, accompanied by environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Urban infill growth is projected to emerge in the south-eastern areas as well, potentially increasing urban pressure. Finally, RS and GIS technologies, in conjunction with ancillary data, can be used to aid decision-makers in developing future strategies for identifying appropriate solutions to urbanization encroachment.