An integrated evaluation of soil resource depletion from diachronic settlement maps and soil cartography in peri-urban Rome, Italy

- We analysed the consumption of soils in Rome, Italy (1919-2001).
- The procedure integrated high-resolution maps with soil indicators.
- Urban growth impacted soils with different attributes in a spatially-asymmetric way.
- Urban expansion preferentially consumed land with low degradation risk.
- Two dimensions of soil depletion based on specific soil attributes were identified.

The present study contributes to the multi-temporal analysis of soil resource depletion in the large Mediterranean urban region of Rome (central Italy) based on the integration of high-resolution building density maps (1919-2001) with a set of indicators derived from soil maps and describing soil properties and susceptibility to various degradation processes. The recent growth of Rome is characterised by intense expansion of built-up areas around the inner city and has preferentially consumed soils with an overall high quality and low sensitivity to degradation. Multivariate analyses confirm that urban expansion in the study area impacted soils with different characteristics in a spatially-asymmetric way and identify two main dimensions of soil depletion based on specific soil attributes and the absence of soil degradation processes. Diachronic studies quantifying soil resource depletion resulting from urban expansion, as is illustrated in this paper, are useful tools to develop joint measures aimed at containing urban sprawl and preserving soil resources.