Documentation / Online Handbook
| Land use and Biotopes |  |
| Conclusions |
The maps developed for this topics are mainly urban tools and therefore related to the analysis of the urban structure, the real soil use, population density etc. Great importance has also been given to the preservation of open and green spaces (Piano delle Certezze, Rome) by elaborating maps showing green areas, protected sites, natural parks and historical gardens (Milan, Rome, Berlin).
But what is missing in nearly all the cities is a bio-ecological analysis of the urban areas. Rome has elaborated atlases of the city on flora, reptiles and birds with distribution diagrams which show en gros the main biological corridors, but the only listing of the presence of species with no further elaboration. This data cannot be used for planning purposes. Here a deduction of indicators is needed to transform this large amount of data into precise indications for the urban planning.
A first approach of this kind has been developed by Berlin with the maps on vegetation and on valuable sites for flora and fauna.
A very interesting approach has been made by Rome with the map of the Ecotopes, where they consider topography, geolitology, biotopes and even natural and historical landscapes and archeological land use as evaluation parameters. This shows that, especially for this topic, an ecosystemic and complex approach should be tried using the potentials of the information tools, where lots of information can be linked together to show evolutions.
Indications for the most commonly produced and important maps/results for an Environmental Information System
Following maps can be realised using data which has shown to be available in every partner city:
Specific data and a more complex elaboration is needed for maps on: