Ispra, land consumption record, but recovery is possible, 2,100 square km available

Reversing the trend is possible and there are over 2,100 square km of surfaces available in Italy to start recovering land, creating new urban green spaces, depaving and limiting land consumption which, in 2025, will set a record and advance by another 102 square km at a rate exceeding 3 square meters per second, equal to over 280 thousand square meters per day. This is what emerges from the 2026 edition of the Report on Soil Consumption in Italy, the work, edited by the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) and the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA), which this year also makes available a first national mapping of potentially recoverable soil.

The opportunities identified on the national territory also include 3,281 km² of surfaces potentially usable for urban forestation and 1,116 km² of roofs that can be used for the installation of photovoltaic systems. Added to these are almost 9.6 million unoccupied homes that can be recovered and reused.

The public urban areas suitable for restoration exceed 35 thousand hectares overall, with the largest extensions in Lazio, Lombardy and Veneto. Among the municipalities, the primacy belongs to the city of Rome.

In 2025, waterproofed surfaces will reach 7.19% of the national surface: 21,644 square km are covered by buildings, infrastructures, squares, plants and other artificial surfaces.

In the last year alone, concrete and asphalt have erased another over 10,200 hectares of natural areas, equal to more than 102 km². The restorations stop at 746 hectares and the balance remains negative for almost 9,500 hectares.

Sicily adds just over 1,600 hectares of new artificial soil, Lazio more than 1,400 hectares, Puglia and Lombardy exceed 1,000. The latter, together with Veneto and Campania, also remain the regions with the highest share of surfaces covered by buildings and infrastructures: 12.27%, 11.87% and 10.65% respectively.

Since 2006, new artificial covers have affected 96% of Italian municipalities and the most significant increases in the last year are found in particular in Tuscania (+319 hectares), Montalto di Castro (+316) and Catania (+198). Excluding ground-mounted photovoltaics, the highest values ​​are found in Rome (+74 hectares), Foggia (+72), Cerignola (+53) and Campagna (+51).

The soil consumed is progressing even in the most fragile areas: in one year +1,106 hectares in flood risk areas and 707 hectares in landslide risk areas.