GIS and Remote Sensing to Study Urban-Rural Transformation During a Fifty-Year Period

A relevant issue in Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS is related to the analysis and the characterization of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes, very useful for a wide range of environmental applications and to efficiently undertake landscape planning and management policies. The methodology described has been applied to a case-study conducted in the area of the Province of Avellino (Southern Italy). Firstly, aerial photos and Landsat imagery have been classified to produce LULC maps for a fifty-year period (1954/2004). Then, through a GIS approach, change detection and spatiotemporal analysis has been integrated to characterize LULC dynamics, focusing on the urban-rural gradient. This study has shown that LULC patterns and their changes are linked to both natural and social processes whose driving role has been clearly demonstrated: after the disastrous Irpinia earthquake (1980), local specific zoning laws and urban plans have significantly addressed landscape changes.