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Is it preferable to have a high income or more leisure time? To promote industrialisation and employment in a given territory, or preserve its environmental and landscape integrity? Realistically, each of these dimensions is important in defining individual and collective well-being, in which all these aspects should coexist in a truly balanced and sustainable development path at the local scale. An approach measuring well-being, and possibly, sustainable development, based solely on the economic sphere, is reductive and misleading as a policy-relevant tool. The complexity of the argument at stake requires refined approaches and more elaborate measures – than simple gross domestic product (GDP). It is possible to conceive truly sustainable economic policies relying only on instruments and indicators involving multiple dimensions, in turn promoting quality of life. Moreover, applications of this perspective at regional and local levels are important, as territories are the collecting agents guaranteeing and promoting processes of supra-individual utility, for example, environment quality or social cohesion. These institutions are responsible for the important role of outlining specific development policies for communities and the sustainable paths to be undertaken, with the aim of increasing the effective well-being of individuals. Following these assumptions, and on the basis of recent developments in the academic literature, this edited book debates extensively on these topics, offering an updated theoretical ground and pragmatic examples delineating an operational and coordinated evaluation of well-being that integrates the economic dimension with the environmental and social ones, thus assuring a more complete interpretation of complex (local) development paths.
“An original and highly interdisciplinary academic book, suitable both for teaching and research. It offers a well-structured integration of ecology, sociology and economics, with practical applications that make it valuable for graduate students, PhD researchers and practitioners alike.” —Professor Andrea Colantoni, Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, University of Tuscia, Italy.
“The present collective work challenges the notion that economic development—measured solely by GDP—automatically leads to societal well-being. It develops and applies theoretical and methodological tools to underscore, particularly at the local and regional levels, the importance of social and environmental factors that contribute to sustainable development and genuine prosperity. Emphasis is placed on environmental and natural resources preservation, the promotion of employment, the enhancement of social and political life and the expansion of leisure opportunities.” —Professor Kostas Rontos, University of the Aegean, Greece.
Luca Salvati is professor at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Notes on Contributors; Chapter 1. In-Between Society and Landscape: Local Development and the Optimal Management of ‘Sustainable’ Districts- Adele Sateriano, Ioannis Konaxis, Maurizio Masi, Luigi Fici, Marco Maialetti, Donato Scarpitta, Bogdana Nosova and Luca Salvati; Chapter 2. Economic Downturns, Income Inequalities and Settlement Hierarchies: Understanding the Greek Regional Development Path, 2000–2022 - Bünyamin Özkür, Marco Maialetti, Donato Scarpitta, Adele Sateriano, Pierpaolo Lombardi, Enrico Maria Mosconi, Luca Salvati and Ioannis Konaxis; Chapter 3. Regional Development, Optimal Sustainability Management and the Subjective Assessment of Life Quality in a Pre-crisis Economic Landscape- Vasiliki Benaki, Adele Sateriano, Luigi Fici, Marco Maialetti, Donato Scarpitta, Maurizio Masi, Ioannis Konaxis and Luca Salvati; Chapter 4. Population Dynamics in Turkey (2000–2021): Spatial Patterns of Growth, Migration and Urbanization - Bünyamin Özkür; Chapter 5. Social Inequalities, Rural Poverty and Landscape Degradation in Advanced Economies: A Regional Perspective- Bünyamin Özkür, Rosanna Salvia, Giovanni Quaranta, Marco Maialetti, Ioannis Konaxis, Bogdana Nosova, Jesus Rodrigo Comino and Luca Salvati; Chapter 6. Local Wellbeing, Optimal Land Management and Spatial Divides in Waste Infrastructure: A Pre-crisis Perspective for Italy - Bünyamin Özkür, Gianluca Egidi, Luigi Fici, Maurizio Masi, Ioannis Konaxis, Donato Scarpitta, Marco Maialetti and Adele Sateriano; Index