| Note |
The “Land Use 2023” dataset by ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) represents one of the main official Italian sources for understanding and monitoring land use. It provides a detailed mapping of how the national territory is used, distinguishing surfaces based on their primary function: agricultural, urban, industrial, infrastructural, recreational, natural or semi-natural areas, and water bodies. Unlike the concept of land cover, which describes what physically covers the ground (such as vegetation, buildings, or water), land use refers to the functional purpose of the land — that is, the human or ecological activity taking place on it. The “Land Use 2023” dataset integrates multiple data sources, including CORINE Land Cover (CLC), Copernicus High Resolution Layers, national orthophotos, and other territorial archives, harmonized to ensure uniformity and comparability at both national and European scales.
From a technical perspective, the map is built using a detailed hierarchical thematic classification, distinguishing the main land use categories (urban, agricultural, natural, aquatic) and their subcategories. The spatial resolution can reach 10 meters in some areas, allowing for a high level of detail suitable for geographical and environmental analyses.
The main temporal reference of the dataset is the year 2023, but the product is part of a multi-year time series that also includes the editions for 2012, 2018, and 2022. This continuity makes it possible to study the evolution of land use over time, assessing trends such as progressive urbanization, reduction of agricultural surfaces, or recovery of natural areas. The dataset is not updated annually but rather periodically, depending on the availability of new data sources and integration with Copernicus products.
The dataset can be downloaded from the following link: https://groupware.sinanet.isprambiente.it/uso-copertura-e-consumo-di-suolo/library/copertura-del-suolo/carta-di-copertura-del-suolo/uso-del-suolo-2023 |