Every day in Italy, more than 280,000 square meters of land disappear under concrete, asphalt, and other artificial surfaces. In 2025, land consumption reached 102.4 square kilometers, a 22.4% increase from the previous year. The rate is 3.2 square meters per second, the highest in recent years. Yet, there are over 2,100 square kilometers of potentially reclaimable land across the country—a resource that could reduce the need to occupy new land.
This is one of the most interesting findings in the 2026 Land Consumption Report, published on October 27 by the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) and the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA). For the first time, the study combines its measurement of the phenomenon with a map of areas that could be reclaimed, showing local governments where to take action to limit new construction and restore space to nature.
Where Concrete Is Taking Over
Today, buildings, infrastructure, and other artificial surfaces cover 21,644 square kilometers, or 7.19% of Italy’s territory, compared to a European average of 4.4%. In 2025, only 746 hectares were restored, compared to over 10,200 hectares that were consumed. The net loss was nearly 9,500 hectares, the highest figure since 2012.
Sicily recorded the largest loss, with 1,619 hectares, followed by Lazio (1,436), Puglia (1,198), and Lombardy (1,093). Lombardy remains the region with the highest proportion of urbanized land, at 12.27%, ahead of Veneto and Campania.
Land consumption continues even in the most vulnerable areas: an additional 1,106 hectares in flood-prone areas and 707 hectares in landslide-prone areas. Covering the ground with impervious surfaces prevents rainwater from infiltrating the soil, increasing surface runoff and exacerbating risks in areas that are already vulnerable.
New Pressures on the Region
More than half of the new land-use changes involved construction sites, which covered 5,387 hectares in 2025. Logistics continued to grow, adding 390 hectares, primarily in Piedmont and Lazio.
The energy transition also requires space. Ground-mounted solar farms covered an additional 2,798 hectares—nearly forty times the 2021 figure. This figure underscores the importance of carefully selecting the areas to be used, prioritizing rooftops and already-developed areas whenever possible, or employing techniques such as agrivoltaics, which allow for expanding the supply of renewable energy while preserving land for agricultural or grazing purposes.
Meanwhile, in cities, trees and green spaces are disappearing. By 2025, 4,231 hectares of green space and 320 hectares of tree cover had vanished. The consequences are felt most acutely in the summer: in areas with the highest levels of soil sealing, surface temperatures can exceed those of the surrounding countryside by more than 10 degrees, while a greater presence of trees is associated with temperatures up to 1.6 degrees lower.
The areas to be reclaimed already exist
The new ISPRA mapping identifies over 2,100 square kilometers of potentially reclaimable land, in addition to 3,281 square kilometers suitable for urban reforestation and 1,116 square kilometers of rooftops suitable for the installation of solar panels. Public urban areas suitable for restoration alone exceed 35,000 hectares, primarily in Lazio, Lombardy, and Veneto. Among municipalities, Rome has the greatest potential. The report also notes nearly 9.6 million unoccupied dwellings, a resource worth evaluating for the reuse of existing building stock.
Options include removing unused paving, creating new green spaces, and renovating buildings. These are potentially available areas, not projects that have already been planned: determining whether they can actually be used requires urban planning assessments and decisions.
Meanwhile, the European Nature Restoration Regulation requires that the net loss of green space and tree cover in urban ecosystems be halted by 2030, with the aim of gradually increasing them starting in 2031.The report’s figures show how far we are from this goal: in 2025, for every hectare returned to nature, nearly fourteen were lost. The new mapping provides municipalities and regions with a tool to identify alternatives. The challenge now is to translate those available areas into restoration projects before more land is taken up.
