Economic Evolution of the Po Valley

INDUSTRIAL SITES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Data: Geofabrik.de, 2018. Geoportale Lombardia/Emilia Romagna, 2018.

Presented map illustrates location of industrial sites in relation to the transportation infrastructure and cities. Urban settlements, which are connected by major arteries, attracts clusters of industries. Those junctions of highways and railways concentrates the biggest industrial zones present in the area. Hence industries’ dependence on closeness to urban agglomeration and convenient connections is visible. Spaces in between cities are covered by more rare and dispersed industrial sites.

Industrial Sites Po River Infrastructure System (railways, highways, roads)

INDUSTRIAL SITES AND WATER SYSTEM

Data: Geofabrik.de, 2018. Geoportale Lombardia/Emilia Romagna, 2018.

Several clusters of industrial sites are positioned alongside Po river and its tributaries. Correlating with previous map we can see that most of them are next to urban settlements or even between the river and a city. Although, there is no visible relation of factories and waterways, location of some industries suggests a requirement of close connection to natural water resources. This situation stands out especially, where manufacture separates town from water system.

Ex centrale elettrica Emilia, Piacenza (PC). Relation between the industrial zone and Po River. Photo: Giovanni Tagini, 2016.

Pictured from space, smog hangs over the Po Valley in northern Italy. Photo: NASA/AFP

CONTAMINATION IN PO VALLEY

Data: “Air Pollution and Emission Reductions over the Po-Valley”. Philippe Thunis, 2009. “Analysis of pollutants exchange between the Po Valley and the surrounding European region” Sandro Finardi, 2013.

PO VALLEY IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST POLLUTED PLACES IN ITALY

BY 2020,

HEALTH IMPACT ON POPULATION AND EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEMS BY OZONE AND EUTROPHICATION ARE INDEED CALCULATED TO BE AMONGST THE HIGHEST IN EUROPE.

IN GENERAL, LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTED AIR POLLUTION IN THE PO-VALLEY REPRESENTS ONLY A FRACTION OF 30-40% The Po Valley is a major populated area including different conurbations, with a population density among the highest in Europe. The pollutants exported from the Po Valley to the surrounding areas have been investigated through the application of a chemical transport model. Emission sensitivity simulations have been performed to identify the Po Valley footprint and to quantify its influence on the atmospheric composition. Simulation results suggest that the Po Valley emissions impact extends up to 500 km, affecting Italy, the northern Mediterranean Sea and the western Balkan peninsula. The outflow directions are determined by meteorological and topographic forcing. The surface area affected is larger during the winter, while the mass injected in the free troposphere is larger during the summer for pollutants with longer lifetime.