Cities and Soil Protection: Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Binomial

Among the objectives for a European sustainable economy, the safeguarding of soil resources and the control of erosion assume a major role. In the EU, every year more than 1,000 km(-2) of new land is used for the construction of housing, industries, roads, or for recreational purposes. All this entails loss of biodiversity, degradation of the landscape-cultural mosaic, and threats to the capacity of resilience of natural resources. The objective of this contribution, is to present a portrait of the importance of the functions of the soil resource in the natural and urban spaces, and its relationship with the city. From this, a framework will be offered to identify possible practices and actions for the definition of a "sustainable binomial", particularly in the light of recent European and national legislation and of good practices to limit, mitigate, and compensate for the use of the soil.