Volcanic risk and evolution of the territorial system in the volcanic areas of Campania

The present research deals with the assessment of volcanic risk in the Campanian area exposed to Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvio activity. The project involved volcanologists and territory planners, which together investigated the relationship between the volcanic hazard and the evolution of territorial system in the last century in Campania. Thanks to this co-operation, new hazard and risk maps, together with a detailed analysis of the urban settlement, were produced. They made it possible to deduce that, although most part of the Campania region in the past has been, and most probably will be in the next future, threatened by products coming from both the volcanic sources, the territorial system evolution was quite insensitive to these hazardous phenomena. The main result of the study was to point out the seriousness of the present conditions of the areas exposed to volcanic risk, and the urgency of a territorial planning aimed at the cohabitation with the volcanic sources and at the achievement of acceptable levels of security. In this regard, the maps, diff erent in scale, and the socio-economical investigations here performed can off er a valid support for Local Authorities and for the territorial Agencies operating in the area (Autorità di Bacino, arpa, Civil Defence, etc.), since they might represent a very useful basis for territorial planning and for decision making in a hazardous territory like the area exposed to volcanic risk in Campania.