The issue of land use is among the most important in Europe. The volume presents the results of a study aimed at analyzing and describing the evolution of land use of agriculture firms in Italian municipalities on the basis of data from the last General Census of Agriculture (2000) and of an important study of the '60 years (Bandini). The author has used the most modern and innovative methods of statistical analysis to improve the reliability of results obtained in particular as regards the evaluation of the composition and break up of the Italian landscape mosaic in rural areas. In this context it is operated to the highest degree of disaggregation, i.e. on data from the 8081 Italian municipalities taking advantage of a single national database and with the advantage of being able to apply uniform criteria analysis for the entire country.
