A Strategic Environmental Assessment of a Possible Direct Road Connection Between Veneto Region and Central Europe

This paper deals with the general issue of the economic evaluation of territorial transformations and is part of an applicative land valuation, whose objective is to evaluate the social and economic impact of the transformations on a population and on the territory where it lives. These considerations are contextualized in a territory, especially in the Belluno province, in which debates have been going on for decades about the opportunity to realize a major road system for improving connections with Northern Europe. The province of Belluno is the largest area in the Veneto region (Italy), but at the same time it is also the least populated. Its territory is predominantly mountainous and, as a consequence, road connections are not easy because of an infrastructural deficit as regards transport and mobility. This research is about transport, through the application of strategic environmental assessment models in which much importance is given to the existing relationship between territorial economy and road infrastructures, focusing attention on: the issue of accessibility; the valid road options; the national and international scenarios; the theory and literature pertinent to the evaluation.