Logistics in Lombardy: 17 billion a year but 2 thousand hectares of land consumed in 25 years

Milan, 24 June 2025 – Over 2 thousand hectares of land in Lombardy between 1999 and 2024 'lost' to the expansion of logistics , with an average annual rate of 82 hectares. "For a sustainable evolution of the sector, it is crucial to improve data management, incentivize the reuse of abandoned areas and introduce environmental compensation tools".

These are some of the reflections contained in the research by PoliS Lombardia on logistics in the region, carried out with the involvement of Bocconi University and the Milan Polytechnic , for the Regional Council. The photograph speaks of 802 warehouses in Lombardy, equal to 28.3% of the Italian logistics surface, for over 12 million square meters; 261 thousand employees and 17 billion per year of added value.

Most of the warehouses are concentrated in an area that includes, in addition to Milan and the bordering provinces of Lombardy, also Novara, Brescia and Piacenza. "Regional Law 31/2014 on land consumption - says the report - has had little impact on the development of logistics platforms, which has continued in a disorderly manner, worsening the anthropic pressure on the territory". If we look at the region as a whole, this sector has contributed only marginally to the loss of land (2.44%). However, there are some hot-spots, particularly in the lower plain, where there is a large presence of non-urbanized land and infrastructures such as the highway that have generated a concentration of warehouses.

In this transformation, 4% of wooded and semi-natural area has been lost, and it cannot be excluded that there have been forms of burial of canals and minor watercourses. In fact, there are less than 300 Municipalities affected by logistic land consumption between 1999 and 2024: here the concentrations vary from 0.02 hectares to a maximum of about 72.

“It is therefore essential to deal with the local dimension, in which the transformative impact materializes and a substantial share of negative externalities is concentrated”. It must be said that, between 2021 and 2024, the trend of land consumption in logistics is decreasing: the average daily (and annual) rate is 20% lower than in the period '99-'24; however, Pavia (+ 5%), Cremona (+ 43%) and Mantua (+ 57%) are growing. "Although land consumption has slowed down in recent years - the researchers explain - some provinces have recorded significant increases, highlighting the need for urban regeneration policies to reduce environmental impact".