Drive for Commercial Desertification in Mountain Areas: Evidence from the Province of Sondrio (Italy), 2010–2022

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Cases of under-provision and absence of food retail in the province of Sondrio, 2022, based on Lombardy Regional Trade Observatory data and ISTAT data (population and households database)_

	Total no. of municipalities	Compared to: shops			Compared to: sales area
		No. of municipalities	Resident population	Resident population (%)	No. of municipalities	Resident population	Resident population (%)
Mountain communities
Valchiavenna	12	7	11,862	48.5	8	12,829	52.5
Valtellina di Morbegno	25	11	15,911	33.8	15	16,918	35.9
Valtellina di Sondrio	22	9	18,121	33.4	10	17,725	32.6
Valtellina di Tirano	12	3	1705	6.1	7	20,946	74.9
Alta Valtellina	6	3	10,226	41.0	4	14,156	56.7
Altitude bands
Up to 300 m a.s.l.	19	9	20,876	41.6	9	20,005	39.9
301–600 m a.s.l.	29	15	24,088	30.7	17	31,525	40.2
601–900 m a.s.l.	13	4	2309	13.9	10	15,059	90.7
901–1200 m a.s.l.	10	3	3920	25.5	6	9353	60.8
Oltre 1200 m a.s.l.	6	2	6632	36.5	2	6632	36.5
Total	77	33	57,825	32.3	44	82,574	46.2

Profile of the 29 municipalities of types A and C, average values based on ISTAT data, various databases (population and households, tourism, general population census, statistical archive of active enterprises)_

Variables	Municipalities profile A (6)	Municipalities profile C (23)	Total municipalities province of Sondrio (77)
Change in resident population, 2010–2022 (%)	−1.8	−2.6	−3.5
Inhabitants / sq km, 2022	57.6	94.8	117.2
Beds in hotel and non-hotel facilities / 100 inhabitants, 2019	6.2	13.6	20.8
Employees / 100 inhabitants, 2020	9.6	22.5	26.6
Index of attraction in settlement networks, 2011	18.7	19.6	24.1
Index of self-containment, 2019	12.1	24.2	30.5

Structure of retail in the province of Sondrio, 2010 and 2022, based on Lombardy Regional Trade Observatory data and ISTAT data (population and households database)_

Variables / Years	Neighbourhood shops	Medium-sized sales facilities	Large sales facilities	Total	Neighbourhood shops in total (%)
No. of shops
2010	3123	292	8	3423	91.2
2022	2850	303	9	3162	90.1
Balance	−273	11	1	−261	−1.1
Food sqm
2010	49,622	27,987	13,022	90,631	54.8
2022	46,717	31,207	13,091	91,015	51.3
Balance	−2905	3220	69	384	−3.5
Non-food sqm
2010	137,980	93,277	32,382	263,639	52.3
2022	127,429	106,494	41,373	275,296	46.3
Balance	−10,551	13,217	8991	11,657	−6.0
Total sqm
2010	187,602	121,264	45,404	354,270	53.0
2022	174,146	137,701	54,464	366,311	47.5
Balance	−13,456	16,437	9060	12,041	−5.5

Resident population dynamics in the province of Sondrio, 2010-2022, based on ISTAT data (population and househoulds database)_

	No. of municipalities	Resident population				No. of growing municipalities 2010–2022
		No. 2022	Total (%)	Balance 2010–2022	Δ% 2010–2022
Mountain communities
Valchiavenna	12	24,440	13.7	−169	−0.7	4
Valtellina di Morbegno	25	47,112	26.4	840	1.8	12
Valtellina di Sondrio	22	54,323	30.4	−2780	−4.9	3
Valtellina di Tirano	12	27,952	15.6	−1226	−4.2	2
Alta Valtellina	6	24,957	13.9	499	2.0	3
Altitude bands
Up to 300 m a.s.l.	19	50,137	28.0	1248	2.6	11
301–600 m a.s.l.	29	78,512	43.9	−2408	−3.0	7
601–900 m a.s.l.	13	16,594	9.3	−1156	−6.5	2
901–1200 m a.s.l.	10	15,382	8.6	−1244	−7.5	2
Over 1200 m a.s.l.	6	18,159	10.2	724	4.2	2
Total	77	178,784	100.0	−2836	−1.6	24

Local units and employees in the province of Sondrio by altitude bands, 2011 and 2020, based on ISTAT data (statistical archive of active enterprises)_

Altitude bands	Total economic activities (%)		Retail trade sector (%)
	2011	2020	2011	2020
Local units
Up to 300 m a.s.l.	25.8	25.9	23.9	25.0
301–600 m a.s.l.	44.3	43.2	42.8	41.0
601–900 m a.s.l.	6.8	6.5	6.7	6.3
901–1200 m a.s.l.	8.7	8.2	7.5	7.7
Over 1200 m a.s.l.	14.3	16.2	19.1	20.0
Employees
Up to 300 m a.s.l.	28.8	30.4	26.0	29.7
301–600 m a.s.l.	40.6	42.2	39.7	39.6
601–900 m a.s.l.	5.9	5.7	5.0	4.4
901–1200 m a.s.l.	8.0	7.0	6.7	6.2
Over 1200 m a.s.l.	16.7	14.7	22.6	20.4
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0