Geo-referenced Harmonized Financial Data on Soil Defense Public Works in Italy

The dataset collects financial data about public works in Italy, specifically, it focuses on soil defense investments. The data is sourced from three distinct platforms: the OpenCoesione website, the OpenBDAP database, the Ministry of Economy and Finance's open data platform, and the ReNDiS database, provided by ISPRA, that exclusively gathers information about interventions in soil defense. The data obtained is interconnected using unique project codes (CUP) to prevent duplication.

Georeferencing involves integrating geographic references into the three datasets. It enhances the accuracy of spatial analyses of spatial defense investments and provides valuable context for understanding the geographical distribution of available financial data. By incorporating geographic references such as regions, provinces, and municipalities analysts can gain insights into the spatial patterns and relationships within the datasets. This step is crucial for effective decision-making and policy formulation in the field of soil defense investments.

Geographical references for each project were integrated using codes and names of regions, provinces, and municipalities from the ISPRA database. This database retrieves information directly from ISTAT websites, ensuring constant updates to names and codes, thus enhancing the accuracy of spatial analyses.

Furthermore, geographical codes facilitated the association of centroids coordinates and polygon shapes for each financial observation, enhancing spatial visualization and analysis of soil defense investments, empowering decision-makers with a deeper understanding of the geographic distribution and impact of these initiatives. This comprehensive approach allows for a deeper exploration of the geographical factors influencing soil defense investments, including identifying hotspots of activity, assessing spatial trends, and understanding the localized impact of interventions on environmental sustainability and community resilience.

The zip folder comprises four subfolders and two files. Among the files, one is a text file containing metadata, while the other is a CSV file consolidating merged data at the national level from three repositories. The subfolders contain data categorized by region and data categorized by region sourced from the three distinct repositories.

 Datasets present 28 variables: 

• Columns 1-2: descriptive variables;
• Column 3: total amount financed for each intervention;
• Columns 4-9: geo-reference variables;
• Columnn 10:25: key dates of the public works process;
• Column 26: source of the data;
• Columns 27-28: geo-referencing (centroids and areal shape).

An additional dataset has been added comprising all Italian municipalities, including thos that lack information on soil defense investments. In such a way, there are geographical information regarding all the peninsula.