Looking through the changes: an analysis of the buried watercourses of Como

Studying territorial evolutions and investigating their underlying processes is essential to ensure continuity in well-done land management decisions. The case of Como City can be considered as a perfect small-scale example of how human influence acted on natural environment. Several watercourses hidden under the road network of the city represent one of the meaningful consequences. FOSS4G and geospatial data from different epochs of Como City historical development allowed to trace the evolution of the territorial setting and the original position of the watercourses. We quantified the variations in their peak flood discharges as a consequence of watersheds urbanization. A Web viewer was created for an easy access to the outcomes of the study.