History and urban constraints

The quality of life that you can experience in Gallura is given by a combination of factors: between the natural resources and the privileged contact with nature, there are a number of elements that contribute to make this land an exceptional asset on the international tourist market.

One of the fundamental reasons that add value to living in Gallura is the existence of those landscape constraints that have protected it since the sixties.
We can imagine it as a great city territory: its center is Olbia, with its dynamism and its privileged position, its neighborhoods are the protected coastal areas that extend from Olbia, to Porto Rotondo, Porto Rafael, Porto Cervo, Palau, up to Santa Teresa and Aglientu.

These areas are defined as "F zones": they are called areas of high coastal value, and have been protected since the 1970s by urban planning policies for the eco-sustainable development of the territory.

What is still being built near the sea is in old building lots that are running out of availability.

Such a harmonious landscape is the result of precise choices and a conscious human intervention, which has transformed an uncultivated desert into a peaceful and lush oasis.

History and birth of the Costa Smeralda brand

In 1966 the landscape constraints that limited the urbanization on the Gallura coasts were born. It was the first example, all over the world, of a place where it was decided to preserve the environment to safeguard the typicality that made it unique.

The following year, in 1967, the bridge-law extended the amendment, blocking urban interventions throughout the Italian coastal territory.
It was the beginning of a history of eco-sustainable development of the territory.

During this period the shah Karim Aga Khan, with a work of real patronage, created a process of attraction and revaluation towards the north-eastern Sardinia. Enchanted by the beauty of this land, he gave life to a real dragging effect: entrepreneurs from all over the world bought the lands on the sea while architects, artists and craftsmen of international renown started a development of the area, fitting into that climate of preservation of the landscape and working alongside the local authorities, in the interest of Gallura and Sardinia.

Thus was born a brand destined to grow relentlessly: the Costa Smeralda brand.

Regional laws and eco-sustainable development

The most recent regulations confirm the desire to preserve the coast and the landscape:
Regional Law No 8 of 25 November 2004 tightens up the limits for construction on the coast and, in 2007, a new law wanted by Governor Soru extends the protection reserved for Gallura since the sixties to the whole of Sardinia.

These are therefore stable and consolidated constraints, strongly desired by both local administrations and inhabitants: a proud local population that for centuries has been the guardian of its land and all its specific features.

In particular, the areas bound since the 70s are part of the municipalities of:

• Olbia and Arzachena
• Palau
• La Maddalena and its Archipelago
• Santa Teresa Gallura
• Aglientu