some reflections on practice leonardo benevolo pp. 4­8 tables of contents ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 issn: 2239­267x municipal development plan, acerra (naples). luigi benevolo pp. 9­25 facilities, landscape, city. to the origins of a missedmeeting. luisa fatigati ­ enrico formato pp. 26­39 difficult balances and impossible partners. enrico formato pp. 40­58 urban planning as an instrument for institutionalcooperation: the case of pompeii municipal urban plan. pasquale miano pp. 59­71 building the landscapes of monte di procida. carmine piscopo ­ paola scala pp. 72­93 introduction massimo santoro pp. i­ii introduction this second issue of ijpp, which starts with a reflection of leonardo benevolo about the job of planners, is entirely dedicated to the presentation of some case studies in the region of campania. these represent challenging contexts characterised by weak planning in an area where decades of neglect, illegal building activity and lack of any effective public spending policy have created favorable conditions for the development of illegal planning practices. what emerges from the cases presented is a socio­political context with a poor perception of the role that planning could play as one important element for development. the authors have centred their attention on the difficult processes that have characterised their plans rather than the results and outcomes of their work as planners. what clearly emerges from the papers is the importance of the relationships between public and private actors who determine these processes. in the case of acerra for example, a municipality of considerable complexity because of both its important historical heritage and environmental decay and abandonment, only one plan has been produced since world war ii, in 1982. after that, the process for a new plan was started in 2008 but the years since have been characterised by two different administrations, both of which have ended up in compulsory administration. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice ivol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 issn: 2239­267x massimo santoro city of acerra manager the plan for monte di procida, where a careful analysis and reconstruction of landscapes has been carried out, has contributed to highlight heritage values which make up the quality of development in an administrative context which used to consider the plan to be merely a tool for building regulations. in pompeii’s plan, the dualism between the government and the dominant role of the curia brings out the complexity that exists even between public actors. despite this, it is an example of good management of such relationships by local planners. the same is true for the case of the urban implementation plan for the neapolitan neighbourhood of san giovanni a teduccio. here, the plan tries to find new solutions to the somewhat counterproductive duality between port activities and the need for urban regeneration, crystallized in the difficult relationship between two strong players, in this case the municipality and the port authority. from some contributions, a sort of bitterness emerges about the ways in which different stakeholders and public policy makers have been unable to cooperate and make land use decisions. this is the case of the plan for the five municipalities affected by the construction of the high speed train station in the outermost suburbs of naples. despite their variety, the cases presented in this issue share common problems and challenges which have to do with the procedures set out by regional regulations that often delay the whole process of plan approval. therefore, there is a need to understand why the intentions for innovation and renewal of planning practice are still affected by great slowness. in campania, only in 2004, a new regional planning act was passed, more than twenty years after the previous one (l.r. 16/04). out of 551 municipalities, there are only a few dozen municipal urban plans approved under the new regional act. most of the municipalities have a planning instrument with an average age of almost twenty years and many regulate their planning activity by means of the programma di fabbricazione, building regulations which were introduced by the national act of 1942. in such a context it is of great importance to deepen and compare the significant experiences that are beginning to take shape. for ijpp this is a commitment which cannot be ignored. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice iivol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 issn: 2239­267x some reflections on practice ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 leonardo benevolo issn: 2239­267x i do not wish here to discuss my own work which, in any case is not entirely mine since planning culture is in a large part shared between planners and with many others. instead, i will chronologically tell of the attempts to make planning work in practice, in a variety of different situations. in an early phase, up until 1965, we actually had a technical background which was not very large: we were producing drawn planning schemes, which we were taught at university, and which we have since moved away from; this approach had left us the concept and idea of having always to compare one planned layout with another. in the early 1960s, left wing parties advocated that major cities should prepare a new general plan. in rome, florence and venice discussions were centred upon the differences between various planning sketches and schemes. no one benevolo ­ some reflections on practice ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 then cared about implementation tools, and only history and experience have pointed out this enormous mistake. the 1962 general plan for rome remained entirely unimplemented. in its place the “great season” of illegal building and land use changes started, which nowadays strongly characterises this city as one of the major examples of the results of illegal building activity in major european cities. the plan for florence, adopted in the same period, did not succeed in avoiding things from getting worse between the planning scheme and its implementation. in venice the plan never came to approval because of the endless and heated discussions and the alderman for planning, dorigo, gave up and moved from politics to history studies. it is reflecting on these and other disappointments that we have found out the limits of our planning education and background. i have written the “storia dell’architettura moderna” in 1960. in a subsequent book of 1963, “le origini del’urbanistica moderna”, i conducted deeper studies on the first half of the 19th century when a new planning practice was not promoted by architects but by public health specialists and their requirements: the english planning legislation of 1849 and the french one of 1850; the latter was used by haussman for the “grands travaux” of paris between 1853 and 1869. i have discovered illuminating comparisons between planning and medicine concerning the re­scaling of objectives (remedies normally only come after harmful effects) and the importance of public tools for implementation. following the experiences of the major cities, it is logical that in italy subsequent progress in the planning discipline derives from administrators of some of italy’s medium­sized cities – such as bologna, brescia, modena, como, ferrara, mantua and trento – which have applied in italy some of the usual methods and ways used in europe. just to report four of them: antonio spallino, mayor of como in the 1960s; luigi bazoli alderman for planning in brescia from 1965 to 1980; germano bulgarelli, mayor of modena until 1980, and bruno kessler, president of the trento region in the 1980s. i have worked for a long time together with all of them. in such a way i have had the opportunity to experience what really happened in practice. benevolo ­ some reflections on practice ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 brescia was a town of about 200,000 people with a master plan approved in 1961 which was over­dimensioned for a population of about 500,000. we scrapped all of these provisions so bringing back to agricultural uses a large part of those areas and we have designed and developed a new neighbourhood of 6000 housing units on a green field area; this allows us to calculate exactly the real cost of this public development (cost of the area, roads, sewers, infrastructures, gardens, schools, sport and cultural facilities and other general expenses): this was about one fifth of the cost of the construction of the housing. areas given up to developers were to cover these expenses, a lot lower than the cost of private areas on the free market, so reducing for decades the land values in the city. the new master plan contained this quota of public areas and an equal quota of private areas. after twenty years the public share had completely run out, whilst for the private part only 30% had been used. without any cost, over 50 million euros of public works had been realized, so allowing developers to build about 250 million euros of residential units, 90% of which were detached houses with private gardens. the confrontation between the comune and private developers was therefore won by the comune under free market rules and this situation was maintained until the 1990s, when the political support came to an end. these experiences implied and produced social cohesion, based on the advantage for both developers and the community; for example, when the provision of public areas seemed to decrease, both categories asked the comune to increase it. since i had the opportunity to work in several other cities at the same time, i was struck by the similarity of behaviour, despite the differences in traditional habits. for example, in modena the driver spoke informally with the mayor, whilst this did not happen in brescia; but ermanno gorrieri and the christian democrat party supported urban planning decisions made by the communist administration. a big change occurred in 1980 when “national solidarity” broke down. ten years later, an even greater change shocked the structure of international relations so interrupting – together with many good and bad things – the experiences that i have just described. (the relevance of this paragraph is too obscure for a non­italian to benevolo ­ some reflections on practice ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 understand in its present form!) what has happened from 1980 up to today? in our field the main consequence is the worsening of the links between economic rent and profits. when i moved to brescia, this was a typical industrial city; today brescia is one of the major financial cities of italy. behaviour and the actions of real estate agents, which we can read about every day in the papers, urge us to reflect on two completely different ways to earn money: profit and rent. profit is an essential part of the economic combination upon which was based the adventure of our urban experiences which produced, and produces still now, harmony and well being. economic rent is something else. it takes advantage of inequalities and it does not aim to solve collective difficulties, but to increase them. our job, which operates in the long term, offers long­lasting scenarios to our human adventures to make their alternation easier, but at the same time it faces the challenges posed by those who are able to take advantage in making planning activity harder. at present, rent wins over profit. the requirement to limit economic rent through legal measures and actions, an old obsession of the immature italian planning culture, has produced over the last decades an always greater legal protection of private property, pushing higher and higher the cost of land. a long time ago a friend of mine, assessing the situation of economic rent and betterment value for speculation purposes (the battle against it yesterday was perhaps still open, whilst today is almost lost), called it “the battle of tight shoes”. what would happen in making shoes if there were a ten­times higher profit on laces? in that case, it would not matter if the shoes are properly made or not. a pair of shoes would be made just to sell laces. likewise, when buying and selling an area, if a developer can earn much more than when selling a building, it is useless for the architecture to improve. buildings, therefore, cannot become a product which compete in terms of quality and prices but remain merely a sub­product. there remains one element which is worth discussing in conclusion. economic rent not only uses but it also determines disorder. why in the post­war period was the landscape in italy damaged much more than it was benevolo ­ some reflections on practice ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 in germany? not because of the amount of changes, but because of the disorder produced in a short period of time. italian landscape had an enormous value because it has been for centuries the proof of the italian culture, adopted in the rest of europe and worldwide. at present it is no longer like this and there is a warning in this: the agony of italia nostra, that up until now has its actions supported by public opinion, and at the same time the success of fai (fondo ambientale italiano)1 that buys the items worthy of protection: monuments, collections, whole pieces of landscape and territory (for example in the gulf of naples). if we are forced to buy single pieces of this heritage, it is because the whole situation is getting out of hand. italian environmetal fund.1 facilities, landscape, city. to the origins of a missed meeting. abstract this article gives an account of a series of researches and town plans drawn up in the early 21st century about the areas nearby the settlement of the future high­speed train station in afragola. ten years later, during the construction of the facilities of the station, designed by the star architect zaha hadid, it is probably about time to wonder why the huge cost that the construction of the railway required was not redistributed to the community in terms of utilities and improvement in the landscape. and why did no one, neither public operators nor politic makers, act "rationally", by following up on the technical solutions concerning the problems caused by politics itself? the depressing landscape absolutely recalls the wide gap between design and town planning practices. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 26vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 luisa fatigati visiting lecturer luisa.fatigati@polimi.it facoltà di architettura ­ università federico ii di napoli issn: 2239­267x travelling around the new high­speed naples­afragola trainstation. enrico formato adjunct professor e.formato@unina.it facoltà di architettura "luigi vanvitelli" ­ seconda università di napoli fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 27vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 introduction the asse mediano is the highway that crosses, along a path that looks like an arabesque, the entire inland urban sprawl near naples ­ over the hills that separate it from the city by the sea. in a sense, the asse mediano is the modern decuman of this conurbation, the fluid axis that with its infinite string of junctions and viaducts holds together the multitude of scattered agglomerations and their recent developments. moving along this highway is a very interesting experience not only for those who deal with the territory. with its advertising totem and shopping centres, more or less dense and structured fragments of contemporary city, the infinite sequence of bends that characterizes its route, – further on, the reason why this road has no proper straight stretches – it provides the driving observer with a repertoire of landscapes that fully gives you back the idea of confusion and inconsistency of this territory. until a few years ago, maybe less than a decade, it was still possible – driving on this unique highway ­ to stumble on not urbanized, still under cultivation gaps. it was before the shopping centres colonization (now there are a few dozens of them, they are pretty large and with a strong impact), before the housing boom in the early twenty­first century, before the "eu aid" that contributed to the almost complete abandonment of agriculture. one of the most interesting town gaps was between afragola and acerra, a cultivated "green wedge" that, following the orographic depression, spreads out from the east area of naples to the plain of the regi lagni, and from here back to the centurial countryside of caserta. 1. antecedent in october 1997, the ministry of transport, together with the campania region, the province and the city of naples and in agreement with the società tav spa, identified the area where to locate the new suburban rail of the future high speed railway station: the chosen site is in the town of afragola, in the centre of the "green wedge" that is one of the few still cultivated gaps in the inland conurbation near naples. fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 28vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 this decision, taken on the basis of a pure transport rationality, underwent, during the environmental assessment at the ministry of environment, some "corrections" of great interest: the request that the high­speed suburban rail would also become an interchange station with the local railways; the final design of interventions must be subordinated to an inter­ towns town plan aiming at the environmental protection of the area. 1. 2. following these requirements, the region campania commissioned the starting up of a research to a group of planners, landscape architects and engineers in 20001. the research, completed in 2002, features a two­level prediction: a general structure, with strategies and requirements that will be absorbed in the under preparation provincial plan (as yet unapproved); an accurate regulation with the arrangement of some variations to the current general town planning schemes of the five towns most directly affected by the new railway station and its suburban rail (the towns of acerra, afragola, casoria, casalnuovo di napoli, caivano). 1. 2. the general targets of the "plan for five towns" are defined as follows2: identification of the area surrounding the naples­afragola station with the localization of the developed fringes of the towns; reorganization of the road network; 1. 2. protection of the (large) surfaces that are not developed or that are intended for agricultural production; 3. definition of protection measures in order to prevent unauthorized buildings; 4. drawing up those projects that can ensure a high level of permeability of the new facilities in order to reduce the barrier effect by the train lines and the train station; 5. identification and localization of higher­level functions (services and tertiary activities) to address the structural deficit that characterizes the suburban areas that are north of naples. 6. carino, lorenzo di lucchio, luisa fatigati, enrico formato. the town and landscape design was drafted by paride caputi, luisa fatigati and enrico formato. the assignment has been entrusted to the design team coordinated by paride caputi with stefania1 the objectives of the plan are set by the regional resolution no. 5020 ­ 5/8/1999.2 fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 29vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 2. the "plan for five towns" (2000­2002) the high speed station is considered to be a peculiar metropolitan equipment: the station, along with residual agricultural areas, are intended as an opportunity to provide the hinterland urban sprawl with a large metropolitan park. it is necessary that the empty areas around the new station are included in an environmental enhancement project that could consider them as a large urban void: the renovation of the settlement’s system will follow starting from this void and proceeding outward. so, this plan considers the “green wedge”, that from east naples goes up towards caserta, as the new centre of the metropolitan town: an empty centre that can be structured as an opposite pole for the already built areas. the cultivated territory to be protected become an opportunity of transformation of the suburbs starting from a restoration project which reverses the logic of the current dialectic between town and country: the second term of the relation has so far been thought as a place waiting to be involved in a new settlement or production facilities, with no connection to the distinctive values of the area. the extent of the overturning that can occur, can be grasped by analogy with a mechanism that is constant in the construction of the early modern city compared to its archeological areas. the xviii century rome, for example, found some new centralities with the rediscovery of the imperial fora, so that an archaeological site also becomes a re­foundation: a re­foundation of meanings for the baroque city. similarly, the recovery and enhancement of the country landscape, and in particular of the bourbon hydrographical network, are thought as agricultural archaeological operations and as the foundation of the campania metropolis. 2.1 the inter­towns agricultural park considering the specific resources of this plain, mostly related to the wealth of the archaeological and historical­environmental areas (farms, mills and a hydrographical network which strongly characterizes the landscape), the project suggests the establishment of an inter­towns agricultural park: a consortium of interested towns ­ along with the city of naples, the region fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 30vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 and the province ­ might be the managing body of the park. the park identifies all the extensive agricultural areas and the areas with wooded gardens in the plain between the five towns, so to reach various objectives: the promotion of historical and landscape heritage; landscape and environmental protection and recovery of the connecting belt between city and country; the connection between agricultural areas and urban green areas; the economic exploitation, protection and development of farming, even by assigning additional and territorial protection duties in relation with the town functions and the environmental assets; the cultural and recreational enjoyment of the environment by the citizens; the urban and services renovation in scattered conglomerations and agricultural villages, preventing phenomena of urban welding due to the localization of the hst station; the environmental improvement and conservation of the soil and water resources to improve the living conditions of the located populations; the reorganization of the areas surrounding the hst station and the creation of a great central location in the metropolitan system. these targets can be pursued thanks to the localization of the hst station, which, being now included in the plan, is no more, or not only, a disturbing element to a precarious environmental balance or a “sector facility” whose impact must be solved by the town planning research, but, being rethought as a “local infrastructure”, it becomes essential to the development of the area, and an opportunity for a strategic process of actions for the improvement and redesign of the plain’s entire landscape. within the areas of the future agricultural park the estimations of the current plans regarding new settlement expansions have been eliminated: particularly the estimation resulting from the still active consorzio asi, to build in the territory of the town of afragola, about 2 km north the future station, a business/production centre, about 200 hectares large, with the establishment of volumes and functions in complete contradiction with the objectives of the environmental protection and preservation of the open space. fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 31vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 2.2 the equipped park around the station the general design of the agricultural park suggests, for the area around the station, the establishment of a "natural, technology and utility park" in which to locate high­tech laboratories, agricultural testing centres and an entire range of services to the citizens (not just travellers). the quantities and functions to be set up in the park facilities were drawn from studying similar experiences in europe and they are about 200,000 square meters of gross floor area (less than a fifth of the erased estimate by the consorzio asi). for figure 1 – masterplan: the “green wedge” as the new centre of the metropolitan suburbia fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 32vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 the entire area of the park, about 300 hectares large, it’s been suggested a preventive acquisition by the public party, in order to direct the public investment in infrastructure (the high speed railway and the station) towards a profit in terms of land value of the areas nearby the station and, above all, in order to avoid that more or less legitimate private interests and initiatives would be triggered on them. 3. research for the setting up of a society of urban renovation the reasoning expressed in the plan for five towns, although being evidently consistent with the ministerial objectives and the public interest, has been ignored both by the real estate development company of the state railways, and by the campania region: paying hundreds of millions of euros to build the high­speed railway – already working ­ and another hundred million for the construction of the station­building (assigned to the starchitect zaha hadid) and not to invest in the preventive purchase of the agricultural lands whose value is multiplied by the above investment is an aporia that cannot be explained with the power of reason. the only concrete act promptly put in place in the above mentioned direction (it is evident that the timing of the transaction, that is buying the land before the construction of the railway began, was a necessary condition for the feasibility of the operation) was promoted by the city of afragola whose technical department developed, in april 2002, a feasibility study for the establishment of a society of urban renovation that, following what happened in the 90’s in bagnoli (naples), would purchase the areas near the future hst station.3 the feasibility study, based on the hypothesis of a park that’s strongly anchored to the pre­existing environment and to the improvement of the historic agricultural landscape, was submitted to the ministry of infrastructure, even though it didn’t financed the establishment of the sur or gave place to any alternative course. yet, clearly, the proposed transaction was highly advantageous to the public coffers. besides, it was in line with the ministerial objectives of defence and protection of a territory that’s precious because it’s rare in the metropolitan area of naples, strongly at the formato. the feasibility study was prepared by salvatore napolitano with luisa fatigati and enrico3 fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 33vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 figure 2 – the feasibility study for the estabilishment of a society of urban renovation: a system of parks around the new station 4. study for a railway bypass in naples during the drawing up of the "plan for five towns", in 2001, the province entrusted the task of drafting a feasibility study for the construction of a local railway bypass in naples4. the hypothesis, also included in the above mentioned ministerial requirements expressed in the eia, derived from the risk of being transformed and over­built. the progin spa, the engeco srl., the steer davies gleave) that engaged paride caputi, luisa fatigati and enrico formato for the drawing up of the town planning and landscape plan. the task was entrusted to a temporary joint venture (the centre for the transport systems studies,4 fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 34vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 objective of making the afragola station a hub of the local railway transport and an interconnecting node with the high speed train station. the plan of the new railway has been studied as closely related to the landscape design, taking into account a town planning that repeats the reasoning about the afragola "green wedge" related to a set of urban gaps identified within the conurbation that from acerra (east) reaches the sea of giugliano (west). this conurbation has a population of about one million, but it’s totally lacking in necessary higher services and facilities. along the route of the new local railway (which becomes a new element of the structure of the urban sprawl, just like the asse mediano) the plan suggests the creation of eight urban parks to be structured as new centres for the existing clusters; the stops and the main stations of the new local line will be located in relation to them. the park is thought, here as in afragola, as a morphological unit where the gap is predominant on the full: the redesign of this area aims to redraw the fringe areas and to the re­balancing, in terms of equipment, quality of spaces and quality of life. if the "integrated" park includes the building areas that are still part of the town planning instruments in force, a qualitative variation to the gtps is proposed: in the case of residential areas, for example, the design of the residence is considered in its relation to the open space, by developing the housing quantities with intensive housing types to ensure the soil saving. the bypass railway in naples has never been funded. the only outcome of the feasibility study was the partial acknowledgment, in the current (not approved) provincial territorial plan, of the urban voids as a system of parks. figure 3 – study for the construction of a local railway bypass in naples: new centers for local clusters fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 35vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 5. ten years later the asse mediano was opened in 1993; it was built in the 80’s, when the current conurbation didn’t exist yet and the big country towns of the province were separated from the countryside; it has no straight tracks because it’s route needed to follow a certain balance of interests: a balance made of expropriations (to be avoided or facilitated) and lands, probably permanently polluted, to be forgotten under the roadbed. since a few years ago a new viaduct, indicatively with a wider track (three lanes instead of two: evident sign of a future proliferation of the road sections), has allowed the passage of the high speed trains between naples and rome. since a few months ago, you have been able, while driving on this viaduct, to see the evolution of the road yard of the new high speed train station (for now no sign of the local ones): the concrete modelled by zaha hadid stands in an eerie empty that hasn’t been cultivated for some time now. a space that seems to belong to no one, crossed by the absurd repetition of the railway bridges and colonized by natural vegetation marked by posters and by concrete or metal fences which marks the taking possession of the waiting land. waiting, of course, for the station and possible future compatibility planning; these are lands that are likely to be a future bargain, but certainly for now, they have brought profits to those who have in recent years passed the properties from hand to hand (dividing them at each passage). it is probably too late to intervene: the station will be just another fold of an occasional and fragmented space. being one of the many commercial centres of the plain, it will be served by a parking lot connected to the freeway; from its windows you will see only houses, warehouses, billboards, maybe a few hotels testifying an idea of confused modernity, as if las vegas was now the real scenario of everyday life. a bunch of packaged documents is all that remains of the park, the landscaping of the railway line and the attempt of redistributing, in terms of public utilities, the public expenses on high speed – in short, of the town planning and landscape design. in the last decade no one has worked to pursue or at least refute what was developed between 2000 and 2002. the documents are just there, waiting fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 36vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 for a choice that politics, at best, is unable to make. meanwhile, in this decade, housing congestion has increased enormously and, thanks to public funding, new, incredible commercial centres have colonized much of the marcianise countryside, where the agricultural park of the “plan for five towns” was supposed to be the hinge with the vanvitellian structures. figure 4 – the end of campania felix: map of abandoned agricultural areas today (brown) fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 37vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 figure 5 – work in progress: the new station and the local landscape ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 38vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 references ackermann, j.s. (1990) the villa. form and ideology of country houses. italian edition, tardella, p.g. (1992) la villa. forme ed ideologia. torino: einaudi. angrilli, m. (1999) l’esperienza americana delle greenways e le prospettive di applicazione in italia, piano progetto città, 17, scheda 05. augè, m. (2003) le temps en ruines. italian edition, serafini, a. (2004) rovine e macerie. torino: bollati e boringhieri. aymonino, a. and mosco, v.p. (2006) spazi pubblici contemporanei. architettura a volume zero. milano: skira. benevolo, l. (1991) la cattura dell’infinito. roma­bari: laterza. bianchetti, c. (2003) abitare la città contemporanea. milano: skira. clément, g. (2004) manifeste du tiers paysage. italian edition, de pieri, f. (2005) manifesto del terzo paesaggio. macerata: quodlibet. clementi, a. and pavia, r. (1998) territori e spazi delle infrastrutture. ancona: transeuropa. fatigati, l. and formato, e. 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(2004) nuovi modelli di città. milano: franco angeli. valente, i. (2002) "lo spazio aperto: sfondo, figura e frammento dell’architettura delle connessioni", territorio, 20, p. 118. viganò, p. (ed) (2004) new territories. roma: officina ed. zukin, s. (1991) lanscapes of power. from detroit to disneyworld. los angeles: berkley press. fatigati, formato ­ facilities, landscape, city municipal development plan, acerra (naples) abstract the municipal development plan (piano urbanistico comunale ­ puc) of acerra has been drafted by a group of young professionals and researchers, led by leonardo benevolo, in accordance with the guidelines laid out by regional law no. 16 of 2004. its complex drafting process was compressed into a brief, nine­month period in 2008 and 2009, at the end of which its initial adoption (or “predisposizione” – “preparation” or “predisposition” – in italian legal terms) was ratified by the municipal council. this article reconstructs the key moments, illustrating the main elements of the plan and how the debate about it took shape both inside and outside the municipal administration. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 luigi benevolo architect info@benevolo.it issn: 2239­267x introduction the acerra plan was formulated by roughing out the original planning concept which, sketched out on a sheet of tracing paper, survived through to the end and was eventually endorsed in the definitive version and confirmed by the countless formalities imposed by regional law. the “sketch” benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 introduces the terms of the debate, the “words” of the plan which is today being discussed by the entire city (55,000 inhabitants with 675 observations made on the plan as drafted). these are some of the “figures” so well known to modern city planning: the “crown” that circumscribes and defines the city, the “network” of parks and of transit routes that find their way through the mesh of buildings linking through to the surrounding territory; the “hortus” in its various nuances as: a) an “enclosure” – the “compartments” of suburban transformation; b) a “castrum” – the ancient city, which in the case of acerra is the roman town; c) a “cultivated space”, or countryside, poised between production and abandon, economic activities, scenic resources, and a dumping ground to be reclaimed. these words have very much become part of the local vocabulary (so there is now talk of “compartments” rather than of “amnesty” and this is in itself a result achieved by the plan), and they are used in a debate that is technical and yet also political. this means it has become an element of interaction and discussion, opposition and agreement among the local community, the municipal administration and the other institutions involved. the drafting of the plan has been accompanied by an inclusive process of participation, in order to encourage contributions and bring together consent. the “figure” allows the town planner, the politician, and the citizen to talk the same language and not to dilute the debate by talking of building indexes and zones (this was the toughest challenge) but of concrete concepts concerning the form and functioning of the city. 1. methodological references and a search for overall meaning constituted the starting point the plan was built up along traditional lines: a political/planning document of administration guidelines, the drafting of a preliminary document of the plan in order to facilitate discussion with the principals and with the city, and then the drafting of the actual plan itself. all this was squeezed into a particularly short period, for 9 months was all it took to go from the assignment to the adoption (“predisposizione” in the words of the regional town­planning law of campania) of the plan by the municipal council. the previous situation of the municipality had been particularly grim: the applicable town plan of 1982 was largely disregarded as concerned the benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 creation of infrastructures and services, while the building quantities – even though covered by subsequent detailed plans and area development plans – went ahead on successive, more or less random and entirely independent addenda, both in the areas covered by the plan and in “spontaneous” areas. as regards the historical areas, it is sufficient to say that the current plan restricts zone a solely to the castello baronale, completely ignoring all the other parts of the ancient castrum. the result is a chaotic urban system, with serious deficiencies in the infrastructure, even of a primary nature, and in the facilities required for public services in general. the technical department of the municipality has not been issuing building permits for some years now, as the conditions called for in para. 2, art. 12 of the presidential decree no. 380 (existence of primary urbanisation) do not exist. in such a condition, the first question concerns the very rationale behind planning: what might the sense of a general­level town­planning instrument be? how is it possible to help improve a difficult existing situation without worsening it even further with new elements of confusion? the situation in naples has not suffered from a lack of planning but, if anything, from the unsuccessful refinement of the various planning instruments that have followed on one after the other – there are countless cases of plans that have fallen by the wayside – to say nothing of their actual implementation. acerra has some singular features in the otherwise undifferentiated panorama of the hinterland around naples: 1. a geographical situation of great importance, which underscores its great scenic value, for it is at the foot of the first spurs of the partenio mountains, dominated in the immediate background by the presence of the somma­vesuvius volcano; a vast wealth of areas still largely – and miraculously – free around the city, as a result of the historic reclamation of the clanio, based around the system of the regi lagni which still stops it from blending into the dense metropolitan area; the presence of a central historical area of huge importance, despite its agricultural origins, laid out on the site of the ancient roman castrum, and the episcopal seat, which still attests to its symbolic significance; 2. 3. the presence of an important archaeological area around the ancient city of suessula, with important remains such as the casina spinelli; 4. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 on these bases, and still with potential room for manoeuvre, it appears to us that it is possible to create a town­planning system that could have some possibility of making a positive contribution, even though there are undeniable critical aspects: the lack of basic services, widespread unauthorised building, environmental pollution, production platforms of extraordinary intervention in the mezzogiorno (the so­called asi areas), etc. 2. the process of formulating the plan the commissioning authority adopted a neutral stance right from the outset: the guidelines approved by the council were the mandate on the basis of which the appointed experts “were left to work”. they provided the general framework for the primary planning instruments and indicated the key issues that the new municipal urban plan (puc) would need to tackle: protection and redevelopment of the territory; integration of infrastructure and facilities, regulatory updates. the prospects offered by the fact that it is in the immediate vicinity of the high­speed train gateway station at afragola and of an infrastructural crossroads of huge importance: the circumvesuviana railway and the state rail network, the asse mediano and the asse di supporto road systems, etc. 5. figure 1 – municipal urban plan (puc) of acerra: the preliminary draft. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 the approach was naturally more one of drawing up a list than of identifying the actual solutions or possible town­planning measures that might be introduced, and the issues were treated in a fairly generic manner. it left room for the hope that the current state of affairs can be reversed, particularly as regards the failure to implement plans for infrastructure and facilities, and that mechanisms can be found for reclaiming areas of unauthorised construction and integration with the established city. it also clearly revealed the difficulties caused by the fundamental freezing of the building industry (at least the legal sector) caused by the failure to issue building permits. in essence, what is required is the restoration of urban dignity but also a return to a “normal” situation, in which “acquired building rights” can be implemented on the ground. apart from these indications, the proposed plan was built up piece by piece, with each one being constantly discussed with the local community through a participatory process that involved the entire city, encouraging people to talk, and listening to them, and ultimately bringing together all their various opinions concerning its present and future image. as a whole, the participatory process of the acerra plan constituted a singular form of learning about the local situation, and in particular about the way the inhabitants view the various problems, as well as a means of creating consent around the plan. it consisted of three successive phases: an initial phase of active listening, with an “internal” campaign of interviews of those directly involved in drafting the puc and an “external” one of those with collective interests, with the aim of identifying the image – or images – of the city in the minds of its inhabitants. the first phase ended with the handing over of the preliminary plan (which was presented at a public conference, in the presence of the city and provincial authorities) which, as an informal document, assisted in guiding the discussion. based on the issues raised in the preliminary plan, the second phase involved organising focus groups for the associations and interest groups, who discussed the planning guidelines, and collecting the suggestions and reactions their discussions led to. the third phase had the aim of drawing up possible alternative scenarios, to be discussed before the puc found the solutions that were introduced into the final version. during this phase, consultations were held with the social, cultural, economic­professional, trade­union, and benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 environmental organisations referred to in art. 24 of regional law 16/2004. quite apart from the formal outcomes and planning ideas that, even though in a fragmentary manner, this led to, the participatory process helped raise awareness among the population about the fact that the plan was being drafted, and to some extent this facilitated the subsequent discussions about the proposals (the “figures” of the plan). the planning process has always kept the sphere of technical – town­ planning – management strictly separate from that of the political management of the plan. starting out from a sort of case history, gradually improved by investigations and the acquisition of data, and an initial hypothesis to provide a formal explanation of the complexity of the territory, an attempt has been made to portray the real situation of the territory in an image that is also one of a development option, in a figure that unravels its meaning and makes it communicable. an image, therefore, that brings together the present­day city, as a complex, multidisciplinary organism, and the future city, as it might be or as it might be hoped for. in other words, a “sketch” in the traditional sense, capable of intuitively establishing the terms of the issue – the “words” of the plan – which are really the words which the entire city of acerra (55,000 inhabitants, 675 observations presented in the draft plan) uses in the discussion. by using this image of acerra – not real, but possible – experts, politicians and citizens can talk the same language, framing the debate not just around “building indexes” and “zones” (this was the greatest challenge) but also by introducing concrete concepts about the form and functioning of the city, and by reflecting on the territorial scene that defines its own action, qualifying and obstructing it, and on the possible outcomes that it can lead to. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 figure 2 – simulation of the plan. as well as through direct interaction between principals and experts, the relations involving the plan and the world of politics thus took place in non­ traditional ways and places, experimenting a method which made it possible to ascertain what the city expected from the plan and to extract indications that could be used to adjust the decisions that had guided the drafting of the plan. the provisional result that was achieved does not allow for a complete assessment: the complex process of drafting the plan has so far been characterised by the synergy between planning and “politics”, in its broadest sense, and the result is there for all to judge. the final outcome remains to be seen1, together with the operative aspects that the plan will bring to bear. it was then published and observations collected, and counter­proposals drafted. the next administration did not conclude the procedures for approving the plan and management is currently in the hands of a commissioner. the plan was adopted by the council as the incumbent administration's final act in february 2009.1 benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 the procedure described reveals a “plan style” in which town planning is viewed in its disciplinary essence as capable of bringing about mindful changes in cities and territories, with a level of awareness that comes from precise analytical stages, using instruments entirely inherent in the discipline. these are scientific and, as such, objective, but in order to be effective they require agreement on the recapitulation and decisions need to be made, and this can only be achieved by reducing the “background noise” until an “eloquent silence”, which is essential for communication, has been reached. in the case of acerra, this procedure is illustrated by the decision to offer the city – by means of the preliminary document – an image of the plan that brings together those “figures” that are typical of modern town­planning: a “crown”, which delimits and defines the city; the “network”, of parks and mobility, which finds its way through the built­up areas, linking to the environmental system at the territorial level; a “hortus”, in its various nuances as: a) an “enclosure” – the compartments of suburban transformation; b) a “castrum” – the ancient city, which in the case of acerra is the roman town; c) a “cultivated space”, or countryside, poised between production and abandon, economic activities, scenic resources, and a dumping ground to be reclaimed. these “figures” have become very much part of the local vocabulary (and indeed there is now talk of “compartments” rather than of “amnesty” and this is in itself a result achieved by the plan), and they are used in a debate that is technical and yet also political, which means it has become an element of interaction and discussion, opposition and agreement among the local community, the municipal administration and the other institutions involved. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 the crown – or “cartwheel”, as some local politicians disparagingly began referring to it right from the first times it was presented in public – is infrastructure at the territorial level, and a sort of “ring with breadth”, which is at once a road, a large park with facilities that sends its green wedges into the built­up areas, and a new building principle that takes concrete form in constructing low but continuous buildings along the edges. like taut’s stadtkrone or abercrombie’s green belt, the crown encircles the sprawl, creating a border between its present ramifications and the countryside – an empty border (currently consisting mainly of uncultivated land, partly divided into lots and ready to be built on) to be acquired for the public and incorporated into the city as a large park. the crown is created in “compartments” – portions of territory to which a building index is applied. in this case it is low, and takes the form of equalised land­use quite independently from the actual use of the plot (which is the same if it is to be built with homes, or used for a road or a public park). the belt consists of eight very large compartments which require the contemporaneous building of a road, homes, parks and services. their implementation is a complex matter and would require the setting up of a public or public­private organisation (an urban transformation firm) capable of designing and completing the works and putting them on the market. the crown is the figure 3 – the crown, disciplinary references. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 future that the town planners want for acerra, but it is not necessarily what is wanted by the inhabitants and by the politicians, who hope to gather consent. they would all like to continue building detached houses incrementally, as additions to the current urban structure, and in this gap – between the experts’ perception of the “common good” and that of some of the city administrators and of small landholders in the suburbs – we find widespread prejudice about “tower blocks fencing the city” and the new belt system as a “barrier” that stifles development. this deadlock is broken when the administrators manage to convey the new building index in conceptual terms and sell it to their citizens/voters: even though small, and not useable without the others (and thus on condition that the parkway and facilities are made at the same time), “it’s always better than the current situation, with all the plots agricultural and thus with no index at all”. those with decision­making powers, and those who lobby the landowners and the companies, can accept the crown: there are still calls for the “wheel to have more spokes” (in other words, to have smaller building sectors) but in actual fact everyone has started placing this figure of the plan – which is seen as unusual yet less and less alien – at the heart of the debate. at least momentarily, the crown is the image of a future acerra and, even though it is still treated with the greatest suspicion, it has nevertheless entered the city’s mindset. figure 4 – the network: disciplinary references. the network, on the other hand, is the set of routes that form a system between the existing urban elements and those of the new crown and the open territory beyond. it consists of: benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 figure 5 – the greenways. as a complete, ordered space, the hortus is primarily the castrum (roman acerrae) analysed and normed on a detailed level on the basis of land­ registry comparisons and on­site inspections. the hortus is actually a centuriated landscape, broken up into a number of units and partly destined to a sort of reforestation, with the aim of achieving a different form of greenways (old railway lines to be cleared, canal banks to be reclaimed, and the course of the water supply system that leads into the heart of the regional park of the partenio); the parkway of the city belt; 1. 2. a complex, ramified system of empty spaces and urban kitchen gardens which form a sort of web between the patchy fabric of the city, creating an unbroken system of open public spaces: district parks, playgrounds, avenues, squares, etc. 3. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 figure 6 – detailed regulations for the historic central area. landscape capable of combining reclamation – for example, providing detailed information on over a hundred isolated artefacts, which are also analytically censused – and new ecological equilibriums. lastly, the hortus includes the need to rearrange what already exists, by providing planimetric and volumetric configurations for many areas of completion in the suburbs, interpreting positions, forcing alignments, working on the dynamic balance that alludes to order, and interpreting fragments of reality without repudiating the significance of the parts in a rational vision of the whole. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 figure 7 – regulations for the historic farms. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 22vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 a significant part of the work on the “hortus” concerns the design of the areas referred to in the previous town­planning scheme as planned public services and thus subject to expropriation. as is so often the case elsewhere, the planning of services in acerra has not kept up with the construction of private buildings, thus leading to a sense of decay and incompleteness that can be seen in many parts of the city. in view of the limited building completions, the plan has chosen to apply an equalising discipline to these areas in order to ensure the creation of the infrastructure required for the planned transformations and to compensate for previous deficiencies. in order to visualise the required result and to make the plan truly feasible, a detailed project has been included, in order to orient subsequent planning levels. figure 8 – equalising compartments. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 23vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 3. a provisional assessment no complete assessment of this experience can be yet been made because, as mentioned above, the (extremely cumbersome) process of perfecting and approving the plan is still under way. from a professional point of view, this has been a satisfying experience: the creation of this urbanistic instrument within a reasonable time, without being subject to particular pressures, and the end result correspond to the guidelines – and expectations – laid out right from the time of the preliminary document. relations with local politics – at least as regards the contact persons in the administration in office while the plan was being drafted – were correct and profitable, with roles clearly defined and distinct. there have been many opportunities for discussion with the commissioning administration and with the city, and generally speaking they were closely focused on the main figures of the plan. the delays in the procedure for the approval of the plan and thus the inevitable uncertainty about the result led to an involution of the debate in the city, in which there was once again talk of an amnesty for infringements of building regulations, of means for partially varying the town­planning regulations in force, of a housing plan, and so on. one of the most important results of the drafting of a town plan – and, from some points of view, even more important than the plan itself – was the support given to the process and the professional development of the municipal technical department, which took good advantage of the opportunity to gain knowledge of the town­planning system and to become autonomous in its management of the future changes that will need to be made. in this case, the municipal technical department played an active part in the process of drafting the plan, with mutual advantages that have emerged also in the quality of town­planning decisions. the unfortunately customary disproportion between the issues to be dealt with and the number of people involved prevented the results from being even better, and this is hardly reassuring for the future. if approved, the acerra plan – and, one might say, any good plan – needs to be managed by a technical department within the administration, with specific tasks separated out from those of everyday management, capable of dealing with the transformation processes benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 24vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 and able to monitor the overall functioning of the plan in order to detect any need for corrective action and to apply it when necessary. this should be one of the main concerns of those involved in this sector. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 25vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 references abercrombie, p. (1926) the preservation of rural england, hodder and stoughton ltd, london. regione campania (2004), regional law 16/2004. taut, b. et al (1919) die stadtkrone, jena: e. diederichs. benevolo ­ municipal development plan, acerra towards metropolitan regionalism.stuttgart and rome: two models in comparison carmela mariano pp. 15­33 tables of contents ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 issn: 2239­267x the importance of indices of multiple deprivation forspatial planning and community regeneration. andrea raffaele neri pp. 34­65 an italian urban “fashion”: the urban 1 programmeas a catalyst for institutional planning shift sara verones, simone tulumello, simona rubino, ilaria delponte pp. 66­95 research quality assessment and planning journals:the italian perspective bruno zanon pp. 96­123 transferable development rights in regeneration schemesfor historic city centres: legislation in the umbria region. enzo falco pp. 4­14 equalisation and compensation mechanisms in the new rome urban development plan abstract the adoption of equalisation and compensation mechanisms within the urban plan for rome proved to be quite controversial. the regional law provides nearly no provisions for governing such planning tools, and the regulations set out by the plan introduce a somewhat complex system. the present paper, after a brief presentation of the history of land ownership and development within the city, will focus on the main features of equalisation and compensation practices which aim at governing the distribution of development rights among landowners and developers. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 33vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 lorenzo casini professor of administrative law via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy ­ lorenzo.casini@uniroma1.it dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente, sapienza ­ università di roma 1. introduction within the different regional experiences of urban law, the case of the lazio region has a unique feature: the presence of rome. the analysis of issn: 2239­267x h, where it is stated that master plans shall indicate which modifications should be implemented by public acquisition of exactly identified properties or by equalisation forms, identified by urban development plans. the term “perequazione” (i.e. equalisation) appears only once, in article 30, subpara. 1, letter1 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 34vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 equalisation and compensation mechanisms adopted in this region can be focused on the roman experience, and in particular on the new rome urban development plan (udp), which came into force in 2008. this choice seems inevitable, not only for the importance of rome, but also because the new plan contains significant provisions about compensation and equalisation (i.e. equal distribution) of building and development rights. after illustrating the regional legal framework, attention will be focused on three issues: the rome planning experience, the new udp, and the mechanisms of urban compensation and equalisation, regulated by the norms set out in the udp. 2. the “silence” of regional law compared with other italian regions, lazio has legislation characterised by the absence of specific norms on urban equalisation and compensation. the regional urban law no. 38/1999 does not contain this kind of provision1. although this law was approved when other regions had already issued rules in this direction (colonna, 2007) – and despite some important precedents at a local level, such as the rome urban development plan variant of 1997 – the decision made in 1999 was to maintain a traditional planning system, faithful to the national town planning act of 1942. therefore, the lazio planning legislation reproduces, without any particular innovation, the norms set by national law on “comparto edificatorio” (i.e. an area in which forms of equalisation of building rights amongst owners are adopted)2. of course there have been, since 1999, attempts to introduce some innovations, but none of them have been put into effect3. n. 35/1978. in reference to “programmi integrati”, see article 2, lazio regional law n. 22/1997. see articles 39 and 48, lazio regional law n. 38/1999, and articles 21 et seq. of lazio regional law2 regulations was drafted, but it was never approved; in that text there was an explicit provision regarding urban equalisation and compensation. among these attempts, the most relevant was in 2003, when a code that collected all the previous3 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 35vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 in this context, the case of the urban development plan for rome provides one of the most important experiences of equalisation and compensation mechanisms in italy (for a general discussion see bartolini et al, 2009; police, 2004; crosetti, 2004; perongini, 2005; casini; 2005). 3. the case of rome before examining the solutions designed in the new urban development plan (udp) of rome, it is useful to underline some features of this unique city (for an overview see marcelloni, 2003; ricci, 2005). firstly, rome, 129,000 hectares in size, is the largest municipality in europe: the metropolitan areas of bari, bologna, catania, florence, genoa, milan, naples, palermo and turin, added together, have more or less the same area as rome, namely 136,800 hectares. secondly, the history of rome and its urban development presents significant features. in particular, the roman territory has been the subject of speculation since 1800. émile zola, in 1896, described “un vol de spéculateurs, venu de la haute italie” which “s’était abattu sur rome, la plus noble et la plus facile des proies”, and he wrote that a “jeux exasperé, un jeux formidabile dont la fièvre avait remplacé la petit train réglementé du loto papal, un jeux à coups de millions où les terrains et les bâtisses devenaient fictifs, de simples prétextes à des opérations de bourse”4. since then, development projects within the city have continued incessantly, including illegal projects, the so called “abusivismo di necessità” (insolera, 1971). thirdly, in spite of such a huge expansion, the situation of the private property in rome has been characterised by large properties owned by a few families. when rome became the capital of italy, around 40% of the whole territory, i.e. 76,000 hectares, was owned by only eleven families, such as gli occhi di émile zola”, in “la costruzione della capitale. architettura e città dalla crisi edilizia al fascismo nelle fonti storiche della banca d’italia”, in roma moderna e contemporanea, 2002, n. 3, 543. zola é., rome (1896), paris, 1999, 395. this story is in catini r., “roma dopo la crisi edilizia con4 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 36vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 torlonia, borghese and doria pamphili5. in the twentieth century, important development companies have acquired similar large areas of property, inevitably exercising strong influence on planning decisions and decision making processes (insolera, 1971). the planning process, which has led to the new rome urban development plan, started in 1994 and has been extremely long and complex. a fundamental stage within this process was the adoption of the “piano delle certezze” in 1997, which set the basis for future decisions. indeed, the “piano delle certezze” provided a specific compensation mechanism that was unsuccessfully challenged in the courts6. this mechanism was applied to development rights, cancelled by the “piano delle certezze” itself, in order to realise a new environmental safeguard system. such development rights were to have been used within two kinds of areas – the “city to be transformed” and the “city to be completed” – which were not regulated by the “piano delle certezze”. the new urban development plan had to regulate and relocate development rights deriving from the compensations disposed of by the piano delle certezze. 3.1 the new urban development plan (udp) of rome in 2003 the city of rome adopted its new urban development plan (udp). the plan was then re­adopted in 2006, after the consultation process, and finally approved in 2008, almost fifty years after the previous plan (rome city council decisions n. 33, 19­20 march 2003; n. 64 21­22 march 2006; n. 22, 12 february 2008). as to the plan making process, it is worth mentioning two circumstances. the first concerns the length and complexity of the proceedings which led to the adoption and approval of the plan. the second regards the fact that, in order to have the plan approved before the expiry of the so­called “safeguard tardo ottocento, in la costruzione della capitale, cit., 583 ss., in particolare 587 ss. see n. flores, dalla terra all’edilizia. l’avventura speculativa di paolo borghese nella roma di5 against the plan’s decision of changing building areas back into agricultural areas. however, the claim was rejected on the basis of the “public nature” of the compensation tool provided within the plan, which was to be considered within the process of land use planning as an indemnity, in the form of “equalisation”, for the loss of the betterment value and urban rent cancelled in favour of environmental quality. lazio regional administrative court, section i, judgement n. 1652/1999. some companies appealed6 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 37vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 measures”, a new collaborative planning procedure between the municipal authority, province and region has been used7 (mazzarelli, 2007). in fact, the length of the process, mostly due to the large dimensions of the city of rome, determined the legal implications of the safeguard measures (council of state, n. 2 /2008). over 7,000 written representations were submitted, of which some 30% were totally or partially accepted. as regards the plan’s contents, the city has been divided into three different systems: urban system (about 36,000 hectares ­ 28%)8; environmental and agricultural system (about 88,000 hectares ­ 68%)9 and infrastructures and community facilities system (about 5,000 hectares ­ 4%)10. the plan has allocated about twenty million square metres of gross floor area11 for future admissible developments (in terms of volume, about sixty six million cubic metres). in this respect, the gross floor area amounts to an increase of about 9% to the existing city, with a future estimated population of over three million inhabitants. in this context, the udp has defined different equalisation and compensation tools for its implementation. during plan preparation, the norms, made up of 109 articles, were subject to important modifications, especially with regard to the articles regulating these planning practices and mostly with regards to equalisation. indeed, the fundamental importance of equalisation is underlined by the first article, subsection 2, where it is stated that: regional act n. 4./2006. see article 66­bis, lazio regional act n. 38/1999, introduced by the article 70, subsection 7, lazio7 projects, areas with restricted developments. including: historical city, built­up city, city to be regenerated, city to be transformed, structuring8 composed of: protected natural areas, hydrological network, agricultural land and parks.9 including public services, private services and play areas, mobility and technological infrastructures.10 the perimeter of the building. gross floor area is defined by the udp norms as the sum of the floor surfaces comprised within11 “the plan pursues regeneration and revitalisation objectives on the basis of sustainable development and equalisation principles, following criteria such as efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and simplification of administrative actions, complying with the legislation in force”. articles 17­22 regulate equalisation criteria and mechanisms. casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 38vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 3.2. criteria and mechanisms for the equal distribution of development rights article 17, subsection 1, of the udp norms clarifies that the plan introduces, as a general rule, the need to parcel out development rights between areas and individuals, according to principles of equality and uniformity, and taking into account: pre­existing urban plans; legally existing building(s); the pursuit of public or general interest”12. indeed, the equalisation system provided by the new plan aims at parcelling out the “advantages” and compensating the “disadvantages” produced by new planning provisions, as well as compensating the “disadvantages” caused by previous conditions of decay of existing building property. therefore, it is a widespread and a priori equalisation, in terms of both finances and of building volumes. in particular, five cases of equalisation are described in articles 18 et seq. these are: areas of compensation; planning compensations; special contributions; incentives for building renewal; compensatory transfers. these equalisation methods, singly or combined, and access to incentives or compensation therein provided, are applied through bid processes and a specific planning instrument (“programma integrato”), and are consistent with state regulations for participation in administrative procedures. moreover, the udp distinguishes building rights exercisable in situ from those to be transferred to other areas, as well as – in the same area ­ building rights assigned to owners from those reserved to the local government. firstly, the areas of compensation are specific portions of land where the udp distinguishes between development rights assigned to owners (quantified according to pre­existing urban planning), on one hand, and building forecasts, the udp ensures fair distribution of building forecasts for owners concerned with executive planning instruments, apart from specific destinations assigned to each area and proportionally to the owned areas. moreover, apart from criteria and methods to allocate building forecasts, the udp ensures that the distribution of charges due to the administration is proportional to the assigned building forecasts and it distinguishes ordinary building forecasts ­ which correspond to ordinary charges ­ from additional building forecasts – which correspond to extraordinary charges. article 17, subsection 6, clarifies that, with the exception of criteria for differentiated allocation of12 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 39vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 development rights, reserved to the local government for the public interest (urban redevelopment, environmental protection, social housing, urban services), on the other hand (article 18 of udp norms). in such areas, intervention can be indirect, either public or private. this implies that, when the implementation planning instrument is approved, the owners (of the defined areas) have to transfer, with no charge, the property which conforms to the planned developments to the local government itself or to a third party appointed by the local government.13 secondly, planning compensations are related to building rights “promised” by the “piano delle certezze” but not yet assigned. indeed, one of the purposes of the new udp has been to implement the compensations identified by that planning variant.14 building rights must be located firstly in the compensation areas, but they can be located in other building areas, only if owners and compensation holders reach an agreement. it should be pointed out that building rights to be located are determined – as far as quantity and land use are concerned – assuming that the real estate value and the building rights to be compensated are equivalent. finally, bid processes are provided to assign areas to those who receive compensation.15 thirdly, a special contribution is applied to the most relevant real estate enhancements produced by the new plan, compared with pre­existing urban plans (article 20 of udp norms). this contribution is worth two thirds of the real estate value which can be obtained due to the dispositions of the plan (it may either increase or reduce). the contribution can be paid directly to the local government or be deducted through the direct execution of works. fourthly, incentives for building renewal are used to achieve urban standards, to realise and manage public works and services and to renovate the existing building stock. in the latter case, the incentives consist of the area, the conveyance doesn’t take place. if the final receivers of building forecasts reserved to local government is the owner of the assigned13 “casal giudeo” were added to “piano delle certezze” compensations. article 19, udp norms. in a second instance, compensations provided for “tor marancia” and14 issues a specific notice addressed to compensation receivers, so that they can send in the proper application within the final term indicated in the notice (not less than six months). apart from these procedures, within 12 months after the udp approval, the local government15 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 40vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 increase of the existing gross floor area, which – if not localised in situ ­ can be transferred to the areas of compensation, according to the criterion of economic equality. “programmi integrati” will set the interventions and the modalities and levels of incentives, as well as the timing of a possible transfer of incentives to other areas. lastly, compensatory transfer is an alternative tool for the expropriation of areas for public use (ricci, 2005). these areas can be bought through giving the owners development rights, which have to be localised in situ or transferred to the areas of compensation. therefore, the areas are acquired by conceding rights to build, based on the extension of the area, but this can be concentrated just in a part of the area or transferred to another area; the transfer of the areas must be done through a registered and transcribed public act. the acquisition of an area takes place either with a direct intervention or through participation in the “programma integrato”. in the first case, the rights to build are 0,04 square metres, to be realised on 10% of the area, against the transfer to the municipality of the remaining 90%16. in the case of participation in the “programma integrato”, the right to build is about 0,06 square metres and will be transferred to the city, to be restructured, or in other areas of compensation, adopting permitted land uses, while the whole area will be given over to the municipality17. 4. conclusions: “le livre tuera l’édifice”? the system described above is very complex and is the result of the use of different equalisation techniques: equalisation, compensation, and incentives. in sum, and with specific reference to the rights to build, there are three consequences: there is the use of a general principle of equalisation, mainly used through “programmi integrati”; urban compensations are limited to specific circumstances; forms of compensatory services. on the area that remains in public use only some specific uses are allowed, such as small private16 the city to be regenerated, can be transferred only within the same kind of areas from which they come. the private gross floor area, generated from the application of the “compensatory transfer” to17 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 41vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 transfer are regulated and they are applicable in order to find areas designated for public use. one of the most interesting aspects is that the above­mentioned mechanisms create a very complex system of “supply” and “demand” (stella richter, 2006). the demand is constituted by the building rights to be localised (resulting from interventions within the areas of compensation), compensatory transfers and urban incentives or even in some cases of special contribution. on the other hand, the supply side, in addition to the areas regulated by the “programmi integrati”, is constituted by the “ambiti di compensazione”. these operate like containers in which the building rights to be localised can be concentrated. for this aspect, the most significant example is the so called “ambiti di riserva a trasformabilità vincolata”, unbuilt areas formerly assigned to agro romano, which now have a mainly residential allocation (for a total of 79 ha and almost 300.000 square metres of gross floor area)18. the new rome udp thus contains a number of provisions concerning mechanisms of both compensation and equalisation. such a system is based on three main factors: the former plan, the existing built city and the new plan’s objectives (goals). from those factors some “guiding rules” are then extracted and the characteristics of the system are defined that is “unitary, organic and generalised”; it does not substantially affect existing urban development rights; it provides for extraordinary disbursements only to 0.15 to 0.45 on the basis of planning decisions and directives made within action plans. of such a building index, 0.06 square metres are attributed to landowners while the remaining part is attributed to the commune. implementation of urban developments is subject to approval of action plans which should involve the whole development area (“ambito di riserva”). these plans are drawn on the ground of a planning decision, based on article 13 subsection 3 and article 14, which should provide, even in different phases: determination of requirements, necessities and priorities; determination of criteria on the basis of which to define those “ambiti di riserva” which are to receive development rights; modalities and deadlines for activating expropriation procedures. the above planning decision and directive can foresee a general plan which concerns, where needed, along with the “ambiti di riserva”, other essential infrastructures so that access through any means of transport can be guaranteed. after the planning decision is made, and based on it, the commune can prepare for an open bidding procedure with the objective of encouraging or verifying the availability of developers and landowners to form an “ambito di riserva”. within such areas the average building index is 0.3 square metres/square metres, ranging from18 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 42vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 “new and wider planning provisions”; it does not affect the whole plan’s provisions; it is implemented through bid processes; it complies with legislation” (rome city council, 2008). from a broader perspective, looking at the dynamics of the interests involved, it emerges that these solutions involve both public and private interests. firstly, there is the interest in delivering services and public works, and in creating an extensive environmental system (almost 70% of the entire municipality). the new udp, in fact, pays due attention to the public sector for an appropriate allocation of services, the achievement of which is pursued through innovative tools introduced by the lazio regional legislation, such as compensation transfer. another aspect of the public interest that the plan aims to preserve through equalisation and compensation mechanisms is the protection of competition, secured through bid processes19. however, such mechanisms provide an advantage to the actor directly involved in the specific development in respect to other potential investors. on the other hand, in the new udp, the interests of the land owners seem to be the main concern, similar to what is provided by the “piano delle certezze”, where the owners could achieve substantial advantages for their land through equalisation and compensation; they could even increase of their previous building rights. in that case, in fact, the reduced or cancelled development provisions in relation to the then existing plan were considered as “granted development rights”. that is in contrast with a correct interpretation of constitutional provisions (article 42), whereby the social function of property allows the limitation of building rights, even without compensation. the change of the building indexes is in fact in the ordinary power of the public administration (urbani, 2007). in any event, the lawfulness of equalisation and compensation arrangements prepared by the new udp does not seem to be in question, since they are based on a consensus of the land owners and are designed to extend his/her guarantees (urbani, 2008). in addition, the use of powers to provide reserves of generalised areas and building rights in favour of the municipal authority see italian constitutional court decisions no. 129/2006 and no. 269/2007.19 casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 43vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 of rome, that in other regions has been challenged before the courts20, has been considered lawful by the italian supreme administrative court (“consiglio di stato”)21. these options, so favourable to the private sector, sometimes are designed merely to solve problems of consent. they could even be unsustainable economically, that is why the alternatives should not be considered optimal as such, as they are based on arguments of a political nature. they should be seen as one possible solution among others, to be chosen if it is economically advantageous (miceli and segerson, 1996; heller and krier, 1999; cooter, 2000). the complexity of such mechanisms, along with their costs, may mean that they may not prove to be as efficient as expected. at the same time, the costs of implementing a wide environmental system through the acquisition and management of green areas could be so high that benefits to the community could disappear. in fact, the complexity of such tools represents one of the major issues in the plan’s implementation (de petris, 2007). for example, in the case of the “ambiti di riserva”, in these areas, development interventions cannot be carried out until an implementation plan has been approved. however, the main doubts concern the excessive complexity of the udp norms. although such dense regulation could be justified by the lack of a specific regional legislation, the number of provisions set by the new rome udp could remind us of hugo’s warning: “le livre tuera l’édifice” or “l’imprimerie tuera l’achitecture”. region relative to the modifications to the plan of bassano del grappa. such decisions modified the plan’s norms by providing that “a 50% share of development rights is attributed to the municipal authority”. in fact, the administrative jurisprudence stated that in the absence of national legislation, such a provision does not find any legislative background which can justify such a restriction on property rights, outside the guarantee of the article 42 of the constitution. case law of council of state, iv, n. 4833/2006, which stated as unlawful the decision of the veneto20 administrative court, regarding the compensatory transfer and the incentives regulated by the udp. on these issues, see corrado r. (ed.), l’urbanistica italiana dopo le sentenze del tar sul prg di roma, roma, 2010. see decision no. 4545/2010, of july 13 2010, which reversed the decision no. 1524/2010 of lazio21 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 44vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 references bartolini, a. and maltoni, a. (ed.) (2009) governo e mercato dei diritti edificatori. napoli: editoriale scientifica. boscolo, e. (2008) la durata limitata (e graduata) delle misure di salvaguardia tra disposizioni statali e regionali. giornale di diritto amministrativo, 9, pp. 968­997. casini, l. l’equilibrio degli interessi nel governo del territorio. milano: giuffeè. colonna, v. (2007) nuovo modello di pianificazione e perequazione urbanistica nella legislazione regionale dell’ultimo decennio. rivista giuridica dell’edilizia, 3, 2007. cooter, r. (2000) the strategic constitution. princeton, nj: princeton university press. crosetti, a. (2004) evoluzione del regime d’uso dei suoli e nuovi strumenti di perequazione urbanistica. quaderni regionali, 2, pp. 547­626. de petris, d. (2007) semplificazione, urbanistica ed edilizia. rivista giuridica di edilizia, pp. 315­344. heller, m.a. and krier, j.e. (1999) deterrence and distribution in the law of takings. harvard law review, 112 (5), pp. 997­ 1025. insolera, i. (1971) roma moderna. un secolo di storia urbanistica. torino: einaudi. mazzarelli, v. (2007) passato e presente delle pianificazioni, in casetta, e. et al (2007) studi in onore di leopoldo mazzarolli. napoli: cedam. police, a. (2004) gli strumenti di perequazione urbanistica: magia evocativa dei nomi, legalità ed effettività. rivista giuridica dell’edilizia, 2, pp. 3­19. miceli, t.j. and segerson, k. (1996) compensation for regulatory takings: an economic analysis with applications. greenwich: jai press. marcelloni, m. (2003) pensare la città contemporanea. il nuovo piano regolatore di roma. bari: laterza. casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 45vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 perongini, s. (2005) profili giuridici della pianificazione urbanistica perequativa. milano: giuffrè. ricci, l. (2005) diffusione insediativa, territorio e paesaggio. un progetto per il governo delle trasformazioni territoriali contemporanee. roma: carocci. rome city council, (2008) conferenza di co­pianificazione. relazione tecnica. available from: http://www.urbanistica.comune.roma.it/images/stories/uo_urban/prg_vigente/rel_copianificazio ne.pdf?phpmyadmin=big01aclweippykyoevv8gww3ee stella richter, p. (2006) i principi del diritto urbanistico. milano: giuffrè. urbani, p. (2007) territorio e poteri emergenti. le politiche di sviluppo tra urbanistica e mercato. torino: giappichelli. urbani, p. (2008) la perequazione tra ipotesi di riforma nazionale e leggi regionali. available from: http://www.pausania.it/files/perequazione%20urb%20e%20app.pdf casini ­ equalisation and compensation mechanisms ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 1 peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. maria giulia pezzi p o st -d o cto r a l re sear c h f ello w , gr a n sa sso sc ie nc e i n st it ut e vial e fr a nce sco crispi 7, 67100 l‘aquila, italy – gi u lia.p ezzi @ g s si. it giulia urso p o st -d o cto r a l re sear c h f ello w , gr a n sa sso sc ie nc e i n st it ut e viale francesco crispi 7, 67100 l‘aquila, italy – gi u lia. ur so @ g ss i.it keywords: peripherality; remoteness; city-centric approaches; region-first perspective; european peripheries. abstract the aim of this special issue is to further our understanding of development policies and their relevance in relation to european peripheral areas, by presenting some empirical studies that investigate different aspects of these mechanisms. the definition of what a peripheral area is entails the reference to multi-layered concepts, whose connotations are often not sufficiently problematized in the policy-making process. therefore, in this introductory editorial, the two editors present a conceptual framework to study peripherality based on its “relational” mailto:giulia.pezzi@gssi.it mailto:giulia.urso@gssi.it pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 2 character, on the one side, and investigate the typologies of policy instruments used to address developmental issues in peripheral areas, on the other. the studies presented in this special issue, which is the first of two, assuming a trans-disciplinary, policyoriented perspective, focus on different aspects of development issues in european marginal, low-accessibility areas. together they help shedding light on challenges faced by these territories, highlighting the viability and potential pitfalls of their pathways to development. pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 3 introduction in recent decades, european peripheral areas have had to address the challenge of re-inventing themselves and to undertake the task of finding their place in a more and more globalized and interconnected world. a number of new opportunities have been provided by increased mobility and the greater importance acquired by information and communication technologies, which have resulted in different perceptions of how development policies are interpreted and designed. special attention has been increasingly given at the eu and country levels to the outermost, sparsely populated regions, differently labelled as ―inner‖, ―peripheral‖, ―remote‖ (espon and university of geneva, 2012; barca, casavola, & lucatelli, 2014). in most cases, these territories possess a ―territorial capital‖ of exceptional value and diversity but which is largely unused as a consequence of the longterm demographic decline due to urbanization processes. coupling with local development projects, improving the quality and quantity of the key welfare services (education, health, transport) in inner areas is considered a central pillar in policies that tackle them (as is the case of the italian ―national strategy for inner areas‖). this is in line with the underlying principles of territorial cohesion which has emerged as an important objective for european union, particularly since the treaty of lisbon: one important strand of territorial cohesion is citizen access to affordable public infrastructure services. discussing development strategies of peripheral areas, as is in the objective of this collection of studies, provides an intriguing starting point for broader reflection on development trajectories of these territories, addressing some crucial issues in the geographic, planning and regional studies debate. pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 4 this introductory editorial, after illustrating the main conceptualizations attached to these territories, briefly reviews the evolving policy approaches which have dealt with development issues of peripheral areas over time. the aim of the issue is to bring together papers that focus, from a trans-disciplinary, policy-oriented perspective, on the many diverse facets related to the complex, challenging pathways to development of these areas. remote areas, peripheral areas and semiperipheral areas: some theoretical considerations this section is going to briefly analyse three approaches to the concept of distance, intended as a relationship between an urban centre and its surrounding, namely its peripheries. the first approach is anthropological and deals with the way in which the category of ―remote‖ is socially and historically constructed. secondly, following a geographic point of view, it will be shown how a critical approach to the concept of peripherality can emphasise its relational model. lastly, through a sociological perspective, the paper will address the issue of semi-peripheral areas as a possible catalyst for different dynamic forces. anthropological approach much of the current anthropological debate on remoteness originated from an essay by edwin ardener, which was published in 1987 (ardener, 2012 [1987]). in this work, the author maintains that in a historical western/european perspective, ―remoteness‖ can be understood only in relation to ―central areas‖, and therefore is pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 5 perceived to be linked with alterity, and even with places somehow imaginary and mythicized, as for example ―india‖, ―brazil‖, ―africa‖ have been during the age of discovery. this perception is well represented by the etymology of the term ―remote‖, which derives from the latin removeo, literally ―removed‖, that according to the author implies the removal of an area from western reality, which therefore enters the realm of the ―imaginary‖ (ardener, 2012 [1987], p. 521–522). such a theorisation of the concept seems to consider remoteness not as the result of the co-existence of particular characteristics, but rather as form of relation with a dominant area that is only expressed through more or less distance, as ardener (2012 [1987], p. 532) maintains: the lesson of ―remote‖ areas is that this is a condition not related to periphery, but to the fact that certain peripheries are by definition not properly linked to the dominant zone. they are perceptions from the dominant zone, not part of its codified experience 1 [italics our emphasis]. hence, the distinction between definition and (the right to) selfdefinition in these areas seems to be crucial, as the author ardener (2012 [1987], p. 532) points out: the feature of a ―remote‖ area […] is that those so defined are intermittently conscious of the defining processes of others that 1 interestingly, distance from centres delivering specific services is the only indicator that has been used for the selection and definition of inner areas in snai. pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 6 might absorb them. that is why they are the very crucibles of the creation of identity, why they are of great theoretical interest. these theoretical inputs have been picked up in a later discussion – edited by harms, shafqat and shneiderman (2014, p. 362) – aimed at pointing out that ardener‘s work inspired a series of reflections that all show that the idea of the remote can be detached from its geographical moorings and understood not simply as a spatial concept, but as a relativistic social construct. remoteness is not so much a place as a way of being. therefore, the authors maintain that remoteness is a relational category that is being made, unmade and transformed. they, moreover, introduce a further concept linked to remoteness, that of social edginess, intended as a sort of liminal status: this term describes the way in which people living on urban fringes oscillate between a sense of power and danger that comes from their position in relationship to the larger city against which their marginal position is defined (harms et al., 2014, p. 363). geographic approach by accepting the statement that remoteness is ―a process situated in dynamic fields of power‖ (harms et al., 2014, p. 364) as true, the analysis of snai case studies could provide a further step in demonstrating that degrees of remoteness can be negotiated through particular agency models. pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 7 the consumption and commodification of peripheral areas has also been the focus of an extensive article titled ―vanishing peripheries: does tourism consume places?‖ (hall et al., 2013), which includes a variety of theoretical perspectives on the conceptualization of the periphery. in this paper, the authors agree on the relative character of the concept of peripherality – ―where the periphery is depends on where you stand‖ (hall et al., 2013, p. 72). in providing a recollection of the attributes often linked with ―periphery‖, hall (hall et al., 2013, p. 73) emphasises that most of them are linked with distance, again not only intended in an euclidean sense, but also figuratively as opposed to the characteristics of urbanised areas. therefore, periphery is often associated with words like ―rural‖ or ―wilderness‖, which symbolise this kind of alterity. consequently, peripheral areas seem to have a set of common characteristics (i.e. geographic remoteness, weak economies, outmigration, high state intervention, lack of control over decisionmaking processes, high aesthetic values, etc.) that are both the cause and the result of their remote character. sociological approach in a totally different theoretical setting, sociologist marina blagojević (blagojevic-hughson & bobic, 2014; blagojević, 2009), after analysing gender issues in the balkans originated after the 1990s transition from ex-yugoslavia, came to a different conceptualisation of the relationship of core-periphery, adding a new element to the equation, that is the existence of a semi-periphery: the semiperiphery is positioned between the [centre] and the periphery and it contains the characteristics of both, therefore it is pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 8 a large scale social hybrid. it is essentially shaped by the effort to catch up with the core, on one hand, and to resist the integration into the core, so not to lose its cultural characteristics, on the other hand (blagojević, 2009, p. 33–34). although blagojević applies her analysis to a larger scale than the object of this contribution (that is, intra-european state relationships, where the balkan countries supposedly represent a semi-periphery to central europe), the hypothesis of the existence of a third component that functions as a catalyst as well as a mediator of the ongoing processes in the two endpoints – centre and periphery — of a continuum, adds an important factor to understanding how such relational systems are constituted. this is particularly true if we imply that the existence of such power relations influences policy-making strategies, as well as identity-making processes. in this sense, blagojević (2009, p. 37) maintains that in a comparison to the core, the semiperiphery is in a condition of ―being different, but not being different enough‖, while from the perspective of the periphery, the semiperiphery is ―different, and not similar enough‖. this results in an attitude of the core which is reflected in constant efforts to ―improve‖ the semiperiphery, through some kind of paternalistic behaviour. therefore, the real challenge is to understand how the core is reproducing the semiperiphery and how the semiperiphery is reproducing both the core and the periphery, through their exchanges and interconnectedness. (blagojević, 2009, p. 37) pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 9 it could then be maintained that ―peripheries‖ can be considered as constituted by some sort of linguistic convention: they are situated away from the centre, though at different degrees and through a variety of scales, to the extent that they can turn into centres themselves, when we consider the effects that i.e. the leisure market can have on their relations with the ―elsewhere‖. these kinds of spatial conceptions inevitably influence policies addressing peripheral areas, a point that will be extensively addressed in the contributions included in this special issue. peripheral areas: a policy-oriented perspective as emerged in the previous paragraph, the concept of ―periphery‖ is not a static one: it goes much beyond the mere interpretation in terms of geographical distance from a centre and of location on the fringes of a country or a region (―spatial peripherality‖, see herrschel, 2011), a condition which is difficult if not impossible to change in a short period. it instead incorporates a dynamic dimension. net of objective disadvantages linked to low accessibility, low population density and high levels of young, high-skilled migration, peripheries are very much a social configuration (k hn, 2015). they are also ―produced‖ as a result of unbalanced (power) relationships and more or less unintended marginalization processes due to side effects of political interventions (the reference is to that type of peripherality defined as ―network‖, see herrschel, 2011). the question of power is a vital one (herrschel, 2011; 2012) from a governance perspective: processes of peripheralization are indeed directly linked to ―exclusion from networks‖ and from political power in decision-making: pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 10 marginalised actors, in their varied forms, may find it difficult to join, so as not to upset the existing relationships and balances of power negotiated between those who are part of the system and thus ―included‖ in the process of shaping and implementing decisions and control, and those who are not (herrschel, 2011, p. 98f). those places, which are outside the primary network between the urban centres, ―will find themselves with a weaker bargaining position, potentially being ignored, ‗shut out‘ or marginalized‖ (herrschel, 2011, p. 98f). rural actors and their concerns are indeed deemed of little interest to the agendas of the key actors belonging to the dominant policymaking network. the relevance of this issue for spatial planning is plain to see. many, even opposite, policy approaches have directly or indirectly tackled peripheral areas over time. to begin with, dating back to the turn of the nineteenth century when the acceleration of urbanisation and the intensification of the urban-rural dichotomy were at their peak, two schools of thoughts emerged, one of that has long persisted and makes its presence felt in doctrine still today: an anti-urban – ―which idealised and regretted the disappearance of rural life‖ – vs. a prourban view – ―which considered urbanisation as the engine of progress, innovation and modernisation‖ (davoudi & stead, 2002, p. 2). a greater and greater polarization between fast growing urban areas and rural ones has been brought about, with the result that a higher and higher number of ―towns and regions are increasingly ‗left behind‘. this is true of sparsely populated rural areas‖ (k hn, 2015, p. 367), which are the focus of this special issue. cities, and more recently, city-regions or metropolitan areas have become a major category in spatial planning, being promoted as growth centres in the global competition (k hn, 2015) with pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 11 peripheries often conceptualized in terms of a mere negative opposition, i.e. ―non-metropolitan areas‖ (herrschel, 2012; lang, 2012), with little space for a ―de-peripheralization‖ or a ―recentralization‖ (k hn, 2015). as faludi (2003) observes, for a long time primary attention has been given to the building of city regions as champions of national economic power and competitiveness. already in 1989, harvey accounted for this race of cities towards ever higher levels of attractiveness, which informed also european policies: urban governance has thus become much more oriented to the provision of a ―good business climate‖ and to the construction of all sorts of lures to bring capital into town. (harvey, 1989, p. 11). the long-lasting emphasis on cities as economic nodes and focal point of pro-growth policies aiming at strengthening competitiveness, as well as on their connectivity through corridors of networks, has reiterated the urban-rural divide, with a system of well-connected urban cores and ―in between cut through, marginalized surrounding ―peripheralities‖ (herrschel, 2009). the whole process seems essentially ―pro-cyclical, creating stronger cores and weaker spaces in between them‖ (herrschel, 2009, p. 241). little interest has been traditionally devoted to the likely economic opportunities of peripheral areas and potential for endogenous development. in opposition to ―core regions‖ which constitute the poles of intense technological, economic and social innovation, they are conceptualized as weak innovation areas due to a lack of human capital, as in friedmann‘s ―theory of polarized development‖ (friedmann, 1973). they are therefore presumed to benefit from secondary ―trickle-down‖ effects (herrschel, 2009), spilling over from urban areas. the metaphor is the one of modern metropolis as pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 12 being the ―locomotives‖ of the economic competitiveness and rural areas the ―carriages‖ being pulled along in their wake. this logic in some respect underpins the european spatial development perspective (esdp) (shucksmith, 2008; harrison & heley, 2015), published in 1999, with harmonizing yet also competitivenessoriented goals. as well depicted by copus (2013, p. 7), since growth pole theory failed to deliver in the 1980s there has been a tendency for spatial planning and regional development policy documents to rely upon a range of concepts, such as ‗city regions‘ and ‗urban-rural partnerships‘ without fully articulating the underpinning ‗intervention logic‘. cities are described as ‗the engines of growth‘, and rural spill-over benefits, driven by the increasing interconnectedness of functional areas, are assumed to follow. while esdp advocates polycentrism and rural-urban cooperation as a way to more balanced spatial development prospects, it also aims at fostering dynamic and competitive cities and city-regions. it does not provide then ―an answer to that conundrum between the localizing/atomizing effects of pursuing competitiveness, and maintaining regional and local cohesion across territories‖ (herrschel, 2009, p. 241). this shows that in reality policy approaches, due also to institutional inertia, proved to be reluctant or slow in escaping the discursive frame grounded in the notions of geographical centrality and hierarchies, which have produced some distortive consequences by dividing, polarising and marginalizing places. though a new sensitivity towards peripheral areas and territorial disparities emerged in the esdp, the policy implementing dimension is still essentially unbalanced towards the urban counterpart. in the territorial agenda (ta2020) which strongly draws from the esdp, while reiterating the pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 13 need for rural-urban cooperation to help rural regions to reach their potential (copus, 2011), cities are still interpreted as the ―carriages‖ of development: while cities are the main motors connected directly to the european and global networks, rural areas have to be well connected to the city network. peripheries and rural areas with a high share of vulnerable groups particularly need to have sufficient connections to centres [...] the intensifying relations between cities and the rural territories surrounding them call for deepening the connections and cooperation between urban and rural territories, between cities and their regions. (copta, 2011, p. 81). however, this accent on the operational/practical category of ―ruralurban partnerships‖ accounts for a nuanced version of the traditional city-centric approach, calling for a more ―region-first‖ perspective and the need to take into account semi-peripheral and peripheral areas, too. this should be capable of implementing all the fundamental features of the concept of polycentric development and territorial cohesion (coombes, 2014). this is perfectly in line with the leipzig charter, which requires that: co-ordination at local and city-regional level should be strengthened. an equal partnership between cities and rural areas as well as between small-, medium-sized and large towns and cities within city regions is the aim. we must stop looking at urban development policy issues and decisions at the level of each city in isolation. our cities should be focal points of city-regional development and assume responsibility for territorial cohesion (cec, 2007, p. 3). pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 14 this issue keeps on attracting policy-makers‘ attention and does not seem to lose political momentum as is proved by the publication of the oecd report (2013) ―rural-urban partnerships: an integrated approach to economic development‖ and the launch of policies directly tackling peripheral areas in different eu countries, as is the case of the italian ―national strategy for inner areas‖ (snai). a very recent interest in these areas both from a theoretical and a practical point of view comes from the espon call ―inner peripheries: national territories facing challenges of access to basic services of general interest‖. public services, formally known as ―services of general economic interest‖ (sgei), are then ―now understood by eu authorities to play an essential role in territorial cohesion‖ (clifton, d az-fuentes, & fern ndez-guti rrez, 2016, p. 359): accessibility to them is understood at the eu level as a prerogative for the enjoyment of the citizenship right. this reviews clearly shows how difficult is trying to ―square the circle‖ in making two different goals, that seem mutually exclusive, converge: balancing social, economic and environmental development (eskelinen & fritsch, 2009), on the one side, and managing competitive differences of urban and non-urban spaces avoiding that this results in uneven prospects. contents of the special issue the development strategies of peripheral areas in europe address social, political and cultural priorities, i.e. reversing the depopulation and marginalisation of these areas, improving essential services and triggering local development processes. these areas, in fact, have distinctive features. firstly, they are fragile areas from a sociodemographic point of view because of population ageing. secondly, they are unstable from an environmental (physical, eco-systemic) pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 15 point of view as a consequence of insufficient maintenance of their semi-natural capital. lastly, and more importantly, these are areas in which a significant part of the territorial capital is underexploited or unused. these three characteristics have a crucial social, economic and environmental importance at both a national and local level. the debate on inner areas in europe is complex and wide, and many questions are still open. the ambition of this special issue is to enrich the theoretical and empirical literature on these topics, proposing papers which can help shed light on development policies in peripheral areas, unfolding further research avenues: the urban/rural dichotomy and urban/rural interactions; future trajectories of remote, mountainous, rural areas; theoretical and practical approaches to the concept of peripherality; welfare, social policies and access to essential services; mobility and accessibility in peripheral areas; culture, tourism and destination marketing in marginal territorial contexts; the language of policy-making. the special issue begins with veronica lo presti‘s methodological reflection on the use of the ―positive thinking approaches‖ in the context of the italian ―national strategy for inner areas‖ for the promotion of capacity building in the framework of local development projects in peripheral territories. loris servillo and his colleagues propose an interpretative and policy framework for inner peripheries at the eu level, concentrating on an integrated multi-scalar perspective to policy design, grounded on the notion of spatial disparity, known as ―place-based‖ approach. authors describe the experience of the italian national strategy for inner areas (snai), reflecting on both its innovations and shortcomings. pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 16 the paper then outlines a sophisticated analytical framework, which looks at foundational economy, spatial justice and territorial cohesion as normative paradigms and bridges theory and practice, crucially assuming multi-scale governance design as a more proper approach between top-down and community-led initiatives. the contribution by punziano and urso explores local development policies produced across different inner areas by analysing the role played by the ―cognitive element‖ in the decision-making process. in this paper they investigate, through a multidimensional content analysis of the plan documents available online, how language shapes the way problems are conceived, fixes priorities and delimits the range of strategic options in the local development strategy design, in cases chosen among the pilot areas of the italian ―national strategy for inner areas‖. the last contribution by grazia di giovanni, using a descriptive approach, focuses on the purposes and contents of the post-seismic mid-term reconstruction plans in the abruzzo region. the study questions the on-going reconstruction process as an occasion to foster long-term socio-economic recovery, urban renewal, and innovative inter-municipal governance besides the rebuilding of urban fabrics in the light of the italian national strategy for inner areas. references ardener, e. 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(2014). understanding the population change from semi-peripheral perspective: advancement of theory. zbornik matice srpske za drustvene nauke, 314(148), 525-539. doi: http://doi.org/10.2298/zmsdn1448525b blagojević, m. (2009). knowledge production at the semi-periphery: a gender perspective. beograd: s r ― uhra simić‖. clifton, j., d az-fuentes, d., & fern ndez-guti rrez, m. (2016). public infrastructure services in the european union: challenges for territorial cohesion. regional studies, 50(2), 358-373. doi: 10.1080/00343404.2015.1044958 commission of the european communities (cec) (2007). leipzig charta zur nachhaltigen europäischen stadt [leipzig charter on sustainable european cities]. luxembourg: cec. coombes, m. 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(1973). a theory of polarized development, in j. friedmann (ed.), urbanization, planning, and national development (pp. 41-67). beverly hills, ca: sage. hall, c. m., harrison, d., weaver, d., & wall, g. (2013). vanishing peripheries: does tourism consume places? tourism recreation research, 38(1), 71-92. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2013.11081730 harms, e., shafqat, h., & shneiderman, s. (2014). remote and edgy: new takes on old anthropological themes. hau: journal of ethnographic theory, 4(1), 361-381. doi: http://doi.org/10.14318/hau4.1.020 harrison, j., & heley, j. (2015). governing beyond the metropolis: placing the rural in city-region development. urban studies, 52(6): 1113-1133. doi: 10.1177/0042098014532853 harvey, d. (1989). from managerialism to entrepreneurialism: the transformation in urban governance in late capitalism. geografiska annaler. series b, human geography, 71(1), 3-17. doi: 10.2307/490503. herrschel, t. (2009). city regions, polycentricity and the construction of peripheralities through governance. urban research & practice, 2(3), 240-250. doi: 10.1080/17535060903319103 herrschel, t. (2011). regional development, peripheralisation and marginalisation – and the role of governance. in t. herrschel & p. tallberg (eds.), the role of regions? networks, scale, territory (pp. 85-102). kristianstad: kristianstad boktryckeri. herrschel, t. (2012). regionalisation and marginalisation. briding http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/documents/projects/appliedresearch/geospecs/fr/geospecs_final_report_inner_peripheries_v14.p http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/documents/projects/appliedresearch/geospecs/fr/geospecs_final_report_inner_peripheries_v14.p http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/documents/projects/appliedresearch/geospecs/fr/geospecs_final_report_inner_peripheries_v14.p pezzi, urso – peripheral areas: conceptualizations and policies. introduction and editorial note. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 – 2016 19 old and new divisions in regional governance. in m. danson & p. de souza (eds.), regional development in northern europe. peripherality, marginalityand border issues (pp. 30-48). london: routledge. k hn, m. (2015). peripheralization: theoretical concepts explaining socio-spatial inequalities. european planning studies, 23(2), 367-378. doi: 10.1080/09654313.2013.862518 lang, t. (2012). shrinkage, metropolization and peripherization in east germany. european planning studies, 20(10), 1747-1754. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2012.713336. oecd (2013). rural-urban partnerships: an integrated approach to economic development. paris: oecd publishing. shucksmith, m. (2008). new labour‘s countryside in international perspective. in m. woods (ed.), new labour’s countryside: rural policy in britain since 1997 (pp. 59-78). bristol: policy press. ta2020 (2011). territorial agenda of the european union 2020. towards an inclusive, smart and sustainable europe of diverse regions. short authors biography: maria giulia pezzi is a social anthropologist. she is a post-doctoral research fellow at gran sasso science institute, social sciences unit. her research interests include tourism studies, political and legal anthropology. giulia urso is post-doctoral research fellow at gran sasso science institute, social sciences unit. her research interests include local development, rural-urban relationships, cultural events. difficult balances and impossible partners. abstract this article is about the processes involved in preparing the preliminary draft of the implementation local plan (ilp) of the san giovanni a teduccio district of naples (2008). the plan, drawn up during the activities of the innovative programme in the urban field (piau) financed by the ministry of infrastructure in 2004, aims to integrate a series of initiatives, already in progress or planned in the district for the designing of public space, by giving special attention to the redevelopment of the waterfront and the strengthening of its relationships with the city. in the given conditions, the solutions proposed by the plan represent the most advanced point of balance between different visions which general urban planning and subsequent programme agreements can bring about. finally, ilp’s work is subjected to a persistent contradiction, a structural incompatibility between the activities of the commercial port and the renovation of the waterfront: port and city generate a dialectic which, at present, is not conducive either to economic development based on the logistics or to urban renovation. why don’t we look for other options rather than this unfruitful incompatibility? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 40vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 enrico formato adjunct professor e.formato@unina.it facoltà di architettura "luigi vanvitelli" ­ seconda università di napoli issn: 2239­267x the implementation local plan for san giovanni a teduccio innaples. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 41vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 introduction this article is about the preliminary draft of the implementation local plan regarding a part of the naples’ coastline that is centred on the san giovanni a teduccio district. the preliminary draft of the plan, prepared by the office in charge organized by the city of naples for the innovative programme in the urban field (piau), was approved by the city council in 2008. since then, while the technical activities of the plan’s preparation are continuing, initiatives have been going on regardless of the preliminary town planning proposals, thus largely thwarting the difficult balance achieved in the preliminary draft of the plan. the innovative programme, financed by the ministry of the infrastructures in 2004, is part of a national research characterized by: planning of the city (its coordination, formerly managed by roberto gianni, is now entrusted to giovanni dispoto). i had been working in this office from december 2006 to august 2008, dealing in particular with the urban design and the drafting of the preliminary plan of the implementation development plan of the san giovanni a teduccio area. the office in charge, managed by enzo mendicino, is resonsible to the department of urban1 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners the integration between infrastructure planning, urban planning and urban design (including public works design) for the improvement of the relations between cities and infrastructures (in particular, ports and stations); the coordination of different public operators working in the same territorial context, with the establishment of regional technical design and roundtables (in this case the proactive partners of the programme are: the city of naples, the italian railway network – rfi – and the port authority of naples); 1. 2. the establishment of “innovative” public offices that can reform the italian bureaucratic system, which is traditionally organized into areas of competence (town planning, public works, infrastructure, street furniture, etc.), towards a more functional “vertical” model, organized into projects. in naples an interdepartmental project unit has been set up whose staff come from different city offices and is strictly dedicated to the project activities under the programme1. 3. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 42vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 this "public design laboratory" has been located for several years in the railway station of san giovanni and has been attended by other public and private institutions operating in the sector, such as citizens called from time to time for the many participating planning activities organized by the working group, engineers of the state railways and the port authority. formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners 1. contexts san giovanni a teduccio is a post­industrial district for which the general town planning scheme (gtps) in force has set very ambitious reforming targets. this district, located at the beginning of what was called the "miglio d’oro", had been an independent farm until the beginning of the twentieth century. it then became the heart of one of the first industrial districts of southern italy, but is now affected by phenomena of production disinvestment and working­ class population increase with rising crime levels. since the early nineteenth century san giovanni has had several industries in different fields such as food (e.g. cirio), metal (e.g. corradini), and "power" (power stations and oil depots). these production facilities are contemporary to the first italian railroad, the naples­portici (opened in 1838), whose track, still in operation, is a significant dividing line between the village and the sea. since the seventies, the working­class housing district suffered some changes because many productive activities were abandoned and the related areas remained unused. a large number of public residential areas were included in the special residential housing programme (pser) launched by the town administration after the earthquake in 1980. also the port authority is planning the expansion of the port areas as far as the pietrarsa figure 1 – public design laboratory at work (railway station of san giovanni, 2006) the protection of settlements and buildings, including the disused industrial buildings, with a historical and environmental importance; 1. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 43vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 de lucia left the department of the city at the end of the first term of the bassolino’s administration (1997). there were then a series of policy agreements derogating the town planning instruments which undermined the vision proposed by the general town planning scheme (gtps) concerning the area of study: formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners the negotiation with the port authority for the construction of a huge container terminal, overwhelming the "eastern dock", which moves the eastward enlargement towards the sea, contrary to the gtps; 1. withdrawal of the relocation of the power plant that, instead, is to be modernized and put back in full production by converting it from coal combustion gases, which, since it is less polluting, does not even require a proper environmental impact assessment; 2. part of the corradini’s site, granted to private developers for building – through a project finance – of a marina that, due to its size and morphology, jeopardizes the desired re­establishment of public access to the shoreline. 3. the conversion of abandoned factories to social and public uses; the principle of a "vision" in which the district "re­conquers" its coastline, in particular, by blocking the expansion of the port to the east (as proposed by the port authority), by ordering the relocation of the vigliena power plant to the "city of youth", and by the construction of a new university campus in the disused corradini and cirio factories, which belong to the city. 2. 3. the construction works of the university are having a difficult start, the "campus" has been finally located on a site abandoned by cirios which is rather remote from the main context, along the corso san giovanni, which is without any connection to the coastline. finally, there had been a series of private developments of a poor urban quality both for their essential characteristics and for their lack of connection train depot, including in its scope the entire coastline of san giovanni. the general town planning scheme promoted by vezio de lucia, town planning councillor from 1993 to 1997, and entirely adopted in 2001, sets out important elements of reform for san giovanni a teduccio: in the case of the port facilities and of the power plant, for reasons related to their functions; 1. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 44vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners in the case of the marina, for the tendency of the promoters to design an almost protected island which, rather than providing opportunities to the surrounding neighbourhood, is likely to create just another gap, even though the terms of the approval of the project were supposed to avert these risks since the project finance has been approved with a set of "requirements"; in the case of the new station and transport infrastructures, since the preparation of the project solutions occurred regardless of the renovation processes that were being developed for this area; this is also a risk in the case of the new university campus, in the former cirio buildings, which tends to be weakly connected by the corso san giovanni. 2. 3. these interventions are typical of a situation in which the individual operators, both public and private, act like pioneers in a territory that’s not entirely friendly and for which they think they have to adopt adequate protection strategies to achieve their own individual goals. 2. methodology, training procedures and targets this scenario includes the ministerial funding of the piau (innovative programme in the urban field) and the creation of the urban planning and coordination public office. obviously, this process begins when many decisions have already been taken and may seem to be irreversible. the efforts pursued in preparing the urban plan for this area, therefore moves right into the interstices between these projects, trying to "soften" the separatist logic of certain decisions, in particular regarding the container terminals, the marine and the power plant. the objective of the urban plan is to create a continuous network of public spaces by acting on the “soft” edges of sites and projects, in a sort of re­composition of individual initiatives, in a dialogue with operators who are little interested in the quality and the urban between public spaces and new settlement morphologies. the most important interventions tend to set up "introverted" settlements in different ways: ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 45vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners dimension of their intentions. there is also an attempt to identify where private initiatives the area, that were allowed by the general town planning scheme, but have not been subject to thorough formal supervision and may conflict with the emerging plan. a process of refinement has been undertaken, based not only on the dialogue with the institutional partners of the programme (the city, the port authority and the italian railway network) but also on a continuous exchange of opinions with all the key parties currently operating in san giovanni: the “porto fiorito” company, the developers of the marina, the "tirreno power" company that was making the conversion of the vigliena power plant (now operational), the university federico ii, which is building a new headquarters in the abandoned buildings of the "cirio" factory, and the many private individuals whose development plans are under investigation or have required building permits for individual structures (both planned actions in the implementation of the gtps). the plan making is attempting a reassembling that, through a patient process of redefinition, starting from the basic level of the distance between the building items (already existing or planned) and based its findings on the "floor plan" and the functional interrelationships of the various elements existing in the area2. the work is based on the relation between materials and actions that have heterogeneous natures and origins: parts of a historic city, industrial archaeology, small operating or decommissioned manufacturing plants, clusters of post­seismic public buildings, important current or planned initiatives, which are usually started and developed independently from each other. thus the physical and conceptual "distance" between all the parties becomes very important: the gap, the imprecise margin, a weak programme: these are “median spaces”, long neglected by the urban planning project, from which the quest for new meanings must start3. so that the road, the square, the field 1989; “un’urbanistica di spazi aperti”, in casabella 597­598, 1993; “progetto di suolo 2”, in aymonino a., mosco v.p., spazi pubblici contemporanei. architettura a volume zero, ed. skira, milan, 2006. on this subject see in particular: secchi, b.:un progetto per l’urbanistica, ed. einaudi, turin,2 spazio aperto”, in: proceedings of the public space biennial organized by the inu in rome, may 2011. see russo, m., città mosaico, clean, naples, 2011; russo, m, formato, e., “urbanistica dello3 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 46vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners and the hedge become the building stones of a town planning that returns to consider the open spaces between things (fences, buildings) as spaces to form a new urban condition. the activities of town planning participation and consultation with local communities, that have been carried on in this district since 20064, have been fundamental to the definition of the project. these activities have been successfully supported and have substantially contributed to deciding some of the main "themes" of the town plan: the recovery of the relationship with the sea, through a new network of coastal paths and the connection of the district with the coast; consolidation of the existing or new public spaces and facilities, the town planning reconfiguration of some nodal areas, particularly the one affected by the interchange node of land­sea transport in the tramway depot (anm) and the purification plant that must be dismantled. francesco ceci) with the collaboration of "avventura urbana" and gilda berruti. the urban planning participation was handled by the department of the city (coordinated by4 figure 2 – planimetric and volumetric project 3. a difficult balance. description of the preliminary draft plan the planning project includes a comprehensive set of interventions to create an uninterrupted system of areas, located along the coast and the railway axis from vigliena, where there is the historic blockhouse of the neapolitan ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 47vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners revolution in 1799, up to pietrarsa, the eastern limit on the coast of the city of naples, where there are the nineteenth­century exhibits in the national railway museum. 3.1. re­establishing access to the sea the research shows that access to the coast, especially through pedestrian access paths, must be created through a variety of solutions and interventions that could be even more effective than those suggested in the gtps. in particular, it shows that the idea of an uninterrupted walkway along the whole coastline is possible, from vigliena to pietrarsa, which would connect new routes to the segment already built by the municipality nearby the railway museum in pietrarsa. the overall image for these public pathways to the sea is to establish a "comb" structure, in which the horizontal axis (the "handle") is made by the promenade and the "teeth" are made by the paths which cross the rail barrier. the comb structure is typical of the historic settlements, which are open to the sea, such as the “miglio d’oro”, although this has been partly erased by modern urbanization. in the designed solution the “handle”, about 3 km long, is made up of public pathways which are mostly cycle­pedestrian, partly on the coast itself and partly halfway down to the coast. the characteristics of the coastal paths are related to the uses of the sea and of the facilities that face onto it: the marina "village", the public facilities to be implemented in place of the purification plant that is being closed down, the settlement of pietrarsa that must be suitably open for public access and enjoyment. there are two suggested paths halfway down to the coast. the first is between the customs wall that delimits the areas of the port authority and some settlements, some of them already existing and others new. this is a path with a strong urban character that integrates car access and pedestrian routes, using large tree­lined sidewalks. renovation works here are meant to enhance the former cirio monumental building, as a possible place of business connected with the teatro san carlo, located within the port area adjacent to the tree­lined avenue, by adopting appropriate solutions to ensure ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 48vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners a well­organized direct access to car and pedestrian circulation. the second path halfway down to the coast is along the northern limit of the railway, at an elevation that is about the actual height of the boundary wall of the track, approximately 4 metre high. its result is a panoramic promenade on a sloped structure that recalls the image of the bastion, like in the fortified walls of lucca and ferrara. the bastion, visible from corso san giovanni, is the largest part of the renovation works of public spaces to the north of the railway. it is an element of union, both mentally and functionally, between sea and inland, as well as a connective axis of the new system of public spaces, made up of squares on the main street and terraces down to the sea, on both sides of the railway line. public car parks are planned to be built within the embankment which is meant to free the entire corso san giovanni and the open spaces next to it from parked cars. in the old railway station square, the bastion is the connecting element to the sea: the building of the current station is intended to be replaced by a new structure that will allow the bypassing of the railway and the pedestrian connection with the belvedere­terrace included in the marina’s design. figure 3 – public pedestrian ways: the “comb” structure these works tend to gather the replacment buildings around the existing historical fragments, in order to consolidate the old town fabric and, at the same time, to strengthen the continuity between this fabric and the town areas on the edge, locating the main open public spaces in a key position between the ancient village and the modern city on the edge. 3.3. the "city centre" the "city centre" is proposed to be built in the area including the former corradini site and the present tramway depot. it is intended to be a set of integrated functions on the basis of a complex web of public spaces and public use: it is the focus of the railway overpass and of the new access paths to the sea from the corso san giovanni; it would be an inter­modal transport node, a nodal area with the relevant urban and territorial functions that will be able to make it a place of urban and metropolitan attraction and ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 49vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners elimination of modern structures built around the historic blockhouse on public land and the creation of an urban­archaeological park which recreates the relationship between the historic structure and its surroundings; a town planning restructuring of the connecting link between the historic buildings and the new access boulevard to the marina with a complete reorganization of the public open space; 1. 2. the building of a new driveway and pedestrian crossings of the railway line, to replace the present level crossing. 3. 6.2. the village and the blockhouse another important key point is the historic village of vigliena. an historical reconstruction – cartographic and iconographic – of the area of vigliena shows that this settlement had been, up to the development of the modern neighbouring areas, a sort of village, close to the sea and isolated in coastal vegetation, with the bulk of the fort standing out. the implementation plan aims, given the favourable conditions of the present context, to suggest a kind of territorial restoration of the area. this operation can be carried out through the following actions: ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 50vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners exchanges. this project takes advantage of the planned conversion of the tramway depot (owned by the municipality) that is located on corso san giovanni. it is possible to reconfigure the whole of this housing scheme, that overlooks public spaces reconfigured as a square, with the size and character similar to those of the historic squares of the "miglio d’oro". this scheme gives the terraced buildings glimpses of landscape to the nearby sea from the elevated promenade of the bastion, thus functionally reconnecting the historic town with the bastion and with the sea through a bridge structure. the large volume of the present depot, that is to be converted into new buildings or to be obtained as a result of the renovation of the existing sheds, would be reused for the construction of a facility with public or private areas destined for a collective use (trade). on the coastal slope, where a part of the former corradini site is still available to the city, the plan proposes the development of a settlement characterized by very attractive metropolitan and national scale features. the site is remarkable for the value of its historical industrial architecture and for its sea exposure. the idea is to combine leisure and cultural production activities, relying on an audience, both users and entrepreneurs of the planned activities, for the most part young people, more willing to consider a peripheral area for “downtown” uses. this proposal arose from the consultations held in january 2006, in a workshop day that was open to all the citizens of the district; the idea was discussed in subsequent meetings with the representatives of voluntary organizations, business activities and cultural associations, and, finally completed, in june 2008, in a workshop attended by experts, from different disciplines, competent in the field of culture organization and economics. a pedestrian overpass connecting to the access to the marina; a new, sloping square, passing under the railway behind the current public library, would be the convenient access to the beach and to the contiguous public facilities. 1. 2. figure 4 – the city centre ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 51vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners 3.4. the beach on the eastern side of the coastal area that includes the marina which is now under construction, the beach and the reclamation of the san giovanni’s purification plant, the plan proposes a more direct public use of the shoreline, with beach works up to pietrarsa and creating additional railway line crossings: also the planned closing down of the purification plant gives the possibility to clear a large area where community facilities ­ preferably related to the playground­sea area, the "water park", could be located. it would be nice that the citizens of san giovanni, who crowd the beach during the summer months, could have a large pool of sea water to bathe in while waiting for ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 52vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners the sea to come in. the scheme is completed to the east with the museum and educational concentration planned in the former warehouses of pietrarsa, which is now the national railway museum: the continuation of the promenade on a portion of the public areas owned by the railways (as provided by the gtps) will connect the neapolitan promenade with the nearby portici. this is a proposal which links from a district scale and extends to the entire geographical area of the vesuvius coast. 4. impossible partners. the reason why the piau does not alter the state of the sites the town planning innovative programme for san giovanni with its preliminary draft local plan, which is still the programme’s most concrete outcome, adopts some political choices, that were considered to be non­ negotiable, and on­going interventions: it pursues a difficult balance between the urban and public­recreational objective, outlined by general town planning scheme, and the energy­productive initiatives determined by the policy agreement signed by the municipal administration in the early twenty­first century. the resulting urban design is probably the furthest point achieved in the pursuit of balance, which is benefited from the fact that the preliminary draft of the plan acknowledges a large number of "adjustments" – agreed with the other public and private parties – in the various on­going or planned projects in san giovanni. in short, the project pursues the following improvements: an increased access by the public to the marine areas, the relocation of the multilevel parking that will service the marina, thus restoring an ancient and attractive direct connection between the areas of the troisi park, corso san giovanni and the promenade on the new pier; the change of the morphology and for some areas to be included in several local development plans, presented by private individuals; the "negotiation" with the terna power company ­ culminating in a very modest setback of the fence of the plant which is to be converted to a gas plant – to include the new power plant in the local context. according to the results of the piau and its local plan the railway areas to be divested should be sold to the municipality for the creation of the ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 53vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners "bastion" area, with public promenade and car parks, in exchange for the opportunity to build commercial areas and office buildings, complementing the railway station of the "city centre" planned in municipal areas in the place of the tram depot in the corso san giovanni. even in light of the delay with which the preliminary draft of the plan is turning into a working implementation plan, we cannot underestimate the opportunity to recognize the possible radical changes in the structure, before political decisions can become long term irreversible physical actions only. this is what happened for the renewal of the vigliena power plant, whose cycle of depreciation postpones any second thoughts for at least several decades. the point at issue ­ which really transcends the size of the district and involves the entire city and metropolitan area ­ is the following: is it really possible to imagine the coexistence between one of the most active commercial ports of europe and such a dense and congested town as naples? taking into consideration the scale of the san giovanni district, the town planning work of the innovative programme seems to demonstrate just this structural incompatibility: it is not possible to relate "hard" port activities involving freight, and for the most part containers, with urban renovation. any action in favour of one party adversely affects the differing outcome of the other, even only for the dispute over the large areas required to deposit and stock the containers: it is not by accident that today many of the naples’ eastern areas, even those outside the port’s perimeter, are used to deposit and store goods in transit through the seaport; nor is it by accident that any attempt made at the piau table to change the port expansion project has eventually been irrelevant; probably it was not "ill will" but an objective impossibility. the interests of the competitors were too far apart, with no margin for mediation as the port of naples involves a good deal of the air pollution detected in town5. research), on "smog and urban environment quality" naples is the italian city with the highest impact of port activities on air quality. its impact ranges from 25 to 40 percent of the total emissions. according to the latest report of the ispra (institute for environmental protection and5 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 54vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners international experiences, from baltimore to barcelona (jauhiainen, 1995) show that urban renovation, with the recovery of the waterfront for public use and development of the port’s commercial activities can be put into synergy only if the port activities are relocated to more suitable and less congested areas. this opportunity should be at the centre of the political and urban debate in naples. how was it that no one felt it necessary to analyse thoroughly these possibilities before working on the port development project? the enlargement of the eastern dock, besides being extremely damaging to the desired renovation of the historic city and to the targets of the general town planning scheme, could become inadequate in just a few years because of the expected increase of the maritime freight. imagine instead all the options, in terms of quality of life and functional decongestion of traffic, that the recovery of the entire waterfront of naples could bring about ­ to be allocated primarily to social and educational­ recreational functions ­ maintaining and enhancing the passenger maritime terminals, both the local ones (“metro of the sea”) and those related to the figure 5 – scheme of the commercial port ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 55vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners cruise circuit. the commercial port, instead of investing in costly expansions to the sea, could gradually move into already environmentally compromised areas, on the domitian coast (near castel volturno), that are already well connected to the nola commercial facility (cis) and to the logistics infrastructure of naples’ metropolitan area. even luigi cosenza’s suggestion, that utilizes the regi lagni as a navigable canal to be used as an eco­friendly distribution channel, could be topical again6. but this is at another level of the matter. at a more detailed level, it would be good if at least the port authority is prevented from locating the railroad, that is to serve the new container terminal, only a few tens of centimetres from the neo­gothic building of the cirio’s at vigliena. 5. conclusions. more planning, less ideology in conclusion we can say that in the debate between urban renovation and the expansion of the commercial port there are not, and there will not be, winners in naples; at least not in the sphere of interest of the public operators. in the first instance, this is because none of the dispute’s contestants nor any informed observers even think that the city's relationship with the port is a problem: there is neither a debate on this subject nor a public opinion. for one thing, the city of naples simply continues to deal with the emergency deriving from fine particles pollution by adopting unlikely and generalized measures to reduce car traffic. the influence of the port activities on the city environment has been referred to: it is clear that the current municipal policies should not be marginal and ineffective. this is the most instructive example of how their vision is completely out of focus, and a dramatic cultural lag has turned into an ineffective and unrealistic administrative intervention. the fact that the contestants do not even know that they are at war produces also a remarkable series of collateral damage: the port’s development activities are slowed down by the "stickiness" of the fabric of the city, by the circumstances and by the 1. neapolitan federation of the communist party in 1966. see moccia, f.d., luigi cosenza. luigi cosenza. scritti e progetti di architettura, clean, naples, 1994. the project was presented by luigi cosenza in a report for the study commission by the6 the gtps implementation plans, that have been being prepared for years (the san giovanni piau, the mergellina piau, the coastline executive plan), inexorably slow down their own administrative progress in a multitude of secondary issues: the policy agreement and the public works, that are episodic but immediate, seem to be again the only solution to specific problems. the plan for the re­ conquest of access to the sea presented by the general town planning scheme now in force proves to be purely ideological, as it impacts with sectional priorities that should be resolved at a higher scale, in the consideration of an overall reorganization of the metropolitan area. 2. "bureaucracy" of the municipality and of the environmental assets superintendent that is always extremely reluctant to deal with some specific issues, without even having the chance to affect the overview of the coastline plan; ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 56vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners therefore, the issue must be reversed, with not "less" but "more” planning, beyond any possible slogans, which means undertaking a conceptual processing that should be able to get rid of the many strong stereotypes: first of all the belief that naples is the centre of the neapolitan metropolitan area and that its boundaries, as in its enlightened master plan, are untouchable. this is a necessary but not sufficient start: only by integrating a renewed large­scale vision with the patient refinement of public participation and design work at the urban scale and with new integrations of diverse kinds of knowledge, will it be possible in naples, and in many other italian cities, to recover from the delay and backwardness that have made town planning practice so marginal with regard to the domain of action and ideology. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 57vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 references chermayeff, s. tzonis, a. (1971) shape of community: trad.it. la forma dell’ambiente collettivo, milano: il saggiatore. coppa, a. (2005) nuovi spazi pubblici, area 79. crawford, m. and cenzatti, m. (1993) "spazi pubblici e mondi paralleli", in casabella, 597 and 598, pp. 34­38. cullen, g. (1976) townscape: trad. it. il paesaggio urbano. bologna: calderini. desideri, p. and ilardi, m. (eds.) (1996) attraversamenti. i nuovi territori dello spazio pubblico. genova: costa&nolan. huet, b. (1984) "la città come spazio abitabile", in lotus international, 41, pp. 6­17. jauhiainen, j. s. (1995) "waterfront redevelopment and urban policy: the case of barcelona, cardiff and genoa", in european planning studies, 3 (1), pp. 3­23. light, a. and smith, j.m. (eds) (1998) the production of public space. lanham: rowman&littlefield. nicolin, p. and repishti, f. (2003) dizionario dei nuovi paesaggisti. milano: skira. pellegrini, p.c. (2005) spazi pubblici, milano: motta editore. russo, m. (2011) città mosaico. napoli: clean. russo, m. and formato, e. (2011) urbanistica dello spazio aperto. atti della biennale dello spazio pubblico, inu, roma maggio 2011. secchi, b. (1989) un progetto per l’urbanistica. torino: einaudi. secchi, b. (1993) "un’urbanistica di spazi aperti", in casabella 597­598. secchi, b. (2006) "progetto di suolo 2", in aymonino a. and mosco v.p. (eds) spazi pubblici contemporanei. architettura a volume zero. milano: skira. smithson, a. and smithson, p. (1971) struttura urbana. bologna: calderini. sorkin, m. (1992) variation on a theme park: the new american city and the end of public space. new york: hill&wang. formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 58vol. ii, issue 1 ­ 2012 torres, m. (2000) luoghi magnetici. spazi pubblici nella città moderna e contemporanea. milano: franco angeli. formato ­ difficult balances and impossible partners ijpp issn: 2239-267x transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india chandrima mukhopadhyay vi sit i n g f ac ult y, fa c ult y o f p la n n in g, c e p t uni ve r sit y s u m mer w in ter sc ho o l i nd i a, c h and r i ma mu k h o @g mai l. co m keywords: transparency, public participation, urban reform, india, planning practice abstract the study defines the concept of ‘transparency’ in terms of ‘disclosure of information’ and ‘two-way flow of information’, which is operationalized through public participation. in the context of india, the study explores ‘transparency in planning’ in the form of right to information act, to facilitating citizen participation, and to improve public sector performance. citizen participation in planning is comparatively contemporary in indian context, especially with the concern of boosting transparency in the planning system. while the literature of citizen participation is truly engaged in co-creation of spaces and knowledge, evidence show that the current urban reform programs such as jnnurm, amrut, participatory budgeting and smart city programs have ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 213 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india half-heartedly introduced the public participation component, and the true meaning of citizenship participation is achieved only in limited way. finally the study concludes reflecting upon how it is methodologically difficult to research ‘transparency’ and what could be other ways to address the issue of transparency. introduction ‘transparency’ is fundamentally defined as ‘disclosure of information’, and the main discussion includes discussion of instruments to operationalise transparency, while the concept is wider and complex. to begin with, the study discusses both one-way disclosure of information about government’s way of working and two-way flow of information as in public participation/ citizen participation. the reason for operationalising transparency in planning is also rooted in the concept of ‘democracy’. in specific, in case of deliberative democracy, the aim is to include more diverse voices in the decision-making. democracy, efficient use of resources and transparency are discussed together in the literature. the demand for transparency (one-way flow of information) in a democracy started with the idea of good governance and freedom of information movement. the concept of transparency in terms of ‘two-way flow of information’ in planning is operationalised in terms of public participation, which is comparatively contemporary development in indian context with the traditional top-down planning approach. participatory budgeting is another form of operationalising transparency/ public participation that comes under the umbrella term of ‘democratizing planning’ (also referred as radical democracy and deepening democracy); this started in brazil and also relates to the concept of ‘social justice’ (goldfrank, 2006 and sintomer et al., 2008). with recent draft of un habitat iii, focusing on ‘right to the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 214 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india city’1, it is anticipated that there will be increasing pressure on the government to open-up the decision-making process. since planners are working towards more uncertainty both in terms of unforeseen impact of climate change and segregated communities, it is increasingly important to improve the transparency of the planning process for public sector to be accountable in the long run. moreover, the scholars in the global south are involved in discussing the conflict between neoliberal reform and democratic decision-making, where transparency during planning process would boost the confidence of people that decisions are taken assuring public interest. interestingly, on one hand, transparency has become a policy booster as a form of good governance, and on the other, more sectors are being privatised which secure private sectors’ confidentiality. this makes transparency a contested issue. the article addresses ‘transparency’ from rather a simplified, operationable subject, as mere ‘disclosure of information’ to a wider, complex issue, as an umbrella term, as addressed in planning theory, mainly emerged in the global north. section 2 explains the background related to transparency in terms of modern information theory. section 3 elaborates on heald and hood’s (2006) categories of transparency. section 4 discusses about economics of transparency (ross, 1973). section 5 investigates transparency in the context of india: starting from the legal reform introducing rti act, 2006 in india to central government urban reform of jnnurm and more recently, amrut, to the implementation of participatory budgeting. besides presenting empirical evidence on whether transparency has been operationalised, the section also suggested how variedly transparency can be understood in a more tangible way, with empirical evidences. 1 http://citiscope.org/habitatiii/news/2016/07/can-diplomats-negotiating-new-urbanagenda-deliver-success-week ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 215 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india modern information theory and freedom of information transparency is considered as a component of good governance in a democracy. it is defined as ‘disclosure of information about public sector’s way of working’. from public administration perspective and based on human rights act, the governed has the right to know what government is doing and why (stiglitz, 2003 and florini, 2007). the public sector should enable the process of public scrutiny. it is argued that the role of government is to represent and protect the public interest, and therefore the public has the right to verify at any time whether this is in fact what government is doing (florini, 2007). florini even argues, information on how public money is being used doesn’t belong to the government, but public. furthermore, democracy and transparency are often discussed in association with efficiency (rosendorff et al., 2011). modern information theory discusses both freedom of information act, where as a citizen one should have access to information about public sector’s way of working by law, and modernisation of disclosure of information, which states that information must be available to all the citizens through ict (internet) and throughout a day (24x7). both modern information theory and freedom of information act were largely mobilised by international development organisations. as an influence of modern information theory a large number of countries adopted right to information act across the globe. it also enforced the various hierarchies of government to upload their information on website. india adopted its rti act in 2006. india started her egovernance program in 2006. one of the purposes of transparency in a democracy is to have informed voice in decision-making. florini’s (2007) theory discusses public participation as a tool that encourages decision-making with an informed voice, which could be applied in case of planning process too. as florini (2007) describes it, transparency, or rather a flow of information is important in democracy in order to facilitate the participation of informed voices in decision-making. the purpose of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 216 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india having an informed voice in decision-making is to take part in or evaluate the quality of decisions in a democracy. transparency essentially improves the quality of democratic decision-making. her definition of transparency is: “transparency refers to the degree to which information is available to outsiders that enables them to have informed voice in decisions and/ or to assess the decisions made by insiders.” (florini, 2007) another main purpose of operationalising public participation in planning is to deliver an effective project that already incorporates stakeholders’ interest, and stakeholders are already knowledgeable and convinced about why the project is beneficial for them, as the project also demands change in behaviour of the users. as discussed below with evidence from indian cases, this specific purpose is not yet adopted in indian cases, at least in the cases discussed below. categories of transparency heald and hood’s (2006) framework on categories of transparency shows transparency is a multi-dimensional component. there are questions about direction of disclosure, degree of disclosure and time of disclosure. heald and hood (2006) introduce a framework on categories of transparency depending on the time and direction of disclosure of information, which is useful in understanding why certain purposes are fulfilled and some are not. this framework is also found extremely useful in explaining why a setting may be considered non-transparent even though mechanisms of transparency have been operationalised: this is possible when one type of transparency has been operationalised, but not others. at the same time, this does not imply that all forms of transparency have to be operationalised together. their first category is upward versus downward transparency. upward transparency is achieved when people at the bottom can see ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 217 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india how their superiors make decisions. downward transparency is achieved when people at the top can see how their subordinates make decisions. the second category is inward versus outward transparency. inward transparency is achieved when outsiders get to see how decisions are made in an organisation or in a partnership. florini’s (2007) definition of transparency touches upon this point where she discusses whether information about decision-making in a government organisation is available to outsiders (citizens). the role of such transparency here should be to empower citizens (outsiders) to have a voice in the decision-making. outward transparency would be achieved when actors in an organisation have access to information about activities outside it, however, related to their purpose. the third category is event versus process transparency. event transparency is when information about particular events (on decision-making) are disclosed. the processes to reach the event could be generally black-boxed in such cases, as one would be more concerned about output of a process. process transparency is achieved when information about the processes to reach at the event is also disclosed. as discussed below, public participation in planning should ideally operate process transparency. their fourth category is nominal versus effective transparency. nominal transparency can be achieved merely by disclosing information, even though the information is not understood by the concerned persons who are seeking access to it; while effective transparency is achieved only when the receiver understands the information and its implications for them or their decision-making. it is common in public sector to maintain public accountability by publishing information in quantitative form or numerical form. hence, it is easier for them to operationalise nominal transparency. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 218 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india the gap created between this nominal and effective transparency is known as transparency illusion (hood and heald, 2006). the fifth category is transparency in retrospect versus transparency in real time. transparency in retrospect means disclosing information at a later point in time, such as book keeping for future consideration; while transparency in real time means disclosing information during the process so that it affects others’ decisions. the democratic perspective would be concerned about transparency in real time in order to meaningfully participate in the process. retrospect transparency is useful only when actors can be punished for failing to deliver their responsibilities. as discussed below, participatory budgeting should ideally operate transparency in real time. understanding citizen participation as operationalizing transparency the study will discuss tools of citizen participation, considering citizen participation operationalizes transparency, in the sense of twoway flow of information. the seminal work in relation to citizen participation is arnstein’s (1969) ladder of citizen participation. citizen participation is discussed in relation to democracy, but also from a perspective of co-creation of knowledge to be used in the decision-making. the following two subsections discuss citizen participation and digital democracy, i.e., facilitating democratic decision making through the use of digital technology. ladder of citizen participation arnstein’s (1969) ladder of citizen participation is a seminal work that defines eight levels in the ladder of citizen participation in public affairs. the first sub-stage is non-participation, the next sub stage is tokenism where it may appear that there is actual citizen participation, but this is not effective. the last sub-stage is citizen power, which is actually considered citizens are empowered to participate in the decision-making. the actual ladder looks like the diagram below in ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 219 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india fig. 1, the sub-stage of non-participation being at the bottom, and citizen power being at the top. fig.1 – arnstein’s ladder of citizens participation (source for picture: https://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html) while discussing the current urban reform in indian context, the study will make an attempt to reflect on where do the citizen participation tools belong in the ladder. digital democracy digital democracy is a term used by hacker and dijk (2000) to indicate that political democracy can be improved through the use of ict and computer communication. digital democracy is equivalent to electronic democracy, virtual democracy and cyber democracy. as mentioned below, since the contemporary urban reform in india makes provision for use of ict to collect public opinion and voting, it is relevant to discuss digital democracy. however, castells (2010) study referred to redundant population to indicate those who may not ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 220 https://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india have access to the technology. as the study discusses below, india has great performance with digital technology even in the rural part. hence, this is not a valid criticism in the indian case. however, even with digital democracy, one would have to investigate their ladder of citizen participation. operationalisation of transparency in planning: a case of india right to information act, 2006 influenced by international organisations’ initiatives and movement for freedom of information, and modern information theory, along with other countries, govt of india adopted the right to information (rti) act in 2006. the act mandates all public sector offices have to disclose information about their responsibilities and decision making to the public either proactively or reactively. there are certain categories of information that must be disclosed proactively. for certain information, an indian citizen will have to file a request for information from specific public sector agency with the purpose of request for information with a minimal payment. the public sector agency is bound to disclose the information within a specific time period; otherwise, legal cases can be pursued against them. citizen charter also ensures that any government official is expected to satisfy one’s request or complain in a given time; otherwise they are punishable by law (haque, 2005). as per economics of information, it is expensive for a public sector agency to employ human and other resources in recording information and disclose them. hence, certain information are not disclosed already. moreover, following principalagent theory, the principal (citizens) employ their agencies (government) to carry out job as decided (ross, 1973). however, the agency will always try to reduce their cost in carrying out the job as long as the outcome remains the same. this is comparable to eventprocess transparency (heald and hood, 2006). evidence show, there are constraints in terms of public awareness about rti act including rti act includes clauses that waive private sector agencies to ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 221 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india disclose information to public due to their confidentiality issue. the clauses in the rti act itself safeguards private sector’s confidentiality, which contributes towards peoples’ perception of corruption. e-governance e-governance is another outcome of modernisation of information movement. mobilised by international development organisations, and followed by rti act, all public sector offices were required to upload all their information on the internet so that citizens can access information always from a distance, anytime, without having the burden to physically visit a public sector office. both central and state level governments are expected to do so. e-governance facilitates facilities starting from acquiring building approval to request for service. e-governance has not only eased the process of accessing information, it has also restructured the way of working for the government. in some cases of smart city in india, the process of egovernance is being recycled in the name of smart governance.2 as discussed above, digital democracy is a relevant concept here, considering that the use of ict facilitates the political democratic process (hacker and dijk, 2000). participatory local governance in indian context, the 73rd and 74th amendement act of indian constitution mandate the reallocation of responsibilities on certain categories to the state and local level government. these two amendments could be considered as delegating the scope of operationalizing transparency at the local government level. following are some central government funded reform that attempted to implement the 73rd and 74th amendment act, and hence, public 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7zfki8ekku (a video in local language) accessed on 28th july 2016 ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 222 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7zfki8ekku mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india participation as a tool to operationalise transparency is discussed in relation to such reform. however, it should be mentioned that even though this was mandated by law, many state governments haven’t yet adapted the act whole-heartedly. this means, first, not many state governments have implemented the act; second, even though some state governments have adopted, the actual power of resource allocation remains with the state government only. considering the state government assigns officials with higher power, the elected members of the ulbs are hardly heard. jnnurm: the case of brts jwaharlal nehru national urban mission (jnnurm) was a central government initiated urban reform to improve efficiency of urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanism. the mission statement is as follows: “the aim is to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified cities. focus is to be on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and accountability of ulbs/ parastatal agencies towards citizens.” (ministry of urban development and poverty alleviation, no date) jnnurm was formulated with the intention of implementing 73rd and 74th amendment act. jnnurm encouraged transparency in planning in terms of citizen participation. it enacted community participation law to facilitate citizen participation. and it introduced the concept of area sabha (at a neighbourhood scale) in urban areas. however, besides this, it does not elaborate on how citizen participation can be implemented. the planning and implementation of bus rapid transit system (brts) in two middle-sized towns in the western part of india was funded by jnnurm. brts, being a mega transport project, spreading throughout a city, should have encouraged public participation during the planning period, to make the impact of the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 223 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india project more effective. in case of ahmedabad that public participation did not take place during the project planning, threatening its effectiveness post-implementation (centre of urban equity, 2013). however, public participation to certain extent was facilitated in the case of pune: “at this stage, designers sandeep gandhi and associates (sga) of delhi and architect prasanna desai of pune were consulted for improving the design of the pilot project. there were several consultations between the design team, the authority (pmc) and civil society organisations (csos) such as parisar, alert, janwani, etc., and concerned individuals to develop design ideas for the corridor, in particular for including quality nmt infrastructure.” (coue, 2013) however, whereas the case of pune shows consultation with civil societies during the designing and planning of brts project, there was lack of involvement of traffic police in designing new signal system which led to lack of cooperation from them after the project was implemented. referring back to arnstein’s (1969) ladder of citizen participation, such consultation with civil society would be considered tokenism. referring back to heald and hood’s framework, the civil society consultation would raise question about nominal versus effective transparency. having there a tool to assure that citizens have power to influence the design of brts through the civil society, it would have been known as effective transparency (heald and hood) and citizen control (arnstein). amrut: atal mission for rejuvination and urban transformation (amrut) amrut is a comparatively new urban reform program funded by the central government that empowers the state and local governments. this program plans to fund incomplete projects from jnnurm. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 224 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india “providing basic services (e.g. water supply, sewerage, urban transport) to households and build amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged is a national priority. an estimate of the funds required over a 20 year period, at 2009-10 prices, was made by the high powered expert committee (hpec) during 2011. the committee estimated that rs. 39.2 lakh crore was required for creation of urban infrastructure, including rs. 17.3 lakh crore for urban roads and rs. 8 lakh crore for services, such as water supply, sewerage, solid waste management and storm water drains. moreover, the requirement for operation and maintenance (o&m) was separately estimated to be rs. 19.9 lakh crores.” (ministry of urban development, goi, 2015) learning from the drawbacks of jnnurm, amrut have substantially improved the public participation component, at least on paper. implementation is still questionable though, as implementation of public participation in true ‘participation in decision-making’ level is a challenge. as the first step to improve transparency, amrut assures the monitoring of progress of project in real time at state and local government level. amrut requires two levels of plan: state annual action plan (saap: aggregates of slips) and service level implementation plan (slip: project level). citizen consultation is mentioned for approval of saap. as a tool, it mentions the use of ict, which is mobile-based tool. this tool can be referred to as a step towards digital democracy. the reform mentions of stakeholder consultation in terms of varied groups like residents welfare association, tax payers association, senior citizen, chamber of commerce and industries, slum dwellers association groups. at the detailed project report stage, project development and management consultants (pdmc) will facilitate the process. development of service level implementation plan (slip) and preparation of city development plan (cdp) will incorporate citizen participation. citizen participation will also contribute towards prioritisation of projects. scheduling of project in slip will be finalised after informing the citizen about project cost. to make the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 225 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india participation more effective, best practices and smart solutions will be shared with them to make informative decision. regarding the financial plan, participants will be informed about cost of project and need of external cost. they will be informed about innovative financing model and mechanism. they will be made aware of challenge of providing basic services at a benchmark level, reduced cost and the necessity of less resource consumption. referring to ladder of citizen participation, it is still considered tokenism. however, as per heald and hood’s framework, it comes under upward transparency as opposed to downward transparency. however, to certain extent, it seems the component of citizen participation is introduced in a very narrow sense, especially when it elaborates on sectors. one of the many sectors of local infrastructure delivery is providing green space and parks in consultation with urban local bodies. the document says that citizen participation is expected to be operationalised only for maintenance of the local green spaces and parks. smart city plan of pune recently published report on pune as a smart city shows that the smart city concept includes the idea of facilitating citizen participation during the project planning process. however, it is a matter of investigation that to what extent such participation will be realised. one point is explicitly mentioned that since large scale projects displaces slum dwellers, transparency amongst the state and the slum dwellers would help reduce grievances. however, even though by principle, it looks acceptable, it would actually depend on the context and how sensitively decisions are made by the state. participatory budgeting pune is a first-tier, middle size town in the state of maharashtra in the western part of india. pune is the first city in india that implemented participatory budgeting to improve public participation in the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 226 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india planning process. participatory budgeting is an innovative methodology that improves democratic process/ democratisation, as the term is frequently used, or even participatory democracy (sintomer et al., 2008). six suggested forms of participatory budgeting are: 1. porto alegre for europe 2. representation of organised interest 3. community fund at the local and city level 4. public/private negotiating table 5. consultant on public finance 6. proximity participation interestingly the concept was first invented in porto alegre in brazil (initiated in 1989), then in entire latin america. more than 1,000 of 16,000 municipalities had introduced this by 2006. from latin america, it travelled to the europe. in 2008, there were 100 european cities with participatory budget. pune has been progressive in terms of introducing the concept in india during 2005-2007 (keruwala, no date). three basic principles related to the concept: grass-root democracy, social justice and citizen control. participatory budgeting process empowers participatory governance. there are multiple definitions of the same varying with the context. one is informative event related to budget without involving citizen consultation. others may feature intensive participation procedure. the most convincing definition is that it allows non-elected citizen to participate in allocation of public funds (sintomer et al., 2008). there are five dimensions that should ensure implementation of the same: 1. the financial/ budgetary dimension must be addressed 2. city level has to be involved 3. this has to be a repeated process 4. the process must include some form of public deliberation ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 227 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india 5. some accountability on the output in case of pune, initially the idea was introduced by then municipal commissioner to the pune municipal committee standing members, and it was highly criticised even as a ‘death of democracy’ in 2006. later it was institutionalised by the commissioner and in spite of opposition from the committee, it was implemented with the help of civil societies. based on such evidences, civil societies are often called ‘extension of the state’ (leaf, 2005). the participatory budgeting in case of pune was introduced in the following sectors: • footpaths/ cycle tracks • road • street lights • traffic signals • bus stops • public parking • public toilets • solid waste management • water (supply) • storm water • gardens • public buildings • signage the process has been repeated regularly since then. however, even in case of pune, this is considered a successful model, there are other examples that show that even with participatory models, it is common for local government level decision making to be captured by elite’s interest (cases in reference to ahemdabad). use of ict to improve city’s efficiency indian cases provide plenty of examples on how ict has been used to improve the state’s performance, and to improve the authenticity of users, as these two have been contested issue in the planning practice ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 228 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india in indian context, and as a matter of fact, in many emerging economies context. improving government’s performance bangalore citizenship report card is one of those initiatives that aims to improve the state’s performance by providing feedback on how did the state perform (ravindra, 2004). this was a civil society initiative taken in 1993. post gathering feedback, the information was disseminated amongst the citizen, hence, encouraging the departments to initiate reform. there was seven point rating scale with regard to service delivery, efficiency, corruption and staff behaviour. however, even though such tools exist, these are considered as ‘low profile’ by some higher authority public sector officials, and question the impact of such tools. improving authenticity one main role of transparency has been to combat corruption. since one form of corruption is that resources are availed by non-eligible persons, besides social audit, digital methods are introduced to improve authenticity of users. this is done with biometric test of individuals. besides india, there are similar examples in south african context too. such methods have been adopted in ahmedabad in case of providing driving licences. to conclude on evidences from india, as the above-mentioned evidence show, even though public participation is increasingly being facilitated in many cases, there are still problems with implementation. one potential reason for operationalising the tool could be lack of understanding of why such processes are required. for instance, it is stated that in case of brts, due to the top-down planning approach, public participation was not facilitated. in case of pune, the traffic police disagreed to cooperate since they were not involved in the design. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 229 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india conclusion findings show, ‘transparency’ was mainly understood in the sense of ‘disclosure of information’ during 2006 when right to information act was first introduced in india. more recently, starting from central government urban reform on jnnurm, amrut and smart city projects ‘transparency’ is increasingly understood in the sense of public participation in the planning process, in terms of two-way flow of information. while better tools are being implemented over time to improve the extent of participation, the true meaning of citizen participation, in the sense of co-creation of urban space and knowledge is still limited. this is partly due to the fact that proper tools are not used, partly due to the fact that more public participation also means greater time in planning process and increased cost. in addition, the true understanding of ‘co-creation’ is not properly understood. however, participatory budgeting in pune was a breakthrough. participatory budgeting introduced the idea of citizen control as per the ladder of citizen participation. in summary, there is still scope of improvement in implementation of the process, with scope of improvement in how knowledge is co-created through transparency. finally, digital technologies are being increasingly used to improve planning process. while the paper investigates empirical evidence on transparency in the planning process, the wider literature offers a way more complex understanding of transparency: in the sense of co-creation of knowledge, co-constitution of meaning of place etc. such complex understanding will still have to be introduced in practice. in the indian context, the planning process is complex, as illegality and informality play a significant role. however, such dimensions are related to the timeline of planning process and legitimacy. although corruption exists, it is little pronounced in the formal domain. in some planning literature, such areas are mentioned as ‘grey spaces’. transparency in planning practice must reflect on those ‘grey spaces’ to understand transparency in a robust way. methodologically, it is difficult to research ‘transparency’ as the term itself alerts the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 230 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india research subject and makes them defensive. there should be other terms that must be used in order to make the research subject comfortable to discuss whether they are facilitating public participation that results into co-creation of knowledge and whether such knowledge are really taken into account while making decisions. references arnstein, s. r. (1969). a ladder of citizen participation. journal of the american institute of planners. 35(4). (pp. 216-224). castells, m. (2010). the rise of the network society. the information age: economy, society and culture. volume i. second edition. blackwell publishing limited. west sussex, uk. centre of urban equity (2013) low carbon mobility in india and the challenges of social inclusion: bus rapid transit case studies in india. florini, a. (2007). the right to know: transparency for an open world. columbia university press. giddens, a. (1984). the constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. columbia university press. goldfrank, b. (2007). lessons from latin american experience in participatory budgeting in participatory budgeting, (pp. 91-126). hacker, k. l., & van dijk, j. (eds.). (2000). digital democracy: issues of theory and practice. london: sage. haque, m. s. (2005). limits of the citizen's charter in india: the critical impacts of social exclusion. public management review, 7(3), pp. 391-416. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 231 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india healey, p. (2003). collaborative planning in perspective. planning theory, 2(2), pp. 101-123. hollyer, j. r., rosendorff, b. p., & vreeland, j. r. (2011). democracy and transparency. journal of politics, 73(4), pp. 11911205. hood, c., & heald, d. (2006). transparency: the key to better governance? (vol. 135). oxford university press for the british academy. innes, j. e. (1998). information in communicative planning. journal of the american planning association, 64(1), pp. 52-63. keruwala, n., potdar, k., and roy, m. (no date). participatory budgeting in pune. powerpoint slides. leaf, m. (2005). modernity confronts tradition: the professional planner and local corporatism in the rebuilding of china’s cities. comparative planning cultures, pp. 91-112. ministry of urban development, goi (2015). atal mission for rejuvination and urban transformation (amrut): mission statement and guidelines. ministry of urban employment and poverty alleviation in india, ministry of urban development, goi (no date) jawaharlal nehru national urban renewal mission: overview. mukhopadhyay, c. (2016). a nested framework for transparency in public private partnerships: case studies in highway development projects in india. progress in planning, 107, pp. 1-36. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 232 mukhopadhyay – transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india ravindra, a. (2004). an assessment of the impact of bangalore citizen report cards on the performance of public agencies. evaluation capacity development working paper, 12. ross, s. a. (1973). the economic theory of agency: the principal's problem. the american economic review, 63(2), pp. 134-139. sintomer, y., herzberg, c., & rocke, a. (2008). participatory budgeting in europe: potentials and challenges. international journal of urban and regional research, 32(1), pp. 164-178. stiglitz, j. e. (2003). on liberty, the right to know, and public discourse: the role. globalizing rights: the oxford amnesty lectures 1999, 115. short author biography: chandrima mukhopadhyay, phd in urban planning. her phd dissertation was on the governance of infrastructure delivery through public private partnerships in india. her recent research interests include private sector intervention in urban development, the intersection of ecology and urbanisation, and the intersection of neoliberalism and democratic decisionmaking. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 233 transparency in planning practice: contemporary urban reform in india ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 20 positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” veronica lo presti re sear c h fe llo w, s ap ie nz a – u ni ver si t y o f ro me via sal ar ia 1 1 3 0 0 1 9 8 ro ma, v er o n ica. lo p r e sti @ u n ir o ma1 .it keywords: positive thinking, developmental evaluation, local development, capacity building, place-based approach abstract this paper is a methodological reflection on the use of the "positive thinking approaches" for the promotion of capacity building of the projects in the local and inner areas. recently, international policies have focused on the need to identify local development strategies to promote the capacity building in the local administrations, for the development of human and social capital. in the inner areas, it is necessary to experiment innovative approaches that are "place based" and “tailor made” for the projects to achieve the objectives of the national strategy of the inner areas” the paper presents the “positive thinking approaches” as an innovative strategy of local development in the inner areas. the lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 21 positive thinking approaches start from the analysis of "what has worked well", with a focus on the co-construction of the "successes", because “you learn more from successes than failures”. in particular, the article presents three positive thinking approaches (ei, evaluation of innovation; de developmental evaluation, and msc most significant change). the aim is to explore what these approaches share in the inner areas. the advantage of positive thinking approaches is their ability to capitalize on unexpected positive effects. ei, de and msc recognise that the good practice that has been detected needs to be adapted to other situations by thoughtful agents. in both cases, a detected success will need responsible actors to produce further success. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 22 introduction in recent years, theoretical reflection on the wellness policies (sen, 1993), at national and international level, has focused on the need to identify new local development strategies to promote capacity building in the local administration. given their responsibilities in providing an infrastructure and basic services, local administrations are playing an increasingly important role in the development of human and social capital. this is especially valuable in rural and marginal areas of countries, where poor access to resources and basic services and the distance from the central delivery of basic services centres (health, education, social), together with the inadequacy of an integrated system transport, represent a strong limit to the welfare of the inhabitants and to the development of their ability to live actively and to innovate within their territory. italy is a country, which for its geographical, historical and territorial characteristics is fit for this type of argument. the abandonment and the depopulation of farming areas will negatively affect the quality of the system of relations and, in general, the lifestyle of those who choose to remain in this territory. it seems, therefore, increasingly necessary to make a critical review of the prevailing model of development, noting that the agroforestry systems are a fundamental part of the "capital" on which the possibility of economic development and environmental conservation depends. the "italian answer‖ to these requirements came with the "national strategy of the inner areas" (barca et al., 2014) pointing to the resumption of economic and social development of italy from the exploitation of the potential this development in inland areas. while marginal, as they are significantly distant from the main centers providing essential services, these areas have a cultural, lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 23 social, artistic and especially environmental biodiversity to be promoted and enhanced. there is an increasing interest of some policy makers to take decisive action on the most marginal and peripheral areas of the country, away from the large agglomeration and from the service centres. the goal is to liberate the energies and boost the value of good practices to enhance environmental and human resources in these territories. this ambitious goal is in line with the expected impact of the strategy, which aims to reverse the demographic trend of the decline of the inland areas and make them centres of attraction and excellence throughout the national territory, decreasing the gap between the central and metropolitan areas and marginal-inland areas. the achievement of the objectives of the local development policies, defined as "place based" (barca, 2009) or as "tailor-made" for the specificities of the territories, requires testing of the methodology for design and construction of strategic interventions on the various territories. the "place-based" approach is a development model addressed to the areas. the development policy is to promote integrated projects for change in the different areas. a ―place-based‖ policy provides the integration promotion in the territories and the mobilization of local actors. in a place-based public policy the interventions are based on local knowledge and they are verifiable and subject to supervision. also the connections between the places are taken into account. in this model, the construction of strategic interventions on the various areas is a result of the consultation and co-planning of all stakeholders involved in the local development. these stakeholders are local administrations (regions, municipalities etc.), ministries, citizens, young people, the elderly, the trade associations, cooperatives and all the social partners operating in these territories. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 24 in this general framework, there is a reflection proposed by this essay which suggests that the approaches related to the "positive thinking" logic can be particularly suitable to amplify the capacity of local actors to promote innovative interventions of development based on the local resources and starting from the "good practices" that already exist in the territories, with additional support from technical experts and central government representatives. the positive thinking approaches that build on the emergence and enhancement of positive experiences and on the finding of the shared "successes" in the communities, can represent an innovative response to the need of the poorest areas of our country to find expressive and practical ways of their own development based on the potential and existing practices in the territories and promoting the socio-cultural identity of citizens and strengthening capacity building (casavola & tagle, 2004). the positive thinking approach and the ―placed based‖ policy work well together, because they target the enhancement of positive interventions experienced in the various areas. positive thinking and ―placed-based‖ model can stimulate the capabilities (nussbaum, 2011) of the inhabitants of these territories. this is even more valid in internal and marginal areas of our country, where sometimes we find small positive experiences that can become models of excellence also transferable to other territories. positive thinking and local development: ”what we do better” the positive thinking approaches (patton, 2011; stame, 2010, 2014; stame & lo presti, 2015) have the main feature to overthrow the methodological process usually used in the analysis of mainstream policies that starts from the "problem solving", for example from the identification of issues related to the poor success lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 25 of an intervention and the consequent identification of potential solutions and improvements for the future. in general, the "problem solving" is the usual method in the analysis of policies and interventions and can be viewed in the context of the approach to linear and preordained policies (stame et al., 2009) pursuing a logic type "goals-tools-actions-results" and finds its highest expression in the so-called types of blueprint approach (fantini, 2014) based on the use of the "logical framework tool." the positive thinking approaches completely overturn this perspective starting from the identification and analysis of "what has been done well", "what has worked well". the positive thinking approaches give an important role to the shared definition and coconstruction of the "successes" and consequently leaving considerable space to the evaluation as a tool for improving the effectiveness of the interventions. it is argued, therefore, that a useful way to promote positive and innovative responses through the design of local development interventions is to start from the "analysis of what has been done well", rather than "the one that got hurt "so-called failures because ―you learn more from successes than failures‖ and the successes are incentive factors that motivate action. the logic of "positive thinking" takes up the suggestion of a known analyst and scholar of development policies, judith tendler (1982) who in the 80s was a pioneer of a modus operandi very similar to the "positive" and had experienced it in the contexts of development cooperation, when she suggested to be ―surprised before the success" and to stop and think about the mechanisms intervening in the definition of a specific intervention which had functioned in a specific place. tendler (1982) stressed the importance of focusing on its elements of success in development programs. she suggested to overcome the methodological error that we tend to focus solely on pre lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 26 established objectives and why something does not work. tendler says that failure or unsatisfactory achievement of these objectives may obscure the value of those unexpected achievements. judith tendler (1993) had the merit of highlighting the importance of dwelling on the elements of success in the context of interventions and development programs, suggesting to overcome the methodological error that we tend to focus solely on preestablished objectives and to linger about why something does not work, concluding that, in the first place, "the strengths that give rise to successes in one area may be impediments in others, so that the failure can be a logical result of the success, or vice versa" (tendler, 1982, p. 143), and secondly, the failure or unsatisfactory achievement of predetermined targets, could overshadow the value of the unexpected results, i.e. of those achievements unplanned and not provided. it is a way of thinking in line with the logic of adaptive approach 1 (stame et al., 2009) in the design and implementation of development projects, as opposed to the blueprint approach (centred on the logical framework). the adaptive approach is addressing the need to redesign ongoing actions necessary to achieve the objectives, including innovation, experimentation and, consequently, social learning that occurs in development projects designed and implemented in the territories. the dominant approach to local development planning became known as the ‗blueprint‘ approach to reflect its emphasis on the project preparation process as the key to successful intervention. as the focus of national development strategies shifted in the 1970s to 1 it is an approach based on the process and on the stages of the project. the adaptive approach is careful to unexpected results and what happens in the course of the program, rather than matching objectives and expected results. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 27 redistribution and rural poverty alleviation, this blueprint approach was identified as an impediment to effective rural development, and contrasted with an alternative ‗process‘ approach that was found to be characteristic of more effective interventions. according to korten (1980) the blueprint approach is characterized by the conceptual and actual separation of planning from implementation. positive thinking is a possibility of synthesizing blueprint and process approaches. in this context, positive thinking is an ideal perspective and a methodological response to test the assumptions made explicit in the planning of an intervention. positive thinking is very important for identifying the factors not foreseen in advance, proposing innovative strategies to investigate the specific context of those cases where the problem does not occur or is resolved. this approach can have an added value, compared to traditional methods of intervention, because it can mobilize resources, which are not explicit but useful to produce the desired change. under the hat of "positive thinking" can be identified, however, micro-different approaches, all united by the idea according (stame & lo presti, 2015) to which ―we learn more from successes than failure‖, since success shows that difficulties can be overcome and is a spur to action. as claimed by sabel (2004) in his reflections on the subject of policy analysis, enhancing the positive allows you to make known and extend the positive results to those left behind. moreover, the success adds information about why you want something to happen, while failure merely reproduces the lack of initial knowledge, highlighting the barriers to change. add to this that success is proactive and motivates people to take action, while failure demoralizes. the hypothesis sustained in this discussion is that this idea could find an application in the design and evaluation of local development strategies of marginal areas. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 28 so this perspective shows ‖what we do better‖ at specific territories, putting aside for a moment the interventions that have not worked, the stakeholders who were unable to work, the negative results of the investments etc. in order to dwell instead on the elements that have promoted the success of specific interventions on the territory. another factor that leads you to believe that the use of "positive thinking" can foster capacity building and designing innovative interventions on the most marginal areas of the country refers to the lack of attention often attributed to the assessment of the interventions of local development. frequently, the problem in the theoretical literature and in the research is if you actively participate in local development projects "place based" (barca, 2009), based on the actual needs of the territories related to the fact that very rarely there arises the question of evaluation (ex-ante, in-itinere, ex-post) of the effectiveness of the interventions. therefore, little is said about the mechanisms that have intervened in the process of planning and implementation of actions implemented for the achievement of expected results. where there are traces of analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of the interventions, the most widely used logic is analysis of the linear process goals-means-results expected within the "traditional" logical framework. it is possible to ask, therefore, if this preordained and linear approach is not really the best way to design effective and efficient operations of all the territories, having in mind the fact that there is a wide variety of local characteristics that require specific design and innovative ideas that respond to the specificity of the different areas of the country. in this perspective, the positive thinking approaches that move the focus of attention on the resolution of problems and elements of contrast which enhance positive experiences and "success" lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 29 achieved by each of the parties involved, can be an incentive to the cooperation between the various stakeholders for the design of successful programs, in a logic that shifts the role of evaluation by the "tail" to the "centre" of a process no longer understood in a linear but circular and functional learning and empowerment. de, ei and msc for capacity building in the inner areas the common feature of all the approaches that we can understand under the "positive thinking" labelled umbrella is that special ability to enhance the successes in various and specific situations, often developing new methodologies and research techniques. the positive thinking approach to evaluation has been proposed by stame (2014), stame and lo presti (2015), stame (2016) following a suggestion by patton (2011). the approaches differ, however, regarding methodologies for discovering successful cases, eliciting people‘s motivations, mobilizing latent energies, and innovating on the basis of past success. in particular, appreciative inquiry, success case methods and positive deviance are best suited to organizational contexts or to evaluation of successful cases. for example, appreciative inquiry (cooperrider et al., 2000) is used within organizations. the mobilization of people‘s energies—at the core of the approach— can only be obtained if one keeps the negativity syndrome at bay, in both programs and methodologies. ai is not trying to ―solve problems,‖ but to generate collective agreement about what people want to do together. program perspectives should not be based on mistakes or failures to be corrected, but on dreams to be designed and projected into the future. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 30 the success case method (scm) is an approach that can also be used to evaluate the performance of organizations (brinkerhoff, 2003). once the best cases have been identified, they should be circulated throughout the organization to provide models and examples to motivate and guide others. positive deviance (pd) has been used in development programs, especially those concerned with health and nutrition (sternin & choo, 2000). it is based on the idea that, whatever the problem, there will be people in any community who have found better solutions to that problem than their peers (they eat healthily, they follow hygiene rules, etc.), and this means that good behaviour is already practiced and need not be introduced from outside. in this paper, three of the approaches that can be included under the umbrella term of positive thinking will be reviewed. they are considered the most suitable for the field specific local development, namely: "ei, evaluation of innovation; de developmental evaluation, and msc most significant change. the idea is that these three approaches can be applied in the design and evaluation of interventions in the local area, with good results with respect to the promotion of capacity building among stakeholders involved (including beneficiaries), in order to promote and encourage innovation of interventions with a view to type placed based policy (barca, 2009). msc the most significant change "most significant change" is particularly suited to local development contexts that have been treated so far, as it is set directly in the evaluation of development programs. the idea of a general approach, introduced by dart and davies (2003, p. 140), is to be able to facilitate the improvement of the programs "orienting the work towards that which has an explicit lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 31 value and away from what is considered less valuable (...), providing information on the performance and unexpected consequences through the best success stories." for dart and davies (2003), the msc is based on a continuous search of the most significant results of the programs through intensive dialogue on the values of stakeholders and beneficiaries, since it is believed that discovering those values helps to ensure that programs meet the needs. the method is that of the "story-telling", so you ask the actors to tell stories about something that has been a significant change (which is valuable) for them. if you think that these people are often isolated in marginal areas of the country and do not have easy chance to confront others about what they do, you can understand the potential of this approach for the promotion of capacity building in the local area. on the other hand, people often like to tell stories and we know that people are more spontaneous and tend to deepen in the telling detail rather than responding to formal questionnaires on what you intend to do and have already done. the stories encourage both experienced actors and those not experienced to participate, creating opportunities for dialogue on practical effects rather than on abstract indicators (stame, 2016). this approach is of great interest also in terms of the methodological experimentation, because it may provide mixed methods: the stories are complemented by descriptive and interpretive information and you can arrange delphi group involving industry experts from various fields (education, health, transport, etc.). the entire process is geared to learning, as it happens through the personal involvement of the group members, who are asked to make public their emotions and to share with others the values that have favoured the emergence of a positive change from the routine practice. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 32 it is a very interesting approach, as it allows the construction of real archives of the most significant stories, for starting a shared reflection on the founding values of the organization land even after the evaluation was completed. it can stimulate the strengthening of collective memory and organizational culture. ei evaluation of innovation the second approach that is believed to be particularly useful in the field of local development interventions design is the one proposed by burt perrin (2002) for the programs that have the specific purpose of introducing the innovations and that, therefore, would be declared failures if they were assessed with the traditional methods. although, this approach is very interesting, because it highlights the innovation characteristics of the interventions. this is not as widespread in the local area where you tend to repeat what has already been done traditionally rather than experiment with innovative solutions and alternative response to the problems. the definition of "innovation" by perrin as "new ways of doing things better or differently, often by means of significant leaps towards incremental gains" (2002, p. 13) is interesting. contrary to the normal programs that assume the re-establishment of the status quo, in programs that seek innovative alternatives meaningful goals cannot be identified in advance. innovations are risky and unpredictable; actors often work differently from what you expect. perrin proposed that the innovation scoreboard follows the logic of venture capitalism: take a calculated risk, expect a small part to be successful, but also a few successes can make a program worthy of being implemented. in the case of the innovative program, we note with greater emphasis the limited use of a linear logic and pre ordered cause-effect type. as an innovative project tends to interact lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 33 with many other factors, in order to access exceptions (positive), including unintended consequences, it must be flexible enough to open up to "serendipity", to surprise and to discover (as evidenced already by the pioneer of this thinking judith tendler). the methodology proposed by perrin to bring out the innovative project is once again a mixed type and therefore, provides the use of a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques combined in a different way than it usually happens. de developmental evaluation the third approach that this paper wants to bring to attention is that of the "evaluation that promotes the development" (developmental evaluation, utilization focused evaluation), drafted by michael patton, who was inspired by the best-known theme of "utilization focused evaluation" (patton, 1986). it is a proposal for the promotion of capacity building and evaluation capacity in local development, so even more complex than the two approaches proposed above. the utilization-focused evaluation is based on the principle that an assessment should be judged by the utility for users who are scheduled (“intended use for intended users”). developmental evaluation appears therefore as a positive approach that can work well in programs or projects in which potential users, innovative programs and niche are involved. this approach seems very useful to support the development of innovative projects that arise in a logic of dynamic adaptation to realities and emerging territories often complex for sociodemographic and cultural characteristics, as marginal and peripheral areas. in this type of area, the innovative social interventions are not discounted and are marked by uncertainty in the choice of functional steps to problem solving and respect at lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 34 times switched between key stakeholders, who may have different opinions on how to proceed. for this reason, you cannot immediately conceptualize what will be a success and the design and evaluation should proceed simultaneously to recognize the positive changes. it is a "bricolage" approach that combines several elements such as: reflexivity of practices, action research, and systemic change (patton, 2011, p. 264) and that does not require a specific method, but it may provide for the collection of quantitative data, qualitative, mixed within different research designs (from the naturalistic, to experimental, from the perspective of a real mixed approach (lo presti, 2012). the three approaches ei, de and msc are particularly in line with the objectives of the national strategy of the inner areas. in fact, the strategy has the main objective to repopulate and revitalize the inner areas through the enhancement of local development experiences already tested positively in the territories. the methodology of the strategy is based on the design of interventions of valorisation and promotion of the territory, through the implication and active participation of those people who, in recent years, have already made initiatives able to generate positive changes. ei, msc and de are the approaches which allow you to bring out these successes because (see tab. 1): they are based on a mutual learning process that involves all stakeholders, "put the legs" to emergent and innovative projects, identifying unexpected changes. the strategy‘s methodology can be used within the three approaches to promote a bottom-up and tailor-made change for the specific characteristics of the areas. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 35 positive thinking approaches to the promotion of local development interventions: a summary the three approaches that we have reviewed are just some methodological proposals to be tested empirically in the design and evaluation of local development interventions, focusing on their own specific methodology (often mixed) to identify successes within a local context and a participatory methodology that can facilitate the empowerment of individuals and motivate them for future actions. the element of the strengthening of the reasons is a strong point of these approaches, which can find fertile application in particular in marginal and peripheral areas of the countries, where there are often few "best practices" that are struggling to emerge in the disadvantaged contexts. the following table summarizes the characteristics of each of the three approaches outlined above, highlighting the specificity with respect to: the basic assumptions, objectives, criteria to identify success, empirical evidence, investigations and link with the learning methods. as the table 1 shows, positive thinking approaches differ on many points. first, they are based on different assumptions: for the msc the evolution is a learning process, while, for the de, the projects are built and the design of actions promotes the development of the territories. they may be used in different situations and for any objectives: for example, in the inner areas, ei can help to identify "new ways of doing things better" employing different methodologies: qualitative methods of research (life stories, focus groups, direct observation, etc.), quantitative methods (surveys, statistical methods for detecting the outliers, etc.), and various mixes of both. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 36 the use of mixed methods in the de favours the change of values, practices, actions and results promoting the development of the energies of an area to favour its growth. table 1 – a comparative table of pt approaches msc ei de assumptions evolution is a learning process the statistical average rewards mediocrity and does not facilitate innovation the projects are built and the design of actions promotes the development of the territories objectives identify unexpected changes identify "new ways of doing things better" identify, in the dialogue with all stakeholders (especially users beneficiaries of interventions), what it means to develop an idea in a specific context evidence of the ―success‖ the "stories" are collected and then validated by direct observation and dialogue with stakeholders actions "new" to respond in an improved logic to "old" problems the change of values, practices, actions and results that promote the development of the energies of an area to favour its growth methods participatory methods direct observation, qualitative interviews, delphi groups mixed methods and mixed approaches the table is a reworking of the scheme proposed by stame and lo presti (2015) lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 37 as it can be imagined, the positive thinking approaches are not without their critics. the main critiques refer to the credibility of the evidence of success and their relation to learning. ―is it credible?‖ as this criticism goes: ―how can you trust those who put forward a success of their own?‖ meaning that a ―subjective‖ judgement must be combined with an ―objective‖ assessment. we have seen how the positive approaches have addressed this criticism. some have developed quality assurance systems for assessing the credibility of ―positive‖ findings. for example, the msc has introduced a filter for the selection of stories in order to verify what has been narrated: trying to avoid the risk of fabrication, authenticity is verified by giving the names of the story-tellers and of the locales, and possibility of verification. so, some critics contest the prevalence of success over failure in promoting learning. the idea is that you learn from experience, from both success and failure. some of the positive thinking approaches would not be at odds with this statement, but they would qualify the way in which failures can be utilized for learning. we have seen, for example, that ei is oriented toward detecting innovations, proposes not to blame failures and to look at them as ―work in progress‖. conclusions beyond these critical issues, the advantage of positive thinking approaches is their ability to capitalize on unexpected positive effects. in traditional approaches, the attention is on expected (positive) results: if they are obtained, there is success, if they are missing, there is failure. when an innovation has occurred, this may be an unexpected positive result, able to change the current framework of idea. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 38 in positive thinking approaches, and in the inner areas, the attention is on both expected and unexpected positive results. msc, ei and de recognise that the good practice that has been detected needs to be adapted to other situations by thoughtful agents. in both cases, a detected success will need responsible actors to produce further success. the field experimentation of these three approaches, which can be used with local development projects and programs with the help of mixed methods of investigation and of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, can provide an opportunity to bring out the good existing practices in territories, while respecting the specificity and making it the basis for new developments. in this article i have discussed how three approaches that share the positive thinking persuasion may suit the capacity building of the stakeholders and the evaluation of programs in the inner areas, with different orientations toward the aid that can be offered specific actors. while it is generally accepted that similar approaches fit innovative situations that may exist among programs or organizations, this review has shown the great versatility of such approaches in the inner areas. if wisely chosen in a way appropriate to the projects and the specific socio-cultural context, they can cover a variety of situations and offer ways out of the predicaments of traditional approaches in accounting for unexpected positive consequences, emerging outcomes, and all that is generated by people‘s empowerment. to include these approaches in the general strategy‘s methodology means increasing the ability to plan together a collective strategy (rather than a summation of individual projects), embodied by competent persons. the goal is to increase the chances of the strategy to bring change and innovation in the inner areas. lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 39 the use of positive thinking approaches can promote the participatory construction of a strategy, combining in an integrated plan different but interlinked interventions: education, mobility, tourism, the sense of belonging to the territory and territorial relations. references barca, f. 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(2004). beyond principal-agent governance: experimentalist organizations, learning and accountability, new york ny: columbia university press. sen, a. k, (1993). capacity and well being, in nussbaumm m., & sen, a. k. (eds) the quality of life. oxford: clarendom press. stame, n. (2010). what doesn‘t work? three failures, many answers. evaluation, 16(4), 371-387. stame, n. (2014). positive thinking approaches to evaluation and program perspectives. canadian journal of program evaluation, 29(2). stame, n. (2016). valutazione pluralista. milano: franco angeli. stame, n. & lo presti, v. (2015). positive thinking and learning from lo presti – “positive thinking: an innovative strategy of local development in the “inner areas” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 41 evaluation, in bohni-nielsen s., turksema r., & van der knaap p. (eds.), success in evaluation: why focusing on what works will increase learning from monitoring and evaluation, new brunswick, nj: transaction. stame, n., lo presti, v., & ferrazza, d. (2009). segretariato sociale e riforma dei servizi. percorsi di valutazione, milano: franco angeli. sternin, j. & choo, r. (2000). the power of positive deviance. cambridge, ma: harvard business. tendler, j. (1982). turning private voluntary organizations into development agencies: questions for evaluations, aid program evaluation discussion paper n. 12, us agency for international development: washington. tendler, j. (1993). progetti ed effetti. napoli: liguori. short author biography: veronica lo presti research fellow at sapienza university of rome, department of communication and social research. her research interests are evaluative research, local development, public policies, educational system. she has published ―positive thinking and learning from evaluation‖ (in collaboration with n. stame), in bohni-nielsen s. turksema r., van der knaap p. (eds.), success in evaluation:why focusing on what works will increase learning from monitoring and evaluation, new brunswick nj: transaction (2015). microsoft word ruba da pubblicare.docx ijpp   issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 111 the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ruba saleh, phd i n d e p e n d e n t r e s e a r c h e r r u b a s a l e h a m a t o @ g m a i l . c o m abstract this paper attempts to trace the last three decades of the phd in regional planning and public policies (rppp) at iuav, venice. the programme started in 1985; fifteen years after giovanni astengo established an undergraduate course in urban planning at the iuav venice university of architecture. astengo was a leading authority on urban planning in the twentieth century, and the founder of the first graduate urban planning program in italy. on the national level he was a vigorously active urban planner, who contributed both to the drafting of several italian laws concerning the protection of the territory and landscape,(does "protection of the territory and landscape" simply mean 'the environment'?) and a number of far-reaching plans. astengo was the honorary president of the italian national institute of planning (inu) from 1986 to 1990. he also re-founded the magazine urbanistica, the magazine of the inu in 1949 and directed it for almost three decades. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 112 another significant pioneer, pierluigi crosta who coordinated the course for two decades, was, and still is, a leader in the theory and development of the discipline. professor crosta had a clear vision which he communicated to his students. in 2010, crosta retired and many changes came about. a new coordinator was appointed with a new teaching plan. this paper has two objectives. first of all, it will aim to trace the contributions of crosta to development of the subject at national level. secondly, it will try to reflect the viewpoints of some of the phd candidates who experienced the transition after crosta, as a way to improve the methodology and organizational structure. finally, it will speculate on the possibility of establishing a research centre at iuav for the advancement of studies on contemporary cities. introduction this paper attempts to trace the last three decades of the phd in regional planning and public policies at iuav1, venice, looking at the training it provides and how it is organised. a significant influence was the main coordinator for twenty years, pierluigi crosta. it will be important to explore his most significant contributions to the subject at a national level. with this in mind, an interview with crosta was arranged on july 18th 2015 in milan and a review of his publications was carried out. this aim is linked with examining the raison d’être behind establishing such a course in the first place. in addition to crosta’s 1 it was established in 1926, the second in italy after rome, as university institute in architecture in venice. since 2001, it became venice university of architecture. alongside architecture, the university offers training in planning, design and arts. the university was directed by prominent italian architects and it gained its national and international fame thanks to the scientific contribution to the architectural and spatial discourse through prominent scientific journals led by a number of iuav professors. source: http://www.iuav.it/ateneo1/chi-siamo/presentazi/lastoria/index.htm [accessed 3 november 2015]. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 113 interview, a written interview and a consistent exchange of emails with paolo ceccarelli2 took place between august 24th and october 1st 2015 to fulfil this aim. further, the paper assesses the transitional phase which took place after the retirement of crosta in 2010. a case study was set and a questionnaire was dispatched to the former phd candidates, who experienced that specific phase. the xxiv, xxv and xxvi cycles represented the full transition. the academic year of 2011-12 saw the launch of a new phase from the training and organizational viewpoints for the students of these three cycles. this case study reports their experiences, and suggests what can be done in training and organization to improve the experience for future students. it also makes some general comments on how other coordinators and scientific boards could tackle their own programmes. finally, this paper addresses the aim of establishing a research centre in collaboration with a number of national and international universities. this centre would contribute to, among other issues, the debate on the need for a south-eastern theorization (yiftachel, 2006). this discussion is supported by participation in a number of iuav “city portrait” conferences and the resultant debate. 2 prominent italian urban planner. he was the rector of iuav 1982-1991 and he founded in 1992 the faculty of architecture of the university of ferrara, of which he was dean until 2002. he prepared several master plans internationally; the last was the master plan of jericho, palestine. he has extensive international experience of teaching and he is the president of ilaud, international laboratory of architecture and urban design in milan. ceccarelli is unesco chair in urban and regional planning for sustainable local development at the university of ferrara. he is the coordinator of the red alvar network which brings together 12 latin american faculty of architecture and four european universities. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 114 the influence of pier luigi crosta the first cycle of the phd in regional planning was launched by three universities in 1985, the iuav venice university of architecture, the polytechnic university of milan, and the polytechnic university of turin. prominent italian scholars such as alessandro balducci 3 , cristina bianchetti4, luciano vettoretto5, stefano boeri6, and many others in the field of planning graduated from this joint venture program. the first coordinator was paolo ceccarelli. he believed that the phd programme of the three universities continued the themes that had always been basic to the venetian and milanese group who worked at the ilses lombard institute for the economic and social studies (istituto lombardo di studi economici e sociali) based in milan. when he started teaching at the iuav venice university of architecture in 1968, ceccarelli, who is well known for his multidisciplinary approach, organized a working group composed, of young specialists from various universities sociologists, economists, 3 alessandro balducci, full professor of planning and urban policies at the polytechnic university of milan. he is deputy mayor for urban planning and agriculture of the city of milan. as a scholar in the urban studies and planning he has been responsible of european and national research projects. 4 cristina bianchetti is professor of urban development at the polytechnic university of turin. she is member of the editorial board of the italian cultural journal “l’indice”. 5 professor of technical and urban planning at iuav and representative of the rector in activities related to research. his research privileged initially analysis of methodology in urban planning, housing and territorial studies, in relation to changes in the forms and processes of decision. subsequently, his work focused on the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of public action, with reference to the fields of planning theory, analysis and design of public policies of the territory and the effects of the territorial policies of the european union. 6 professor of urban design at the polytechnic university of milan. he is the founder of multiplicity (www.multiplicity. it), a research group devoted to the study of territorial transformations and of the different ways of observing and representing the city in a multidisciplinary approach. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 115 and political scientists such as chiara saraceno7, francesco indovina8, gian enrico rusconi9 and bernardo secchi10. according to ceccarelli, this experience provided a plan for the construction of the undergraduate degree in urban planning. subsequently, another exceptional scholar bernardo secchi, also an ilses academic, took over leadership of the course. in 1990, yet another ilses academic, pier luigi crosta, became the coordinator of the phd program. he worked at ilsis from 1962 to 1964 initially under the planning section directed by giancarlo de carlo11 and subsequently in the 7 one of the most renowned italian sociologists. her research areas are family, women's issues, poverty and social policies. she held institutional positions in italy and numerous academic positions, nationally and internationally. 8 a renowned italian urban plannes. he taught territorial analysis and planning at iuav and alghero university in sardinia. he made outstanding contributions with his research on the processes and urban sprawl and he is a distinguished advocate and practitioner of the interdisciplinary approach in the study of the city and the territory. he’s co-founder and director of the journal archivio di studi urbani e regionali (asur). 9 professor emeritus of political science. he is expert on religion and secularism, on german society and history. 10 bernardo secchi (1934-2014) was an italian urban theorist, renowned urban planner, emeritus professor of urban planning at the istituto universitario di architettura (iuav) of venice and dean of the faculty of architecture at the polytechnic of milano. for almost half a century, he was a central figure within european and italian interdisciplinary debates on the contemporary city and urban design. his research was located within the wider discourses of space and societal transformations, influenced by post-’68 french theorists and nourished specifically by a wide investigation of european urban territories. in his practice, he developed plans and visions for small and large cities in italy and europe. in 2008 he was amongst the ten architects selected to develop a vision for grand paris. he treated urban transformations with vivid, lucid and contemporary analyses that utilized theories as productive investigative tools to elucidate society and space rather than as merely self-referential intellectual gestures” (boano & astolfo 2014). 11 giancarlo de carlo (1919-2005) was one of the protagonists of architecture and urban planning in italy after the war. famous for his critical exhibitions and writings of modernist formalism. he’s renowned internationally as a key figure in the discourse of participation in architecture, for his militant architecture conceived saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 116 sociological section directed by alessandro pizzorno12. his first battle was to sharpen the scientific focus and to establish the course at a single university. according to crosta, although the experience of the three universities was enriching it consumed significant amounts of time and energy, especially because it required regular internal and external mediation between the scientific boards. similar in appearance, between the three universities in reality there was little contact, apart from milan and venice13. with this in mind crosta proposed renaming the course: “phd in public policies”. the proposal was, however, rejected by the vice president of the cun consiglio universitario nazionale (the italian national university council), because it was, allegedly, not related to the urban planning disciplinary area. a compromise title was adopted, “phd in regional planning and public policies”. professor crosta later managed to achieve his aim when he introduced the phd program at the iuav venice university of architecture, with significant support from paolo ceccarelli, the rector, and marino folin14, the head of the department at the time. as a political profession not separated from its context. he was the founder of the international laboratory of architecture and urbanism (ilaud). his most famous works internationally are the master plan of urbino, and the social housing in terni and matera. 12 he is an italian sociologist and political scientist of international fame. he taught at italian and international universities and he conducted research in sociology and economic policy, especially on trade unions and on class conflict, italian politics and its aspects, the relationship between political and economic systems in industrial societies. 13 interview to pier luigi crosta, 18 july 2015. translation to english by the author. 14 rector of the iuav from al 1993-2006. he initiated and achieved the technical passage of iuav from institute to university of architecture. currently he is the president of the foundation iuav. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 117 the changing orientation of policy over the twenty-year period can be better understood by examining the research career of the coordinator. pierluigi crosta was influenced by giancarlo de carlo’s work at both national and international level. during his work experience at the ilses, he conducted research into two important areas. the first explored the various forms of settlement of the immigrants in the socalled "koreas". the term "korea" refers to the informal structures that southern immigrants established in the years of the east asian conflict in the municipalities of the milan belt such as cinisello balsamo, bollate and cologno monzese. the second research area shed the light on the residential settlements of private initiatives in the same area. these two cases of informal planning on small and large scales were further investigated by crosta throughout the ‘70s and extensively used as case studies in his lectures and seminars. they were considered significant mobilization of urbanization agents, “unprofessional and non-institutional social subjects”. during his fellowship at mit and harvard, crosta followed the courses of james m. beshers in sociology and development, matthew edel in development economics, the seminars of albert o. hirschman15, and loyd rodwin’s “spurs” (special program for urban and regional studies of developing areas) at mit. his american study period was also influenced by the people with whom he shared the same “corridor”: he became a good friend for instance with kevin lynch. another influential associate was donald a. schon (1967), who had just published his seminal economic study. he also met and was influenced by john friedmann (1995; 1996) and lisa peattie. 15 some years after his american experience francesco indovina has proposed the translation of albert o. hirschman’s development projects observed, which was published in italy by franco angeli in 1975, and which became a cornerstone of his academic orientation and teaching. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 118 in 1968, he was asked by ludovico quaroni16 to join a cultural and technical cooperation project between italy and algeria. this involved him teaching three courses in urban planning at the ecole nationale d’architecture in algeria for two years. carlo de carlo’s conversion to advocacy planning, which he introduced publicly in a seminar in 1970 at the lido in venice, became a decisive moment for crosta, one of the keynote speakers together with robert goodman. this seminar made him reflect on the social role of the planner and on popular participation in the planning processes. it was this stimulus that motivated him to publish “l’urbanista di parte. ruolo sociale del tecnico e partecipazione popolare nei processi di pianificazione urbana”. pier luigi crosta's analysis contributed to the opening of a debate in the 1970s at national level on the political role of the planning discipline. francesca gelli 17 argues that in the period following fascism italian political scientists underemphasized the extent to which the urban environment influenced the political process. "the political dimension of the city as a terrain for the formation of politics had no place on the agenda. the analysis of urban policy and the local political system have been largely focused on parties, elections and voting patterns, or on statistical surveys designed to 16 ludovico quaroni (1911-1989) was one of the protagonists of architecture and urban planning in italy after the war and professor of urban planning at the university of florence. he was the vice president of inu from 1947 to 1951. in his numerous writings he addressed the relationship and interdependencies between architecture, planning and sociology. 17 she is the current coordinator of the discussed phd program. she has been teaching policy analysis and public administration at iuav since 2006. in her books and essays she addressed the themes of local policy, democratic theory, federalism and research methodology. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 119 gather demographic trends of rural/urban population, without serious consideration for policies18" (gelli 2012:5). crosta argues that planning is political, its assumptions are political and its outcomes are political. indeed, to date, this is the only doctoral programme in italy that develops a policy approach in the field of urban planning and spatial studies. it has been described as a programme that aims at exploring policies as “processes of social interaction and practices of use of the territory, a use that have an effect on the production and reproduction of space” (gelli 2015). during his long academic carrier, crosta dedicated his time to research. he further probed the role of the planner and stood up for a radically revised training of the architect 19 . during the 90s he addressed this topic a number of times in ca’tron cronache, (a small journal dedicated to the venetian institutions with headquarters at ca’tron, iuav,) territorio, a quarterly journal of the department of architecture and planning at the polytechnic university of milan, and urbanistica, a journal of the national institute of planning (inu). crosta's writings updated the anglo-saxon model which had been discussed and supported in those years at the yearly conferences of aesop (association of european schools of planning). this was his second major contribution nationally. to strengthen his teaching methodology, crosta put into practice solid theoretical frameworks such as those developed by charles lindblom and cohen (1979) who explored extensively the relation between knowledge and action. later he embraced the theory of ivan illich on the effects of incapacitation as a consequence of professionalization (crosta 2013). his meticulous analysis of case 18 translation to english by the author. 19 he was the president of the undergraduate course in territorial planning at iuav from 1988 until 1994. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 120 studies as a result of research-in-action, an empirical research methodology which features improvisation and diverse theoretical sources, is considered the third theoretical contribution of crosta at the national level. establishing a multidisciplinary phd course the foundation of this course is the thesis that policies have multidisciplinary approaches which build around retrieved problems in history. it is specifically here that the debate on skills and professionalization come into play. therefore the process of policy/decision making is not seen merely as negotiation between residents and authority, but as a constantly adjusted interactive process between many people, in which the everyday maker plays a decisive and active role. the multidisciplinary approach is reflected in the constant debate about concepts, arguments, theories and reflections without disciplinary prejudice or fear of theoretical “eclecticism”. for example, when the course addresses the “public” it refers mostly to french and north american scientific bedrocks such as john dewey, the groupe de sociologie politique et morale (gspm), such as laurent thévenot, daniel cefaï and luc boltanskibut, and the italian sociologist carlo donolo (1997) who discussed this theme in general terms. dewey (1927) is used also for introducing the concepts of inquiry, interactions/transactions and apparatus. the multidisciplinary approach is also mirrored in the diverse scientific composition of the academic board and in the various geographical and disciplinary origins of its candidates. a central role has always been given to doctoral candidates specificities and their policy interests. their multidisciplinary background further enriches the exchange and the opportunity to learn from one another. for instance, researchers who graduated between 1994-2013 from this phd course came originally from the following disciplines (table 1): saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 121 table 1 – background studies of phd candidates 1994-2013 undergraduate studies architecture 38 communication 1 economic studies public administration economy 1 economic and social disciplines 3* business 3 finance and control 1 planning studies town planning 4 regional and urban planning 17 engineering civil engineering 3 construction engineering 2 political studies political economy 4 political science 7 european union policies 1 cooperation, local and international development 1 modern literature 1 psychology 2 sociology 3 total 92 source: iuav, phd yearbook 2014. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 122 this eclectic mixture makes it possible for unexpected research fields to emerge. for example, a recent candidate presented a thesis entitled: "musical participation policies". at first glance, this title might sound incongruous, and one might wonder at the link between music and participation policies. this thesis divided the scientific board. some believed that it had nothing to do with this phd program and in planning in general, while others argued that this thesis was relevant to the programme especially because of its empirical and participatory character. according to the first group, the study appeared to be out of place because it had nothing to do with physical space, plans or policies. the second group welcomed research which would embrace diverse theoretical knowledge from a number of disciplines, especially sociology, musicology and urban planning. according to crosta, who was part of the second group, this thesis should be considered one of the most interesting recent theses of the course. crosta who navigates with extreme confidence between a vast spectrum of humanities disciplines, can confidently face and lead such a challenge with an unpredictable outcome. in this regard, one of the interviewed phds said: “crosta was great not only for his impressive knowledge but also for his ability to stimulate reflection and for his leadership…i am not referring to the ability to “control”, but instead the ability to give meaning and motivate, to make things go in a certain direction and to stimulate you to be yourself and follow your own way20”. tommaso napoli, explored the role of music in regenerating the social fabric of the city. he theorized that “musical participation is a boundless field of results of interactions of different type, use and reuse of different routines and re-contextualizations of individual and collective actions”. this thesis presented three critical case studies: 20 questionnaire participant from the xxvi cycle, 28 september 2015. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 123 england which, according to napoli (2014), is one of the few countries to have a long tradition (commencing with the settlement houses) of interventions in disadvantaged areas through programs of musical socialization; the system of the venezuelan orchestras which were conceived as a participatory tool for development; and the third and last case which was completely empirical, based on napoli's practice of “experimenting” with musical participation experiences in italy. in discussing policies, much attention is paid in the course to the hirschmanian (1967) concept of “unintended knowledge” and how the effects of such policies can be exchanged. a leading argument is that there is no point in criticizing policy in terms of consistency between objectives and effects because many of the effects that are usually attributed to a certain policy might be a product of another or even a combination of policies. policies must be explained purely in terms of their context. there is no doubt that the research perspective revolves around the “actor”. phd candidates are therefore encouraged to probe the processes of urbanization in which the individual is an “actor” who, in an inconsistent and non-continuous way, performs roles and functions normally/ institutionally attributed to subjects who profess embedded professional skills. what really matters is the capacity to become an “actor” in the sense of managing a body of knowledge which could be partly considered professional knowledge. however, what is important when navigating at a certain level of diverse knowledge is the need for a historical context. this phd course demands predominantly the development of a multidisciplinary scientific research approach. it requires the elaboration and practice of solid theoretical frameworks. analyses of case studies as research methodology are particularly valuable. case studies are by their very nature empirical tools for probing, observing and conducting disparate areas of research in the real world. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 124 why the case-study approach? it encourages “problem chasing” by using various tools and especially by adopting the theoretical bricolage (levi-strauss 1966), which means to be able to exploit and implement theories not only from the planning discipline but from a broader scientific spectrum. it is a learning research-in-action process during which the researcher applies interactive practices of probing. improvisation (weick 1995) is the bedrock of this research-in-action since the researcher has to code and decode encountered practices, drawing from not only professional knowledge but, most of all, from the ordinary and local established knowledge. the interest in adopting a certain theoretical framework is in the outcome of its use. as a result, phd candidates are allowed considerable scope in using theories that apply to their case studies from diverse disciplinary areas. what really matters is how theory is put into practice. effective use of theories justifies the choice of using some tools and discarding others. researcher and theorist are one. in fact, this course does not request candidates to specialize in depth in one of the principal procedural theories of planning: the rational-comprehensive approach, the communicative approach, the advocacy approach, the equity approach, the radical approach and the humanist approach. there is a non-formulaic approach to case-studies. the course invites candidates to build up a unique area of knowledge from the various disciplines according to their research-in-action findings. the rationalcomprehensive theory is, however, explored at the beginning of the course in order to highlight the “problem definition model” and the figure of the “technician” as the opposite subject of donald schon’s (1983) “reflective practitioner”. thus, this theory is used as a mean of access to introducing the role of the planner and of the discipline itself. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 125 revision of the course after crosta in 2010 crosta retired and the transition proved to be a difficult one. the phd candidates had to report to a new coordinator and to a scientific board which they had never met before. they also had to manage new organizational procedures. in order to explore this period from the point of view of the candidates’ training and organizational issues, the xxiv, xxv and xxvi cycles were invited to compile a questionnaire about the overall experience. the questions required the evaluation of the following aspects: professional training including the seminars; opportunities to meet and invite international scholars; opportunities to participate in seminars and conferences; literature and research methodology; mentoring during the exploration phase, research abroad (if any), and while writing. unfortunately, only five people out of twenty two took part. although the questionnaire was very simple and specific, the answers brought the investigation to a different outcome: not an evaluation of the transition as such, but putting forward a number of suggestions, some of a general character and very few regarding this specific phd program. from the training viewpoint, there was unanimous agreement on two points. the first was the need for a dynamic disciplinary exchange with the scientific board during the phd cycle. it was felt that the desired relationship should not be limited to unofficial meetings during thesis advancement presentations. this point was raised from the graduates of the xxv, and xxvi cycles. during the 2014/15 programme, however, it seems that some of the scientific board professors have been actively engaged in the seminars. the second was the need to dedicate at least one seminar to addressing research methodology and peer reviewed scientific papers. from the organizational viewpoint, the need for a general course guideline was put forward. it would be a guideline in which the saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 126 requirements for a successful completion of the course would be clearly stated, as for example delivery, deadlines and publication of articles. it should also clarify the degree of autonomy of the phd candidates in relation to: organizing seminars, use of the allocated budget, and study periods abroad. since the vast majority of candidates come from distant italian regions or even from abroad, it was suggested that there should be a list of iuav potential available services, for example residences. more importantly, perhaps the "commuters" might be advised to move, at least for the first year, to venice. paolo ceccarelli argues that the lack of available services and adequate information provided to students and especially foreign students makes the italian universities less competitive and not attractive at international level (ceccarelli 2015). the questionnaire examined the wide spectrum of phd courses in general terms, more particularly the psychological aspect, placement and teaching experience. the first feature addressed the experience as both intensely rewarding, and traumatic. the combination of solitude and the continuous exploration of the “right trajectory” can exacerbate the drudgery of many doctoral candidates. therefore, it might be productive and supportive to address the "psychological issue" of the doctorate through specific meetings and permanent support. such services already exist for the undergraduates, so they could simply be extended to doctoral candidates. it was suggested that the small number of available placements could be increased if the university could offer/suggest “placement” in the format of internships, fellowships and post-docs, for recent phd graduates either in italy or abroad. finally, the feature of teaching opportunities was addressed. to teach and to interact with undergraduates could be a course requirement. the exchange could be fruitful for the candidates in terms of literature knowledge deepening and in gaining experience in public speaking. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 127 continuing challenges and opportunities this phd offers significant multidisciplinary possibilities. in its last twenty years, many case studies on practices have been researched worldwide. in spite of the course continuing to produce academic or research oriented graduates, the limited vacancies in italian universities have provided modest opportunities to work in academia or in research centres in italy. in addition recent university reforms have further reduced funding and the possibility of research. it would seem that the current economic recession will continue to limit universities severely. table 2 below shows that out of ninety-two phd graduates between 1994-2013, only twenty-six graduates managed to find a job in academia (18) or in the field of research (8) in italy. table 2 – job positions of phd graduates between 1994-2013 position # academia in italy 18 academia abroad 5 research in italy (research centers, foundations or companies) 8 research abroad 4 other fields 8 planning field 22 planning field abroad 2 professional consultants 25 total 92 source: iuav, phd yearbook 2014. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 128 in 2010, the school of doctoral studies launched a series of conferences entitled “city portraits”. this series analyses cities worldwide from a multidisciplinary perspective. each two-day conference is hosted by a phd candidate, or a group of candidates and researchers. the programme includes a workshop dedicated to the presentation and discussion of a number of selected casestudies by phd candidates or researchers who have conducted research on a relevant city. different professional figures are invited to explore the living texture of the city from architectural, urban, artistic, sociological, economic and political angles. the series aims to present a multidisciplinary perspective to an international audience interested in developing and deepening knowledge of these cities. however, this series also provides opportunities for scholars, practitioners and “everyday makers”, to describe their life and how they perceive their own space, as well as reporting on how their cities are presented abroad. currently, twelve21 cities have been studied at palazzo badoer, the venue of the school of doctoral studies. these conferences are usually attended by scholars, students, and practitioners from various fields from italy and abroad and are broadcasted live on the university website. the experience of a number of iuav “city portrait” conferences and the resultant debate suggests that instead of irregular meetings and exchanges of knowledge, these productive, wide-ranging and intense ventures should be linked in a joint research center drawing on a network of universities. all eight phd programs of iuav 21 15-16 december 2010 beijing, 19-20 april 2011 saint petersburg, 29 november 2011 sao paolo, 29 february & 1 march 2012 istanbul, 15-16 may 2012 jerusalem, 28 november 2012 mexico city, 19 march 2013 madrid, 09 april 2013 mumbai, 24 & 31 october 2013, 26 & 28 may 2015 shanghai, 25-26 june 2015 johannesburg, 22-23 october 2015 astana. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 129 school of doctoral studies could be part of such a research centre where the rppp course could play a significant role in practices and policy analysis. such a research hub could attract local and european funding and could therefore offer fellowships and postdocs opportunities as well as consultancies were such a research centre to exist, it could investigate practices from areas such as the south eastern cities of the world. yiftachel postulates that the leading northwestern theories are not universal and there is a real need for new epistemological speculation based on case studies from the south eastern countries of the world. he argues that “it is high time to conceptualize from the “south east” (the wide range of non-western, non northern societies), and create meso-level theories which would genuinely engage with the framing realities of various south-eastern regions. such theories would avoid the pitfalls of false and domineering universalism; reject the postmodernist retreat from substance and values, yet offer meaningful generalizations to guide and inspire students, scholars and practitioners” (yiftachel, 2006:212) the research centre could also study the territory in which each university is located from different aspects, for example from the different spatial practices of its new citizens, the refugees. following recent armed conflicts and civil wars in the middle-east and africa, thousands of desperate men, women and children are looking for a safe refuge in western countries. these people practice a new social production of space: their lefebvrian “lived space” is where their imagination seeks to change and appropriate space. researching these case studies might be an interesting point of departure not only for academic purposes but also as a tool for helping the local administration better understand how european cities are evolving spatially and how decision makers alongside “everyday makers” could sketch out a more inclusive and representative space of needs and aspirations. saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 130 references boan, c. astolfo, g. (2014) the new urban question. a conversation on the legacy of bernardo secchi with paola pellegrini. environment and planning d: society and space, [online] available at: http://societyandspace.com/material/interviews/the-new-urbanquestion-a-converstion-on-the-legacy-of-bernardo-secchi-withpaola-pellegrini/ [accessed 3 november 2015]. ceccarelli, p. (2015) la città universitaria. una risorsa strategica da utilizzare meglio. in: unitown, città universitaria. dalle buone pratiche all’identità, ferrara: faust edizioni, pp.13-41 crosta p.l. (2013) note sulle competenze. in: bianchetti a., balducci a. (eds). 2013. competenza e rappresentanza. rome: donzelli editore. pp 4754 dewey, j. (1927) the public and its problems. reprint 1988. usa: ohio university press. donolo, c. (1997) l'intelligenza delle istituzioni. milano: feltrinelli editore friedmann j. (1995b) teaching planning theory. journal of planning education and research. 14(3), pp. 156-162. doi: 10.1177/0739456x9501400301. friedmann j. (1996) the core curriculum in planning revisited. journal of planning education and research. 15(2), pp. 89-104. doi:10.1177/0739456x9601500202. gelli f. (2012) analisi delle politiche e teoria politica: rivisitando alcuni ‘classici’ dello studio della città nella scienza politica americana. culture economie e territori. 32, pp. 3-31. gelli, f. (2015) francesca gelli presenta il curriculum pianificazione territoriale e politiche pubbliche del territorio del saleh – the multidisciplinary phd course: a history and a way forward ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 131 dottorato in architettura, città e design della scuola di dottorato dell'università iuav di venezia. [online video] available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eidz9kqajno&list=plu5pv psnkkczsxxrylyj79qim723a3ec&index=4 [accessed 4 august 2015 ]. hirschman, a. o. (1967) development projects observed. washington: the brookings institution levi-strauss, c. (1966) the savage mind. chicago: university of chicago press lindblom, c., & cohen, d. (1979) usable knowledge. social science and social problem solving. new haven & london: yale university press. napoli, t. (2014) politiche di partecipazione musicale. phd. iuav venice university of architecture. schön, d. a. (1967) technology and change: the new heraclitus. oxford: pergamon. schön, a. d. (1983) the reflective practitioner: how practitioners think in action. new york: basic books. weick, k. (1995) sense making in organizations. london: sage publications. yiftachel o. (2006) re-engaging planning theory? towards ‘south-eastern’ perspectives. planning theory, 5, pp. 211-222. doi: 10.1177/1473095206068627. title ijpp issn: 2239-267x tourism as a driver of development in the inner areas arcangela andreoli i tali a n “n atio na l s tr at e g y fo r i n ner ar eas ” co n s u lta nt, i n v ita lia, ro me, ar ca n gel a. a nd r eo l i @ g ma il. co m francesco silvestri i tali a n “nat io nal s tr at e g y fo r i n ner ar ea s” co n s ul ta nt, eco & eco l td b o lo gn a, co r r e sp o nd i n g a ut ho r s il ve str i @eco -e co . it, keywords: tourism; local development; endogenous growth; network theory; dynamic packaging. abstract this work is aimed at evaluating on one hand tourism development potentiality in territories involved in italian “national strategy for inner areas” (snai); on the other hand, at eliciting the conditions to be secured so that tourism could act as a real engine for growth. starting from the analysis of available documents produced by inner areaso far, we classify the different territories on the basis of their emphasis on the tourism issue. the analysis is followed by an explanatory section, where we interpret the main tourism strategies referring to mainstream and heterodox economics approaches to local development. finally, we consider the possible actions to be implemented in inner areas to get a tourism driven development. disclaimer: comments and assertions that follow are personal opinions by the authors and a product of their collaboration. for no ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 80 mailto:arcangela.andreoli@gmail.com mailto:silvestri@eco-eco.it andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia reason the contents of the article could be attributed to the organizations authors are affiliated to. 1. introduction and motivation the greater part of italian territory is characterized by small towns and villages which often have restricted access to essential services: health, education and transports. we define these territories “inner areas”, meaning areas far away from large and medium-sized urban centres, and from their associated services. inner areas cover almost 60% of the whole national territory, embracing about 23% of total population (nearly 13.54 million people), who live in the 53% of national area. to the benefit of inner areas, italy is developing since september 2012 a “national strategy for inner areas” (strategia nazionale aree interne, hereafter snai). the snai purpose is to improve the quality of life and the well being of local population and to reverse the long term demographic trend. snai focuses on the provision and the strengthening of basic services (public transports, healthcare, and education), funded by national budgetary law, joint with specific plans for socio-economic development in selected areas (financed by eu funds managed by italian regions). snai identifies sustainable tourism as a promising activator/accelerator of local development, along with agricultural and food production, renewable energy filières, and handicraft (lucatelli, 2016). most of the territories involved in snai rely on tourism as a dominant driver to implement long-run and sustainable local development: in a milieu characterized by a rich endowment of historical hamlets, archaeological assets, monuments, museums, unesco sites, natural parks, the tourism supply is based upon cultural heritage, environmental recreation, sport activities, food and wine fruition. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 81 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia the objective of this work is twofold: on one hand, evaluating tourism development potentiality in those territories; on the other hand, eliciting the conditions to be secured for tourism being a real growth driver. to deal with these objectives, we at first propose an interpretation of potential tourism strategies referring to mainstream and heterodox economics approaches to local development: endogenous growth theory, tourism-led growth, resource-based approach, and actornetwork theory (section 2). then, we analyzed official documents produced by inner areas so far, searching for the current tourism organization and the strategic lines involving tourism. we see that areas’ approach changes, even when very similar at a first sight, according to tourism cycle of life affecting each destination: some territories struggle against obsolescence and stagnation of their tourism business model, while others are in an ascendant phase of tourism development (section 3). after this description, we consider the possible actions to be implemented in inner areas to have a tourism driven development (section 4). a final section of conclusions (section 5) retrieves and comments the main outcomes of the study. 2. tourism and growth: a literature review in the last 15 years, a deep debate has involved the tourism-led growth hypothesis, both on theoretical and empirical basis (balaguer and cantavella-jorda, 2002). once tourism development is observed in a country or in a smaller territory, the issue is if economic growth causes tourism development (economic driven tourism growth hypothesis) or vice versa – if tourism development has been the main driver for economic growth (tourism-led growth hypothesis). according to the former, the typical conditions for economic growth, such as political institutions enforcing property rights, stability in prices, public investments in infrastructure and education, will favour ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 82 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia any rentable activity, and tourism among the others, since institutional solidity and local communities’ life quality act as the strongest signals to foreigners and tourists. on the other hand, tourism-led supporters assert that for many territories, either post-industrial or lagging areas, tourism is the most productive growth factor, generating positive externalities across the whole economy, even after the last global economic crisis (payne and mervar, 2010; perles-ribes et alia, 2017; de vita and kyaw, 2016). albeit usually related to country-wide systems and to international tourism, the issue can be raised even with respect to districts such as the inner areas involved in the snai: as illustrated in following pages, tourism has been highlighted as the key activity for local development by almost every snai area, but according to experts its success options are higher when it is inserted in an environment characterized by a lively domestic society and where local economy is still able to produce other goods and services requested by the market1. to understand in which sense tourism-led hypothesis is a viable path for snai areas, it can be useful to review one of the main endogenous growth models dealing with tourism development (lanza and pigliaru, 1994). recalling the seminal work of lucas (1988) on human capital and endogenous growth, the authors set up a model where a territorial system can choose between a manufacture or a tourism activity. lucas claims that economic growth is driven by labour productivity, which is the result of a free choice by agents between work-time and study (here is the endogenous nature of the model). the relevant equations in lucas (1988) are the following: )]1(,[ uhufy −= [2.1] 1 fabrizio barca, keynote speech at first seminar on tourism in inner areas, l’aquila, may 31 and june 1 2016. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 83 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia h dtdh hh / == λ [2.2] [2.1] is the production function; total product (that we can consider in terms of total gnp) is the outcome of workforce (u) and human capital (h), with the last one that is the result of time taken up from work activity and invested in studying, while [2.2] reflects the productivity of human capital accumulation. shifting one hour of time from work to study activity (1 − u) reduces production y directly (dy/du > 0), but increases it indirectly through the human capital growth effect ( h ) on y. lanza and pigliaru (1994) take inspiration from lucas, considering a system where the choice is in investing in human capital devoted to manufacture or to tourism ability. labelling λm and λt the labour productivity of manufacture activity and tourism respectively, τ the relative price of tourism products with respect of the numerary given by the price of manufacture products (i.e. 1, == mmt pppτ ), and yi the total income generated by the considered economy in the two alternate path of development (i = m. t), lanza and pigliaru (1994) find that tourism could be the most prospective activity for growth when increasing term of trade τ more than compensate the productivity gap between the two economic sectors; namely: tmmt yy λλτ −>>−  iff 0 [2.3] where, similarly to [2.2]: τ τ τ dtd y dtdy y ii / , / ==  [2.4] the outcome of the model is straightforward: higher growth and tourism specialization are viable either when (i) relative prices favours tourism goods against manufactured ones, or (ii) the gap between human capital driven productivity of the two activities reduces (candela and figini, 2010). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 84 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia according to this intuition, any activity aimed at raising tourism productivity λt goes in the direction of enhancing the availability of a sustainable growth path for a local system. higher tourism productivity, defined as the increase in total tourism revenue referred to tourism occupation, can be fostered through different channels. in brand new tourism destination they are given by investment in tangible assets such as roads, hotels and other tourism facilities (resorts at seaside or sky-areas in the mountains), and they are often considered the most prominent actions to be implemented for a true tourism development. but in recent years, other kind of investments have been perceived as more promising: they are intangible investments in education, network coordination, and aimed at building confidence among operators. investments in intangible assets seem to be more suitable for inner areas. as pointed out by salvatore and chiodo (2016), in recent years the accommodation capacity in the 72 areas involved in snai increases (+27% for number of accommodation structures, +7% for number of beds between 2002 and 2013); it is lower than the increase in the national average, but it takes place in areas where population is dramatically collapsing, so that accommodation rate (i.e. the ratio between number of accommodation structure and number of inhabitants) is far raising. at the same time, new tourism practices are growing faster than traditional mass ones: a new attention for remote and less attended places and landscapes, or for deeper emotional experiences, for instance learning manual activities from local and traditional craftsmen (natali, 2015). it is a process of tourism transition (garrod et alia, 2006) that – even due to the unstoppable success of the web is leading to a rethinking and a reorganization of tourism industry as a whole (salvatore and chiodo, 2016). inner areas have plenty of a similar endowment, out of the recalled accommodation equipment, but nonetheless they are still little ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 85 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia attended by tourists, and the matter is the weak organization and coordination of local supply. the lack of coordination in a tourism destination with open usage resources is a well known issue, that could lead to an over-exploitation of local resources (candela and figini, 2010, mak and moncur, 1998), in the line of the so-called “tragedy of the commons” (hardin, 1968). but it is worth noting that the same lack of coordination could generate the reverse state of under-utilization of local assets, with a consequent dissipation of their economic value. this is the case whenever e resource shows the features of an anticommon, i.e. whenever multiple owners, each endowed with the right to exclude others from a scarce resource and no one of them with an effective privilege of use, could reduce the profitability of the resource (heller, 1998). “in the limiting case, in which all persons in a large group are assigned rights of exclusion such that each proposed user must secure the permission of all persons, the resource may not be used at all, despite its potential value” (buchanan and yoon, 2000, p. 4)2. in many inner areas, the anticommon issue is strongly perceived with respect to agriculture and forestry: where land and wood property is nowadays fragmented among a plethora of owners and heirs, mostly living outside the area, new exploitation of assets claims for some forms of coordination among owners or of property rights redefinition. but even tourist sites can have the nature of anticommon (candela and figini, 2010): whenever a mayor interprets tourism in terms of tangible assets to be arranged or recovered (a little museum, an architectural attraction, a nature trail), paying no attention to the future management of them, whenever the quality of an accommodation is far misaligned to the other or the opening hours of tourist attraction 2 authors assert that an anticommon framework could be considered as a competition among excluders, producing economic loss instead of transferring value to consumers as in usual competition (buchanan and yoon, 2000). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 86 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia are different, some agent is producing negative externalities to the others, generating an anticommon state. this happens typically in marginal territories such as inner areas. a solution to take care of the strong interdependences existing among actors, overcoming the anticommon trap and the consequent underutilization of resources, is enabling coordination. tinsley and lynch (2001) propose to investigate the utility of networks in building a tourist destination. denicolai et al. (2010) claim that a significant turning point in order to reduce the tourism path dependence and to establish a satisfactory coordination level is the establishment of networking initiatives, and that a network approach in a tourism destination is given by four dimensions: knowledge sharing, formal agreements, integration of local services, and reciprocal trust. they are all features that a place-based approach and snai are meant to strengthen (barca, 2011; lucatelli, 2016). salvatore and chiodo (2016) see in local participation and co-design processes the tools to create such a network. denicolai et al. (2010) emphasize inter-organizational learning, coupled with systemic vision at the destination level as the features that allow to move from a traditional destination management strategy to a “networked tourism core-competence” with systemic dynamic capability. participation and networking are a well known issue in recent tourism literature: dedeke (2017) recourses to actor-network theory (ant) to explain the rise of tourism supply in a protected area inside the brazilian amazon, stressing the role of a volitional actor; komppula (2014) challenges the prevailing destination management organization (dmo) approach to tourism competitiveness, calling for the acknowledgment of collaboration between small tourism enterprises in the enhancement of rural destinations; romeiro and costa (2009) demonstrate that networks contribute to the creation of a cohesive rural tourism destination, whereby the sharing of resources enables innovative local responses to the global market challenges, ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 87 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia while beritelli (2011) gest the same result for cooperation in an alpine destination. natali (2016) applies the ant framework to snai, claiming the need for enhancing local competence and innovation aptitude. according to ant, each active member (an “intermediate” in the taxonomy applied by natali, 2016) influences the network he belongs to in a twofold way: on one hand, bringing inside the main network new kind of subnetworks made of competences, artefacts, individuals connected with their own personal experience; on the other, reinterpreting initial impulses that generated the main network, operating translations of meaning and changes in the original information. in this sense, according to natali it is true that tourism development is a network matter, but to be generative networks must be made of stable relations among knots, and they must be open to the entry of new members, each of them with its own charge of (mis)interpretation, interests, and intentions. and, what is more important, those new members are network themselves. 3. state of the art: current tourism in inner areas according to 2011 data, the italian supply of tourist accommodation is 153,723 establishments and 4,742,064 beds. respectively 52.5% of the former and 48.6% of the latter are located in inner areas. the main type of accommodation facilities in the inner areas are hoteltourism residences (53.1% for establishments and 57.5% for beds), tourist camp-sites (61.5% and 54.3% respectively), holiday dwellings (59.4% and 59.7%), farmhouses (59.7% and 60.0%) and mountain hut (83.4% and 84.8%). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 88 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia all strategic documents of the 21 pilot areas out of the 66 involved in snai3 assign to tourism a central role for the local development, even when the areas are characterized by different socio-economic conditions. figure 1 inner areas involved in snai source: www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/ another common point of the analyzed strategies is that territories tend to present a 360-degree tourism offer, with many segments involved (cultural and nature tourism, rural, active, and so on). cultural heritage in the forms of archaeological excavations, historical hamlets, architecture items, landscapes, literary parks, but even craftsmanship and other working traditions, is present in inner areas. 3 www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/strategie_di_area/bozze_della_strategia.html ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 89 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia in some cases, the endowment shows the absolute excellence levels of unesco sites. natural heritage in inner areas is equally relevant: natural parks (both national and regional, and natura 2000 sites), lakes, falls, environmental monuments, nature trails and pathways where to practice outdoor recreation and sports (mountain bike, fishing, equestrian tourism). in many inner area of the alps tourism is traditionally addressed to alpine resorts, winter sports and outdoor recreation in the summer, with the former experiencing a long-term crisis, due to many different factors: climate change that reduces the snow period, increasing management costs, competition from international newcomers, obsolescence of ski lift facilities. in these areas snai is perceived as an important opportunity to differentiate the tourist offer and favour the attraction of off-peak tourists. in addition to cultural and nature tourism, inner areas strategic documents frequently refer to food and wine tourism, with the magnification of traditional goods and recipes, restaurants and food festivals. it is quite usual to see all or part of those segments bundled under the generic definition of “sustainable tourism”, meaning a type of tourism interested in authenticity of local communities and of vacation spots. in other cases, the preferred definition is “slow tourism”, i.e. a package emphasizing contemplation activities, interest in local traditions, and usually suggesting the use of public transports. another growing label is “accessible tourism”, entailing the possibility to include in tourism activity people with different kind of disabilities. last but not least, it is frequent referring to “experiential” (or “immersive”) tourism, identifying a tourism activity made of visit to craft workshops and of manual activities directly involving visitors. even though very similar for characters, inner areas’ strategies differ with respect to the life cycle positioning of tourist destinations: while some territories are in a maturity when not a stagnation phase, ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 90 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia claiming a rethinking of the whole business model, some others are in a introductory phase and they still have to design a common tourism strategy, based on environmental, food, or experiential tourism. mature tourism destinations show a good allocation of beds and accommodations; they register a robust tourist demand and have a strong and well articulated supply chain (hotels and unconventional accommodations, intermediate services, sports and other services supply). often they are locations renowned in the tourism market, with attractors that permitted a successful development past and economic growth. they are typically alpine resorts such as alta valtellina (with more than 10,000 sleeping accommodations, one million presences, istat, 2014), or relevant cultural attractors as sud ovest orvietano (7,700 sleeping accommodations, more than 460,000 presences; istat, 2014, region umbria, 2015). alternatively, they can be a part of wider tourism districts, where culture, nature and rural tourism are well exploited, as for casentino-valtiberina, which is part of tourist offer of tuscany (7,700 sleeping accommodations, more than 200,000; region tuscany, 2015). but the conditions are similar for alta carnia, valchiavenna, and bassa valle (alpine areas), appennino basso pesarese-anconetano and madonie (rural and cultural heritage). in ascendant areas, on the other hand, number and quality of sleeping accommodations is quite modest, demand is still low in overnight tourists, but significant considering one-day visitors, week end travelers, school and pilgrimage trips, events, and so on. tourism in this kind of places is an opportunity not fully sized yet, because of a systematic under-utilization of existent commons and public goods. this is the case for basso sangro-trigno, montagna materana, alta irpinia, valle di comino, matese, monti dauni, simeto, tesino and antola-tigullio. according to strategic documents, expected outcomes from snai with respect to tourism development are quite general. the most mentioned are the increase in the number of tourist overnights, of visits to cultural and natural monuments, of users of natural trails and ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 91 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia footpaths; a higher occupation in tourism and culture sectors, with particular attention to young and qualified manpower; the strengthening of tourism industry chain through the increase in the number of active firms. finally, almost each inner area aspires to raise the number of sleeping accommodations, mostly in non-hotel facilities (b&b, country house, albergo diffuso), even when occupancy ratio of existing accommodation facilities is low. nonetheless, relevant objectives such as the increase in tourists’ local expenditure, a higher value added of tourism sector, and the profitable management of cultural heritage are absent from almost any local strategy, even though some territory (appennino basso pesareseanconetano, alta valtellina, and alta carnia) set the target of improving education and skills for tourism accommodation operators. finally, two features in inner areas’ strategies deserve a deeper attention: the first one is that many of them claim for strong connections and interdependency between tourism and agriculture/food production. agriculture is considered a relevant asset for tourism-led growth, for at least three reasons: primarily, food production is a factor of attraction for any inner area; second, farm holidays and country-houses are ascending forms of travel and accommodation; farmers in rural places are invested of new functions as guardians against hydro-geological instability and as trails keepers. in the depicted mature tourist destinations, agriculture and food are mostly a collateral or a niche item of local tourism supply. in ascendant areas, on the contrary, wine-food production and agriculture play a more relevant role, being one of the main attractors for national and foreign tourism. the second issue to be highlight is that – in the line of actor-network theory some strategies declare the objective of creating a network among tourism operators (this is the case of casentino valtiberina, alta irpinia, alta valtellina), or of implementing some kind of coordination, to ensure a local governance for tourism strategy (grand paradis, sud ovest orvietano). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 92 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia 4. new practices for the development of tourist destinations in section 2 we highlighted the concepts of networking initiative and of systemic dynamic capability as the means to overtake the anticommons problem and to neutralize the focalization on tangible resources that affect many tourist destination. at the same time, we mentioned the success of new heterodox tourism segments more appropriate to the web medium than traditional ones. in this section, we expand those topics, trying to suggest a promising development path for tourism in inner areas. the coordination issue is a well known problem, at least in mature tourism destination, that claims for integrated strategies: for many years traditional dmo have dealt with it, handling a collective promotion and preparing integrated tour packages. in recent years, tourist packages organization encountered growing difficulties: the demand for customized itineraries, joint with the increased ability of travel consumers to search autonomously for information and alternatives, is uncomfortable with a fruition model substantially rigid and pre-conceived. traditional packages are progressively substituted by dynamic packaging, i.e. the opportunity of assembling multiple travel components on demand of individual customers through automated online configurations and web platforms (cardoso and lange, 2007). relying on the competence of a more aware customer, dynamic packaging on one hand asks for a less capillary and a lighter organization, exploiting the skills of the same customer, invested of a new nature of co-producer (or prosumer, i.e. a producer-consumer) of the travel package; on the other, it needs a higher ability in capturing the attention of the potential client among the almost infinite tourist experience available, mostly conveyed by the web mare-magnum. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 93 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia both characteristics could be relevant in helping inner areas to fill the gap, at least partially, with mature tourist destinations. as a matter of fact, inner areas could exploit their rural condition to specialize in the supply of emotional tours (sharpley and jepson, 2011), peculiar activities such as traditional craftsmanship, unusual architectural and natural heritage; it is a tourist product that could strike imagination because of its eccentricity and that claims for an appropriate storytelling, a proper manipulation of contents, to emerge. in addition, travel products in general, and emotional and immersive tourism products in particular, are mostly experience goods (nelson, 1970), so that they require appropriate channels on one side to inform the customer about the product characteristics, on the other side to circulate and exchange travel experiences for users. nowadays, multimedia platforms and social network are commonly employed for both purpose (cardoso and lange, 2007). finally, modern travellers are interested not only in peculiar products, but even in connecting them across time and space in a more complex framework, that goes over a single destination involving different areas and sites: visiting two similar monuments made by the same artist, or understanding the diversity in the pasture landscape in two different mountain areas (natali, 2015). dynamic packaging, storytelling, internal and external and supply coordination, multimedia and social network aptitude are the concepts to be highlighted in dealing with the promotion of inner areas as tourist destination. they are all notions and activities typical of modern creative industry, creating opportunities that could be seized by groups of highly educated young people, start-ups, and fab-labs. nonetheless, the rise of dynamic packaging and web organization in tourism is not sufficient to claim for the end of local network and the futility of coordination: if the objective is not the success of a single business activity (a new hotel, a spa or a rural itinerary), but the contribution of tourism to the economic growth of a wide area, then coordination is needed. in this sense, the concept of destination ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 94 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia management organization changes in a brand new one of destination management community (dmc), that claims for the combination of technological tools and local communities’ involvement, for the provision of smart services and traditions, in a unique and original local supply. this is the path followed in inner area of madonie. coordination asks for hybrid forms of planning and administrative decision (menard, 1996), mostly in anticommon conditions, i.e. when different stakeholders possess fragmented assets which need to be pooled in order to organize local supply (van huylenbroeck et alia, 2009). 5. conclusions recalling porter (1998), local development can be of three kinds: (1) factor driven, with the exploitation of site-specific resources; (2) investment driven, when local development is the result of investments in facilities, for instance in the construction of new tourism resorts; (3) innovation driven, based upon the implementation of intangible assets such as creativity and networks. inner areas fit mostly with the latter. the wide majority of inner areas that have begun to design their snai strategy insofar, focused on tourism as a main factor for local development. in previous pages we analyzed if this is a viable option to reverse a long history of failures and socio-demographic decline. for this purpose, we considered different theoretical frameworks, extracting from each of them some useful notion: tourism-led growth theory, suggests that tourism can be the most promising growth factor for lagging areas, since it has a high external power on other economic sectors (payne and mervar, 2010). to seize this opportunity, inner areas must create an inviting environment, where local society is still active, and they must accompany the tourist supply with the production of other kinds of goods. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 95 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia economic growth theory claims that tourism can be a viable alternative to other sectors when relative prices favours tourism goods against other kind of goods or when its productivity raises due to specific human capital accumulation in tourism sector (lanza and pigliaru, 1994). in inner areas we see the attempt to concentrate on niche tourism such as emotional or nature tourism, characterized by higher tourists’ spending power with respect to mass tourism; in addiction, many inner areas decided to invest in immaterial educative activities on tourism to improve sector productivity (see section 3). tourism economics warn against the risk of having an anti-common condition that prevents from a full exploitation of economic opportunities from a tourist location (heller, 1998). the risk can be limited with a stronger coordination and enabling a tourism network, and we saw in section 3 that some inner areas (such as grand paradis, sud ovest orvietano and casentino valtiberina) are addressed to this path. finally, actor-network theory specifies that networking is a necessary, but not sufficient condition to have development: to be generative, networks must be open to new contribution and ideas, even when not perfectly aligned or even disruptive with respect to local organization (natali, 2016), and the role of snai is even to facilitate this relationship. from those contributions and due to some promising reasons, we can draw the conclusion that tourism can be a capable factor of development for inner areas, even though with a relevant caveat. the promising reasons are that inner areas are particularly suitable to host emerging demand for experience and immersive tourism, community tourism, nature and landscape fruition; this kind of activities show higher unit returns than mass tourism ones, even if they move lower flows of visitors. in addition, the strong effort of snai in overcoming population digital divide and connecting inner areas to broadband allows to implement dynamic packaging tourism through web platforms and social networks. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 96 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia the caveat is that this kind of development needs a strong coordination effort to let out the local territory from the condition of tourism anticommon. to do so, it is necessary addressing to a networked competence approach, rather than to a resource-based strategy. references balaguer j. cantavella-jorda m., 2002, tourism as a long-run economic growth factor: the spanish case, in: “applied economics”, 34 barca f. 2011, alternative approaches to development policy: intersections and divergences, oecd, regional outlook, paris beckmann v., padmanabhan m. (editors), 2009, institutions and sustainability, springer, berlin. beritelli p., 2011, cooperation among prominent actors in a tourist destination, in: “annals of tourism research”, 38/2 buchanan j. m., yoon y. j., 2000, symmetric tragedies: commons and anticommons, in: “journal of law and economics”, xliii candela g., figini p., 2010, economia del turismo e delle destinazioni, mcgrawhill cardoso j., lange c., 2007, a framework for assessing strategies and technologies for dynamic packaging applications in e-tourism, in: “information technology & tourism”, 9 dedeke a., 2017, creating sustainable tourism ventures in protected areas: an actor-network theory analysis, in: “tourism management”, volume 61 denicolai s., cioccarelli g., zucchella a., 2010, resource-based local development and networked core-competencies for tourism excellence, in: “tourism management”, 31 de vita g., kyaw k. s., 2016, tourism development and growth, in: “annals of tourism research”, 60 garrod b., wornell r., youell r., 2006, reconceptualizing rural resources as countryside capital: the case of rural tourism, in: “journal of rural studies”, 22/1 hardin g., 1968, the tragedy of the commons, in: “science”, 162, no. 3859 heller m. a., 1998, the tragedy of the anticommons: property in the transition from marx to markets, in: “harvard law review, 621 ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 97 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia istat, 2014, capacity of collective tourist accommodation by type of accommodation and municipality, extraction from db i.stat, not published komppula r., 2014, the role of individual entrepreneurs in the development of competitiveness for a rural tourism destination – a case study, in: “tourism management”, 40 lanza a., pigliaru f., 1994, the tourist sector in the open economy, in: “rivista internazionale di scienze economiche e commerciali”, 41 lucas, r., 1988, on the mechanics of economic growth, in: “journal of monetary economics”, 22 lucatelli s., 2016, strategia nazionale per le aree interne: un punto a due anni dal lancio della strategia, in: “agriregionideuropa”, 12/45 mak j., moncur j. e. t., 1998, political economy of protecting unique recreational resources: hanauma bay, hawaii, in: “ambio”, 27/3 menard c., 1996, on cluster, hybrids, and other strange forms: the case of the french poultry industry, in: “journal of institutional and theoretical economics” 152 natali a., 2015, cercando pisanello. i nuovi viaggiatori e le vocazioni ai luoghi, in: “territorio”, 74 natali a., 2016, aree interne. i luoghi di intervento. un’analisi che assomigli a un’inchiesta, in: “agriregionieuropa” 12/45 nelson p., 1970, information and consumer behavior, in: “journal of political economy”, 78/2 payne j. e., mervar a., 2010, the tourism–growth nexus in croatia, in: “tourism economics”, 16/4) perles-ribes j. f., ramón-rodríguez a. b., rubia a., moreno-izquierdo l., 2017, is the tourism-led growth hypothesis valid after the global economic and financial crisis? the case of spain 1957–2014, in: “tourism management”, 61 porter m. e., 1998, clusters and the new economics of competition, in: “harvard business review” regione toscana, 2015, movimento turistico per comune, not published. regione umbria, 2015, movimento turistico comprensoriale, not published. romeiro p., costa c., 2009, the potential of management networks in the innovation and competitiveness of rural tourism: a case study on the valle del jerte (spain), in: “current issues in tourism”, published online 21 dec 2009 salvatore r., chiodo e., 2016, aree interne e tourism transition: nuove pratiche turistiche e riorganizzazione dell’offerta in funzione della rivitalizzazione, in: “agriregionideuropa”, 12/45 ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 98 andreoli, silvestri – tourism and development in ia sharpley r., jepson d., 2011, rural tourism: a spiritual experience? in: “annals of tourism research”, 38 tinsley r., lynch p., 2001, small tourism business networks and destination development, in: “hospitality management”, 20 van huylenbroeck g. a., vuylsteke, verbeke w, 2009, public good markets: the possible role of hybrid governance structures in institutions for sustainability, in: beckmann v., padmanabhan m. (eds.). short author’s biography arcangela andreoli is consultant on tourism for internal areas national strategy (snai). she worked for five years in national observatory for tourism and has been involved in providing advice and technical assistance to government and private organizations in the field of tourism and local marketing. francesco silvestri is adjunct professor at university of modena and reggio emilia (unimore), his research interests include environmental economics, development economics and sustainable tourism. he has published a handbook of environmental and ecological economics (2005) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 99 tourism as a driver of development in the inner areas microsoft word ahern gogishvili kizildere ijpp__final_with_doi.docx ijpp   issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 85 the international phd experience in urban studies in italy joanne ahern urban studies phd researcher, gran sasso science institute viale francesco crispi 7, 67100, l’aquila, italy joanne.ahern@gssi.infn.it david gogishvili urban studies phd researcher, gran sasso science institute viale francesco crispi 7, 67100, l’aquila, italy david.gogishvili@gssi.infn.it dicle kizildere urban studies phd researcher, gran sasso science institute viale francesco crispi 7, 67100, l’aquila, italy dicle.kizildere@gssi.infn.it ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 86 abstract internationalization in graduate education has created diverse trends in different regions. higher mobility of international students and increased variety of university programmes on offer has resulted in new challenges for the management of italian university doctoral programmes. a reflection of the experiences of phd students is useful at this time as they are the ones that this system will affect most and who will shape its future. this paper discusses the internationalization of phd programmes focusing on urban studies and draws a general picture of the current state of phd education in italy for non-italian students by examining their motives, expectations, programme environment, infrastructure and quality of teaching. with this aim in mind, we distributed a questionnaire to foreign students who studied or are currently pursuing a phd in urban studies in italy and also conducted a focus group with a group of foreign students attending a phd programme in urban studies. we thus present a partial reflection on the current situation of doctoral education in italy. keywords: phd, doctoral education, international students, internationalization, urban studies, italy ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 87 introduction the growing number of doctoral graduates has become a common trend across organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd) countries in the last two decades (figure 1). moreover, phd education is continuously evolving, and at present, an increasing number of phd students are no longer confined to knowledge-intensive countries (pedersen, 2014). within italy, most phd programmes are relatively small with just a few students and of these international non-italian students make up a relatively small niche (table 1). thus, those studied for this research are a small but growing community. this growth in the number of non-italian students suggests that it is time to reflect on the system for doctoral education in italy. this paper is intended to provide a reflection on the current internationalization process of phd education in italy through the experiences of non-italian phd students pursuing their degree in the urban studies and related programme1 (referred to as ‘the programmes’ elsewhere in this text). 1 universita' degli studi di napoli federico ii programme in urban design and planning; gran sasso science institute programme in urban studies; politecnico di milano programme in urban planning, design, and policy; spatial planning and urban development; territorial design and government; politecnico di torino & università degli studi di torino programme in urban and regional development; sapienza università di roma programme in urban planning; università degli studi mediterranea programme in urban regeneration and economic development (ured); università iuav di venezia programme in regional planning and public policies; università degli studi di ferrara programme in architecture and urban planning; universita degli studi di milano-bicocca programme in urban and local european studies (urbeur); università degli studi di palermo programme in urban and regional planning.see table 1. ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 88 figure 1. graduation rates at doctorate level, 2000 and 2009. source: (oecd, 2013). in recent years the number of international or non-italian phd students has grown in italy, this growth mirrors the growing numbers of phd students around the world. the number of non-italian students studying in italy has been growing year by year from 2 in the 19th cycle to 18 in the 27th cycle from 2% of all phd students in the field to 33% (table 1)2. table 1. a number of italian and non-italian students in urban studies programmes in italy. source: (miur, 2015).3 year italian phd students foreign phd students percentage of foreign phd students 19th cycle 85 2 2% 20th cycle 72 3 4% 21st cycle 86 3 3% 22nd cycle 64 4 6% 23rd cycle 79 6 8% 2 with the exception of the 28th cycle. we were unable to determine why this drop occurred but a number of factors are thought to play a role. 3 the universities whose programmes we are taking into account here are: università iuav di venezia, politecnico di torino, politecnico di milano, sapienza università di roma, universita degli studi roma, universita' degli studi di napoli federico ii, università degli studi di firenze, university of catania, università degli studi di palermo ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 89 24th cycle 53 10 19% 25th cycle 67 15 22% 26th cycle 55 16 29% 27th cycle 54 18 33% 28th cycle 52 9 17% we have carried out an investigation into content and structure of each phd programme using the english language in order to better understand the opportunities that currently are being offered within the system of higher education in italy in the field of urban studies for non-italians. this process was mainly carried out by studying the websites of the universities as well as through individual communication with the programme representatives or graduate students. the paper consists of the following parts; we start by outlining the increasing importance of doctoral education. we then briefly discuss internationalization of higher education and the career options available for the students as well as one of the key challenges foreign students face. after discussing our methodology, we provide a summary of the phd programmes to present the current situation. next we demonstrate the main points and results from the focus group and survey we conducted. lastly, we will reflect and discuss these key findings. importance of doctoral education during the past decade, policymakers have highlighted the increasing importance of knowledge-intensive industries in sustaining economic growth and prosperity. with the barcelona target, set in 2002, the european union emphasised the need to increase investments in research and development (cordis, 2003). european economic policies and the oecd member state policies have consistently encouraged an increase in the number of phd graduates recognising ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 90 that knowledge-intensive labour is desirable for sustaining competitiveness. the past decade has witnessed a steady increase in the number of doctoral degrees being awarded across the oecd, rising by 38% from 154,000 new doctoral graduates in 2000 to 213,000 in 2009 (auriol & freeman, 2013, p. 6). the increasing presence of women in doctoral programmes partly explains the overall increase in doctorates awarded over the past decade. women were awarded on average almost half (46%) of oecd’s new doctorate degrees (auriol & freeman, 2013, p. 8). this rise has strong grounds as the human capital accumulations, which definitely includes phd education, are indications of individuals’ capacity for innovation, and thus productivity. the return on investment of phd degrees can thus be argued to be largely positive. in the current context, there appears to be valid argumentation for increasing the size of the phd labour force (pedersen, 2014). this is a period of change in the system of phd scholarship in italy, with the bologna process, slowly increasing internationalisation of the existing schools, for example, venice, turin and milan, and the opening of the gran sasso science institute urban studies programme in l’aquila. thus, it is useful not only for students such as those in this issue to take stock but for the wider academic community to assess where we are and where we want to be in the future. speaking of doctoral education in the usa, wei lin has noted that “[h]istorically, mobility among academics often followed colonial routes so that exchanges were among countries and universities sharing languages, colonial and/or imperial histories. contemporary academic exchange and mobility are broader. in the past decade, academic interactions in terms of exchange programmes, degreeseeking international students, and research scholars, have grown” (li and yu, 2015). ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 91 the evolution of these traditional routes towards internationalisation can be observed in both the usa and italy. in italy this can be seen in the move towards using english with italian academics publishing in english, italian students completing their phds in english, italian universities running phd programmes in english and last but not least the publishing of journals such as this in english. in addition, the increasing usage of english in academia brings both pros and cons. while it dominates the explanatory frames and methods, it also affects the accessibility. to tackle down this domination, it is also important to emphasize the local context and content depended differentiation in addition to disseminating the produced knowledge in both english and the non-english speaking world. understanding internationalisation internalisation internationalisation is one of the most significant developments in the field of higher education in the twenty-first century. it involves increasing the range of international activities within and between universities as well as other educational institutions along with increased numbers of international students and academic staff (robson, 2011). this process is driven by a wide variety of social, cultural, economic and political forces which are pursued by various actors. however, the most constant and profound drive of internationalisation continues to be globalisation which has been discussed by a number of scholars (de wit, 2011, foskett and maringe, 2010). it has both national and institutional rationales as was clearly outlined by knight (knight, 2006) (table 2). table 2. national and institutional rationales of internationalization of higher education. source:(knight, 2006). national institutional ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 92 human resources development international branding and profile strategic alliances quality enhancement/international standards income generation/commercial trade alternative income generation nation and institution building student and staff development social/cultural development and mutual understanding networks and strategic alliances knowledge production the scope and complexity of this development in internationalisation expanded at an unprecedented pace over the past decade. it is fuelled by the processes of economic, social-cultural globalisation and localisation. internationalisation is not a new phenomenon for universities. however, the concepts, forms, focus and movement of the internationalisation agenda have changed. from aid in the 1970s, cooperation and exchange in the 1980s to trade by the end of the twentieth century. by the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the competition for international students has intensified on a global scale and the study destinations for internationally mobile students have become increasingly diversified (gu and schweisfurth, 2011). many higher educational institutions are currently developing internationalisation policies and strategies which vary from solely increasing recruitment of international students, to more complex attempts of ‘mainstreaming’ an internationalised approach within the institution as a whole and thus addressing the implications for all ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 93 students (not only international) and staff in terms of curriculum, attitudes and practices. another aspect that brought changes within the higher education system and is currently growing is the development of new forms of cross-border education which are most often manifested in double phd degree programmes. the programmes investigated within this research project provide such examples università degli studi di ferrara programme in architecture and urban planning in cooperation with polis university in tirana or università degli studi mediterranea programme in urban regeneration, economic development in cooperation with northeastern university of boston etc. the unprecedented development in distance and e-learning education also means that the offering of education programmes across national borders has become virtual as well as physical (gu and schweisfurth, 2011). careers of phd holders with increased mobility, a rise in the focus on knowledge-based economy, specialization and rapid growth in scientific production, phds are ‘considered as the best qualified for creation, implementation and diffusion of knowledge and innovation’ (auriol, 2008). although there has been a steady increase in the number of phd graduates in the labour market, they are still a small proportion of the workforce (oecd, 2011). in 2000, 1% of students of oecd countries were studying for doctoral degrees, while in italy the rate was 0.4%. there is an upward trend of 1.5% in all oecd countries with a rate of 1.6 % in italy (figure 1). according to auriol et al (2013), increasing graduation rates are consistent with rising demand for skilled individuals. graduates face a number of uncertainties in the labour market such as short-term or part-time contracts. as reported by istat (2015), 91.5% of the doctorate holders were employed in different sectors while 7% were looking for a job. among employed graduates, over 90% percent ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 94 work in professional or managerial areas. while higher education is often thought of as an obvious employer, as a result of increasing collaboration between universities and industry, government and business sectors are also employing phd graduates. in particular countries with strong research and development oriented businesses, like belgium, germany, united states, more than one-third of phd graduates work in business sectors (auriol, 2008) (figure 2). figure 2. doctorate holders by sector of employment, 2013. source: (oecd, 2013). communication & research culture for a student studying in a foreign country (in this case italy) through a language that is not the official language (for example english) there can be many challenges, for example, difficulties in communication or gaining access to the research culture both inside and outside of their institution. we refer to this issue in general as communication. from both the questionnaire and focus group, it is clear that communication for non-italian students is a serious challenge in italy. deem and brehonys (2000, p. 163) research in the uk has argued that “we cannot eradicate the value differences, and power relations on which differential treatment of students according to nationality, mode of study, gender, ethnicity, age and disability ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 95 depend”. studying through english in italy brings both opportunities and challenges. the language barrier still remains a difficulty and this has been clearly indicated by our study participants. while the official language may be english the working language is also often italian. however, in addition, to the language barrier, there is also a communication barrier. the nature of communication refers not only to language but also encompasses the cultural norms and assumptions, standards or “common sense” practices which are assumed to be understood by everyone. however, in italy for the nonitalian student coming from a different background, this is not always correct. currently, the increased availability of courses and scholarships for english speaking students in italy is facilitating the arrival of more non-italian phd students (the authors of this paper would be unable to study here without this). yet it must be acknowledged that these students can face a difficulty in communication and, as a result, communication must be managed effectively by the institutions to ensure the access to research cultures within a programme. in addition, gaining access to research cultures can be difficult (deem & brehony, 2000) outside of the institution within which the student is staying, (for instance the majority of conferences, debates and open talks are held mainly in italian). however, it is also a barrier within the institution as “much of academic life is flexible and informal, relationships are very important for success” (mitchell, 2007). thus constraints in communication during the phd can pose a serious challenge. in addition, all other factors pointed out by deem and brehony (2000) play a role in the difficulties experienced by students. methodology this paper follows a mixed methodology approach combining a literature review, focus group, questionnaire and data analysis. the ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 96 authors also compiled a database of characteristics of the (doctorate) programmes in urban studies in italy. the focus group was conducted with a group of six non-italian phd students at one of the institutions offering an english language option in italy4. the questions were semi-structured and allowed the students to lead the answers and discussion where they preferred allowing them to discuss shared and individual experiences. as students come from vastly different educational backgrounds it is to be expected that they have varying expectations, methods of evaluation and interpret their experiences differently. the conversation lasted for 120 minutes and was transcribed using the software express scribe transcription. the issues raised by these students helped to determine the questions used in the questionnaire. it was primarily used to gain a wider understanding of the current personal and group experience. for the questionnaire, a series of open and closed questions were used to aggregate information about the feelings and experiences concerning phd education for non-italian students (in english speaking programmes) in italy in the field of urban studies. considering that the numbers of international students in these programmes are quite low, the survey also provided an opportunity for more anonymized response in comparison to the focus group. it was distributed in august 2015 to both the programme co-ordinators and their students directly where the email addresses were available. reminder emails were sent in september and october and the survey was closed on the 15th of october 2015. the survey form was organized in four sections. the first section focused on the education aspect of the programmes as well as the career goals and the confidence of the students. the second section aimed to explore the attractive features that lead students to choose 4 for anonymity reasons the programme is not identified. ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 97 italy as a study option and the particular institution as well as the funding opportunities available. the third section tried to gain the understanding of the experience in terms of infrastructure, quality of teaching and the output by students themselves in the programmes that they are part of currently. the last section aimed to build a general profile based on age, sex, citizenship and language proficiency. in order to gain a detailed understanding of the phd programmes in urban studies in italy, a basic database was created which was based on the data sources aggregated using various methods. websites and information materials of each phd programme and the department were studied to get a comprehensive understanding of the aims of the programme as well as the methods applied within the teaching and research process. further information, such as the international aspects of the programme like the composition of the academic board and the teaching stuff, was aggregated via web survey and the email correspondence with the programme coordinators or the secretaries as well as with current and former students. summary of phd programmes the higher education system in italy consists of the university sector (state and private universities, polytechnics, universities for foreigners, schools of advanced studies and online/distance learning universities) and a non-university sector (inter alia national academies in the fine arts, cinema, dance and drama, music conservatories, schools and institutes for the education and training of professionals in various fields, such as language mediation, design, etc.). universities act autonomously within a national regulatory framework. in terms of research, the majority of research produced is done in public universities with the exception of a few private notfor-profit universities such as bocconi university in milan (education and culture dg, 2010). doctorate level of education ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 98 within university system was created as a result of the law of 1980 and has evolved from this. the importance of postgraduate education has experienced a considerable growth in the two most recent decades as also happened within other higher education systems across europe (figure 1). currently, there are 10 universities offering 12 phd programmes in the field of urban and regional planning in english (table 3). however, not all the programmes have had regular admission on a yearly basis, and restructuring is common. some have been either reformed by merging two or three programmes into one in order to increase efficiency or have been closed5. this growth is a reflection of the increasing importance of knowledge-intensive industries. the italian academic system is also undergoing a process of internationalization. this is visible in the number of postgraduate programmes in urban planning/studies or related fields offered in english. at the moment, there are 12 programmes where english is the official working language. the increase in such programmes is especially evident in recent years, starting in 2011. table 3. university and phd programmes. source: (aggregated by authors, 2015). university/department name of the programme gran sasso science institute urban studies politecnico di milano urban planning, design, and policy; spatial planning and urban development; territorial design and government. 5 this process made it challenging to gather information on some of the programmes. ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 99 politecnico di torino & università degli studi di torino urban and regional development sapienza università di roma urban planning università degli studi di ferrara architecture and urban planning universita degli studi di milano-bicocca urban and local european studies (urbeur) universita' degli studi di napoli federico ii urban design and planning università degli studi di palermo urban and regional planning università degli studi mediterranea urban regeneration and economic development (ured) università iuav di venezia regional planning and public policies the programmes offered in english mostly focus on topics that are common for most of them such as urban policies, spatial planning strategies, urban and regional development, urban management, urban economics and in some limited cases design and architecture. according to the descriptions of these postgraduate programmes their focus of studies is directed towards producing high-profile scholars and professionals that could aspire to both an academic career and management positions in public or private structures. even though the admission process is open to all students without any restriction to the european union citizenship, quite often the departments highlight european cities as the primary focus of their phd programmes, which might be a limiting factor for the development of phd student’s research. however, in some cases, the programme descriptions state ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 100 that although there is a particular geographic focus students studying non-european areas are also encouraged to apply. the majority of the programmes combine coursework with doctoral research projects. these courses either aim to deepen the knowledge in a specific area or to develop and strengthen research skills. considering the multi/ interdisciplinary aspect of the phd programmes and the variety of professional backgrounds of phd students, such courses seem useful. however, it is argued by some scholars studying the importance of coursework at this level that extra courses at this stage of university life lack efficiency and on the contrary, seems reasonable to promote research skills through supervised research as it is performed in some research-oriented master’s studies (drennan and clarke, 2009). the programmes studied are often run in partnership with other non-italian institutes or universities (science po, humboldt university of berlin, and polis university of tirana etc.), aiming to enhance academic and research skills of phd students while also contributing to the knowledge exchange at the international level. internationalization has been positively presented as a means to increase the range of international activities within academia (knight, 2008). the process of internationalisation consists of various aspects, for example, the openness of the programme, participation in international academic debates, internationalisation of academic and administrative staff etc (gu and schweisfurth, 2011). however very often it is only limited to the appropriation of english language as the official one. internationalisation of each programme among the programmes in italy is very often highlighted in various aspects by the universities and departments. in the case of the italian programmes in urban studies often internationalisation concerns the exchange year or an opportunity to do a study/research abroad or the fact that programmes are open to international students as well. furthermore, as already mentioned, a considerable share of urban ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 101 studies postgraduate degrees are run in partnership with international actors such as institutes and universities. however, the scope of involvement of these actors is not always clear. the programmes sometimes include foreign scholars and researchers in the teaching process or in the supervision and examining roles, albeit often in a limited role. results of survey twenty-two responses were received from the online survey (ten female and twelve male phd students). twelve were from non-eu member states and ten from eu member states. the phd students that filled in the questionnaire represent five programmes from five different institutions (table 4). unfortunately, the results do not represent a full spectrum of english speaking phd programmes in the field of urban studies in italy even though the questionnaire was distributed to all the key contacts. table 4. respondents by the university. university number of respondents università degli studi di ferrara 6 gran sasso science institute 7 politecnico di milano 4 sapienza università di roma 2 università degli studi mediterranea 3 the choice of educational program ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 102 besides collecting some basic information, the first two sections of the questionnaire were aimed to aggregate data on the motivations before starting a doctorate programme as well as expectations for post-phd. almost all of the respondents who consider a doctoral degree as a prerequisite to finding employment in their anticipated area(s) consider academia (university) as the most desired place for finding employment both in their home country as well as abroad. while on the other hand only a handful of those who do not look at phd degree as something that is required in order to get a job in their area considers employment in academic fields. the majority of such replies prefer to find employment in the industry or government sector while the location (home country or not) of the job does not appear to make any considerable difference. these attitudes are clearly illustrated in the figure below (figure 3) where yes/ no indicates the attitude towards the requirement of a phd for working in the desired field. the results are also separated between home country and non-home country employment aspirations. figure 3. career goals post-phd6. 6 this figure combines the answers to the following questions; do you think a phd is a prerequisite to work in your desired area? what were your career goals at the time you entered graduate school (home country employment)? what were your career goals at the time you entered graduate school (non-home country employment)? ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 103 when it comes to the degree of confidence of obtaining a job within their chosen field there seems to be no correlation between the career goals and the confidence. the majority of the respondents feel confident about finding a job after they receive a phd degree. more research is needed to understand if this confidence is justified. the choice of particular educational institution for obtaining a doctoral degree as well as the decision to study in italy is tightly linked with two main motivations that are repeated in the answers of most of the respondents. while the reasons such as school rankings and the academic staff at an institution tend to be crucial while making a decision it is always accompanied by the funding opportunities that are offered within all phd programmes analysed. for sixteen out of twenty-two respondents, the main source of financial support is scholarship sometimes combined with personal/family funds and income generated from being a teaching ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 104 assistant. funding opportunities and schemes are vital while making a decision in favour of a particular programme, but it is expected that the programme will have an appropriate follow-up in terms of teaching and research programme as well as the environment. professional development accessing an active and vibrant research environment, contact with other researchers and collaborating with them is a fundamental part of success. the survey investigated what efforts are made towards student’s professional development, for instance, we asked if respondents had an opportunity to gain teaching experience. while 44% of the respondents have this opportunity through lecturing in undergraduate and graduate courses, and leading laboratory sections of undergraduate or graduate courses, two-thirds have gained experience by leading discussion sections of undergraduate or graduate courses. furthermore, many phd students stated preparing articles for publication as an important part of their professional development. additionally, in slightly more than half of the cases respondents received instructions for the development of their oral communication and presentation skills. program environment another question concerned the question of assessment and feedback. the majority of students declared that they receive an annual or more frequent assessment of their progress. when asked do they receive timely feedback, 61% said yes. a relatively small share (30%) have access to a career advice service. those respondents who have benefited from this service are more confident about finding a job after obtaining a degree in their desired area. 60% of those who have access to a career advice service stated that they are not encouraged to use this service. the lack of a career advice service is a possible area for improvement across all institutions. ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 105 students were asked to rate the quality of teaching by faculty in their programme and research experience, the curriculum of their phd programme, the overall quality of their programme, the intellectual liveliness of their programme and the international academic connections of their programme. as table 5 indicates, most of the students are satisfied with the general quality of the programme and research experience (table 5). interestingly, the only subject that respondents were unhappy with is the intellectual liveliness of their programme. 23% of the respondents confirmed the existence of a language problem and attributed it equally among the inadequate english level of fellow students, school administrators, lecturers and using italian as the main language of communication as sources of this issue. table 5. satisfaction rate of respondents. poor fair good excellent how would you rate the quality of teaching by faculty in your programme? 13.6% (3) 18.2% (4) 54.5% (12) 13.6% (3) how would you rate the quality of your research experience? 4.5% (1) 27.3% (6) 59.1% (13) 9.1% (2) how would you rate the curriculum of your phd programme? 4.5% (1) 36.4% (8) 45.5% (10) 13.6% (3) how would you rate the overall quality of your programme? 9.1% (2) 13.6% (3) 63.6% (14) 13.6% (3) ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 106 how would you rate the intellectual liveliness of your programme? 9.1% (2) 45.5% (10) 36.4% (8) 9.1% (2) how would you rate the international academic connections of your programme? 22.7% (5) 22.7% (5) 36.4% (8) 18.2% (4) infrastructure we decided to explore the infrastructure available to students as a further measure to understand the support they receive. the results were quite interesting as 32% of respondents do not have access to a personal work space provided by their institution. while this is a small percentage it is surprising that some students do not have a place to work. moreover, a quarter of phd students are on programmes that do not provide computer facilities for their students. in addition, students also reported access to libraries, a laboratory and funding for visits to conferences and for research trips as additional facilities available to them. however, only half had access to library resources that they considered adequate to support their research. in terms of research output (presentations, articles, book chapters etc.) all students have been active in one way or another. in total between them, the respondents have given fifty-five presentations, produced thirty-two refereed articles, eleven book chapters, three reviews and five books or other edited volumes. discussion and conclusion we wish to avoid generalising our findings as they are not intended to be comprehensive but instead the aim was to provide an insight into the ongoing process of internationalisation of the italian higher education system with a focus on doctoral programmes in urban studies. as already outlined in the introduction we studied a small but ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 107 growing number of students whose impact on the system will only be seen after a period of time. however, as this trend is set to continue in the future it is the right moment to start reflecting on the current situation and its direction. as outlined earlier, there have been a number of steps towards internationalisation within the programmes studied, including crossborder or double-degree programmes, growing diversity of nationalities and an increasing number of non-italian students studying in italy. with respect to our own doctoral studies and interaction with other international phd students, it is clear that exploring our subject via interdisciplinary methods and the internationalization of the process is crucial for a successful phd programme within italy and beyond. this increases both the openness to change and awareness of new scientific concepts and approaches in the field. opportunities to be part of the international phd programme by studying abroad and gaining authentic real world learning experiences are considered to be crucial to the employment opportunities of phd graduates. the results of this research and specifically the survey provide a broader picture of the present situation but it could also be used to start a discussion around the current state of doctoral education in italy and its future direction, at least in the field of urban studies. as acquiring a phd is a time period in which a researcher invests in their professional development this was an important area for us to examine. our results indicate that the funding offered by most of the programmes in urban studies is one of the most important factors attracting foreign students to study for a phd in italy together with the general attractiveness of studying in the country. moreover, this aspect contributes to the openness of the italian system of higher education to international students as well as encouraging equality. considering the unequal access to obtaining further knowledge and experience within doctoral programmes internationally this effort is ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 108 highly valuable. thus, access to international activities at the individual level is becoming less unequal (gu and schweisfurth, 2011). furthermore, the outcomes of our survey indicate that there is a high rate of satisfaction among the students that suggests that there are opportunities in terms of professional and academic development. however, most of the respondents still feel the lack of access to careers advice services which definitely is an aspect to be addressed and improved by most of the programmes. our research shows doing a phd is considered essential experience by those who consider or strive to be part of academia in the future, both at home and abroad, rather than work in industry or government sector. while on the contrary students who do not aim to have a job in the former look at doctorate degree just as an additional chance to further their knowledge and skills that will improve their employability in private companies or government. as we already highlighted there is an increased interest in pursuing doctoral education both within italy and beyond. thus, the paper is a starting point for further research in this emerging area of study. further research into the challenges facing doctoral students in terms of their future career as well as the challenges that phd programmes themselves face to attract and facilitate students would be interesting. acknowledgments many thanks to those who gave their time to assist us with this research, including the respondents to our questionnaire, focus groups participants, ijpp editors, antonio calafati, daniela rozzi and the anonymous reviewer. references auriol, l. (2008) doctoral graduates and the international labour market. international workshop on the careers and mobility of doctorate holders. brussels. ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 109 auriol, l., m. misu & freeman, r. a. (2013) careers of doctorate holders, oecd publishing. cordis. 2003. working towards the barcelona target [online]. brussels: community research and development information service. available: http://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/20876_en.html [accessed 20 nov 2015]. de wit, h. (2011) trends, issues and challenges in internationalisation of higher education, amsterdam, centre for applied research on economics and management hogeschool van amsterdam. deem, r. & brehony, k. j. (2000) doctoral students' access to research cultures-are some more unequal than others? studies in higher education, 25, 149-165. doi: 10.1080/713696138. drennan, j. & clarke, m. (2009) coursework master’s programmes: the student’s experience of research and research supervision. studies in higher education, 34, 483500. doi: 10.1080/03075070802597150. education and culture dg (2010) he review – country report about the higher education system. country: italy. brussels: education and culture dg. foskett, n. & maringe, f. (2010) globalization and internationalization in higher education. in: foskett, n. & maringe, f. (eds.) theoretical, strategic and management perspectives. london: continuum. gu, q. & schweisfurth, m. (2011) rethinking university internationalisation: towards transformative change. teachers and teaching, 17, 611-617. doi: 10.1080/13540602.2011.625110. knight, j. (2006) internationalisation: concepts, complexities and challenges. in: forest, j. a., p.g. (ed.) international handbook of higher education. dordrecht: springer. knight, j. (2008) internationalization: a decade of changes and challenges. international higher education, 1, 6-7. ahern, gogishvili, kizildere – the international phd experience in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 110 li, w. & yu, w. (2015) internationalization of doctoral education in geography: perspectives from the united states. geojournal., 80, 231-238. doi: 10.1007/s10708-014-9579-1. mitchell, t. r. (2007) the academic life: realistic changes needed for business school students and faculty. academy of management learning & education, 6, 236-251. doi: 10.5465/amle.2007.25223462. miur (2015) dottorati di ricerca: accesso ai corsi in: miur ufficio di statistica (ed.). rome. oecd (2011) local development benefits from staging global events: achieving the local development legacy from 2012. oecd (2013) oecd science, technology and industry scoreboard. paris: oecd publishing. pedersen, h. s. (2014) new doctoral graduates in the knowledge economy: trends and key issues. journal of higher education policy and management, 36, 632-645. doi: 10.1080/1360080x.2014.957891. robson, s. (2011) internationalization: a transformative agenda for higher education? teachers and teaching, 17, 619-630. doi: 10.1080/13540602.2011.625116. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 43 historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed fabio detti, architect head o f plan n in g dep ar t m en t mu n icip a li ty o f man c ian o ( gr o s seto ) keywords: historical cartography, landscape planning, urban planning, italian planning, landscape values abstract in tuscany, urban planning has, for many years now, been strictly related to landscape planning. all of the levels of general planning are currently undergoing a process of compliance related to the landscape discipline enacted by the ministry of cultural heritage. in this process of compliance, there is no reference to the study of historical cartography, or even to the sedimented elements that are linked to the slow or very fast landscape transformation caused by the most recent human activities. it can be safely affirmed that historical cartography is a typical tool of the historian, who makes use of ancient cartography in conjunction with written documentation. however, should it be considered necessary also for those involved in territorial and landscape planning to understand and account for the concerns expressed by each community about their landscape? the focus of this discussion is the experience of the territorial and landscape planning of manciano (grosseto), a municipality in tuscany. the specific objective of this discussion is to evaluate the extent to which the use of archival sources and historical cartography impacts the framing of the issue of the landscape consistencies of the individual parts of the territory introduction in tuscany, urban planning has, for many years now, been strictly related to landscape planning. all of the levels of general planning are currently undergoing a process of compliance related to the landscape discipline enacted by the ministry of cultural heritage. in this process of compliance, there is no reference to the study of historical cartography, or even to the sedimented elements that are linked to the slow or very fast landscape transformation caused by the most recent human activities. it can be safely affirmed that historical cartography is a typical tool of the historian, who makes use of ancient cartography in conjunction with written documentation. however, should it be considered necessary also for those involved in territorial and landscape planning to understand and account for the concerns expressed by each community about their landscape? detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 44 the need to study landscape planning for this purpose arose from an attempt to answer several questions and fill some gaps in the field arising from practical experiences. the focus of this discussion is the experience of the territorial and landscape planning of manciano (grosseto), a small municipality in southern tuscany, between 1999 and 2003. many aspects of this planning experience, including the local planning instruments, are peculiar, since the experience involves all the agricultural areas included in the general urban planning tools but does not affect the legislation regarding the settlements (1). the specific objective of this discussion is to evaluate the extent to which the use of archival sources and historical cartography impacts the framing of the issue of the landscape consistencies of the individual parts of the territory, as well as to investigate (with all the limits that this investigation entails) the structural data (i.e current and historical shape of the land property). how are the landscape and territorial aspects preserved, promoted, and organised if collective behaviours are not interpreted? above all, what actions can a community deem appropriate for preserving its interests and vocations, or what can it expect from an act of landscape planning? therefore, the proposed study concerns the methods through which it is possible to operate within the limits of a municipal administrative jurisdiction, verifying which components to analyse, and which ones to focus on. the research highlights territorial and landscape qualities/quantities and considers how these features can be incorporated into a planning that is structured in accordance with the binding rules . at the same time, the planning process has been, over the years, sufficiently shared by communities that had to comply with those rules in order to preserve and improve the efficiency of their territory and landscape, even if this cooperation was done strictly for financial purposes. these notes are intended to highlight how elements of historical cartography, archival sources, and landscape results can still be considered today within a unitary framework. this framework will serve as a necessary reference for the construction of a planning process that is useful for an active and productive conservation—one that is strictly linked to the modus operandi of the communities that live and experience that landscape every day. a complex framework between landscape legislation and discipline on territorial governance a fundamental aspect of the relationship between analysis and synthesis in landscape planning is the consideration of historical data obtained from cartography as a crucial element of the analytical phase, or as an additional piece of information for the cognitive framework. detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 45 thereafter, given that the landscape is a matter of competence of the ministry of cultural heritage, only the active provisions are structured with consideration to the protected areas, and these provisions always play a key role in preserving a perceptive framework that is detached from the dynamism of landscape transformations. moreover, the active provisions, precisely because they have a conservative value, mostly disregard the analysis of the socioeconomic phenomena that produced a specific landscape, as if the factors that originated the landscape are no longer reproducible or cannot be enhanced. (2) (maiosi, 2012). where there are no ministerial constraints, the territory becomes landscape according to the economic events, and the loss of the relationship between the community and the market exposes large fringes of territories to operations based on a short-term perspective. these operations are incapable of either triggering new structural conditions or acting in the wake of the settled territorial and landscape heritage. in both cases the research outcome, however important at least for classification purposes, consists of the standardisation of historical landscapes or the study of the landscape components, which, depending on the disciplinary framework of reference (such as landscape protection, landscape management, or landscape planning, to name a few), end up providing the only operational guidelines. (3) (caravaggi, imbroglini, 2008; agnoletti, 2010) furthermore, the standardisation of landscapes, although fundamental on a didactic level and useful in providing univocal rules for the purposes of drafting urban planning tools, may not include the structural elements that associate each community with their own landscape that the community has contributed to build. most studies, as well as documents that constitute the landscape plans, lack an analysis of the range of actions of the individual community with respect to the construction of a suitable portion of territory and landscape (williamson and bellamy, 1987; overton 1996) . the concept of limes (border) still today represents the model of management and local transfer of land ownership (4). it often determines the attitude towards certain entrepreneurial models (consider the difference between the mount amiata sides, which are under two different jurisdictions of grosseto and siena provinces). it also accounts for obsolete dynamics (similarly to the castello–contado model) that are hardly perceivable in the dynamic process of current activities but are still present in the modus operandi and forma mentis of entire local communities. the theme of the limes and the landscape that arose from it, both in terms of territorial management methods and relationship with the community was very clear, for example, to those who managed parish assets in a strictly patrimonial sense (5). in fact, the territory was shaped for market and self-consumption purposes. (detti, 2000) detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 46 yet, with all of the possible limitations, these studies had been developed in the disciplinary sectors of economic geography (j.h. von thunen, a.h. thiessen were the precursors) which perhaps have presented their limit precisely in the construction of a model that, as every other model, may be easily exposed to falsification, especially when it involves sociological variables.for studies relating to the construction of the landscape it is of little use to talk about models but it is better to use terms as shared behaviors. naturally this refers to the behavior of more or less homogeneous social groups. (6), (von thunen, 1826; thiessen, 1911; lai 2002; bencardino and prezioso, 2006; macchi janica, 2009). the conventional tools of landscape planning in italy – a short excursus from the drafting of the european landscape convention (2000), the meaning summarised by the term ‘landscape’, ‘part of a territory as perceived by the population’has conveyed numerous research experiences and has also separated the different disciplinary components into one or more fields of investigation contained in the definitions of art. 1 of the convention itself. as a matter of fact, italy is a country in which the word ‘landscape’, although it has been used in fields from the arts to literature and information (to name a few), has struggled to find its own place in the regulatory and legislative framework related to planning. the first time ‘landscape’ was used as a term with its own direct cogency, from a legal point of view, was in 2004, when the code of cultural heritage (legislative decree 42/2004) was promulgated. since 2004, art. 131 of the code, the term ‘landscape’ refers to: ‘the territory that expresses identity, whose character derives from the action of natural and human factors and their interrelations’. additionally, the landscape is protected ‘in relation to those aspects and characters that constitute material and visible representation of national identity, since they are the expression of cultural values’ (7). (severini, 2019). with regard to the legal system of the republic, however, the term ‘landscape’ was mentioned in art. 9 of the 1946 constitution, one of the articles that defines the fundamental principles. this article states: ‘the republic promotes the development of culture and scientific and technical research. it preserves the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation’. therefore, from 1946 to 2004 the term ‘landscape’ remained limited to a constitutive principle of the state and did not have its own legal form and structure, which would have allowed the employment of operational tools for its protection. detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 47 however, since l. 778 of 1922, natural and panoramic beauties have been preserved with the need to be authorised by the superintendencies through the presentation of ‘projects of works of any kind related to the properties themselves’ (article 1). meanwhile, the same rule in art. 4 defined a relationship between new buildings, urban planning, and the beauties to be protected: ‘in those places where real estate is subject to the provisions of current legislation, in the case of new buildings, reconstructions and implementation of regulatory plans, the governmental authority may specify the distances, measures and other necessary regulations’. a more organic system was built with the bottai laws of 1939, especially with the l.1497/39 (protection of natural beauties). hence, “natural beauties” and “panoramic beauties” were distinguished, and their identification was postponed to the definition of two different lists. in art. 5 of this provision, the term ‘landscape territorial plan’ was, for the first time, used to preserve those panoramic beauties included in the lists, ‘in order to prevent the areas of those territories from being used in a way that could prejudice the panoramic beauty’. in all the other cases, such as those concerning interventions on property and real estate, the principle of authorisation, as in the 1922 law, was used as regulation. this regulatory framework, intended as the only method of legal protection of landscape, lasted about 50 years, until the moment when, during a debate which occurred through the 1970s and the early 1980s, the idea that some territories must be protected for their intrinsic features, regardless of their beauty, began to take shape. this is how the idea of assets protected by category was born. in 1985, according to the law 431, these assets were protected together with other categories and were subjected to the same authorisation procedure of the law 1497/39. this law protected the appearance of buildings against modifications, the shores of seas and lakes for a depth of 300 metres, the banks of rivers and streams for a depth of 150 metres, the alpine mountains in the altitude above 1600 metres and the apennine mountains above 1200 metres, and so on. law 431/85 also takes from law 1497/39 the concept of the landscape plan (or even urban–territorial plans with specific consideration of landscape and environmental values), whose drafting is entrusted to the regions rather than to the superintendencies, as established by law 1497/39. there was also a temporal interlude during which the provinces took care of the valuation of cultural heritage through their own territorial planning tool called the territorial coordination plan. this opportunity took place between 1990 (the year in which law 142 was promulgated) and 2004, constituting one of the most interesting seasons in the attempt to combine territorial planning and landscape planning. detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 48 finally, in 2004 with the drafting of legislative decree 42/2004, also taking up what was established with the european convention of 2000, art. 131 defines what landscape is, and art. 134 defines what are the landscape assets, in doing so recovering all of the elements of the legislation considered previously. in this sense, the natural beauties and the panoramic beauties identified by law 1497/39 become art. 136 of legislative decree 42/2004 (named ‘buildings and areas of considerable public interest’), while the assets of law 431/85 become art. 142 of the legislative decree 42/2004 (named ‘protected areas by law’). the promulgation of legislative decree 42/2004 assigns to the regions the obligation to draft the landscape plan in agreement with the ministry. it is thus established that the regions must, in addition to their traditional role of providing urban planning laws (or territory government laws), definitively represent and become the main centre of power in which the landscape plans are created. in summary, the instrument available to the municipalities and useful for landscape planning from 1990 to 2004 was represented by the provincial plan (ptcp), while from 2004 to the present day it is the regional landscape plan that dictates the rules. thus, the municipalities, with their own urban tools, implement on the local scale what has been disregarded in the decision-making and in-depth levels of a higher order. moreover, since 2004, the literature on landscape planning has grown, and, alongside the formulation of the first regional landscape plans, orientations have multiplied and different methodological approaches have been articulated (8). (caravaggi and imbroglini, 2008; ferrara and campioni, 2012; magnaghi, 2016). despite everything, the perception may often be that of witnessing the production of enormous cognitive frameworks that are useful for the definition and registration of the qualitative and quantitative data, then brought back to interpretative schemes that define the data detected. then, this enormous production is rarely able to get to the heart of the productive requalification capacity or even the active conservation of the components detected, and it is consequently unable to find an adequate regulatory framework (take as an example the landscape plan of the tuscany region and the related law on the government of the territory, both drafted between 2014 and 2015). the plan of the rural territory of manciano (1999–2003) the municipality of manciano can be considered an area where different elements of the landscape perceptually coexist; some features are attributable to the late middle ages, others to the transition from the modern to contemporary ages, and others, the recent forms of massive transformation, to the fascist and post-war reclamations. detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 49 the municipality is a mosaic made up of many apparently discordant elements, but each one has the ability to persist and reproduce. for example, see a portion of the territory such as that represented by the nucleus of marsiliana, borgo ente maremma, and tenuta corsini in two aerial photos of 1954 and 2019 (figures 1 and 2 below) (regione toscana, various years). figure 1 aerial photo 1954 figure 2aerial photo 2019 a) medieval castle, seat of the parish and community with the endowment of adjacent crops – renovated in 1896 b) dispensa –seat of organisation of the estate between 1560 and 1850 c) banditella – workers’ seat of management of the estate between 1560 and 1850 d) construction of a new warehouse for the collection of cereals in 1909 e) owner’s olive grove in the period of the complete fascist reclamation – 1928–1940 f) first hints of ente maremma reclamation following the 1950 excerpt law with relative expropriations (alignment and drainage of fields and new farm units) detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 50 g) the crushed stone quarry associated with the reclamation and construction of the village and rural buildings h) the new village planned and built after 1960 in a first assessment, it seems that the overlapping of several diachronic elements is a typical characteristic of many italian landscapes; however, it can also be noticed that, in the case highlighted here, the overlapping of such features show clearly a substantial harmony between the parts. this sort of harmonic composition is not always a typical feature of the superimposition of different elements in the italian territory (consider the case of the venetian countryside or, to stay in tuscany, the territorial spaces of small enterprises in valdarno). in 1999 the municipality of manciano began a process aimed to equip the rural territory (the so-called e zones of the general town plan) with adequate regulations in line with the ptcp of the province of grosseto. therefore, this is a period in which the enhancement of cultural heritage (9) is entrusted to the provinces (law 142 of 1990 and legislative decree 267 of 2000) and the ptcp of grosseto establishes, among other things, that the municipal urban planning tools should organise their rural territory into five agricultural economic classes: a) areas of urban fringe with a weak agricultural economy b) areas of urban influence with a weak agricultural economy c) marginal areas with a weak economy d) areas with extensive developed agriculture e) intensive or specialised agricultural areas this same tool, in addition to mandating precise methods for inserting new buildings for agricultural purposes (use of materials and typologies, settlement insertion according to a precise farm grid, definition of the pertinences for the purposes of new aggregation, etc.), establishes that ‘even in properties that are not agricultural farms, the municipalities will be able to allow the construction of small outbuildings (different from those governed as peri-urban gardens) within areas identified in the new general urban planning instruments or [...] exclude the construction of such small outbuildings for environmental, historical-settlement or naturalistic values. the maximum volume […] must be graded in relation to the classification of the rural area “carried out according to the five classes listed above”’ (10). (province of grosseto 1996) thus begins a rather complex process of attempting to understand which is the best direction to give to the agricultural economic classes in order to comply with the requirements of the ptcp. it immediately emerges that the areas with a weak economy detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 51 are those surrounding nuclei and historic centres (agea data 1999–2000), since structured farms no longer exist in these areas and the extreme division of the properties prevents the productive rationalisation of farms. at the same time, however, the perceptual data and the analysis of the aerial photos show that these areas are also those that, in the collective imagination, represent the bel paesaggio (landscape of aesthetic values). furthermore, not all of these areas are protected by state laws. in the period between the end of the 90s and up to 2005 in tuscany we witness the definition of agricultural territory distinct from the definition of rural territory. the definition of rural territory is the most used precisely in the areas of fringe and urban influence "even if rural and agricultural are often used as synonyms, the term "agricultural" is mostly used to indicate the activities related to the cultivation and breeding of animals while the term "rural" has a broader connotation that includes the specific relationships that develop, at a territorial level, between social, cultural and economic aspects." (11) (fanfani, 2006; rovai, casini, di jacovo, 2011). for example, during the work in manciano it was noted that in the areas of urban fringe and influence: • the interests of a residential building not interested in agricultural productions were concentrated; • the residential building took on a higher market value than that inserted in the urban centre; • it was often requested to change the agricultural use into a residential one; • the same farms tended to concentrate the building of an agricultural nature in the areas of fringe and urban influence and subsequently asked to change the use of the buildings from agricultural to residential. during my work as an urban planner, i decided to rely on the reading of easily available historical sources to understand if there could be elements that, escaping the statistical data (number of companies and their absence, poor productivity in economic terms), allow us to interpret the reason for that widespread perception that identifies the bel paesaggio in the areas surrounding the inhabited centres. at the time of the drafting of the rural territory plan, the historical cadastral sources, in addition to the aerial photos, were the material on which attention was focused. the most used source was the catasto leopoldino of 1824. in tuscany, the use of the catasto leopoldino (1824) is quite widespread, but its use is limited almost exclusively to the verification of existing building structures. the final process, analysis and synthesis, is resolved in the drafting of conservation rules that are limited to the buildings identified on the historical maps. detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 52 the cadastre itself is never investigated by reading the structure (even if only physical and legible) of the land parcel, especially when concerned with rural areas. the map of the year 1824 was thus compared with the equivalent one from 1941 (catasto d’impianto) in order to create a diachronic picture capturing the evolution of about a century (12) (pazzagli, 1979). subsequently, this cadastral reading was counterposed to the aerial photos available from 1954 and 1988 (see examples below, figures 3 to 7) (regione toscana, various years). figure 3 – capanne di saturnia. leopoldino cadaster 1824 figure 4 – capanne di saturnia. leopoldino cadaster 1941 detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 53 figure 5 – capanne di saturnia. aerial photo 1954 figure 6 – capanne di saturnia. aerial photo1988 figure 7 – capanne di saturnia. aerial photo 2013 detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 54 from all of the elements that can be compared, at least two characteristics of what is perceived as bel paesaggio have been recognised: 1. the persistence of the nineteenth-century cadastral system which, despite the divisions of over a century (1824¬–1941) (11), still characterises the lines of the landscape system, referring to the crop trend. 2. the cadastral structure and the crop nature are still the genetic elements of the landscape, despite the simplifications that occurred due to agricultural mechanisation needs. this crop and landscape system is still a structural element after two centuries. during the development of this research, the same phenomenon noticed in capanne occurred in another settlement of the municipality of manciano. this settlement had greater consistency than the previous one, as well as an urban history of considerable depth (13) (maccari and noccioli, 1995) (figure 8 – 11, regione toscana, various years). figure 8 – montemerano. leopoldino cadaster 1824 detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 55 figure 9 – montemerano. catasto d’impianto 1941 figure 10 – montemerano. aerial photo 1954 figure 11 – montemerano. aerial photo 1988 detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 56 on the left are the subdivisions of the land assigned, with forms of compulsory emphyteusis, to the labourers (1941–1954) and the landscape imprint from the process of transformation, which stabilises in the following period (1988). the process that can be read from the maps and photos indicates, in brief, the long phase of construction and friction that the settled community has expressed through the conquest of patches of land for self-consumption, and the resultant conclusion that the continuous neighbourhood conflicts have allowed the community to express itself in an organic form. moreover, the latter, in its perceptual manifestation, often dissembles the social conflicts relating to the appropriation and control of resources. results and first conclusions the rural territory plan of the municipality of manciano, drawn up between the years 1999 and 2003, represents a prime testing ground for evaluating how much the use of historical cartography, together with other typical elements of the analytical phase (including collection of quantitative data, evaluation of previous planning tools, and connection with the region and province, which constitute the superordinate validation and control bodies), has influenced the overall urban planning process that has had, and still has, a certain landscape relevance. in fact, the reading of historical cartography documents at this time influenced the perimeter of: a) areas of urban fringe with a weak agricultural economy; and b) areas of urban influence with a weak agricultural economy. firstly, the analysis of the land registers and the structure of land parcels in the period of 1824–1941, combined with the analysis of aerial photos, has allowed the drawing of areas adjacent to the settlements in the way that they are represented below in figures 12 and 13. the work was carried out for all the settlements in the municipality of manciano, some of which are shown below (figure 12 and 13, comune di manciano, 2021), in an attempt to grasp the link between the structure of a sufficiently complex settlement (e.g. a hamlet, village, or walled centre) and the extreme thickening of the parcel grid around it. as demonstrated by the images, the limits of the areas (fringe for those adjacent to the settlement and influence for those that define the margin by which the selfconsumption crops, which today are mainly cultivated as a hobby, end) seem to resemble the rings of von thunen. this resemblance is probably a signal that the nature of the territory is not particularly evolved or that the agricultural structure of the economic processes still characterises the ways of production and control of resources detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 57 according to traditional models, with undeniable implications linked to the conservation of the landscape. the rural territory plan also has a regulatory component that affects the potential for transformation. in this case, the regulatory result, from an urban planning perspective, is the imposition of limitations on the transformation of building structures, the drafting of cultivation commitments that would maintain traditional crops, and the prohibition of increasing the urban planning load. one of the last regulations consisted of limiting the agricultural infrastructures for those companies that have a productive centre in areas located outside the fringe and urban influence zones. in summary: • the possibility of new residential construction has been eliminated; • the possibility of new agricultural production construction has been eliminated. the farms build the new volumes outside the fringe and urban influence areas on the land they own; • the possibility of changing the agricultural use to residential use for existing buildings has been eliminated; • it is allowed to recover all existing buildings with volume increases of up to 20% and with the obligation to maintain the typical elements of the historic structure (hedges, dry stone walls, historic crops such as vineyards and olive groves): this last decision and regulatory construction, linked to the limitation of the production potential of farms in the vicinity of inhabited centres, was put in place due to awareness of an increasingly clear division between the limit of the settlement and rural territory. this clear dichotomy has allowed, and continues to allow, farms to structure themselves according to the obvious logic of the market; therefore, production needs often risk disrupting the agricultural land by changing its makeup and homogenising the resulting landscape (consider, for instance, the areas of viticulture in veneto and piedmont). this result can be avoided by allowing the transition areas (areas of fringe and urban influence) to still play a structured role, according to consolidated models also derived from analysis of historical cartography. detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 58 figure 12 – fringe and urban influence areas in saturnia, capanne di saturnia and poggio murella figure 13 – fringe and urban influence areas in montemerano and poderi di montemerano this work has attempted to verify how much landscape planning conducted with canonical models captures the most relevant data from the elements read or highlighted. indeed, if the value attributed to the data remains of a perceptive nature, detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 59 there is often a risk of losing the understanding of the structural data. in this sense, the study of historical cartography would encourage scholars to turn their readings towards those elements laboriously constructed during the continuous transformations of landscapes initiated by human activities. this reading would also permit people to, at the very least, identify which structures have marked the landscape in a notable way and which ones have become superstructural over time and therefore been cancelled. (14) (rombai, 2010; volpe, 2013) this study aims to detect the presence and role of legible and sedimented structures such as historical rural landscape (paesaggi rurali storici definition of mauro agnoletti) while at the same time to verify whether it is possible to attribute active potential to the identified structures.(15) (agnoletti, 2010) the consideration of historical cartography and the implications of time, through the verification of structural permanence, should help in building the rules and behaviour of a landscape plan that may capture the potential that is not exclusively related to the role of the identified structures (16). (volpe, 2013) the most satisfactory result is given by the sensation that this local work (manciano 1999-2003) is very similar to some provisions of the regional law on the government of the territory of the region of tuscany of the year 2014 (l.r. 65/2014) article 66 (areas of relevance of historical centers and nucleuses) and article 67 (peri-urban areas). endnotes 1. to set up this local planning work, at the time, we made use of: a) cards of the customs courts of manciano, montemerano, saturnia semproniano and rocchette di fazio deposited in the state archives of florence made by innocenzio fazzi "made make order of the ill.mi general contractors of tuscany the year 1745 "; b) tuscan land registry or leopoldine land registry deposited in the state archives of grosseto maps at a scale of 1: 5,000 and "tables of owners and respective properties" now available online thanks to the castore project of the tuscany region; c) new land cadastre and new urban building cadastre, plant maps1941/51 filed at the ute of grosseto, which can now be retrieved online thanks to the geo-scope project of the tuscany region. 2. f. maiosi: "landscape enhancement and planning" site –agraria.org/articoli/anno 2012 »n. 158 december 15, 2012. highlights the author" as far as we are concerned, it will be necessary to ask ourselves briefly if in the codicistic meaning "landscape" and "landscape assets" are the same thing, especially with reference to the enhancement and protection of the same. " 3. on the different methodology of approach also in relation to the aims see: l, caravaggi, c. imbroglini, landscapes of molise instructions for use, officina detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 60 editore, rome 2008; m. agnoletti (edited by) "historic rural landscapes for a national catalog" laterza, bari 2010 4. the awareness of the relationship between the ownership model and the resulting landscape is present, as well as in italy, in equally historicized european contexts (for example); t. williamson and l. bellamy “property and landscape-a social history of land ownership and the english countryside” george philip-london 1987 but also m. overton,. agricultural revolution in england: the transformation of the agrarian economy 1500-1850. cambridge university press, 1996. in italy just think of the whole school headed by emilio sereni and giorgio giorgetti to name a few. 5. f. detti: "montemerano and its church: religious identity and civil society in a court in customs (xvi-xviii century)", in ulisse tramonti, ludovica sebregondi, adorno della monaca, fabio detti, guido bernacchi, the parish of s. giorgio in montemerano, la me-ridiana editrice, florence, 2000; 6. the theory of j.h. von thünen is better known as the “model of the isolated state” (der isolierte staat in beziehung auf landwirtshaft -1826). in this model, the marketcity occupies the center of a series of concentric rings and each ring corresponds to a certain cultivation. in the rings closest to the city there are the more intensive crops while the extensive crops and herds occupy the more distant rings. a good summary, among many, in f, bencardino-m.prezioso economic geography mc.graw hill education –milan-2006; the use of the ah thiessen polygons derives from the analysis of atmospheric precipitation (ah thiessen a, 1911, precipitations averages for large areas, "monthly weather review", vol. 39, no. 7 1911) and was used in 'spatial analysis' in fact one of the main characteristics of the thiessen polygons is that the boundary of two nearby settlements moves on an axis perpendicular to the line that separates them. there is no portion of land within the polygon of a center that residents in other centers can reach before ". see g. macchi janica" space and measurement: introduction to geographic-quantitative methods applied to the study of phenomena social "editions of the university-siena 2009but also in franco lai “antropologia del paesaggio” carocci-roma 2002. 7. g.severini: "the historical evolution of the legal concept of landscape" in the "landscape" by alberto predieri. proceedings of the conference (florence, 11 may 2018) edited by giuseppe morbidelli and massimo morisi passigli 2019. for the author, the combined provisions of articles 131 and 134 for the purposes of defining and protecting the landscape "on the one hand confirms the precedents regarding the selection of the one of particular interests subjected to the protection regime, on the other hand implicitly affirms that in any case the entire landscape, whatever it may be, must in any case be considered as an identity value. "this statement of great ideal value is however, daily disavowed by the bureaucratization of the competences between the ministry, the region, local bodies with the consequence that the detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 61 municipal landscape commissions (the only structures that evaluate new construction projects from a landscape point of view) can express themselves exclusively on the areas protected by pursuant to articles 136 and 142 of the code which often represent small areas with respect to the landscape intended pursuant to art. 131. 8. see in this regard in a diachronic sense: a) l. caravaggi, c. imbroglini, landscapes of molise instructions for use, officina editore, rome 2008; b) g. ferrara g campioni “the landscape in territorial planning research experiences and guidelines for the control of transformations” flaccovio-palermo 2012; c) alberto magnaghi edited by. landscape planning in italy: state of the art and innovations firenze university press, 2016. 9. in this regard, see the article composed of articles 14 and 15 of law 142 of 1990 also in the drafting of legislative decree 267 of 2000 composed of articles 19 and 20. in both, the role of enhancement of cultural goods appears together the defense of the soil, the protection and enhancement of the environment and the prevention of disasters and also the protection of flora and fauna parks and nature reserves. 10. province of grosseto: "articles 25 and 26" of the regulations attached to the ptcp; provincial administration-grosseto -1996 in the same years and with the same concepts many provincial administrations move among which, to mention the adjacent ones: ptcp arezzo, norms -artt from 13 to 25 and annex c to the norms approval dgp 72/2000; ptcp siena, regulation-approval dgp 109/2000. for neighboring areas of other regions, the documents of the ptcp of terni (umbria) approved with dgp 150 of 2000 implementation rules of the plan and in particular articles 15 to 33. 11. d. fanfani the governance of the territory and the rural landscape in the peri-urban "third" space. the agricultural park as a policy and project tool” firenze -university pressanno 4 – numero 6 – luglio-dicembre 2006; massimo rovai, claudia casini, francesco di jacovo -–“a gis methodology for the assessment of settlement dispersion and the definition of rural areas on a sub-municipal scale” -xxxii italian conference of regional sciences-turin 2011 12. c. pazzagli for the history of tuscan agriculture in the 19th and 20th centuries: from the lorraine particle land registry to the land registry of 1929 luigi einaudi foundation. turin. studies, vol. 251979,.: with the wording "catasto leopoldino" we commonly mean the lorraine particle cadastre of 1824 while for “catasto d’impianto” we commonly mean the agrarian cadastre of 1929 13. p.maccari, m. noccioli historical atlas of italian cities. tuscany. vol. 3: manciano (maremma). rome bonsignori1995 14. l.rombai: "problems related to the use of historical cartography problems related to the use of the history cartography." in bulletin a.i.c. no. 138/2010 but also detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 62 u.volpe: the historical-documentary archive sources for the reconstruction of the agricultural landscape in the conegliano valdobbiadene district in support of the candidacy for unesco world heritage site phd thesis tars, territory environment, rises and health; specialization in economics cycle: xxv cycle university of padua -2013 15. m. agnoletti (edited by) "historic rural landscapes for a national catalog" laterza, bari 2010 16. u.volpe: op cit. p. 2 ”the study of the territory in question, understood as a resource and context in which the themes of primary and oenological production in particular are placed, has the ultimate aim of its better conservation, protection and enhancement. when historical knowledge manages to become shared and common awareness with a landscape and anthropic value, then even the candidacy for world heritage site, according to unesco, finds its own more solid foundation and reason. references agnoletti m. (2010). paesaggi storici rurali. per un catalogo nazionale. historic rural landscapes for a national register. laterza: bari. available at: 001_agnoletti_paesaggirurali-storici.pdf (italianostraeducazione.org). bencardino, b. and prezioso, m. (2006). economic geography. mc.graw hill education, milano. caravaggi l., imbroglini c., (2008). landscapes of molisem. instructions for use. officina, roma. comune di manciano (2021). comune di manciano-piano strutturale tav. 5a https://www.comune.manciano.gr.it/c053014/images/piano_strutturale_e_piano_oper ativo/?path=avviso%20di%20adozione%20piano%20strutturale%20comunale/tavol e detti f. (2000). montemerano and its church: religious identity and civil society in a court in customs (xvi-xviii century)", in ulisse tramonti, ludovica sebregondi, adorno della monaca, fabio detti, guido bernacchi (eds), the parish of s. giorgio in montemerano, la meridiana editrice, florence. fanfani, d. (2006). the governance of the territory and the rural landscape in the periurban "third" space. the agricultural park as a policy and project tool. firenze university press, firenze. https://www.italianostraeducazione.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/001_agnoletti_paesaggi-rurali-storici.pdf https://www.italianostraeducazione.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/001_agnoletti_paesaggi-rurali-storici.pdf https://www.comune.manciano.gr.it/c053014/images/piano_strutturale_e_piano_operativo/?path=avviso%20di%20adozione%20piano%20strutturale%20comunale/tavole https://www.comune.manciano.gr.it/c053014/images/piano_strutturale_e_piano_operativo/?path=avviso%20di%20adozione%20piano%20strutturale%20comunale/tavole https://www.comune.manciano.gr.it/c053014/images/piano_strutturale_e_piano_operativo/?path=avviso%20di%20adozione%20piano%20strutturale%20comunale/tavole detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 63 ferrara g., and campioni g. (2009). the landscape in territorial planning research experiences and guidelines for the control of transformations. flaccovio, palermo. lai f. (2002). landscape anthropology. carocci, roma. maccari, p. and noccioli, m. (1995). historical atlas of italian cities. tuscany. vol. 3. manciano (maremma). bonsignori, roma. macchi janica, g. (2009). space and measurement: introduction to geographicquantitative methods applied to the study of phenomena. social editions of the university of siena. magnaghi, a. (ed) (2016). landscape planning in italy: state of the art and innovations. firenze university press, firenze. maiosi, f. (2012). landscape enhancement and planning site. agraria.org-articoli n. 158. overton, m.(1996). agricultural revolution in england: the transformation of the agrarian economy. cambridge university press, cambridge. pazzagli, c. (1979). for the history of tuscan agriculture in the 19th and 20th centuries: from the lorraine particle land registry to the land registry of 1929luigi einaudi foundation. torino. vol. 25 regione toscana (various years). geoscopio https://www.regione.toscana.it › geoscopio. rombai, l. (2010). problems related to the use of historical cartography problems related to the use of the history cartography. bulletin a.i.c., 138. rovai, m., casini, c., di jacovo, f. (2011). a gis methodology for the assessment of settlement dispersion and the definition of rural areas on a sub-municipal scale. xxxii italian conference of regional sciences. torino. severini g. (2019). the historical evolution of the legal concept of landscape, in morbidelli, g. and morisi, m. (eds) the "landscape" in alberto predieri in. passigli, firenze.proceedings of the conference (florence, 11 may 2018). thiessen a. (1911). precipitation averages for large areas, monthly weather review, vol. 39, no.7. volpe u. (2013). the historical-documentary archive sources for the reconstruction of the agricultural landscape in the conegliano valdobbiadene district in support of the detti – historical cartography and landscape planning: an approach to be developed ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 64 candidacy for unesco world heritage site” phd thesis tars, territory environment, rises and health; specialization in economics cycle: xxv , university of padua. von thunen, j.h. (1826). the isolated state. williamson, t. and bellamy, l. (1987). property and landscape; a social history of land ownership and the english countryside. george philip, london. short author biography: fabio detti is head of the planning department at the municipality of manciano, grosseto. he is also contract professor at “lorenzo da viterbo” academy of fine arts, department of cultural and environmental heritage. his research interests include public participation in planning and landscape analysis. he has published a book titled la valle d’albegna: formazione e evoluzione dei paesaggi storici. microsoft word manuscript-final ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 101 assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) samira yousefian p hd stude nt, depa r tment of ar t an d ar ch ite ctur e , ta rb iat mod ar es un iver sit y, te hr an, ir a n. em a il : s. you s ef ia n@ m od ar e s. a c .ir mohammadreza pourjafar* p r of e ss or , d e par t m en t o f ur ba n p la n n i n g, ar t a n d ar c hit e ct u r e fa c u l t y, tar b ia t mo d ar e s u ni ve r si t y, te h r an, ir an . em a il : p ou r ja _ m@ m od ar es.a c . ir ( * c o r re sp on d i n g au t h or ) mohammad moshfeghi r e sea r c h p r of es so r , d e pa r tm e n t of mec h. e n g. , so g a n g un i ve r si t y, se ou l , k or e a. e ma il : m m os hf e gh i @ s og a n g. a c. kr mohammadjavad mahdavinejad p r of e ss or , de pa r t m e nt of ar c hi t ec t ur e, ar t a n d ar c h ite c t ur e fac u lt y, ta r b i a t mod a r e s un i ver sit y, t e hr a n, ir a n. e ma il : ma h d a vi n e ja d@ mo d ar e s. a c. ir keywords: air pollution dispersion, air flow, cfd, urban canyon's direction abstract air pollution is considered one of the main challenges of environmental sustainability. metropolises are increasingly facing the problem of air pollution, which seriously affects people's health. there are several factors associated with air pollution in the streets including urban form, ventilation, and air pollution sources. in the present research, the effects of the street canyon direction on the wind behavior and pollutant dispersion have been investigated using cfd and the model has been validated with the wind tunnel. the results show that, the orientation of the urban canyon affects both airflow and air pollutant dispersion patterns. in f3 (α =90°), where the wind direction is perpendicular to the street, ventilation is mostly through the street roofs, so that the amount of pollutant in the roof height is almost 183% of f2 (α=45°) and 347% of f1 (α =0°). since near the leeward wall the velocity of airflow is decreased to zero, these spaces are highly susceptible areas for pollution accumulation. in f1, ventilation is mostly through the longitudinal displacement of pollutions and dispersion via lateral openings. in this case, the beginning parts of the urban canyon are the most well-ventilated ones, and the end of it has the highest level of pollution concentration. it was also found that the lowest level of pollution occurs in f2. finally, the diagonal street (f2) has been recognized as the optimal direction for main streets in the residential areas of tehran which should be taken into consideration in the sustainable urban development principles of tehran (sudpt). yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 102 introduction street-level air pollution (micro scale analysis), which is intensely caused by vehicles, is a challenging issue that has become a hotspot of research and application (edussuriya et al., 2014, shen et al., 2017). air pollution at the street level, in addition to its sources, deals with some complex variables such as ventilation and urban forms (most common variables) that have not yet been properly explored and understood (edussuriya et al., 2014). generally, long-term atmospheric stability leads to the stabilization of pollutants and increases the number of air particles in an urban area (tominaga & stathopoulos, 2013). airflow transports the particles from one place to another, so plays an important role in ventilation. the airflow dynamics is highly influenced by morphological factors (cionco and ellefsen, 1998). the dispersion and dilution processes of air pollutants in street canyons are dependent upon horizontal mean flows in opening areas, vertical mean flows, and turbulent diffusion through canopy roofs (hang et al., 2015). as the aerodynamic behavior of the wind at the pedestrian level around the building is the result of the interaction between the basic characteristics of the wind (wind speed, acceleration, frequency, etc.) and the physical structure of the buildings (shape, size, height, etc.) (jackson, 1978). therefore, there exist a threefold relationship between morphology, airflow, and air pollution. urban morphology on the one hand directly affects the way pollutants accumulate and on the other hand, indirectly affects the behavior of pollutants through micro-climate change. in this regard, various studies have been conducted on a wide range of scales from macro (regional, urban) to micro (neighborhood, urban block, and building). studies that have examined the relationship between formal factors and air quality on the micro-scale (neighborhood, urban canyon) have often used two methods of statistical analysis of the relationship between variables, and causal inference analysis using computational fluid dynamics (cfd) over the last 20 years, cfd has been employed for assessment of a wide range of variables and indices including, aspect ratio (di sabatino et al., 2008; eeftens et al., 2013, shen et al., 2017; tan et al., 2019), street continuity ratio and street spatial closure ratio (shen et al., 2017), average height (yang et al., 2020), difference height (hang et al., 2012; lin et al., 2014; nosek et al., 2018; tan et al., 2019; yang et al., 2020), length of the urban canyon (hang et al., 2012), size of neighborhood (lin et al., 2014; wang et al., 2017), neighborhood form (rectangular and square) (wang et al., 2017), street architecture (roof configuration) (kastner-klein et al., 2004; tan et al., 2019), degree of enclosure, coverage the site, plot ratio or floor area ratio (far) (yang et al., 2020), open space and mineralization (yousefian et al., 2021). aligned with the direction of the present study, lin et al. (2014) studied the ventilation of urban canopy layers using cfd and the k-epsilon turbulence model by changing the height of the blocks, the arrangement of the blocks, yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 103 the dimensions of the neighborhood and the direction of the wind. according to the results, there is better ventilation in the models that wind blows parallel to square blocks than oblique ones. wang et al. (2017) investigated the relationship between the number of pollutants and the wind flow angle in two square and rectangular forms of the neighborhood using (cfd) and the k-epsilon turbulence model. they concluded that in the square neighborhood, ventilation in the 0 ° wind direction is better than in the oblique one, but the rectangular neighborhood is ventilated with the wind directions of 45° to 90° better than the parallel wind. huang et al. (2019) used a 3d cfd model for investigating the effects of different wind directions on the dispersion of pollutants, based on the rans (reynolds-average-navier-stokes) equations and the standard k-ε turbulence, in an urban canyon in which the ratio of length to height is 10. then the results were validated by wind tunnel (wt). the result shows, the strongest air exchange occurs when this angle is equal to 30 degrees and the weakest ventilation is at an angle of 90 degrees. the previous research works reflect the fact that the relationship between the orientation of the street canyon with respect to the prevailing wind direction and air pollution is case sensitive, and the results could not be generalized to other cases. the present study intends to study three residential streets of tehran (that are among the neighborhoods with most repetitions in tehran). due to the feasibility of cfd technique, a set of validated cfd simulations are solved in order to explain the relationships between the variables and provide us with the dispersion algorithms in those investigated areas. materials and methods the main tools for the urban physical evaluation are field measurement, full-scale, and reduced-scale laboratory measurements, and numerical simulation methods such as cfd (blocken, 2015). in recent years, many advances have been made in numerical methods, and because to the increase in computational capacity and speed, cfd, as a cheapest and fastest method, has become possible to develop complex system simulations in the field of air pollution (vardoulakis, 2003; lateb, 2016). thus, in this research, cfd technique has been used. in order to have valid results, all cfd settings (including mesh arrangement and turbulence model etc.) have been validated using experimental results (wind tunnel result of a reduced scale model) (huang et al., 2019). generally, four main turbulence modeling approaches are used for different cfd simulation. the order of mathematical complexity and, hence, computational cost of these methods are reynolds-average-navier-stokes (rans), detached eddy simulation (des), large eddy simulation (les), and direct numerical simulation (setaihe al et, 2014). the rans models are formed based on temporal averaging of parameters. a valid rans simulation is indeed capable of providing the fastest result yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 104 among the other methods while maintaining the essential accuracy. hence, rans models are the most popular turbulence models among cfd specialists for obtaining of aerodynamics and fluid mechanics parameters of a fluid domain. among the rans models, the realizable k-epsilon turbulence model has been shown to result in acceptable level of accuracy for similar simulations (moonen al et, 2011; setaihe al et, 2014; ramponi al et, 2015; gromke al et, 2015; juan al et, 2017). the effects of wall grid spacing is an important factor for aerodynamics. for example, while for the wind turbine applications y+ should be about one, for air simulations in indoor and outdoor spaces higher values are also acceptable (moshfeghi and hur, 2021; zoka et al., 2021). in the field of urban form modeling, some researchers have used the idealize geometry (nosek al et, 2018; wen al et, 2018; huang al et, 2019); and some ones have used real geometry (eeftens et al., 2013, shen et al., 2017; karra et al., 2017; gao et al., 2018; hadavi and pasdarshahri, 2020; marulanda t. et al., 2020, hassan et al., 2020). in this research, an idealize geometry in the context of tehran has been used. gis software and satellite images have been applied to select a case study. the cfd simulations have been performed using ansys fluent. case study the residential areas of tehran are the case study. figure 1 shows the location of the case studies in tehran. among the local streets in the city, the two categories of eastwest and north-south streets have the highest frequency which have been selected for modeling. besides, streets with an angle of 45 degrees (northeast-southwest, northwest-southeast) have also been chosen as an intermediate angle. our gis based analysis shows, 12-meter width street and four-story buildings have the highest frequency in the residential areas of tehran (municipality of tehran-2020). thus, the streets are modeled with a width of 12 meters and a height of 16 meters. the dimension of the neighborhood is assumed 300 m × 300 m and four blocks in each form have been defined (table 1). figure 1location of the case studies in tehran source: municipality of tehran (2020) yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 105 table 1selected form f3 f2 f1 name form mosalla neighborhood firuzabadi neighborhood moshiriyeh neighborhood case study 90° °45 0° urban canyon's direction relative to the prevailing wind direction 12 street width 16 block height source: authors validation of the cfd settings prior to the main simulations, the cfd settings have been validated, to ensure us about the accuracy of the results. for this purpose, the wind tunnel experimental dataset from the wt database (karlsruhe institute of technology (codasc). with a reduced scale (1:150) has been used the wind tunnel test consisted of two parallel buildings with dimensions of 0.12 m wide, 0.12 m high, and 1.2 m long that were located at a distance of 0.12 m from each other (figure 2). figure 2(a) schematic of street canyon model showing the main coordinate system and dimensions; (b) street canyon model in the wt (scale: 1.150) source: codasc; moonen et al. (2013) yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 106 in the experiment, pollutant sources are linear and parallel to each others, continuously releasing sf6 tracer gas at a constant rate. the wind angle is parallel to the street. for this configuration, the concentration data is given in normalized form as: (1) � = ����� � where k is the normalized concentration, c_m denotes the measured concentration, h represents the building height (m) and u_h is the wind velocity (m∕s) at the building height. also, q shows the pollutant emission rate from the line source (m2 ∕s) or in other words the strength of the pollutant source and l is the length of the line source (m). for this experiment, the height of the building is 0.12 m, the wind velocity at the building height is 4.7 (m∕s), the length of the line source is 1.44 m, and the value of q is equal to 10 g/s (salim et al., 2011; huang et al., 2019). to achieve an accurate cfd setting with acceptable results (similar to wt), different cfd simulations with different parameters such as type of turbulence model, etc., have been implemented and the results have been compared with each other and wind tunnel results (figure 3, figure 4). finally, the setting of the best model has been selected as the validated model (table 2). figure 3comparison of dimensionless pollutant concentration (k) in three vertical lines near the canyon wall in the model and wind tunnel y/h = 3.79 y/h = 1.26 y/h = 0 source: authors table 2specifications of the final validated model rke turbulence model 0.3 turbulent schmidt number yes scalable wall function yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 107 tetrahedral& hexahedral mesh type 15 no. of prism layers source: authors figure 4dimensionless pollutant concentration k in wall a in wt and cfd wt cfd source: authors; codasc figure 5mesh-independence examination source: authors cfd setting domain and mesh the size of the computational domain has been determined based on the minimums mentioned by tominaga et al. (2008) and blocken (2015) and the dimensions of the neighborhood. the dimensions of the neighborhood are 300 m wide, 300 m long, and 16 m high. the ratio of the building height to the street width is 4 to 3 (16 m×12m). the distance upstream of the first building to the inlet boundary and side walls is10h. for the downstream, the domain outlet in assumed at a distance of 40h from the last building and the height of the domain is 5h (figure 6). yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 108 figure 6geometry of f1, f2 and f3 source: authors hybrid mesh in the models have been used. for the inner region, which includes the main geometry and its adjacent space, the tetrahedral meshing, and for the outer region, the hexahedral cells have been used. the number of prism layers is 15, the aspect ratio in the whole geometry is 1.15, and in the inner region equal to 1.1. in must be noted that in order to use the results of the mesh independence and due to the similarity between the size and the form of the blocks in the wind tunnel experiment and the present model, the number of mesh along each edge has been normalized. in order to reduce the solution time in the symmetric models with respect to the wind flow (f1 and f3), only one half of the domain is simulated (wang et al. 2017). number of cells in the f1 and f3 are 7.5 million and 7.3 million, respectively. the number of cells in the f2 is 16 million. figure 7 shows the grid of f1, f2 and f3. yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 109 figure 7grids of f1, f2 and f3 f3 f2 f1 source: authors boundary conditions at the inlet boundary, the vertical profiles for wind velocity u(z), turbulence intensity iu(z), turbulent kinetic energy (k), and turbulent dissipation rate (ε) are specified (salim et al., 2011; huang et al. 2019) (see 2, 3, 4, 5 equation). the domain output with zero gradient is defined. the symmetric boundary condition is applied at the two surrounding walls and top of the domain with constant pressure of 1atm. no-slip boundary condition is used for the walls and roofs of the geometry and the domain floor. (2) � �� = ���� ���� �� � ���� �� (3) �� �� = �� ���� �� � ���� ��� (4) � = �∗ � �! "1 $ �%& (5) ɛ = �∗ ( )* "1 $ �%& pollutant injection in the current study carbon monoxide (co) is considered as the pollutant. two lines source of the pollution is defined (5 cm wide and 40 cm high) along the main street with 0.28h distance to the wall. the pollutant is defined only at the line source with a constant rate (huang et al. 2019; wen et al. 2018; shen et al. 2017). the amount of pollutant input equals 3.44×〖10〗^(-4) kg/s (appendix 1), its velocity is very small (1.02×10-5 based on inlet flow) with zero turbulence intensity (wen et al. 2018). climatic data the climatic data is based on the report of mehrabad airport synoptic station in 2020. the average annual wind speed is 3.11 m / s, and the prevailing wind direction is western which is used as the reference velocity to define the velocity profile. the average annual air temperature is 18.2 ° c, and the pressure is 1016 hpa (101.6 kpa). solution method the three-dimensional, steady, isothermal, and incompressible rans equations with the k-ε turbulence and the species transport equation (mixed-species), were solved. among the k-ε models, the realizable k-epsilon (rke) model, which has achieved yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 110 better results in the validation section, has been selected. the “scalable wall function” is used in modeling and traffic turbulence are not considered here. it should be noted that the scalable wall function generates accurate modeling of flow near the solid walls (inside the laminar and buffer layers) by effectively shifting the near-wall mesh points to y+>11.22, regardless of their original distance from walls. this provides us with a better prediction about the exact values of pollution dispersion in those areas. findings effects of canyon directions on air flow as it is in figures 8 and 9, at the corners of the windward blocks, velocity is the maximum, and, there exists sharp decrease between these areas and walls, which is aerodynamically a separated zone. in all three forms, the maximum velocity at the height of the pedestrian (2 m) are affected by this phenomenon and are equal to 5.28 m/s, 4.56 m/s and 4.27 m/s in f1, f2 and f3, respectively. in f1, the maximum velocity is observed on the main street. in f2 the maximum velocity (4.56 m/s) in the domain is decreased to 4.18 m/s in the main street. this velocity drop is more significant in f3, from 4.27/s to 1.98 m/s. figure 8air flow velocity at pedestrian height in the whole domain 1f 2f 3f source: authors yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 111 figure 9air flow velocity at pedestrian height in the main street 1f 2f 3f source: authors based on the maximum velocity, f1 leads to the strongest wind flow compared to other forms. as it is presented in table 3, the domain average velocity of all three forms in pedestrian height are close to each other, but they differ in the main streets. f2 has a slightly higher velocity than f1 (0.01 m/s) and remarkably higher than f3 (1.39 m/s). it is because of the wind channeling effect and increasing velocity in f1. in f3, due to the wind perpendicular to the street, the turbulent flows cause most of the air movements, and the wind velocity in the urban canyon, especially near the leeward side and the ground is very low. it should be noted that in all three forms the minimum velocity is close to zero, which corresponds to the effects of the areas behind the blocks. table 3maximum and mean air flow velocity at pedestrian height in the whole domain and main street form in the main street (m/s) in the whole domain (m/s) maximum mean maximum mean 1f 5.28 2.11 5.28 2.85 2f 4.18 2.12 4.56 2.86 3f 1.98 0.73 4.27 2.82 source: authors as figure 10 shows, the velocity contours in street roofs of all forms, are very close to each other and the air flow velocity increases significantly. in the f1, there is a straight correlation between the wind velocity and height, and wind velocity reaches 3 m/s in street roofs. in the f2, the maximum velocity is demonstrated in the street canyon and in the vicinity of the windward wall as well as the street roof which are about 3 and 3.7 consequently. in f3, the wind speed inside the urban canyon is very low and is accompanied by several vortices which are created as a result of the yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 112 blowing of wind to obstacles such as windward walls. in this case, the highest velocity (1.1 m/s) occurs near the street roofs. figure 10air flow velocity on vertical cross sections of the main canyon (in the middle of the street) 3f 2f 1f source: authors effects of canyon directions on pollutant concentration the pollutant’s mass fraction is used for the investigation. it is observed that (figure 11) the average mass fraction of pollutants in both the whole domain and the main street of f1 has the worst condition. this amount in the whole domain of f1 is almost 230% of the f2 and 205% of the f3. the maximum mass fraction of pollutants is observed in the main street of the f3. the noticeable difference between the maximum and the average mass fraction of the f3 indicates the concentration of pollutants in a small area of the street, next to the leeward wall (western wall) in the middle part of the street. finally, considering the average mass fraction at the height of the pedestrian, in both the main street and whole domain, the f3 shows the best performance (see table 4). figure 11co mass fraction at pedestrian height in the main street 1f 2f 3f source: authors yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 113 table 4maximum and mean co mass fraction at pedestrian height in the whole domain and main street form in the main street (m/s) in the whole domain (m/s) maximum mean maximum mean 1f 0.0071 0.00287 0.0071 0.000037 2f 0.004 0.00138 0.004 0.000016 3f 0.0116 0.002 0.0116 0.000018 source: authors according to table 5, the highest levels of pollutants on the street roof occurred in f2, followed by f3 and f1. so that its average in f3 is about 183% f2 and 347% f1. this means that most of the vertical ventilation takes place in f3, then in f2, and finally in f1. table 5maximum and mean co mass fraction at main street roof form in the main street (m/s) maximum mean 1f 0.00046 0.00019 2f 0.00144 0.00036 3f 0.00643 0.00066 source: authors figure 12 shows the mass fraction contours in the longitudinal profile of the main street (in the sidewalk axis, beside the western wall). in f1, by going away from the wind inlet, the level of pollutant concentration slightly increases until its peak (0.0044) at the end of the street. in f2, at the beginning of the street, the concentration increases sharply, and then due to the turbulence diffusion the concentration shows rapid fluctuations, and reaches a peak (0.0033) at the end of the street. in f3, the minimum pollutant concentration is reported at the beginning and end of the street. it is mainly because of the openness next to these areas, which allows pollutants to be excreted via lateral openings. the center part of the street has the highest level of concentration (0.0072), which is almost 3 and 2 times more than f1 and f2. besides, based on the average mass fraction, this form has the worst performance too (figure 13). yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 114 figure 12(a) co mass fraction in the longitudinal profile in the sidewalk axis of the main street– at pedestrian height; (b) co mass fraction in the sidewalk axis in the main street 1f 2f 3f source: authors figure 13comparison of the co mass fraction in the sidewalk axis of the main street source: authors (a) (b) (a) (b) (b) (a) yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 115 table 6maximum and mean co mass of fraction in the longitudinal profile in the sidewalk axis of the main street form co mass fraction in the longitudinal profile maximum mean 1f 0.0044 0.0011 2f 0.0033 0.0016 3f 0.0072 0.0023 source: authors furthermore, in order to assess the effects of wind velocity on the urban canyon ventilation and the concentration of co, the average velocity and the average mass fraction of co in the main street and in the whole domain are compared in table 7. as it can be read, f2 has the highest wind velocity as well as the lowest amount of mass fraction in both the main street and in the whole domain. table 7maximum and mean air flow velocity and co mass fraction at pedestrian height in the whole domain and main street form in the main street in the whole domain mass fraction wind velocity (m/s) mass fraction wind velocity (m/s) 1f 0.00287 2.11 0.000037 2.85 2f 0.00138 2.12 0.000016 2.86 3f 0.002 0.73 0.000018 2.82 source: authors although the average velocity of f3 is less than f1, the concentration is also lower. therefore, there is not a simple direct correlation between the concentration of pollutants and wind velocity. it could be justified by these facts that ventilation is not only due to the horizontal flows but also the vertical movement of air and vortices have a significant effect on the quality of air. conclusion in the present research the relationship between the orientation of the street canyon with respect to the prevailing wind direction (western wind) and pollution dispersion in three residential long streets of tehran is investigated using validated cfd simulations with rans equations. the important conclusions can be summarized as follows: wind velocity is a function of the form of urban blocks. in the corners of the windward blocks, the effect of the corner is created and the wind speed is intensified, where the presence of pollutants is often minimized. beside the leeward walls, where pollutants accumulate, the wind blow becomes slow and sometimes reaches zero. yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 116 that is why the highest amount of pollutants is reported in f3, which the wind direction is perpendicular to the street. the alignment of the wind flow with the urban canyon (f1) causes to create the canalization phenomenon and wind would partially accelerate. in this case, wind flow leads to better ventilation in the beginning parts of the urban canyons as well as the accumulation of pollutants at the end of the streets. ventilation in this type of street often occurs via the pollutant dispersion in the horizontal direction through lateral openings rather than the vertical movement and the street roofs. generally, the vertical displacement of pollutants is a better option than the horizontal displacement, because if we consider the neighborhood as a part of the city (urban context), the horizontal transportation of pollutants, transfer them from one place to another (although these pollutants diluted during the movement), whereas in the vertical movement, the pollutants mostly evacuate through street roofs more intensely, and would less accumulate at lower heights. one of the important results of this study is a higher concentration of pollutants at pedestrian height (lower height) rather than at 3 meters in height and above, which causes pedestrians to be highly exposed to air pollution. the reasons for this phenomenon are the presence of a permanent source of pollutants on the street, which always increases the pollution concentration, the reduction in velocity near the surface, and finally the possibility of discharging pollutants from street roofs at higher heights. since f2 at the pedestrian height has the least amount of pollutants (both in the whole domain and main street), it can be noted that it is the most appropriate and responsive form in terms of air quality. in this case, the pollutant disperses both horizontally and vertically. accordingly, diagonal passages should be taken into consideration in the sustainable urban development principles of tehran (sudpt). last but not the least, there is not a direct relationship between wind velocity and ventilation (the amount of co) in the studied forms. however, there might be correlations at different ranges of velocity particularly at higher velocities, which needs further researches. at lower velocities, the way of wind behavior as well as small and large turbulent diffusions also affect the way the pollutant behaves, just like the wind speed. other recommendations for future research are given as below: first, investigating the relationship between different urban forms with a parametric approach (neighborhood scale) and the amount of air pollution. second, analyzing causal relationships and behavior of other types of pollutants in specific urban forms. yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 117 appendix in tehran, the amount of co dispersion for a certain condition _which the ground slope is zero, cars' air conditioning system is off, the speed of cars is about the residential areas speed limits( 25 to 35 km/h)_ is 7.5 g/km per car. besides, the annual average daily vehicle traffic of the residential areas during the morning peak hour is about 1000 vehicles per hour (municipalities of tehran, 2020). thus, an average of one car per 3.6 seconds passes through a certain section of the local street. considering the dimension of the model (300m * 300 m), it takes 36 seconds for each car to pass the street. in the meantime, 10 cars cross the section. so, there are 10 cars, 30 meters apart in the model at any time. the equation below calculates the amount of pollutant emission. in this equation, 7.5 g is the average pollutant emission per kilometer. 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(2020). urban form and air pollution disperse: key indexes and mitigation strategies. sustainable cities and society, 57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101955 yousefian, s., pourjafar, m., mahdavinejad, m., & moshfeghi, m. (2021). assessing the effects of urban canyon's open space and co dispersion with using cfd. journal of environmental studies. https://jes.ut.ac.ir/article_84191.html?lang=en zoka, h.m., moshfeghi, m., bordbar, h., mirzaei, p., & sheikhnejad, y. (2021). a cfd approach for risk assessment based on airborne pathogen transmission. atmosphere, 12 (8), 986. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12080986 short author biography: samira yousefian is a phd student, faculty of art and architecture, tarbiat modares university, tehran, iran. her research interests include urban sustainability, quality of urban public spaces, urban comfort and designning, urban morphology and air pollution, etc. mohammadreza pourjafar is a professor at tarbiat modares university (tehran), department of urban planing and design. his research interests include quality of urban public spaces, and landscape analysis, etc. he has published more than 300 articles and 12 books in the filed of urban design and architecture. yousefian et al., assessing the effects of urban canyon's direction on air flow pattern and co dispersion using cfd (a case study of tehran) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 121 mohammad moshfeghi is a ktp associate a exeter university, department of enginnerimg, mathematics and physicsl science. his research interests aerodynamics, heat transfer and flow control, and he has published several different journal papers in the same areas so far. mohammadjavad mahdavinejad is professor of architecture, & dean of highperformance architecture laboratory, tarbiat modares university, tehran, iran.his main research area includes highperformance architecture and planning, designerly approach to computational energy and biocomputing. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 31 lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plans towards a methodology for urban regeneration caterina francesca di giovanni ph d c an d id at e in ur b an s tu d ie s cen tr e f o r r e sear ch an d s t u d ies in so c io lo g y , i s ct e i n st itu to un iv er si tár i o d e lisb o a av . da s fo r ça s ar m ad as 1 6 4 0 0 2 6 lisb o a, po r tu g al – cf d g i @ isc te iu l.p t keywords: public housing; housing plans; urban regeneration; corviale; rome abstract this paper is part of urban studies phd research that seeks new approaches of urban regeneration in ongoing interventions in social housing neighbourhoods in italy and portugal. corviale is here taken as case study assessed with a ‘zoom-out methodology’, that means to expand the analysis from the case study to rome regarding the construction of the ‘public city’ and the regeneration of public housing neighbourhoods. on one hand, corviale allows comprehension of the critical factors of public housing plan (peep) in rome: large dimensions, massive housing concentration, high execution speed, incapacity of the public management, under-use of the public assets and unfinished services. on the other hand, the interventions featured in the case study display a strategy for the urban regeneration through three points: densification of the existing housing stock; solution to the squatting that does not involve forced evictions; and participation by way of the “laboratorio di città corviale”. the case study sheds light on the past stages of the italian public housing and recognises a model for urban regeneration of public housing. the research identifies public housing neighbourhoods as an ideal ground of investigation and action to develop new methods of urban planning. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 32 introduction it would be erroneous to assume that the large italian construction of the 60s-70s solved the problem of housing and that talking about public housing1 is a long-standing discourse. the public city2 has had a major impact on cities and societies and still continues relevant. in rome, 180,000 people are living in 77,000 public housing units that can be divided into ater 3 and municipality (puccini, 2018a, 2018b). this seems to be a low proportion in comparison with the entire housing stock of the city – almost 1,260,000 (istat, 2011). however, 77,000 is 1/3 of the rental market of the city, which comprises almost 250,000 units (puccini, 2018b). in line with the studies that define public housing as an interesting opportunity to experiment new approaches for urban regeneration (cognetti & padovani, 2018; cresme, 2007; di biagi, 2009), this study is guided by two hypotheses contributing towards different readings for theoretical contributions and planning indications. the first assumption is theoretical-methodological. the study proposes a methodology called ‘zoom-out’, which means starting from the case study to achieve theoretical reflections about intervening in public housing in rome. in this sense, “the case study represents a clear and well-defined example that provides evidence of the particular phenomenon that the researcher is studying” (chen, orum & paulsen, 2013, p. 81). “generalizing from the case study, not from the case(s)”, the study contributes to abstract theory building and to making analytical generalizations “that go beyond the setting for the specific case or experiment that had been studied” (yin, 2018, p. 38). for example, the famous example of greenwich village of new york helped to develop theoretical principles for urban planning (jacobs, 1961). the second statement embodies “lessons from corviale”, which derives from the empirical experiences carried out for this study and aims to draw lessons for rome. the two assumptions define the research question: understanding past critical factors of public housing plans in rome and at the same time identifying an urban regeneration for public housing neighbourhoods. based on the case study methodology, corviale was selected for two reasons: first, to understand the critical issues of the i public housing plan, which are present in the other neighbourhoods in rome over the same period in rome. second, to develop a 1 social housing could be split into public and affordable housing, and the latter term, developed by private actors, is improperly called social housing in italy (di giovanni, 2019). this paper uses the term public housing to refer to the housing stock entirely built and managed by public institutions. 2 the public city is a term used in the italian literature to refer to the housing (as a city inside the city) built in the xx century by public actors to respond to the housing needs of disadvantaged social groups (di biagi, 2008: 12). 3 azienda territoriale edilizia residenziale pubblica (ater) is the public institution that builds and manages most of the public housing in rome. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 33 model of urban regeneration through the ongoing interventions in corviale and the consideration of the similar issues in public housing neighbourhoods. on the basis of the interconnection among urban planning and social sciences, the study is supported methodologically by the following: i) bibliographic and archival data from the neighbourhood’s and municipal’s libraries, from ater roma and the interviewees, including thesis already produced about the neighbourhood; ii) semi-structured interviews: alessandra montenero, one of the architects of the fiorentino’s design group of corviale; guendalina salimei, architect of the underway project “the green kilometer”; and laura peretti, architect of the winning project of “rigenerare corviale. look beyond the present”, respectively realised on the 26th of june, the 2nd and the 7th of july 2019; iii) informal conversations with ater roma, comitato inquilini corviale, laboratorio di città corviale, and local associations in the neighbourhood; iv) secondary sources such as interviews conducted and works produced by other researchers: montenero’s interview in maracchia (2005) and the master’s thesis of caiazza (2010) as well as the texts published by the interviewed authors (montenero, 2016, 2017; salimei, 2018); v) participant observation during the fieldwork period. the paper is divided into four sections. the first section introduces the presentation of the case study. corviale is included in rome’s i public housing plan and is one of the most discussed elements, for being a kilometre-long building and a failed architectural model in the public housing scenario. the second section systematizes the critical issues that are identified in the case of corviale and linked to other public housing plans and neighbourhoods of the same period. this part extrapolates a series of common critical factors and represents the first zoom-out methodology from corviale to rome. the third section identifies the interventions taking place in corviale and outlines a methodology based on three main points: i) densification, ii) solve squatting, and iii) participation. it explains how public action is linked to the civil society initiatives, setting off an efficient machine for the success of the interventions. the fourth section includes conclusions that allow for verification of the initial hypothesis and the urban processes, such as institutional actions and other practises. this section ends by arguing that this study could be complemented by other studies to develop efficient urban strategies for regenerating public housing. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 34 corviale result of a particular historical context – the “years of lead”4 (del monaco, 2009, p. 219) – and bound by law n. 167, on 18th april 1962, corviale is one of the most discussed projects in the history of post-war public housing in rome and italy more generally. in particular, corviale is part of the i peep (piano di edilizia economica e popolare) of rome, which aimed to resolve the post-war housing emergency and that is explored in the next section. corviale was located in the south-western suburbs of rome and was a contemporary to other major public housing plans (e.g. laurentino and vigne nuove). it was approved on 4th april 1975 by the zone plan n. 61 5 , which envisioned 8,500 inhabitants. figure 1 zone plan n. 61 corviale source: ater roma. 4 the years of lead span from the end of the 60s to the beginning of the 80s, when housing and job demand was very high. the public institutions responded with significant hiring in the public sector and rapid public housing construction. 5 the peep provided for the zone plans (piani di zona), which identified areas with public housing and related services and infrastructure. the zone plans were the fundamental programming tool for the acquisition of public housing areas. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 35 table 1 – the principal dates and numbers from corviale corviale dates numbers 1962 l. 167/1962 (peep) national law 1964 approval of the peep in rome 1970 first iacp zoning project 1972 start of the fiorentino group’ project 1975 contract and construction 1982 first housing assignments 1984 construction of last residential block 1989 (approximately) free floor is occupied residential volume 680,900 m3 total ater houses 1.202 cooperative housing 115,000 m3 non-residential volumes 79,250 m3 predicted inhabitants 8,512 public equipment 64,450 m2 green areas, playgrounds, and sports 255,140 m2 parking spaces and streets 66,000 m2 source: author’s processing from bibliographic review. the design was run on by a group of architects6 headed by mario fiorentino and it was conceived as a complex building that integrated residences and services. the project is part of a wider discussion of collective housing, in which le corbusier's influence is central. according to the data collected, the architectural model comes precisely from two reasons. first, the choice derived from foreign models of collective house, as karl-marx hof in vienna or the unité d'habitations of le corbusier, which evoked the ideological connotations of the phalanstery of fourier of almost a hundred year ago (frampton, 2006, p.172). moreover, the large architectural complex is metaphorically compared to infrastructures: manfredo tafuri (2002, p. 156) defines corviale like “a dam at the threshold of urban development”, and the same fiorentino (1974) was inspired by the ancient roman aqueducts. the objective of the territorial dimension was to halt the urban expansion while safeguarding the surrounding countryside and building an integrated complex to contrast the dormitory neighbourhoods built in the 60s: “the hill and the relative ridge represent for corviale a bridgehead between the city and the countryside” (fiorentino, 1974). 6 the design group consisted of 23 architects, coordinated by five roman professionals m. fiorentino (the main coordinator), f. gorio, p.m. lugli, m. valori, g. sterbini, to which were added other professionals for the structures and for the installations. in that period, the architects were not chosen by competition but by direct assignment for qualifications or previously valid works. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 36 “it is not just a longer house: it is a 1 km system, highly integrated between services and residences, with distinct vehicular and pedestrian paths”7 (mario fiorentino, as cited in del monaco, 2009, p. 156). second, since the intervention had been located far from the urban centres due to the land cost, the architects oriented the proposal towards a self-sufficient solution, integrating residential and services (riso, 2017). this was confirmed by montenero in the interview (26/06/2019), reporting that the architectural model chosen was the result of an internal vote in the design group. the majority wanted a single building organized by “unit of dwelling” (unite d’habitation), with porter’s lodges, condominium halls and a non-residential part, like kindergartens on the ground floor, which unfortunately were never realized. the architectural complex is formed by a one-kilometre long building, a lower parallel body, and a third one placed at 45°. the first building is divided transversely by five vertical elements where the stairwells and elevators are concentrated. these elements identify the five management units called lots. in the original project, the residential floors were interrupted in the middle by a “free floor” (as called in fiorentino, 1974) that was dedicated for commercial services. the floor separated different residential types. on the upper floors, the houses are distributed by galleries and accessed through the five main staircases. the lower floors contain in-line houses that are connected by secondary staircases. the two typologies can be identified by the colours around the windows outside: red for the first ones, and blue for the second ones. figure 3 photos of the façade of corviale from two perspectives source: author’s photos. 7 the author conducted the translations of all present documents, texts, and interviews from italian to english. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 37 nevertheless, the services were not made, and the free floor was illegally occupied in the 80s, a few years after the building’s construction. the result was a drastic modification to the original project because private homes turned into collective spaces, and a long walkable floor turned into an inaccessible route. as was confirmed by the associations interviewed, the squatting stimulated the discrepancies between assignees and occupiers for many reasons. first, an illegal business of illegal rents, sublets, or sales was established. second, the assignees stopped paying rent after witnessing the squatters. today, almost 80% of tenants do not pay for rent or utilities, all of which are charged to ater roma (del monaco, 2009, p. 221) in maracchia (2005, p. 50), alessandra montenero stated that the crucial flaw was “the lack of a strong and decisive role on the part of the administration”. she has pointed out that the choice of a unique building would work if any predictive surveys were carried out, such as door services, social services, premises for productive activities, schools, gardens, etc.): “if the client8 cannot guarantee the presence and management of a plurality of services, the project must be aimed at a building that guarantees at least the best housing function” (interview quotes from montenero’s interview). “the challenge of corviale is in the way it will be managed, all this experience is made of architecture and management” (mario fiorentino, as cited in piazza & scopelliti, 2006, p. 10) corviale was designed as an experiment: 50% was architecture and the other 50% was management. the management problems emerged in the first years of corviale, and the lack of public control induced a degeneration of trust between the tenants and inhabitants. moreover, the public management promised the services at the moment of the construction but instead introduced them over the last 20 years. these services include offices of the xi rome municipality, municipal police command, nursery, elementary and middle school, municipal library, cultural centre, and shopping centre. corviale is thus the result of an unfinished project, “an open work to complete”, a phrase that was coined by the architect renato nicolini (1942-2012) 9 and was immortalized at the entrance of the municipal library of corviale. 8 the client and the manager are the same public institution, namely the iacp (instituto autonomo delle case popolari), which today changed his name to ater (azienda territoriale edilizia residenziale pubblica). 9 renato nicolini was the councilor of culture for the municipality of rome in 1976-1985. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 38 the critical factors of the public housing plan however, weak management was not the only critical issue in corviale. the research indicates that there are several factors also present in the i peep in rome. it is first necessary to provide a brief historical frame of the peep. the peep (piano di edilizia economica e popolare), literally translated as the plan for economic and popular housing (law n. 167 of 18th abril 1962), was a national plan to expropriate areas for public housing construction to address the housing emergency. the peep is hence intimately linked with the social and economic reconstruction of the country. the italian economic recovery in the 1950s and 1960s led to a strong urbanization of the cities and thus a huge demand of houses for the people who came from rural areas. cities changed rapidly due to urbanization and countless illegal shacks growing in the city (cresme, 2007, p. 20). the squatters were regularized some years later, while the public houses had been built nearby so that the services and the infrastructures were used by both. figure 4 the dark grey zones contain the plans for the i peep (1 2 maps) and ii (3 4 maps) source: caiazza, 2010, pp. 13-14. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 39 rome had two peep seasons. the first was from 1964 to 1985, and the second one was from 1985 to 2006, when it ended with the closing manoeuvre (caiazza, 2010). the prevision for the i peep was the most utopian in the history of peeps. it was approved in 1964 (decree n. 3266 of 1964) and provided for the construction of 711,909 rooms in 73 public districts. the i peep was part of the general city plan10, which imagined an enormous urban expansion and a city for almost 5 million inhabitants. since the early years, the peep reported many implementation-related problems such as expropriation, scarcity of resources, and operational difficulties. for this reason, the legal validity of the plan, which was initially fixed at 18 years, was extended to 10th august 1984 (cresme, 2007, pp. 96 100). since 2/3s of the urbanized soil comes from the 60-80s, the construction of the i peep contributed to a relevant part of rome’s urban history. one hundred and fourteen zone plans were built within the i and ii peep; these plans currently represent 7% of the rome’s total urbanized area and 33% of its services (caiazza, 2010). the analysis of the case study, a bibliographical study, and experts’ interviews, have allowed for the synthesis of some of the rome i peep’s critical factors: large dimension the maps above indicate that the zone plans of the i peep in rome have large dimensions that represent large public housing neighbourhoods such as corviale. they are immediately recognizable, even from an aerial photo, “for their marked extraneousness comparing to the urban context in which they were inserted” (montenero, 2016). the ii peep learned from these mistakes and designed smaller areas and widespread settlements in order to have more manageable neighbourhoods. they were planned without excessive concentrations of residential cubature, with a reduced number of inhabitants, and with subsidized and unsubsidized housing. high execution speed the i peep was executed quickly in an attempt to cope with the housing emergency. it was characterised by rapid completion of the residential part and by the fast design of the detailed plans (piani particolareggiati) in the general city plan, which had to include detailed plans for all residential areas (either private or public). however, these plans were hastily designed, conceived as large planimetric and volumetric projects, 10 the general city plan of rome (piano regolatore generale) was adopted in 1962 and approved in 1965. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 40 and often did not consider factors such as altimeters, pre-existences, or subsoil. as montenero stated in the interview of 26/06/2019, the detailed plans were necessary modified by the architects of the projects. later, during the ii peep, they started to be designed through a far more careful analysis of the places for inclusion in the general city plan. unfinished projects and non-contemporary of services one of the problems of the public housing neighbourhoods was that the plans were unfinished, especially those with regard to green spaces and collective equipment (di biagi, 2008: 20). according to caiazza (2010), the services and infrastructure in the peeps in rome were only 59% complete, with reference to the project forecasts. the current infrastructure and services arrived much later than the residential part. the non-contemporaneity of the infrastructures and services demonstrates the enormous slowness of the public body’s urbanization. the public body had to go into debt to get the urbanization works because the financing channels for public housing provided to the expropriation of the areas and the housing construction, but that financing did not contemplate the construction of infrastructures or services. massive housing concentration the incompleteness and non-contemporaneity of the infrastructures and services meant that these public housing neighbourhoods could only have residences. these neighbourhoods were away from the services and the city centre, and the condition of “peripherality” (caudo & coppola, 2006)11 was increased because people from the same social class were concentrated in the same space and because the negative image of these locations was enhanced. inefficiency of public management due to the lack of tools to carry out checks and controls, the inefficiency of the client and, simultaneously, the manager (namely iacp) has influenced the realization of interventions. the countless abusive occupations in the public stock indicates, among other things, a disconnect between the needs of the inhabitants and the ability of public bodies to respond. nowadays, this disconnect is visible in the inadequacy of the houses for the families that is presented in the next section. 11 the authors refer to the emergence of a peripheral condition in rome, but it is important to note that the concept of the periphery is an argument that is often addressed in urban studies, as well as in public housing. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 41 under-use of public assets the population density of the plans of the i peep is about 100 inhabitants per hectare, which is incredibly low for a city like rome, which reaches almost 1,200 ab/ha in some zones. the availability of services and green areas is much higher than what is provided under the urban standards law (dm 1444/1968). in corviale, the services areas are four times higher, and the green areas are nine times higher than what was provided under the urban standards’ law (puccini, 2018c). this creates problems because these areas are under-used and supervised by inefficient management, leaving them to degradation and neglect. non-coordination among public actions the peep’s law (167/1962) was not a financial law for the construction of public housing; it was aimed at identifying the areas for which the municipalities could allocate public housing and allow for land expropriation. the funding came with the law 865/1971, which thus forced many interventions to start much later. moreover, as montenero reported in the interview (26/06/2019), some expropriation procedures are still not completed and are full of legal disputes, which pose an unsolved problem for the municipal administration. the urban regeneration of public housing the troubled life of corviale involved actors who wanted to break it down and others who introduced laboratories12 within it to understand the potential of the social capital for its regeneration. from the 2000s onwards, there was renewed interest in corviale because the municipality of rome brought a series of services to the area: the job orientation centre, the multi-purpose cultural centre, and a municipal library. in the last few years, we assisted with a series of public initiatives. the first one is framed in the neighbourhood contract (contratto di quartiere ii, approved by the lazio region through deliberations 574 and 922 of 2003), which is currently developing through a project for the requalification of the free floor. the free floor is now underway after a troubled bureaucratic history. thanks to extended programmatic work between the public institutions involved – lazio region, rome municipality, and ater roma – the intervention aimed to demolish the occupied houses and build new public houses in the free floor to avoid forced evictions. 12 some of these are laboratorio territoriale corviale roma ovest (martini & parasacchi, 2004); immaginare corviale by osservatorio nomade (santori & pietromarchi, 2006); corviale accomplished (del monaco, 2009). di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 42 this was possible through a phased project and an accompanying re-housing of the families nearby. these programs were managed by ater and the laboratorio di città corviale, seeking adequate solutions for each family13. the new project, called “green kilometre” 14 , is based on the reading of what exists in corviale, especially the sense of “proximity” (neighbourhood relation that transforms private spaces as shared) that allowed for the design of collective use of spaces (salimei, 2018, p. 58). in 2015, ater launched an international competition for the urban regeneration of corviale15 to modify the ground attack of the building in addition to the internal and external connections. as stated by peretti in the interview (05/07/2019), the project will make the building becomes permeable because the access points will be increased from 5 to 27, and the “barriers” among the building and surroundings (the basement, the entrances, the street, the parterre of services) will be rethought while creating the missed intermediate dimension of corviale. this paper does not intend to exhaustively present on the two projects; instead, it seeks to learn from the case study to find solutions for broader questions. the previous chapter indicated the critical factors of the large public housing plans for the i peep. here, the objective is extrapolating patterns through the analysis of the interventions enunciated for the regeneration of public housing neighbourhoods. it presents a sort of methodology identified by three points: densification, solve squatting, and participation. densification as salimei stated in the interview (02/07/2019) the new 103 public dwellings built with the “green kilometre” will help to insert residual cubature, and, at the same time, to reorganise the inadequate public heritage. this project along with the housing fragmentation plan approved by ater contribute for responding to the current needs of inhabitants. in fact, in the public plans, the size of the apartments was calculated based on post-war censuses, when families were numerous16. according to puccini (2018c), corviale has 467 houses for six people and 288 houses for up to nine people, but the census indicates that only 19 families needed a house for six people, and only 13 for more information see the article by di giovanni (forthcoming): un chilometro di case. la riqualificazione del quarto piano di corviale a roma. this article will be shortly published in the w1.2 in the proceedings of the siu conference of june 2019. 14 the winner group for the requalification project of the free floor is t studio, headed by guendalina salimei. 15 the international competition rigenerare corviale was won by studio insito, headed by laura peretti. 16 the size of the apartments was calculated based on tupini’s law of 1949 and, in the case of corviale, from the design of the building (1972) to the construction (1982). after decades, it is normal for the composition of families to change. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 43 six families are in houses for up to nine people. these houses result inadequate because families formed by six people currently make up less than 3%. by contrast, more than half of the settled families in corviale are composed of groups of one or two people. hence, these actions in corviale represent an increase of the housing supply in rome, which is important to resolve the scarcity of public housing stock: there are currently 15,000 families in municipal housing waiting lists (puccini, 2018b) besides the new housing demands (e.g. impoverished middle class, population aging, job precariousness, changing family’s composition). in this framework, a controlled densification could be an effective strategy only if it is viewed as a system of services that converges the various subjects involved instead of an operation that merely seeks to increase the number of houses (cresme, 2007, p. 296). solve squatting the free floor in corviale was never completed and was rapidly squatted for housing; almost 130-135 families are now living there. the case study demonstrated that the squatting in corviale could be resolved through an integrated approach that is, the result of collaboration between different actions and public levels. the solution adopted in corviale was the accompanied re-housing of the families in nearby locations in a phased project. that solution helped to restore legality and public control, mitigating the conflicts between assignees and occupiers and, more generally, between ater and inhabitants. squatting is a common aspect in public housing due to a scarcity of public stock and inefficient housing policies. six percent of the public housing stock, or 45,000 dwellings, is occupied. the relevant factors of that figure are the continuing presence of vacant housing; the economic poverty of the social context; the limited collaboration with the authorities responsible for public order; and the long tenure of the public housing contracts, which does not allow the mobility of new users (nomisma, 2016). participation the social support of the families in the intervention of the free floor (re-housing of the families, demolishing and built the new houses according to the green kilometre’s project) is being performed by the laboratorio di città corviale, which is a physical laboratory in corviale that results from cooperation between the lazio region and roma tre university. the local site is made available by ater and it is carried out by an agreement between lazio region and roma tre university. with regard to the re-housing of the free floor, the laboratory continuously dialogues with the public administration and the inhabitants as an intermediate body to find points of agreement between the parties. the laboratory is thus a third actor that is di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 44 necessary to solve the conflict between ater and inhabitants, seeking to regain the trust between the owner and tenants. furthermore, the laboratory is also starting a participatory planning strategy for actions and interventions in the neighbourhood that is relevant for stimulating the civic engagement of the inhabitants, strengthening a channel of dialogue with the administration, and building networks with the association to develop local projects. this last point is particularly interesting since the fieldwork registered the presence of many associations, mostly related to cultural and sporting facilities (il mitreo, calcio sociale, rugby arvalia, corviale domani). through a lot of initiatives and actions in the territory, the associations had actively campaigned for the neighbourhood’s regeneration before the interventions of the public institutions, displaying a vibrant and dynamic neighbourhood. concluding remarks the case study was read in accordance with different scales and diverse points of view to answer the research question: understanding past critical factors of public housing plans and identifying starting points for the urban regeneration. first, since the local issues derive from the public housing plans in rome, the case study is framed at a double scale: building and metropolitan. second, unlike common reading of corviale, the case study was not presented as a degraded place and a negative symbol, but as positive model that had a strategy for urban regeneration. the more relevant aspects of the presented methodology are as follows: answering some of the critical factors of peep (the under-use of stock and public assets); responding to the needs of the families living there; increasing the housing supply for the current housing demands; restoring legality and public control, and mitigating the conflicts between assignees and occupiers; establishing trust between ater and its inhabitants; allowing the involvement of the inhabitants in the processes; initiating housing policy about the existing housing stock. nevertheless, some critical points can be outlined. addressing squatting without forced evictions is the result of long cooperation between public institutions that lasted for years. the participatory process has the same problem of duration. on the other hand, the densification is not always feasible, depending on the situation (providing feasibility studies considering historical, archaeological, and landscape-related aspects), and should be reviewed not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 45 however, an innovative point that links all the aspects of the case was the entrance of a third actor: the university, which allowed for participatory planning practises and for reducing the contrast between the owner and the tenants. the laboratory promotes the third mission of the university besides investigation and teaching, namely to be a bridge between academy and real world. avoiding the therapeutic obstinacy of learning is an end in itself with the purpose of staying in the field of investigation and starting a collective process of learning that is based on “education-advocacy”. this means that the university provides knowledge and tools for local actors to intervene independently in the processes (cognetti & padovani, 2018, pp. 4344). two more considerations conclude this section. first, the study has displayed some interesting points regarding intervene in the public city, but corviale is a case that fits in both categories: public housing and periphery. however, not all the public housing is peripheral, and not all the peripheries are public housing; some public houses were built in the early xxth century and now are part of the city centre. others were built in the last decades and were localized in areas that were not well-connected. currently, “the return of peripheries” (indovina, 2015) is also relevant for population increases in the peripheral districts, which is associated with decreases in the central districts (lelo, monni & tomassi, 2016). the interventions for regenerating peripheries should be designed according to the peculiar characteristics of the case and the relevant context. second, since the public city is an immense laboratory for new projects that involve experimentation and action-research, the study does not claim to be the only possible method; it is merely one of the alternatives to contribute to the definition of guidelines for the regeneration of public housing. more studies, both by analysing similar neighbourhoods and by observing the same issues, could be developed to increase the debate discussed in this paper. in this sense, more researches, from the fields of social sciences linking with urban planning, should support this study in order to identify public housing neighbourhoods no longer as a problem but as a resource for the cities. acknowledgments the present work stems from the financing of the fundação para a ciência e tecnologia (sfrh/bd/130465/2017) addressed for the phd project in urban studies (iscte-iul/fcsh-unl). moreover, the research award “aesop young investigator training program 2019” allowed collecting data, interviews and reflections with giovanni caudo e mauro baioni, which kindly hosted me at roma tre university for one month. i am also grateful for the precious feedbacks given by my supervisor rita cachado, the ijpp editors and the anonymous reviewers. di giovanni – lessons from corviale: from the critical factors of public housing plan towards a methodology for urban regeneration ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 46 references caiazza, l. 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(2018). case study research and applications. design and methods. london, uk: sage short author biography: caterina francesca di giovanni is an architect and a phd student in urban studies at the iscteiul/fcsh-unl. her research is funded by fct (sfrh/bd/130465/2017) and focuses on integrated interventions in social housing with an interdisciplinary approach. she holds a master’s degree in architecture from university of palermo and a postgraduate specialization in urban planning in public administration-city and land management at the sapienza university of rome. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 24 the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices agrippino graniero ar ch it ect, ph d , co m u n e d i nap o l i ag r ip p in o .g r an ier o @ co m u n e.n ap o li.i t, v ia dio c lez ian o n .3 3 0 , 8 0 1 2 6 nap o l i keywords: urban planning, italy, naples, urban plans implementation, pua process abstract in italian urban planning, the phase of implementation through details plans has always been that which has shown main contradictions. such plans have the difficult task of creating a link between the dimension of urban planning and that of architecture. they represent the link between what is planned and what is then built in reality. this article aims to provide evidence of the contradictions such plans face by looking at the implementation state of the general variance of the naples master plan (piano regolatore generale) in force since 2004. the article focuses on the management methods for the implementations plans (puas), third-level planning, and looks specifically at private initiative puas. the research therefore starts from the current legislative framework in force and from the technical rules of town planning to then proceed with the analysis of the administrative and technical procedures adopted by the municipality of naples to evaluate private initiative puas, both implemented and not implemented, and those awaiting for final approval. it thus provides useful knowledge about the main problems encountered, whether specific or of a general nature, determining delays in the preliminary stages of the procedure or in the subsequent implementation phase. agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 25 1. introduction in the field of italian urban planning, characterized by a sequence of preparatory plans, the third level of planning has always been that which has provided the most contradictory representation of itself. in fact, if the first-level plans have taken many years to have a strategic role in the management of transformations on a territorial scale, the general regulatory plans, in the second level, have been the only real planning tool for over half a century for the italian municipalities (scattoni & falco, 2011). these plans, in fact, have the difficult task of constituting a link between the dimension of urban planning and that of architecture, they represent the link between what is planned and what is then built in reality. the third level plans, piani urbanistici attuativi (puas), include those plans that allow the construction, the transformation of agricultural areas into urbanized parts of the territory and those plans that concretely represent the very idea of the implementation plan of the general urban instrument (prg), which require an urban-scale project that precisely defines every aspect of the intervention, e.g. the subjects involved, the resources, the times, the procedures, the rules of implementation and the managerial aspects (erba, 1976; discepolo, 2007). the third level plans are: piani di edilizia economica e popolare, piani di lottizzazione, piani di insediamento produttivo, piani particolareggiati esecutivi, and piani di recupero. piano urbanistico attuativi therefore concretize the city organism and through them urban transformations and developments are realized. when we talk about territorial governance and regeneration, urban quality and participation, social and functional mixitè we cannot do without third level planning. by focusing the research on the piani urbanistici attuativi, on those carried out but also and above all on the unrealized ones, proposed but not implemented, it is possible to obtain a precise knowledge framework relating to the whole city and its individual parts, to its economic and social components and to the effectiveness of the planning instruments in force. if on the one hand the public initiative puas are valid examples of the realization of the general plan choices, on the other hand the private initiative plans are certainly more numerous and better diffused on the whole city territory and therefore more representative. this contribution proposes instead to elaborate a knowledge framework related to the state of implementation of the general variance of the naples prg (piano regolatore generale – general plan), the municipal planning instrument in force since 2004, analyzing the management methods through third-level planning, in this case through private initiative puas. the research therefore starts from the regulatory framework in force and from the technical rules of the municipal town planning instrument, continues with the analysis of the administrative and technical procedures adopted by the municipality and with the verification of the private initiative puas approved and realized, unrealized and those still only adopted, extracting, from the examined cases, agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 26 useful information to be able to identify the main problems encountered, specific or of a general nature, determining delays in the preliminary phases of the procedure or in the subsequent phases or the un-realization of the proposed plans. 2. the research to be able to analyze the management modalities of the general variance to the naples prg through the private initiative puas, we started from the national and regional urban planning discipline and we arrived at the municipal urban planning tool that plans the specific implementation modalities. therefore, starting from the information of a legislative nature, the research focused on the procedure adopted by the municipal administration for the approval of the puas for the purpose of a broader understanding of the operating methods that allow on the one hand to correctly and promptly process more or less complex technical-administrative procedures and, on the other hand, to the proposers, to more easily elaborate project proposals compliant with the sector laws (mazza, 2006). for the precise definition of the procedural phases, reference was made to a municipal regulation concerning the bureaucratic process to be followed, in accordance with the provisions of article 27 of the campania regional law no.16/2004. the verification of the individual plans has also made clear important procedural steps and some specific cases have been better clarified by the persons in charge of the proceedings. with regard to the verification of the implementation urban plans, a list of approved and adopted plans was drawn up. the documents of the puas, with the relative technical attachments, were searched for through the internet portal of the municipality. preliminarily, through the information deduced from the documents found, the private initiative puas have been identified and excluded therefore those of public initiative not object of investigation. as previously explained, private initiative puas are more numerous and better distributed throughout the city and are therefore more representative and can also be verified and compared with each other using the same evaluation parameters and selection criteria, which is not possible if we consider also the public initiative plans. of each pua the fundamental characteristics of the interventions have been considered, related to the design complexity, to the foreseen functions, to the territorial dimensions, to the location and to the presence of cultural or environmental constraints. in addition, references to the instances that initiated the administrative technical procedures were searched for each plan. knowing therefore the dates of the first project proposals and those of the adoption and approval resolutions, it was possible to calculate the time spent between the start of the procedures and the adoption of the agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 27 final plans and between the adoption and the approval. it was also possible to calculate the times for particular procedural steps thanks to detailed chronologies of the deeds produced relating to some cases. the information relating to the times was therefore associated with the characteristics of the plans, thus verifying any correspondences between some of these and any procedural delays. with regard to the approved plans, their state of realization was verified by consulting directly the persons in charge of the procedure and carrying out research of any useful documents available through the internet portal. the information thus obtained was then associated, in some cases, with data of a general nature, such as for example market surveys relating to sales of land or studies commissioned by the chamber of commerce relating to construction sector activities, to verify the existence of particular correspondences. 3. urban planning legislation 3.1 national and regional legislation with d.p.r. (presidential decree) n.8 of 1972 and subsequently with d.p.r.n.616 of 1977 the administrative functions in urban planning were transferred from the state to the regions, preserving the state the function of coordination and direction also through the definition of "fundamental lines of the planning of the territory". currently, the conferment to the regions is governed by d.lgs (legislative decree) n.112 of 1998, subsequently amended by the constitutional reform law n.3 of 2001 which redistributes the responsibilities between the state, regions and municipalities also in urban planning and territorial governance. the current national planning legislation provides for different types of puas including: piani particolareggiati esecutivi (ppe), governed by articles 13-17 of law n.1150 of 1942 (national urban planning law); piani per l'edilizia economica e popolare (peep), governed by law n.167 of 1962; piani di lottizzazione (pl), governed by law n.765 of 1967; piani per gli insediamenti produttivi (pip), introduced by law n.865 of 1971; piani di recupero (pdr), governed by law n.457 of 1978. within the campania region, regional law no. 16/2004 regulates urban planning and regulates puas, considered implementation instruments of the municipal urban plan provisions (prg) (barbieri & giaimo, 2003; mazzeo, 2006). in particular, art. 26 specifies that the puas, in relation to the content, have scope and value of piani particolareggiati, piani di lottizzazione, piani per l'edilizia economica e popolare, agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 28 piani per gli insediamenti produttivi, programmi di intervento under law n.179/1992 art.17 and the regional law n.3/1996 and regional law n.26/2002, piani di recupero and programmi di recupero urbano pursuant to d.lgs n.398/1993, art.11, converted into law n.493/1993. the campania regional law n.16/2004 also establishes in art. 27 which subjects may submit a pua proposal: the municipalities, the urban transformation companies and the owners of at least 51% of the intervention area taxable value. article 27 also specifies the formation process of the puas by providing: adoption by the municipal government body (giunta); sending the adopted plan to the province (today metropolitan city of naples) for any observations within 30 days; the deposit of the plan at the municipal house for 30 days within which anyone can submit observations or oppositions; the examination of the observations or oppositions formulated and the approval of the pua by the giunta. 3.2 local legislation 3.2.1 the general variance of the prg of naples in october 1984 naples city council approved the document of strategic guidelines for municipal urban planning aimed at updating and modifying the city old general plan, approved by d.m. (ministerial decree) n. 1829 of march 31, 1972. the piano regolatore generale (prg) (general plan) then in force was structured in such a way as to postpone all its practical operations to the drafting of detailed executive plans. these puas were entrusted with the task of defining and regulating the interventions to be carried out and blocking any possible intervention, pending the drafting. however in the following years no pua was ever approved. even among the first-level plans, the sectoral superordinate plans (piani di bacino, piani aree di sviluppo industriale, piani parco, and so on) were more effectively implemented compared to the typical large area plans, provided by the national and regional legislators. the guidelines document of 1984 provided for the proceeding through a succession of variances: of safeguarding, for the western area (bagnoli), for the eastern area, for the northwestern area, for the historic center. during elaboration, the number of variances envisaged was then reduced, having re-united into a single document, which also includes the areas affected by the variance of safeguarding, the last three planned variances. in conclusion, the variance in force, together with that for the western area, agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 29 constitutes in fact the general variance of the prg approved in 2004.article should be between 4,000-5,000 words, excluding tables, figures, and references. 3.2.2 the ambiti and the areas of recent expansion the town planning instrument of the city of naples concerns a territory that extends over 10.365 hectares and has been sized on a population of about 1.013.000 inhabitants (1991 census). the general variance includes direct interventions and indirect interventions. the former correspond, as a rule, to conservation (which essentially concerns the historical and environmental heritage), the latter to the transformation (relative to the settlements built after the second world war and, above all, to the abandoned industrial areas). instead, the expansion interventions, considered irreconcilable with the priority objective of proceeding with the exclusive redevelopment of the existing heritage, were excluded to protect the physical integrity and detect the cultural identity of the city. the direct intervention therefore constitutes the privileged operating mode of the plan in force. nonetheless, there are some areas of the municipal territory called ambiti for which considerable transformation interventions are necessary, which can be carried out exclusively through preparatory planning tools. the ambiti identified by the plan regulations are 46 (to which another ten are added in the western area), and are located on the entire municipal territory (figure 1), but grouped together in four macro areas: the historic centre, the north-western area, the northern area, the eastern area. agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 30 figure 1 – ambiti source: comune di napoli (2020) for each of these areas the prg provides for particular dimensional, morphological and functional characteristics, outlining in an almost homogeneous way the design choices and the regulatory provisions. the four macro areas identified can in turn be grouped into two classes that refer to the areas intended mainly for conservation and those, instead, destined to transformation. within the prg implementation strategy, indirect interventions through the drafting of a pua are therefore the preferred operating method for the ambiti. the prg, however, prefigures the possibility of using this mode, in a more widespread way, even in the case of the transformation of recent expansion areas, classified as sub-areas bb (figure 2). in particular, the town planning instrument assigns to the sub-area bb, which identifies the most significant share of the aforementioned expansion tissues (over 90% of all areas of building expansion), the result, in most cases, of an unplanned growth without urban quality, a strong potential for redevelopment of the suburbs agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 31 through the implementation of transformation interventions to the building and urban planning scale. figure 2 – sub-areas bb and nb source: comune di napoli (2020) the redevelopment envisaged by the general variance 2004 is based fundamentally on increasing the quantity and quality of equipment and public spaces. it also consists in the morphological reorganization of private spaces, also through the filling-in of the urban areas of lower density and the formation of new volumes that allow to increase the supply of residential buildings, assigning to private initiative an important role in the promotion of such interventions. as part of the planned redevelopment actions, urban restructuring interventions aimed at replacing existing urban building systems or completing them are permitted. however, the necessary condition to propose a pua consists in the availability of a surface that, for at least 5000 square meters, falls entirely in sub-area bb. the intervention area can also be formed by surfaces that are not contiguous to each other, where the minimum consistency of 5000 square meters is achieved by the sum of several smaller lots, connected to each other by existing public spaces, including public roads, and/or areas identified by the general variance 2004 to make neighborhood agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 32 public equipment. these public spaces are not included in the calculation of the 5000 square meters required. furthermore, as mentioned, the urban plan promoted by the private operator must provide for the transfer to administration of areas destined to primary and secondary urbanizations (public uses) and to the realization of the same urbanization works by the same promoter. in this regard, it is possible to carry out these urbanization works in the sub-areas bb affected by the private settlements but also in other areas considering that these facilities are not aimed exclusively at the new settlement but must also satisfy previous needs of the whole neighborhood. the need to carry out urbanization works in other areas occurs especially when the size of the intervention area is limited and its planimetric morphology is complex, factors that could make both the equipment and the private settlement unsatisfactory from a qualitative point of view. in this regard, with a management order it was clarified that in such cases "it is permitted" that such equipment may be located, in whole or in part, outside the intervention area and may concern areas located in the sub-area bb or in another area of the general variance in which the construction of public equipment is permitted, also areas identified by the general variance as public spaces. in order for the areas found outside the intervention area to be considered suitable, they must be located near the intervention area, within a adequate distance for the type of equipment required. always starting from the same motivations and ascertaining the impossibility of finding outside the intervention area suitable areas for this purpose, as a last resort forms of monetization of the acquisition value of the due areas and of the value of the relative works are permitted, both subordinate to a congruence check. 4. the puas in naples 4.1. the approval process of the pua the procedure adopted for the approval of the pua provides for three distinct and consecutive phases of examination, each of which corresponds to a form of assent by the administration. the third phase is that which allows the formal adoption and approval of the plan pursuant to article 27 of campania regional law n.16/2004. this articulation in phases does not however constitute an obligation but a faculty granted, because the proposers can directly access the third phase as required by the law in force. 4.1.1. phase 1 verification of the admissibility conditions at the time of proposing an intervention, an interaction is activated between the proposer/owner and the administration in order to define the admissibility of the proposal or to ascertain whether it presents the formal and qualitative requirements for assuming the configuration of a pua to be submitted to administration examination. agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 33 the proposer presents an aero-photogrammetric planimetry with the identification of the building, a photographic documentation and a rough proposal of the intervention also in the form of a report. it is necessary to provide the elements that attest to the ownership of the area or in any case the title to take the initiative, even through self-certification. this informal phase consists therefore of conducting conversation between the proposer and the office, a sort of "pre-examination" in order to verify the conformity of the objectives proposed with the general plan. with regard to the operating procedures, the manager appoints the person in charge of the procedure, notifying the proposer, evaluating the urban planning compliance of the proposal, performing a site inspection and identifying the suitable type of pua among those listed in article 26 of the campania regional law n.16/2004. the person in charge of the procedure checks compliance with the urban planning regulations, identifies and prepares, in agreement with the other municipal services, the personalized study material to be provided to the proposer, usually consisting of: a collection of maps related to the area of intervention in the various possible editions in order to document their evolution; a collection of historical maps; documentation relating to the current sector legislation; urban zoning on a cadastral basis; the updated definition of the initiatives in progress in the area and in the neighboring ones; indications relating to existing roads and other public spaces and for planning and management decisions regarding public or public use equipment; statistical and socio-demographic processing; a compendium of legislative references; the standard type of agreement. in the case of admissibility and convergence of objectives, the manager informs the proposer about the subsequent procedural phases, the reference legislation and eventually indicates the specific skills that the design group must have in relation to the characteristics of the intervention. in the event of a negative outcome, the manager, after having received the report of the person in charge of the procedure, prepares a communication to the proposer with the considerations about the reasons for the non-compliance of the proposed plan, or indicates the conditions that could allow a continuation of the initiative. 4.1.2 phase 2. preliminary proposal the proposer develops the proposed intervention through documents that have the purpose of defining the qualitative and quantitative contents of the plan project. this agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 34 phase represents a preliminary but important approach to the salient issues of the proposal which, exposed by the proposer at a time of achievement of the objectives, will avoid the same from any reworking of the plan proposal until the final formulation is reached, thus allowing to shorten the time for the examination and approval. with regard to the operating procedures, the person in charge of the procedure examines the preliminary plan by carrying out the main checks listed below: a) ascertains the existence of constraints and compliance with the superordinate and sector-specific urban planning instruments in force: landscape constraints related to the third part of the code of cultural heritage and landscape (d.lgs n.42/2004); archaeological constraints; hydrogeological plans (pai autorità di bacino); geomorphological constraints; presence of other constraints and / or areas of respect. b) verifies the compatibility of the intervention with the all municipal instruments of territorial governance; c) convenes, if it is deemed necessary, the proposer for clarifications and additions in order to modify or finalize the preliminary plan in accordance with the aims and parameters of the prg and the remaining instrumentation and urban planning legislation; d) arranges meetings with the competent municipal services for specific problems to be addressed; e) arranges meetings, where necessary, with the representatives of the other administrations that will have to express an opinion on the plan in question, so as to have indications on the documents necessary to obtain the authorizations and/or opinions. once a preliminary formulation of the complete plan is obtained, consistent with the current urban planning regulations and with the administration's urban planning guidelines, the person in charge of the procedure prepares a report that describes the initiative and any problems relating to it, indicating, for the purposes of any decisions, the conditions deemed essential for the continuation. the decisions of the office are communicated in writing to the proposer. 4.1.3 phase 3. definitive pua project this phase consists of the presentation of definitive pua project pursuant to art. 27 of the campania regional law n.16/2004, examination of the proposed plan and drawing up the documents for the purpose of adoption by the giunta. agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 35 with regard to the operating procedures, the proposer presents 3 copies of the project signed by the owner and the designer. additional copies of the project for the acquisition of opinions will be requested during the preliminary examination. the person in charge of the procedure verifies that the documentation presented is complete and eventually requests any documentary additions or modest modifications to the presented plan. the person in charge of the procedure verifies that the final project has complied with the indications and prescriptions formulated in the previous phase and that it complies with the urban planning legislation: a) acquires the prescriptions of the other competent offices of the municipality; b) acquires the prescriptions of other administrations. in the event that the proposer requires that the approval of the pua has the value of building permit, the preliminary final report must include the consent of the suep sportello unico edilizia privata (competent office issuing building permits) for private works and the examination of the final project of the primary and secondary urbanization works by the other responsible offices. at the conclusion of the examination, the person in charge of the procedure prepares the report which contains a brief description of the plan, the results of the compliance checks and correspondence to the town planning regulations, the assents and approvals collected and any prescriptions. the person in charge of the procedure with the legal support of the competent internal office defines, also through comparison with the proposer, the model of agreement drawn up on the model provided by the office. the final report signed by the office manager with any decisions that the office deems to have to be taken prior to the adoption of the plan is sent to the competent assessore (member of giunta) before the preparation of the adoption proposal. the office participates with the other competent offices in the subsequent phases defined by article 27 of the campania regional law n.16/2004, therefore examines the observations and/or oppositions received, processes the proposed resolution for the examination of the observations and the approval of the pua by the giunta. the proceeding ends with the sending to the giunta of the proposal for a resolution for approving the plan containing the results of the examination of the observations and / or oppositions received. subsequently, with decree of mayor, the approved plan is published in the official bulletin of the campania region and enters into force the day after its publication. 4.2. the puas adopted and approved from 2004 to the 2017 considering the private initiative pua proposed after the approval of the general variance in 2004 and until 2017, 19 plans have been approved, of which 9 piani agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 36 particolareggiati, 7 piani di recupero and 3 piani di lottizzazione. instead, 5 plans were adopted, 4 of which are piani particolareggiati and one piano di recupero (figure 3 and tables a and b, see appendix for tables) (comune di napoli, 2020). figure 3 – approved and adopted puas source: comune di napoli (2020) 4.2.1 timing and criticalities of the proceedings the procedure for approving the pua as we have seen begins with the delivery of the urban planning project by the owner of intervention area in the preliminary or definitive form. the time spent between the delivery of the first proposal and the approval of the plan and therefore for the elaboration of the project in its final form, with the acquisition of all the necessary opinions and assents, varies according to different factors. the analysis of the approved and adopted pua therefore shows that the average time between the first proposal and the adoption of the final project is 32 months with a minimum time of 4 and a maximum time of 106 months (table d, see appendix). with agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 37 regard to the time between adoption and approval, they have an average duration of 12 months with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 43 months (table d). by verifying the individual procedures relating to the plans that required longer time for approval, various causes of slowing down of the process were found among which, the incorrect application of the sector regulations by the proposers and the deficient documentation are among the more widespread in the early procedural phases, when the plan is still in progress. in these cases the person in charge of the procedure requires additions or modifications to the project that extend the time frame. it must be said that at times proposers find it difficult to find some required documents, such as property deeds, building permits or to find satisfactory design solutions in agreement with the appointed designers. the presence of archaeological, cultural or environmental constraints can cause further slowdowns. a case found is that of a pua related to a pre-existing building that has been declared, pursuant to d.lgs n.42/2004 (code of cultural heritage and landscape), of particular cultural interest as part of a larger complex already protected. the affixing of the constraint during the first phase of the procedure determined the complete modification of the draft plan and therefore the proposal was completely revised. another case found concerns a pua in the sito di interesse nazionale (sin) “napoli orientale" (site of national interest) . in this case the approval by the competent ministry of the characterization plan is required and the consequent reclamation of the land before the approval of the pua is necessary. a further delaying factor was the high complexity of some plans. complexity relative to the functions, the dimensions of the intervention, the spatial articulation of the artifacts, the technologies used, the pre-existing elements to be considered. often a single procedure determines the start of further proceedings in other internal services of the municipality or in other administrations thus expanding the time necessary for the definition of the plan project. 4.2.2 state of realization of approved plans of the 19 pua approved, only 3 have been realized, 4 are in the realization phase, 5 do not yet have the signed agreement, for 2 the realization through functional parts was requested, for others 2 puas a variance was presented and in another case the new owner company, after the approval of the plan, makes it necessary to modify the agreement (table e). it is necessary to specify that in general there are no time limits within which to sign the agreement after the approval of the plan. after the signature, however, the agreement provides for a series of deadlines and is effective for ten years. with regard to the plans for which the agreement has not yet been signed, among the main causes there appears to be the unfavorable current economic-financial situation agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 38 that has changed, within a few years, the financial state of the proposing companies or of the individual subjects or consortium. the limited economic availability if on the one hand does not prevent the proposed plan from being approved, on the other it does not allow the proposer to sign the agreement that actually commits him financially. economic reasons, high complexity of the intervention or particular needs of individual members of the consortium, relating to the concrete and quick realization of even only part of the plan, determine the need to proceed through functional parts instead than fully realizing, in a single time, the intervention. in the two cases encountered, after the approval of the plan and before signing the agreement, the proposers submitted a request for realization for individual parts. the competent manager of the administration, in these cases, with his own disposition, examines the request and the proposer modifies the agreement that returns to the giunta for approval together with the final project of the urbanization works to be carried out simultaneously. with regards to the approved pua, for which a variance proposal has been presented, after the approval of the definitive project, sometimes certain conditions or particular needs change, so it is necessary to modify the project or parts of it. this actually determines the start of a new procedure aimed at approving a project that replaces the previous one. a further case found is that of the change of the howner of the intervention area. after the approval of the pua, which may possibly have the value of a building permit, the owners sell the intervention areas and therefore the buyers take over the agreement as new implementing parties. it may happen that a pua is proposed exclusively to increase the value of the areas for the purpose of a more profitable sale. in this case, if the area is not sold after approval, the agreement is not signed and the intervention remains un-realized. with regard instead to the plans that have not been implemented, in one case the failure to carry out the plan was caused by the bankruptcy of the proposing company, in another the ten year validity term of the pua was exceeded, thus determining the ineffectiveness of the plan. 5. conclusions the proposed contribution analyzed the management modalities of the general variance of the prg of naples through the private initiative pua proposed from 2004 to 2017. the research was divided into three different parts, the first concerned the sector legislation in force, national and regional, implementing rules of the municipal town planning instrument, while in the second part were analyzed the different phases of the agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 39 technical administrative procedure adopted by the administration aimed at the approval of the plans and the third part dealt with the verification of the single private initiative pua to date approved and realized, not realized and those only still adopted. the final objective was to trace a knowledge framework showing the main problems encountered, specific or of a general nature, causing delays in the preliminary phases of the procedure or in the subsequent realization phases or the un-realization of the proposed plans. with regard to the first part, we have seen how the variance allows for the implementation of the plan forecasts exclusively through the elaboration of a pua in the areas of recent expansion, with an extension of at least 5000 sq. metres. on the one hand, this obligation is useful for a better management of urban planning loads and for a more effective choice and distribution of the necessary functions and equipment, on the other hand, it is an indispensable tool for the realization of public interest and urban quality. in fact, it submits specific types of intervention to urban planning, such as, for example, building renovation with an increase in volume and a change of intended use by the regional law called “piano casa” (house plan). with regard to the second part of the research, it has been verified that the administration carries out a complex daily task of checking the project proposals presented. collaboration in the preliminary phase between the administration and the citizen or urban planner is indispensable not only for a more rapid and effective elaboration of solutions in compliance with the sector regulations, but also to reach, sometimes with great difficulties, compromises that pursue at the same time the public and private interests. the professionals within the administration adopt, as we have verified, a precise procedure that works well, both as regards the division by phases, and as regards the level of project definition required in the various steps. having to identify and solve important problems in a preliminary phase of the procedure allows you to deal more effectively and quickly with the subsequent steps where a greater degree of detail is required. discovering some unresolved criticalities in the final phases of the procedure, which can be overcome to a different extent or in some cases unsolvable, involves a considerable waste of resources both on the part of the proposer and of the administration. with regard to the third part of the research, that is the verification of the individual plans, approved and realized, unrealized or only still adopted from 2004 to 2017, made it possible to identify some critical points, specific or of a general nature, causing delays in the preliminary administrative procedure phases or in the subsequent phases or, in the most serious cases, the un-realization of the proposed plans. the data collected highlight some aspects of the state of realization of the municipal planning instrument that certainly reflect broader national scenarios. certainly, the serious economic and financial crisis of recent years has had a profound effect on the city, agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 40 leading in some cases to the abandonment of the intervention proposals before or after the approval of the plans. the analysis of the individual plans was therefore divided into two parts, one relating to the criticalities found and the time required to reach approval, and another concerning the state of realization of the pua. in the first part the main characteristics of the interventions were associated with the times elapsed between the different procedural phases. among the information gathered it emerged that certainly the complex plans require more time for approval but also that the simpler and smaller plans do not always take less time for their final realization. unpredictable variables can have a strong impact on the timing and methods of implementing the plans. it would therefore be useful to draw up a precise list of the predictable factors and, on the basis of the previous cases, a list of the probable variables that may occur in a proceeding. another interesting fact that emerged from the analysis of the individual puas is the possibility for a proposer to have an approved urban plan and subsequently not to carry out either the proposed private intervention or the expected standards. beyond the individual and different causes that can lead to this case, the un-realization of the plan does not imply no type of sanctions against the proposer. it would therefore be useful to provide for more and different guarantees in favor of the administration and therefore of the public interest, so that the approved plans or at least the public part of them, are realized and within a reasonable time. this contribution therefore if on the one hand it is limited to the analysis of the legislation in force, to the verification of the individual phases of the technical administrative procedure for the approval of the puas and to the verification of the individual plans approved and adopted, on the other it is the starting point for further research, in order to make the approval process of the plans more effective and faster, to guarantee their effective implementation, for the interest of the community and of the individual citizen who proposes and finances the realization and with the hope of a higher quality of urban living. agrippino– the third level urban planning in naples: private initiative between criticality and best practices ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 41 references barbieri c.a., giaimo c. (2003). nuove leggi urbanistiche delle regioni tra specificità e omologazione. firenze: alinea. comune di napoli (2020) urbana. ubarnistica napoli. http://www.comune.napoli.it/urbana. last accessed december 2020. discepolo b. (2007). note e metodi per la redazione di piani urbanistici attuativi. napoli: edizioni graffiti. erba v. (1976). l'attuazione dei piani urbanistici. roma: edizioni della lega per le autonomie e i poteri locali. mazza m.g. (2006). la gestione dei procedimenti urbanistici. matelica: halley editrice. mazzeo g. (2006). l.r. 16/2004 la nuova legge urbanistica della campania. dipist – università di napoli “federico ii”. napoli. scattoni, p. and falco, e. (2011). why italian planning is worth studying. italian journal of planning practice, 1(1), pp. 4-32. short author biography: the author is architect, holds a phd in representation, protection and safety of the environment, structures and government of the territory at the university of campania “luigi vanvitelli”. since 2010 he has been involved in urban planning in the public administration. microsoft word di giovanni fontana.docx ijpp   issn: 2239-267x 18 ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 the doctoral path in urban studies in italy: between personal expectations and institutional goals grazia di giovanni and cora fontana ph.d. researchers, gran sasso science institute viale f. crispi 7 67100 l’aquila, grazia.digiovanni@gssi.infn.it; cora.fontana@gssi.infn.it abstract in the hybrid working contemporary landscape, the purpose of a doctoral programme should be the scientific and methodological training of multi-skilled and versatile researchers, not strictly orienting the students toward a specific academic or not academic career. this assumption seems particularly relevant for ph.d. programmes focused on cities. in order to corroborate this thesis and to understand the opinions among ph.d. candidates in italy, a direct survey among doctoral students in urban studies (and interrelated branches of knowledge such as planning, urban geography and sociology) has been conducted. the survey investigates the differences and similarities between personal expectations and institutional goals, and what is the general approach of ph.d. schools in italy. the results show an enduring predominant interest of ph.d. students towards academic careers, di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 19 even if a shift can be observed in how ph.d. education is perceived. introduction this research was born out of the personal experience and considerations of the authors, both currently ph.d. students in urban studies. the reflection concerns the doctoral education understood both as an advanced training course per se, both as a process to prepare students for professional opportunities that the title has to offer. according to the authors, sharing park (2005) ideas, the ph.d. should not be a path addressed only to “knowledge production" – production of specific outputs such as publications and theses – but as a skill building process, that embodies more complex and broader purposes: a training period for future researches, moving from content to competence. starting from this assumption, doctoral students should not be prematurely led in favour of a specific post-doctoral career, whether academic or not; on the contrary, the doctoral path should be directed to training well-qualified researchers, able to position themselves in a wider working landscape, inside and outside academia. the issue of how to make doctoral training effective for working success outside academia, overcoming the “fossilization” of ph.d. programmes is internationally debated, both in u.s. and europe (fiske, 2013). as goldstein (2012) remarks, this question seems to be particularly relevant for doctoral programmes devoted to the study of cities, because of the complexity of contemporary urban systems and the interdisciplinary nature of the disciplines involved, di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 20 belonging at the same time to professional and academic fields. these reflections are also aligned with the recent institutional and international debate, arisen from the “bologna process” 1 and led nowadays mostly by the european commission and the european university association, concerning the meaning and objectives of the doctoral programmes for the european knowledge society (eua, 2015; european commission, 2011). to verify if colleagues share these thoughts and to understand the current directions of italian ph.d. schools, an interaction with ph.d. students in urban studies (and interrelated branches of knowledge such as planning, urban geography and urban sociology) has been carried out. the survey was conducted by distributing an online questionnaire to students belonging to active cycles – 28th, 29th and 30th –, in order to investigate their view on the topic. in particular, the questionnaire focused on the motivations and expectations that led students to undertake a ph.d., their satisfaction with the training programmes offered by schools in regard to the acquisition of knowledge and skills, and their future career aspirations. especially with regard to the latter, the aim was also to understand if students are still influenced by an idea of the ph.d. closely tied to the academic realm or if they are interested in more innovative forms of training, and if there are mismatches with the education received. moreover, by the medium of this survey the authors tried to understand how an analysis conducted on a specific cluster of ph.d. 1 initiative born from the conference of european ministers of higher education held in bologna in june 1999. http://www.processodibologna.it/index.php?id_cnt= di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 21 fields reflects or not the results of available national investigations, concerning ph.d. education and related job opportunities. after a short analysis of these investigations, the paper provides a description of the questionnaire and of the respondents’ profiles, a summary of the received answers and an interpretation of the main findings. background: national investigations on phds cnvsu2, istat3 and almalaurea4 are among the main italian institutions delivering open access national investigations on italian ph.d. programmes. the paper takes into consideration the most recent reports arranged by these institutions, which focus on the state of the university system and on the professional integration of ph.d. graduates. these reports were prepared with the purpose of achieving a comprehensive understanding of the national scenario and trends (almalaurea, 2015; argentin, ballarino, & colombo, 2014; cnvsu, 2011; istat, 2015). a key question addressed in various reports is the motivations that drive students to attend a ph.d. programme. according to argentin, 2 comitato nazionale di valutazione del sistema universitario (national committee for the evaluation of the university system), body of the miur ministero dell’istruzione, dell’università e della ricerca (ministry of education, university and research) 3 italian national institute of statistics 4 italian public interuniversity consortium, devoted to the collection of data, information and assessments to investigate university courses and employment conditions inquiring directly undergraduate and graduate students. http://www.almalaurea.it/ di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 22 ballarino & colombo (2014) the increasing number of application in ph.d. programmes is a direct consequence of the gradual but constant decrease in job opportunities italy has been experiencing in the past decade. although the increase in applications is observed in all the fields, the greatest increase happened in humanities and social sciences. in contrast with this thesis, the almalaurea report (2015) highlights the interest in research activities and personal cultural education as the main motivations in starting a ph.d. a second important issue is how doctoral students value their learning experience. from istat report (2015) emerges that ph.d. graduates are not fully satisfied by their own doctoral experience, in particular for what concerns the educational activities delivered by the programmes. moreover there is a wide dissatisfaction about job opportunities emerging after completion of the degree5. nevertheless according to the same study, the employment rate is still high: four years after the completion of ph.d., 90% of ph.d. graduates is engaged in working activities they consider appropriate to their education. by observing the typology of working activities in which they are engaged, contrasting results arise among istat (2015, p. 6), cnvsu (2011, p. 138) and almalaurea (2015, p. 7). according to the first one, 70% of ph.d. graduates are involved in research and development activities, while according to the second and the third ones this percentage decreases to less than 50%. all the reports show that universities record a not sufficient capacity on employing researchers, compared to the number of ph.d. 5 only the 20% of ph.d. graduates already employed before starting their ph.d. declare to have achieved a better working condition thanks to the doctoral degree. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 23 graduates6; for this reason many ph.d. schools are starting offering educational programmes not strictly oriented to academic career, even if the link between ph.d. schools and academic career is still the strongest one (almalaurea, 2015; argentin, ballarino, & colombo, 2014; cnvsu, 2011; istat, 2015). the survey design, administration, profile of respondents a. about the survey the identification of italian doctoral schools has been carried out via the website of miur7, selecting firstly courses that started in the past three years (cycles 28th, 29th and 30th). the second criterion was the main subject matter of the programme: we selected only the doctoral programmes focused on cities – whatever the thematic or disciplinary perspective of analysis8. with these criteria 19 doctoral programmes were selected (see table 1). students enrolled in these programmes were invited by email to participate in the survey. 6 for instance, in 2010 the number of ph.d. graduates was around 12000 (growing tendency) (argentin ballarino, & colombo, 2014, p. 2) while the number of researchers already employed was around 24.000(cnvsu, 2011 p. 149). for further reading, see falco & rinaldi (2015) in this issue. 7 http://cercauniversita.cineca.it/php5/dottorati/cerca.php, accessed on june and july 2015 8 programmes referred to areas no.8 "civil engineering and architecture", no.14 "political and social sciences", scientific sectors m-ggr/01 "geography", mggr/02 "economic and political geography", secs-p/06 "applied economics". di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 24 city university ph.d. program respondents ferrara university of ferrara architecture and urban planning 7 florence university of florence progettazione della città, del territorio e del paesaggio 5 l’aquila gran sasso science institute urban studies 21 milan bicocca university urbeur-qua.si. città e società dell'informazione 12 politecnico governo e progettazione del territorio 3 spatial planning and urban development 1 urban planning, design and policy 4 naples federico ii university architettura – curriculum “pianificazione, urbanistica e valutazione 6 palermo university of palermo architettura, arti e pianificazione 2 reggio calabria mediterranea university urban regeneration and economic development 0 urbanistica 0 rome roma tre university paesaggi della città contemporanea. politiche, tecniche e studi visuali 2 politiche territoriali e progetto locale 0 sapienza university pianificazione, design e tecnologia dell’architettura 4 pianificazione territoriale e urbana 7 sassari university of sassari architettura e ambiente 10 turin politecnico urban and regional development 3 venice iuav architettura, città e design – curriculum:“pianificazione territoriale e politiche pubbliche del territorio” 8 architettura, città e design – curriculum: “urbanistica” 0 table 1. ph.d. programmes and number of respondents. elaboration by the authors. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 25 the administration of the questionnaire was conducted anonymously, via the website qualtrics9. the questionnaire was bilingual (italian and english), divided into four parts (general data, before the ph.d., during the ph.d., after the ph.d.) and composed of 35 questions (mainly multiple-choice questions). it was handed out during julyaugust 2015. b. about the population the survey was sent to a population of about 25010 ph.d. students. the total amount of completed surveys is 111, but not every respondent answered all the questions. 64% of the respondents have a background in the field of architecture, planning, and engineering, followed by students coming from the field of social sciences 20%. the remaining population is composed of student with a background in geography (6%), economics (3%) and 2% from political science11. around 60% of the respondents have not started their ph.d. immediately upon completion of their university studies. 9 www.qualtrics.com 10 the total population is estimated because in some cases students’ mail addresses were not public and ph.d. schools’ delegates consequently spread the survey. the authors could contact directly 200 people. 11 students coming from different background, such as philosophy and legal sciences, compose the remaining 5%. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 26 the results show that more than 80% of those interviewed obtained the msc in italy and receive a grant12. out of 95 students, 23% belongs to the cycle 28th, 32% to the 29th and 45% to the cycle 30th. main findings the collected results were analysed as aggregate data in the first phase. the most interesting issues were then analysed in detail crossing key variables from the research perspective. five main topics emerge from the analyses: a) the backgrounds of the respondents and their engagement before ph.d. study; b) personal motivations when applying for a ph.d. course; c) the role of the educational offer and career opportunities in influencing decisionmaking process; d) the educational path; e) personal expectations and ambitions of ph.d. students. a. background and previous engagement as already noted, data related to the disciplinary background of the respondents reveal a high prevalence of students from the fields of engineering, architecture and planning (64% of 111 respondents) (q1). this is a consequence of the large number of doctoral programme focusing on cities from this disciplinary perspective and of general correlation between students’ background and the type of doctoral program to which they apply. 59% of students did not start their ph.d. immediately after completing university studies, and this is particularly true for 12 for further reading about the experience of foreign ph.d. students in italy, see ahern, gogishvili & kizildere (2015) in this issue. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 27 students in fields of engineering, architecture and planning. the time lag between the two phases is of 1-2 years for the 47% of the respondents, and more than five years for 19% (q2, q3). 60% of students that responded to the survey devoted this intermediate period to professional activities; 22% were engaged only in research or educational activities, while 18% of respondents were involved both in professional and research activities (q4)13. b. motivation a section of the survey was oriented to evaluate the motivational processes of ph.d. students in choosing their educational path. more than half of the 77 respondents declare the desire to continue personal studies as the main purpose in undertaking a doctorate, followed by their need for the ph.d. title for employment opportunities. all students share the same trend, regardless of whether or not they receive a scholarship. undertaking a doctoral path as a temporary or alternative employment in the absence of other opportunities does not seem to be a relevant reason (q10). c. role of educational offer and career opportunities starting from the interest in understanding the decision-making processes of ph.d. students in urban studies in approaching this educational path, the survey investigated the relevance and role of the educational offer and career opportunities proposed by ph.d. schools. concerning the role of the educational offer, the population seems divided equally between students that describe this aspect as 13 for further details see table 2 in the discussion section di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 28 relevant in their decision-making process (55% of 89 respondents) and students that have an opposite opinion (45%), mainly because the available information was too general. for the first category of students, such relevance of the educational offer was derived from correspondence between the training program (themes, disciplines involved, etc.) and personal previous interests (q12-15). however, 63% of 84 students find only partial consistency among the proposals of the training program (themes, teaching methodologies, tools, etc.) and its implementation (q26). asking students’ opinions about the training objectives of a ph.d. in urban studies, providing basic training on research methods (both theoretical and applied) is considered the most important one, followed by specific preparation on methodologies and tools (q25). instead, not many respondents show interest for training devoted to enhance and reinforce their personal generic skills, communication and presentation abilities, working in hostile conditions or under pressure, time management, team working, etc. 14. for what concerns the career opportunities proposed by the ph.d. schools, they did not play a critical role during the decisional process of undergoing a ph.d. for approximately 70% of 89 respondents, regardless of disciplinary background (q16). open answers (7) suggest that career opportunities that follow ph.d. period could be considered "implicitly" oriented to academic research (q19). for the remaining 30% of students, career opportunities were considered 14 differently from what expressed in the answers, in literature and in “bologna process” to train generic skills is recognized as an important part of the learning path of ph.d. students in their transition experience in becoming novice researchers (park, 2005; christensen, 2005). di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 29 relevant, above all for the resulting possibilities of employment congruent with personal ambitions and interests (q18). d. the educational path despite the previous findings, asking what should be the main focus of a doctoral programme in urban studies, only 8% out of 86 respondents affirmed that it should be only a personal experience of study and research; 17% considers the doctoral experience as a path to develop professional skills; the remaining 75% of students agree on a broader vision of the ph.d. experience embracing all these aspects (q20). to deepen this topic, the survey asked which professional profiles a ph.d. programme should train: the majority of answers (64%) demonstrate the core role of doctoral schools in training researchers – both engaged in academia both in institutions and organizations – and future professors. the remaining 36% of answers imagine the ph.d. path as moment of training consultants (q21) (see chart 1). asking which activities should better prepare for these careers, the majority of answers 70% show a preference for workshops dedicated to specialised tools, special topics, and methodologies; followed by internships (44%) and simulations (19%)15. furthermore, the open answers suggest that application on empirical research or cooperation between universities and public/private sector should be better implemented and fostered (q22). the survey investigated also if, and how, ph.d. programmes are orienting students towards specific career choices: the answers can be interpreted as equally distributed 15 multiple choices were available. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 30 among research, teaching and consultancy (q24). concerning this issue, the same percentage of students (around 43 out of 87 respondents) feel pushed towards a choice in line with their personal ambitions, or do not feel oriented at all towards any direction; 12% of students think to be addressed towards careers that do not reflect their desires (q23). e. personal expectations being engaged in research16 activities seems to be the main ambition of ph.d. students, followed by achieving a role in the consultancy realm, a trend coherent along the entire survey (q32) (see chart 1). 16 researcher in academia: 42 answers; researcher in institutions and organizations, etc.: 32% (out of 82 answers) di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 31 chart 1. comparison about ph.d. schools’ educational purposes and personal vocation (q21, q32). elaboration by the authors. on vertical axis the number of answers. in conclusion, the questionnaire reveals a general optimism among the students about their employment opportunities thanks to the doctoral training. yet students attending the last year of their program seem less optimistic (q33)17. 17 for further details see table 6. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 32 discussion from the results some interesting features about the profile of ph.d. students analysed in the survey can be highlighted. we propose for the "discussion" section the same subdivision adopted in the "main finding" one. a. background and previous engagements students with a background in economics and social sciences begin their doctoral path immediately upon completion of their previous university studies, unlike students coming from more specialised courses, such as those promoted by the schools of architecture and engineering, that allow direct hiring in freelance working activities (see table 2). educational background number of respondents divided by the activities conduced in the period between university studies and the beginning of the ph.d. working activities educational activities both total engineering and architecture 18 9 6 33 social sciences 6 2 0 8 political sciences 0 1 0 1 economics 1 0 0 1 geography 2 0 3 5 other 4 2 1 7 table 2. number of respondents clustered by educational background and their pre-ph.d. activities. (q1, q4). elaboration by the authors. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 33 b. motivation the desire of enhancing their education and being engaged in research activities emerge as the two main motivations in attending doctoral careers. the ph.d. education is not considered a job opportunity per se, and also the future career paths seem to have a minor role in the decision-making processes of the candidates. this tendency confirms the investigation conducted by almalaurea (2015), while the study by argentin, ballarino & colombo (2014) shows a different perspective. c. role of educational offer and career opportunities for most of the respondents, official programmes and related future job opportunities do not seem decisive in influencing their choice of starting a ph.d. the words of some of them defining as "obvious" and "implicit" the post-doctoral employment opportunities seem particularly interesting. there is certain coherence among expectations of the students, their doctoral paths, and future personal ambitions. in fact, according to our respondents, doctorate programmes should be oriented to train future researchers; the activities promoted by italian programmes seem to confirm this tendency, which indeed matches with the main personal ambitions of the interviewed students. these findings show a cultural background still dependent on a traditional conception of the meaning of getting a ph.d. title, mainly seen as the educational phase preparatory to academic careers; a tendency that has been defined as a "path of academic selfreproduction" (argentin, ballarino, & colombo, 2014, p. 2) or as "a di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 34 form of academic apprenticeship" (park, 2005, p. 193). in comparison, the european cultural horizon about higher education is quite different. one of the results of the "bologna process", as the document provides by the european commission (2011) remarks, is the request to universities to promote doctoral programmes functional to meet the needs of the employment market at large not to prepare only for an academic career. equally, the communiqué of the conference of ehea underlines: "we urge universities to ensure that their doctoral programmes promote interdisciplinary training and the development of transferable skills, thus meeting the needs of the wider employment market" (ehea, 2005, p. 4). ph.d. schools should prepare their students for careers beyond academy, also because of the limited employment opportunities offered by academia in present times (fiske, 2013; park, 2005). moreover, research and teaching in academia are characterized by long periods to achieve contractual stability and professional advancement. indeed as the investigation conduced by the italian ministry of education illustrates the average age of admission in academia is quite high: 37 years for researchers, 43 years for associate professors, 51 years for full professors18 (cnvsu, 2011 p. 157), while according to the almalaurea report (2015) the average age of ph.d. graduates is 33 years. 18 data referred to the period 2000 2010 di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 35 d. the educational path the results show that some ph.d. schools are trying to propose educational programmes and professional opportunities alternative to the academic world; this tendency emerges also from the national reports here debated, that underline how doctoral training is more and more devoted to catch the working demand coming from extraacademic labour markets (argentin, ballarino, & colombo, 2014; orefice & gobbo, 2012). starting from this observation, two interesting features emerge: as reported in the main findings, the majority of students consider " professional training" as an important purpose of a ph.d. path, despite a small attention given to the educational program, in choosing their ph.d. although schools are trying to re-shape their programmes in order to better catch the current job opportunities, it seems that students are involved mainly in individual works at the expense of group activities and collaboration, while the principal working activities of both researchers and consultants are nowadays widely non-individual ones. e. personal expectations academia still remains the primary ambition of students. this consideration is even more interesting if compared with the fact that a great part of students were involved in working activities in the intermediate period between the university studies and the ph.d (see table 3-4). it could be interesting to understand the existence of correlation between the degree of satisfaction for the working experience and the decision of continuing with the educational path. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 36 research and teaching in academia research in institutions, organizations consultancy working activities 20 10 23 educational activities 7 4 8 both 5 5 6 table 3. number of respondents clustered by personal job aspirations and activities pre-phd (q4, q32). elaboration by the authors. research and teaching in academia research in institutions, organizations consultancy engineering and architecture 35 22 31 social sciences 11 6 9 political sciences 1 0 2 economics 2 0 1 geography 5 2 3 other 11 2 8 table 4. number of respondents clustered by educational background and personal job aspirations (q1, q32). elaboration by the authors. the survey reveals a general optimism among students about the possibility that their professional profile, as built through the ph.d. path, may find a place in the contemporary job market. analysing di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 37 more in details these data (see table 5), such optimism varies according to the belonging cycle. do you think your professional profile, as influenced by the phd path, may find a place in the contemporary job market? yes widely probably yes probably not no hardly i do not know other 28th (22 respondents) 0 29% 35% 18% 18% 0 29th (30 respondents) 4% 68% 20% 4% 4% 0 30th (43 respondents) 6% 40% 28% 9% 11% 6% table 5. respondents clustered by ph.d. cycle and perception on employability (q6, q33). elaboration by the authors. on the contrary, istat report shows that one third of ph.d. graduates declare a large dissatisfaction about the career opportunities offered by the degree (istat, 2015, p. 12). conclusions ph.d. students involved in this survey seem to share the initial considerations that gave birth to this research: the ph.d. education should be a " skill building process path", oriented to train wellqualified and versatile researchers, inside and outside academia. through their answers students show the desire of receiving basic strong training on research methods, not only devoted to theoretical research but also to empirical one. as affirmed by innes: di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 38 “programmes must give high priority to maintaining and improving the scholarly quality, rigor, and contribution of doctoral research. students must have preparation in both quantitative/analytic and qualitative/field research methods as well as training in identifying research questions and designing research” (innes, 1993, p. 169). moreover, the demand for be engaged as well with empirical and field research, and for partnership and networking with other institutions and stakeholders19, indicates the need for a stronger integration between theoretical and practical activities. this could be interpreted as a switch in the way in which ph.d. education is perceived, closer to the international debate about the educational purpose of doctoral programmes. furthermore, the results show that ph.d. schools in italy – possibly aware of the shrinking demand of researchers from the academic institutions – are trying to increase the learning activities dedicated to acquire basic skills, useful beyond the academic research. the general motivations in attending a ph.d. programme then show clearly how the majority of students seem to attend the ph.d. to follow their personal research interests and continue their educational path. in fact the doctoral degree is not considered a job opportunity per se, as demonstrated by the secondary role played by future career paths in the decision-making processes of the candidates. 19 for instance, goldstein (2012), proposes to share method courses among different ph.d. schools, a tendency experienced by some italian ph.d. schools by joint seminars and lectures, promoting networking between researchers and students. this form of networking among ph.d. students can also facilitate employment opportunities. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 39 nevertheless, despite the current awareness about the needed involvement of ph.d. schools in non-academic domains, and the interest of students in broader job positions, the academic realm still represents a relevant working ambition of ph.d. students in planning and urban studies. references ahern, j., gogishvivili, d., & kizildere, d. (2015). the international phd experience in urban studies in italy. italian journal of planning practice, 5(1). almalaurea. (2015). indagine almalaurea 2015 sui dottori di ricerca. tra performance di studio e mercato del lavoro. bologna: almalaurea. argentin, g. (2010). lauree, competizione di mercato e riproduzione sociale. caratteristiche, percorsi ed esiti occupazionali dei neolaureati italiani in un contesto in rapido mutamento. milano bicocca. argentin, g., ballarino, g., & colombo, s. (2014). investire in formazione dopo la laurea: il dottorato di ricerca in italia. almalaurea working paper n. 60. almalaurea. bianchetti m., della ratta f., lanzoni m., pischedda v., rizzo r., & usai m.c. (2003). la valutazione dei dottorati di ricerca dell'università di milanobicocca. risultati di un'indagine sulle opinioni dei dottorandi iscritti ai cicli xv, xvi e xvii (vol. doc. 4). milano-bicocca: adi associazione dottorandi e dottori di ricerca italiani, università degli studi di milanobicocca. christensen, k. k. (2005). bologna seminar. doctoral programmes for the european knowledge society. general rapporteur’s report. salzburg, 3-5 february 2005. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 40 cnvsu. (2011). undicesimo rapporto sullo stato del sistema universitario: ministero dell'istruzione, dell'università e della ricerca. ehea. (2005, 19-20 may 2005). the european higher education area achieving the goals. paper presented at the conference of european ministers responsible for higher education, bergen. eua. (2015). principles and practices for international doctoral education. european commission. (2011). report of mapping exercise on doctoral training in europe "towards a common approach". brussels: european commission directorate general for research & innovation. falco, e., & rinaldi, a. (2015). doctoral education in planning and urban studies in italy: what is it really for? introduction and editorial note. italian journal of planning practice, 5(1). fiske, p. (2013). ticket to everywhere. nature, 494(7437), 393. goldstein, h. a. (2012). the quality of planning scholarship and doctoral education. journal of planning education and research, 32(4), pp. 493-496. doi: 10.1177/0739456x12449484. innes, j. e. (1993). report of the commission on the doctorate in planning to the association of collegiate schools of planning: an overview. journal of planning education and research, 12(2), 168-171. doi: 10.1177/0739456x9301200215. istat. (2015). l'inserimento professionale dei dottori di ricerca. anno 2014. istat, statistiche, report. available at: http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/145861. accessed on september 2015. orefice, p., & gobbo, g. d. (2012). il terzo ciclo della formazione universitaria: un contributo delle scuole e dei corsi di dottorato di scienze dell'educazione in italia. milano: francoangeli. park, c. (2005). new variant phd: the changing nature of the doctorate in the uk. journal of higher education policy and management, 7(2) pp. 189-207. doi: 10.1080/13600800500120068. di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 41 supplement: the survey general data q1 from which disciplinary area do you come from? (choose the predominant, or specific in "other") • engineering and architecture • political science • social sciences • economics • geography • other q2 have you started you phd in temporal continuity with the completion of your university studies? • yes • no q3 how much time elapsed between the end of your studies and the beginning of the phd? • less than one year • 1-2 years • 3-4 years • 5 years • more than 5 years q4 how have you spent the period between your university studies and the beginning of the doctorate? di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 42 q5 which is your phd program? 20 • ferrara: architettura e pianificazione urbana • firenze: progettazione della città, del territorio e del paesaggio • l’aquila, gran sasso science institute (scuola superiore sant’anna): urban studies • milano, bicocca: studi europei urbani e locali urbeur • milano, politecnico: governo e progettazione del territorio • milano, politecnico: spatial planning and urban development • milano, politecnico: urban planning, design and policy • palermo: architettura, arti e pianificazione • reggio calabria: urban regeneration and economic development • reggio calabria: urbanistica • roma, roma tre: paesaggi della città contemporanea. politiche, tecniche e studi visuali • roma, roma tre: politiche territoriali e progetto locale • roma, sapienza: pianificazione territoriale e urbana • roma, sapienza: pianificazione, design e tecnologia dell’architettura • sassari: architettura e pianificazione • torino: urban and regional development • venezia, iuav: curriculum "urbanistica" • venezia, iuav: curriculum "pianificazione territoriale e politiche pubbliche del territorio" • altro / other q6 what cycle? • xxviii • xxix • xxx 20 during the construction of the online questionnaire the doctorate in architecture of the university of naples federico ii has been not included in the options by mistake. students belonging to the curriculum “urban design and planning” were contacted and actively participated in the survey di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 43 q7 do you receive a scholarship? • yes • no • i prefer not to answer q8 did you obtain your msc in italy? • yes • no q9 in which country did you graduate? before the phd q10 why did you choose to attend a ph.d.? (order options from the most relevant to the least significant) • interest for further education • licence requirement of phd for employment reasons (eg: academic career, management career, etc.) • temporary employment (eg: possibility of employment emerged among other possibilities) • interesting alternative in the absence of other employment opportunities (eg: occasion to gain a salary in a period of unemployment or for lack of other job opportunities, etc.) • other q11 why did you choose to attend a doctorate in italy? (maximum 2 options) • for the possibility to access scholarships • because application procedures were not conditioning (eg: to have already a research project or supervisors wasn’t compulsory, etc.) • for personal reasons (eg: i live in italy permanently) • for continuity with my previous studies • for the reputation of the institution chosen di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 44 • for clarity of objectives and funds available for doctoral students • other q12 the didactic offer proposed by the doctoral program (available via websites, dedicated events, etc.) was significant during your decisionmaking process? • yes • no • other q13 how was the didactic offer relevant to you? • irrelevant • little relevant • neither relevant nor irrelevant • very important • extremely important q14 why was it important? (eg: pertinence of the didactic program with your university career, with topics of interest, for the quality of the academic board, etc.) q15 why wasn’t it relevant? • i have not consulted the available information • no information was available about • available information was too general • the didactic offer wasn’t a decisive factor • other q16 career opportunities indicated by the doctoral program (available via websites, dedicated events, etc.) were important during your decisionmaking process? • yes • no • other di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 45 q17 how were the career opportunities relevant to you? • irrelevant • little relevant • neither relevant nor irrelevant • very important • extremely important q18 why were they relevant? (eg. relevance of the possible employment with personal ambitions and interests, with specific job opportunities, etc.) q19 why weren’t they relevant? • i have not consulted the available information • no information was available about • available information was too general • the possible job opportunities were not discriminating factors in my choice • other during the phd q20 in your opinion, what should be the main goal of a phd in urban studies (and related disciplines)? • it's personal experience of studying and researching • it's a path towards professionalization • both • i do not know • other q21 if the phd is also a vocational learning pathway, should be oriented towards the formation of: (maximum 3answers) • professors • public consultants • private consultants • leading roles di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 46 • researchers in academia • researchers in institutions, organizations, etc. • professionals (oriented on starting their own business) • other q22 through which instruments should it be made "professionalizing"? • internships • learning activities (eg. workshops dedicated to specific topics, tools, methodologies, etc.). • simulations • other q23 in your experience, your phd is already orienting you to a career choice? and is it a choice consistent with your desires and ambitions? • yes, in line with my ambitions • yes, but to a choice that does not answer my main ambitions • no, it isn't • other q24 if it is orienting you, the trend is toward (maximum two answers): • academia • consultancy (public and private sector) • scientific research • business creation • leadership roles • other q25 in your opinion, how important are the following goals in a phd in urban studies (and related disciplines) (not important, important, very important)? • basic training on methods of theoretical research • basic training on methods of applied research • specific preparation on methods and/or tools (eg. writing methodologies, software learning, etc.). di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 47 • psychological training (eg. collaborative working, working in hostile conditions, etc.) • other q26 do you find consistency among the proposals of the training program (themes, teaching methodologies, tools, business proposals, etc.) at the time of application and the implementation of the program? • lack of consistency • the program implemented is partly consistent with the statements • great consistency • i do not know or i do not remember the training program q27 does your doctoral learning path promote the active participation in activities other than teaching? (ex. conferences, workshops, visiting, etc.) • yes • no • i do not know • other q28 what activities are promoted? • conferences • visiting • applied research • confrontation with local actors and stakeholders • workshop • field research • working groups • internships • other q29 is it important to you the international dimension of education and employment opportunities? • yes • enough di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 48 • no • other q30 does your doctoral path promote the internationalization of students training? (eg. through specific activities, through the bilingualism of the course, etc.) • yes • no • i do not know • other q31 if so, how? • the activities are in english • guests from non-italian institutions participate in our activities (readers, lecturers, etc.) • promoting participation in activities abroad (visiting, participation in conferences, etc.) • promoting international networks among phd students • other after the phd q32 do you already feel clearly an interest, a vocation, for one or more of the following roles? (maximum 2 answers) • professor • consultant in the public sector • consultant in the private sector • director, manager • researcher in academia • researcher in institutions, associations • professional with his own business • professional with his own business dedicated to research • other di giovanni and fontana  –  the doctoral path in urban studies in italy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 49 q33 do you think your professional profile, as influenced by the phd path, may find a place in the contemporary job market? • yes, widely • probably yes • probably not • no, hardly • i do not know • other q34 are you planning to stay in italy? • yes • no • i do not know • other q35 do you want to add comments on the questionnaire or reflections on the theme investigated? a place­sustaining framework for local urban identity: an introduction and history of cittaslow abstract this article will provide an introduction and description of the cittaslow organisation, its history, philosophy and policy. the organisation is reviewed through the lenses of place­sustaining, localisation and the importance of identity. much of this article is based upon research from 2004 and 2005, conducted by the author, in europe (primarily italy) and from the author’s home­base in canada. the original intention was to analyse the case of cittaslow, as it seeks to sustain the local sense of place and the identity inherent to each individual urban area. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 90vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 susan radstrom executive director, new journey housing 312­393 portage avenue ­ winnipeg, manitoba ­ canada r3b 3h6 ­ susanr@newjourneyhousing.com introduction urban areas around the world are facing an important phase in their histories. as the global population continues to migrate to large urban centres, cities issn: 2239­267x italian city promotes slow life, but is too busy to enjoy it [on­line article, accessed march 12,1 2003]. available from: http://potpouri.fltr.ucl.ac.be/files/aclassftp/textes/articles_usa/nyt_2002_juin_16et17_greve.text radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 91vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 are gaining an unprecedented percentage of the world’s total population. the trends and patterns, which include the way in which urban centres grow, are melding together under globalisation, producing cities which are becoming increasingly uniform. the local sense of place, in many locations, is at risk if it is not properly sustained. the increase of globalisation has led to a homogenisation of urban identity. this is particularly the situation in smaller urban areas which do not receive as much attention, and frequently find themselves attracted to foreign ‘solutions’ which do not value the local identity. the planning community, worldwide, would benefit from a holistic, place­based solution, provided as an answer to the problem of sustaining local identity. cittaslow, an organised network of small cities, is attempting to focus urban and regional plans around the primary asset of place­based identity, by choosing to preserve the threads of each urban area’s own unique characteristics. they have been introduced during a time in history that seems to support everything they do not represent. they are each sculpting their own future and leaning on their own past, in a concerted effort to not become yet another monotonous urban centre. cittaslow history cittaslow was founded in the year 1999 by paolo saturnini (mayor of greve­ in­chianti), together with the mayors of orvieto (stefano cimicchi), bra (francesca guida), positano (domenico marrone) and the president and founder of slow food (carlo petrini). saturnini saw the need for maintaining the qualities and characteristics of smaller urban regions. he recognised that, in the long run, cities would suffer by becoming large global metropolises with no local connections. in other words, cities will become “everywhere communities” (calthorpe and fulton, 2001) losing the sense of place which had defined them for centuries. as saturnini has noted, “cities are all becoming uniform; they are losing their identity, their soul.”1 radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 92vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 cittaslow’s aim is to preserve the quality of life integral to each city’s sense of place, in an environmentally­sustaining way. the underlying philosophy is to identify and support each city region’s assets and ways of life which have traditionally formed its identity. according to supporters of cittaslow, it is when these characteristics are supported, promoted and sustained that the urban regions are protected from simply becoming further examples of everywhere communities. re­establishing a sense of place also recreates a relationship with the physical surroundings and the ties to the locality which have historically been the foundation for community life. slow food at its root, slow food was the inspiration for cittaslow. carlo petrini started slow food in 1989, in bra, italy. cittaslow continues to be closely related to slow food in philosophy and practice. slow food was introduced as a way of protecting local produce, traditional cuisine and the related cultural connection. it originally began due to the increasing prevalence of fast food restaurants in italian cities and towns. these fast food restaurants were seen as representing something foreign to the italian way of life. not only were the brands usually foreign, but the culture inherent to fast food was also foreign. carlo petrini foresaw a future of italy being overwhelmed by fast food and fast food culture. he founded slow food as a direct response. slow food has become synonymous with local food of high quality, connection to local land, traditional recipes representing sense of place, and with the relationships built around sharing a meal. all of these themes can easily be lost in the world of fast food. whereas the word ‘slow’ in slow food does not necessarily represent a rate of speed, it does indicate a slower pace of life regarding the production of food, the creation of meals and the enjoyment of taste. slow food represents taking the time to savour this intrinsic part of our life. when we become too busy to appreciate food, and all that it represents, fast food becomes the result. when we value food and take the time to understand it and all it represents, we are starting to encapsulate the meaning of slow food. in writing about slow food, carl honoré notes that it “stands for everything italian city promotes slow life, but is too busy to enjoy it [on­line article, accessed march 12,2 2003]. available from: http://potpouri.fltr.ucl.ac.be/files/aclassftp/textes/articles_usa/nyt_2002_juin_16et17_greve.text radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 93vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 that mcdonald’s does not: fresh, local, seasonal produce; recipes handed down through generations; sustainable farming; artisanal production; leisurely dining with family and friends. slow food also preaches ‘eco­ gastronomy’ – the notion that eating well can, and should, go hand in hand with protecting the environment. at its heart, though, the movement is about pleasure” (honorè, 2004). slow food, as an organisation, has increased rapidly, and is a popular voice for ecological and environmental sustainability. the people involved with slow food want to preserve the integrity of the food instead of simply accepting fast food, or genetically modified food, as a viable alternative to what is naturally produced and inherent to a local region. slow food has become a worldwide phenomenon. it is growing even faster in an age of increasing competition, which includes the increasing profit of the fast food industry and its consistently increasing global reach. fast food culture promotes the “values of homogeneity and haste,”2 altering what is inherently vernacular of many european traditions. whereas slow food started in italy and maintains a strong presence there, it has also become an international organization – proving that people in many countries desire the connection to local, healthy food which represents their own vernacular traditions. slow food has become a philosophical precedent for cittaslow. slow food has linked food, local farms and traditional cuisine with cultural sustainability. slow food works to promote local foods in the local region and also around the world. the connection between slow food and cittaslow has produced even more urban venues for the purpose of promoting local produce and educating people about the importance of traditional, regional foods. the precedent of slow food became an inspirational foundation for cittaslow as the basic philosophies of slow food were then applied to urban environments. cittaslow, being administered from a municipal basis, has a different organisational structure from slow food. however, the two remain radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 94vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 linked through shared goals and presence in many of the same locations. both slow food and cittaslow have previously been described as movements. in fact, cittaslow is more accurately defined as an organization of small cities which have voluntarily signed on to be members. each city agrees to the shared philosophy, charter, policies and goals held by cittaslow. this is a unique organisation of cities, moving forward with a common interest that spans borders, cultures and city identities. whereas slow food can be seen as operating as a grassroots movement, cittaslow is more formally organized and operates on a city policy level. the slow philosophy the confusion over labelling cittaslow as a movement may actually stem from a growing, international movement based on the slow philosophy. this slow movement has some common themes shared with cittaslow, however they should not be confused and have many differences. many people who have joined this slow movement would see themselves as advocating for a slower pace of life. the scope is generally individual, and the word ‘slow’ is usually used in its literal definition regarding time. in this world of increased technology and multi­tasking, many people are seeking a slower pace of life. they want to slow down and enjoy life. they see a slower pace of life as being equal to a higher quality of life. many people who would adhere to a slow movement also have strong interests in environmental quality and physical well­being, stemming from active and alternative transportation, for example. walking in a city, as opposed to driving, results in increased personal health and environmental health. it also assists a person in seeing their city from a different point­of­view, encourages more social interaction, promotes the sense of a slower pace of life, and therefore increases an individual’s quality of life. by adhering to the slow movement, a person can live in a fast­paced and hectic city environment, but still lead a slower and higher quality of life on an individual level. the philosophy of ‘slow’ is emerging as an influential grassroots movement. around the world, there are many separate occurrences of a slow philosophy but these are not necessarily linked to slow food or to cittaslow. this radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 95vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 grassroots philosophy movement, however, is indicative of a general dissatisfaction with the speed of life and the loss of quality with an increase of quantity and haste. slow food has become the most visible manifestation of the emerging slow philosophy. when carl honoré (2004) published his book, in praise of slow, he quickly became the point of contact for many separate movements and grassroots organizations, all of which were connected with slow. honoré’s book outlines this growing slow philosophy, which generally rebels against an irrationally fast­paced life that does not take the time for what is important as it manifests itself in such areas as food and relationships. many of these movements and organisations are maintained separately, as they were originally formed. the fact that this slow philosophy is appearing throughout the world, in nearly all sectors of society, adds strength and purpose to each individual manifestation of the philosophy. it is an emerging philosophy which strikes a chord amongst people in many cultures and is gaining a wide following. many of these movements and ideas are now represented or written about on the slow planet website. there are some articles focusing on the slow philosophy which do refer to cittaslow. however, they may focus on the word ‘slow’ without a deeper understanding of how the term ‘slow’ is used within the context of cittaslow. it is often assumed that a member city of cittaslow is simply a slow­growth city or a city in which life is always relaxing and easy­going. unfortunately, the interpretation of cittaslow as countering the fast pace of life is not necessarily accurate. the slow in cittaslow concerns the idea of taking the time for quality. however, residents of cittaslow do not necessarily have a slower pace of life. many writers only interpret the word slow based upon the common english use of the word, remaining ignorant of the original intention, which is based upon the italian cultural interpretation inherent to slow food and goes far beyond a simple notion of speed. it represents a higher quality of life and taking the time to achieve and appreciate this quality. radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 96vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 cittaslow philosophy the cittaslow philosophy takes the slow philosophy of slow food and applies this to urban policy frameworks. cittaslow philosophy is built around the desire to provide a high quality of life for cittaslow residents. this can involve going back to each city’s roots, and looking at what made them great cities in the first place. a city does not necessarily need to change, or adopt the latest urban planning fad, in order to become a great city. many cities have done this only to lose the qualities and characteristics which originally made them great cities. cittaslow aims to sustain the city’s own unique characteristics while also improving the city so that it is a better environment in which its residents are able to enjoy living. the philosophy states that “there is no doubt that it will be more human, environmentally correct and sensible for the present and future generations; the project will respect small realities in a more and more global connected world” (the slow cities philosophy website). cittaslow policies and goals the six main components of cittaslow policy are: (1) environmental policies, (2) infrastructure policies, (3) technologies and facilities for urban quality, (4) safeguarding autochthonous production, (5) awareness and (6) hospitality. it is these areas which are the foundation and visible face of cittaslow. these areas go beyond a basic slow philosophy to practical ways of improving the quality of life for residents, through environmental and place­sustaining means. the following is a brief explanation of each of these components. environmental policies the first area defining cittaslow is that of environmental policies. ensuring that a city has a high quality of life is directly dependent on its environmental quality and sustainability. cittaslow environmental policies include the radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 97vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 following: protection of the quality of the air, water and soil. • • • an energy­saving plan. promotion and dissemination of policies for the recycling of urban refuse and other wastes – including composting, and the existence of a purification plant for sewage. • • • control of electromagnetic pollution, noise pollution and light pollution. regulation of advertisements and traffic signs. adoption of environmental management systems (such as emas and ecolabel, iso 9001, iso14000, sa 8000 and agenda 21 projects). • ban the use of genetically modified crops in agriculture. infrastructure policies this second area includes elements of urban and landscape design. there is a strong focus towards a priority of alternative forms of transportation and pedestrian­orientated urban design, and sustaining a sense of place which is represented in built form. cittaslow infrastructure policies include the following: plans for the improvement and reclamation of historical centers and/or works of cultural or historical value. • • • plans for safe mobility and traffic. • accessibility of public places and those of public interest. promotion of programs to facilitate family life and social connections, recreation and assistance for those in need. focus on plans for alternative transportation – including bicycle, pedestrian and mass transit. plans for the distribution of locally produced merchandise and the creation of ‘commercial centres for natural products.’ quality green areas and pedestrian accessibility. maintaining commercial areas which are welcoming, hospitable and friendly. revitalisation of the city – including upgrading and redevelopment of deteriorating areas. • • • • • radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 98vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 technologies and facilities for urban quality cittaslow’s policies focusing on technologies and facilities for urban quality offer a higher quality of life to cittaslow citizens and afford new ways to attain holistic achievements on all policies. these policies include the following: provision of information to citizens, including cittaslow information.• development and promotion of bio­architecture.• • equipping the city with cables for optical fibre and wireless systems. • providing refuse containers in keeping with the environment and the landscape and removal according to established timetables. planting environmentally suitable and autochthonous plants in public and private places. adoption of systems for monitoring electromagnetic fields. plan for controlling noise in specifically noisy areas. provision of services for the citizens, including dissemination of municipal services via internet and plans for creating and educating the citizens in the use of an internet­based civic network. promotion of telework. • • • • plan concerning colours.• • safeguarding autochthonous production the area of safeguarding autochthonous production focuses on sustaining local, traditional industries and elements which represent the local identity. this area of policy relates directly to local context and sense of place. this policy area includes: development of organic farming.• • certification of the quality of artisan produced products, objects and artistic crafts. programs for the safeguarding of artisan craft products, traditional methods of work and professions in danger of extinction. • radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 99vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 awareness the cittaslow focus on awareness includes public education and promotion of the organization. this policy area includes the following: use of organic and local products and the preservation of local traditions in restaurants, protected structures and school cafeterias. • • programs for taste and nutrition education in schools in collaboration with slow food. • census of the typical products of the local area and support of their commercialisation (updating of markets for local products and creation of appropriate spaces). census of trees in the city and enhancing the value of large or ‘historical’ trees. favouring the activities of wine and gastronomic slow food presidia for species and preparations risking extinction. promoting “urban” and school gardens for autochthonous cultures grown with traditional methods. promoting and preserving local cultural events.• • • • provide the citizens with information on the aims and procedures of what cittaslow is, preceded by information of the intentions of the administration to become a cittaslow member city. • • programs for the dissemination of cittaslow and slow food activities. • programs to involve the social fabric in acquiring the “slow” philosophy and the application of cittaslow projects and in particular: educational gardens and parks, book facilities, adhesion to the project of the germ plasm bank. hospitality this section focuses on helping both residents and tourists to feel at home in a cittaslow city; it directly relates to easy liveability. the hospitality­related policies include: training courses for tourist information and quality hospitality.• radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 100vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 further description of cittaslow in 2004, at the time of the original research, there were approximately 60 italian cittaslow. currently, there are more than double that number worldwide, in nearly 20 countries. this growth is evidence of the cittaslow network’s success. some of the more recent member cities had started by simply observing another city in its process of becoming a member city, as well as observing the positive effect which the cittaslow membership had on the urban area and quality of life. based on the positive effect of one city, the next city then has more incentive to also join cittaslow. it has become a type of ripple effect throughout italy, and now throughout the world. the purpose of cittaslow revolves around making the city a better place to live for its inhabitants. tourism has never been a primary motivation. although cittaslow was inspired by slow food, and local foods are a central part of the cittaslow philosophy, food is only one part of the whole equation. primarily, the cittaslow network exists because of a desire to provide a high quality, liveable place for the inhabitants. through measures directed towards pollution, traffic, and noise, among others, the cities have become standards for a higher quality of life. paolo saturnini recalled a story which happened many years before the birth of this organization, but which remained an inspiration to him regarding the using international signs in the tourist signs of the historical centres with guided tourist itineraries. • • reception policies and plans to facilitate the approach of the visitors to the city and access to information and services (parking, extension/elasticity of opening hours of public offices, etc.) with particular regards to scheduled events. • making the tourist operators and storekeepers aware of the need for a transparency of prices and the exhibition of rates outside the business establishments. preparation of “slow” itineraries of the city (brochures, websites, home pages, etc.). • susan radstrom’s interview with paolo saturnini in greve­in­chianti, italy.3 radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 101vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 future of small cities, and possible solutions of place­sustaining. saturnini viewed the countryside which surrounded greve­in­chianti, italy, as vital to the overall identity of this small city. several decades ago, there was a time of a very low level of employment in the area. many people were migrating to larger cities to find work. in order to attract people back to the area, large industries were brought in. however, years later, this decision was regretted because of its negative impact on the local landscape, traditional land uses and agricultural production. saturnini felt that the chianti countryside was too valuable to let this happen again. the chianti region had lost a part of its sense of place, something which was devastating to the local identity, and not always easy to re­establish. in saturnini’s words, it was a “wake­up call” for the area and for himself (radstrom, 2005)3. the cittaslow policies, therefore, support traditional land uses, such as the vineyards which chianti is famous for, and help to sustain the traditional architecture, such as the stone villas which are typical of the tuscan countryside. local producers can also be supported economically since their goods can be promoted through cittaslow and slow food networks. the hope is that residents and tourists alike will learn of the slow food and cittaslow brand of quality, and will therefore purchase these specific local goods. with community economic development measures such as these, cittaslow is working to ensure that the local landscape will be protected and that local producers will be economically sustained so that large industries – foreign to the local context – will no longer be brought in out of necessity. population of slow cities the cittaslow movement was established particularly for smaller cities and towns. the policy states that all member cities must be under 50,000 people. although similar goals and policies may work successfully in a larger city, it is more effective to implement such policies on a smaller scale. also, smaller urban areas naturally have a relationship with their immediate context and therefore this provides a greater opportunity for vernacular place­sustaining radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 102vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 measures in regards to environment and local foods. urban design the most visible signs of cittaslow appear to be in urban design and the presence of the slow food influence. the cities generally had an obvious pedestrian focus, and a small scale of built environment. not all cittaslow had signage proclaiming their membership with cittaslow. however, the nature of the urban design is intended to have a focus toward pedestrian design, alternative transportation and environmentally sustainable measures. one of the primary visible components of a cittaslow member city is the pedestrian priority of design. this has prompted some to believe that cittaslow is linked to new urbanism. both have a focus on urban design, priority of pedestrian areas and a walkable scale. they are clearly based on a philosophy which is central to each one’s growth and marketing strategies. however, pedestrian design is one of the few similarities between them. cittaslow is far more holistic and encompasses many sectors, such as environmental sustainability, relationship with local industry, conservation of local traditional culture, and programs to enrich social aspects of urban life for all residents. cittaslow seeks to sustain an identity which already exists in a sense of place, working primarily with older cities and place­sustaining related to existing identity. while new urbanism has been known for new development, cittaslow is a planning solution for cities and towns looking for a holistic framework to sustain their identity. the example of orvieto, italy the city of orvieto, italy has had to address issues of traffic, noise and pollution. because of its geographic situation, many people were driving up to orvieto from the valley below. they city is built on a plateau and has grown to the very edges of this plateau. any further growth has taken place in the valley far below. due to the difference in elevation, people who lived in the valley but worked in orvieto were dependent on cars. also, most tourists radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 103vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 took cars up to the city. therefore, there were parking problems and severe traffic congestion in orvieto. the sheer number of cars within the narrow streets was also a pollution issue. another issue stems from the fact that orvieto was built on soft rock. during etruscan times, numerous catacombs were dug through this soft rock and most have survived to this day. some of these catacombs are still in use as private residential cellars, while a few have even been converted to underground restaurants. the heavy amount of traffic in orvieto was causing concern over the long­term stability of the soft rock and the sustainability of the catacombs, which are part of orvieto’s identity. city officials were aware that the traffic issue must be addressed. two interventions occurred to solve this problem. the first was a funicular built to carry people from the valley up to the city. secondly, and more recently, a large two level car park was constructed at the base of the plateau. this structure was designed in such a way that a person can still look out over the valley from orvieto and see the natural view which is a part of the sense of place. the only noticeable feature of this structure, from the top of the plateau, is the park­like area on the roof. from the car park, people can easily access orvieto’s city centre. elevators, escalators and stairways (all indoors) transport people directly from the parking area to within 100 metres of the city centre. while these interventions were actually completed prior to the birth of cittaslow, they represent the types of decisions and policies which are encouraged in cittaslow in order to help sustain the specific assets of the local place. orvieto continues to work towards further supporting its local sense of place. for example, orvieto’s schools now have the requirement of serving fresh, local food in the cafeterias. the students are receiving an education in local foods, as well as receiving a healthy diet. another benefit is that local producers are supported through this initiative. network of cities cittaslow is a network based on the local strengths of its member cities. cooperation and accountability are basic principles of the organisation. the massimo borri, assistant to the mayor of orvieto (stefano mocio), was interviewed as part of4 the original research in 2004. radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 104vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 notion of the member cities being individual places which are part of a greater network is important. one of paolo saturnini’s primary concerns was that each individual city, when not a member of a larger support network such as cittaslow, would be competing at larger scales – national, and even global – and therefore be forced to alter its identity in order to remain competitive with other cities. this strategy, although common, only forces homogeneity on each city seeking economic stability. the existence of the cittaslow network has moved the member cities to a new level of relationships. it is true that each cittaslow member city is based in its own locality, and therefore rooted in its geographical setting, maintaining strong relationships with its context. however, in an attempt to strengthen this local base, the cities have formed strong relationships with other cities which also want to sustain their own identity. therefore, this network is linked by philosophy and an interest in local place. the cittaslow commitment to each local identity has created a new layer of urban relationships that is not necessarily connected to geographic proximity. although every member city is part of cittaslow, and therefore may immediately convey a certain image, the identity of the overall movement is that each city’s identity is unique and based in its local sense of place. massimo borri4 noted that the overall cittaslow network is vitally important to each member city’s success. the network provides support to the city leaders and they are able to work together to develop ideas and solutions for each local place. a large degree of accountability is provided through this network. therefore, even though some cities may already appear further along the path toward realizing the cittaslow philosophy, the network of cities is working together to ensure the ongoing success of the organization as a whole, and therefore the improved quality of life and sustained sense of place inherent to each individual city. philosophical connection the philosophical ‘slow’ layer of connection between the cities is separate radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 105vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 from the local and global layers. ironically, even though so much of this movement is based on the local sense of place, and the relationship to local food, the true connection is on a philosophical level, as opposed to a geographic one. through its relationship with slow food, cittaslow has focused on strengthening the local food­related industries which represent the local identity. it is also an international network with an increasing number of relationships at the global level. yet the ‘slow’ philosophy really exists on its own level. cittaslow is concerned with local identity but it is also a network which exists on a separate plane from simply a geographically­defined relationship. cittaslow uses local identity and sense of place in order to build on the strengths of each city. however, cittaslow also uses globalization to its own advantage. this has been referred to as virtuous globalization. for example, members of the slow food movement use global connections in order to market locally produced goods. in a sense, this virtuous globalization is a type of localisation, but marketed on a global scale. if it were not for globalisation, chianti wine, for example, may not be so well known. many unique local products have been in even higher demand because of international marketing. however, the key to virtuous globalization is to have the highest priority on the local place. if the trend towards globalization is used for promoting and sustaining the local identity, and each local place truly benefits from this connection, then it actually will be in a city’s best interest to retain its local identity. localisation as global identities and connections around the world are strengthened, local connections and the identity of place are at risk of being weakened. although globalisation has provided numerous benefits, it has also undoubtedly altered many local identities. seeking a balance between global and local is increasingly difficult. globalistion has become a strong, emerging factor in its own right. however, smaller communities seeking the prestige of global attention and the wealth of attracting larger industries are sometimes at risk of ibid. 4.5 radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 106vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 losing the very aspects which define them. the key aspects which make up a place’s unique identity are at risk due to globalistion. the existing identities of small places are changing and evolving to the point where a new global identity exists, which has been referred to as “everybody’s but nobody’s home” (nozick, 1992). city planners ought to be concerned that the factors which make one place different from another place, and create an overall diversity of urban fabrics, are disappearing. “the more we are subsumed by the global village, the more we lose touch with our own identities, our histories, our community roots, and our local ways and traditions.”5 in many situations, global markets have replaced local markets. formerly self­sufficient communities have therefore lost an integral part of their identity. however, identity is complex. it is made up of more than just community economics. culture, traditions, the built environment, and the natural environment must all be valued aspects of an identity. indeed, when any one of these aspects changes, the overall identity also changes. therefore, a view of identity must be holistic and yet still based in the local place. the identity of a location is based on its context, as well as its sense of place. indeed, it is this place­based identity which causes it to stand out from its context. traditionally, towns or regions were known for a certain product or type of food. each region, on a small scale, has historically been defined by its own local industry. therefore, the sense of identity is deeply ingrained and easily recognizable in local handicrafts and foodstuffs. identity is dependent on place, in terms of culture, traditions, and the layers of complex interrelationships which have come together to define the physical and non­physical attributes of a location. the factor of identity is an important one for urban areas. cities feel the need to proclaim their own identity in order to be unique, or to fit in with another group of cities, or to simply attract more tourists. in an effort to have a new and appealing identity, many cities are now attempting to re­invent themselves. this is evident in cities which have had stereotypes of being radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 107vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 stale, of not attracting new business, or new people. many of these cities are eager to adopt the latest urban design fad. it is not uncommon for urban areas to attempt a “re­definition” of their identity. when a place perceives that their identity has grown stale, it may attempt to have a new look, a new identity, and therefore gain a new reputation. however, when identity is involved, one must look at context. a reputation may become tarnished in the eyes of potential visitors. planners and local community leaders must work toward the positive future of the community. in most circumstances, this should not involve the complete re­ creation of a place. it may simply involve a new marketing strategy based on a place’s current, and true, identity. place­sustaining place­making has been researched and reported on in many studies. however, the idea of a holistic approach to place­sustaining is overlooked as a planning basis for a network of small communities and regions. cittaslow has provided a framework to further understand the role of place, and the possibilities of place­sustaining, within the framework of identity. the cittaslow member cities have aimed to preserve their sense of place in order to sustain their vernacular identity. the significance of analyzing cittaslow as a city planning case study lies in the understanding that cities around the world are facing the same threat of globalisation and inevitably becoming everywhere communities. since cities, towns and regional communities are facing this same issue, it is important to understand the implications of various solutions undertaken by specific places. because the original problem faced by cittaslow is also faced by countless other communities, it is plausible that the cittaslow solution may be successfully adapted to numerous other urban areas. place­making stretches further to involve the aspect of cultural sustainability, in a holistic sense, so that the environment, traditions and local industry are sustained. it is difficult to strictly define “place,” since it has potential to involve any and all areas of a certain location, people, or history. radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 108vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 place­making should be holistic and all­encompassing. the authors schneekloth and shibley argue that, “each act of placemaking embodies a vision of who we are and offers a hope of what we want to be as individuals and as groups who share a place in the world. because of this world­making power, placemaking, if poorly conceived or imposed, can result in the catastrophic or incremental destruction of people and places” (schneekloth and shibley, 1995). sense of place has the ability to create a desirable destination for cities, while neglect has the power to destroy any sense of place which once existed. despite the broad, all­encompassing potential, place­making must be grounded at the grassroots level. each place is unique and therefore each solution to place­making must be locally based. this is relevant both in terms of the physical environment and, more importantly, the local people who create the social sense of place. planning literature has focused on place­ making as an integral part of the overall discipline. however, the gap in the literature exists where topics of place­sustaining, as a holistic regional policy, are concerned. planning knowledge must begin to provide theoretical frameworks for sustaining the sense of place. this involves setting guidelines which holistically address all aspects of place so that local places are able to continue in the culture and traditions which have historically been the foundation of their identity. local cultures need to focus on sustaining the places which have defined them, instead of simply making new places based on this same sense of cultural traditions. the true risk lies in the fact that while a focus on place­ making continues, existing places may be lost because of the lack of a cohesive approach to place­sustaining. when a place that already exists is endangered, this place does not need to be “made” but rather, it needs to be sustained. the sustainability of a sense of place does not entail the same drama of actually making a place. sustainability involves roles of maintenance, cooperation and long­term commitment. however, the focus of a regional plan needs to be the sustainability of place. when the important places are taken for granted, they are lost. the danger is that by not focusing on place­ sustaining, planners will be doomed to a continual cycle of place­making radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 109vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 which will always aim, but may not succeed, to re­create the original sense of place. the maintenance of a sense of place may not be obvious and might only be noticed in its absence, when places are left unsustained. the acts of maintenance and management are essential to the long­term vision of place. the notion of place­sustaining is based on the potential of a certain place to have a level of significance which will justify its preservation. however, cittaslow goes beyond the strict notion of preservation, and toward the flexible dynamic of conservation. some buildings, for example, may be preserved as an act of place­sustaining. the sense of place is a dynamic quality, however, that may shift over time depending on various factors. therefore, conservation may be central to place­sustaining, in order to maintain the spirit of place and the overall identity, while growing and changing as an urban or rural environment. the actions of sustaining and conserving go hand in hand. the balance between preservation and conservation may be dependent on each local context. it is important that the act of preservation does not impede further positive emergence or evolution of place. conservation would go further to allowing for a fluid relationship between place, culture and context. to sustain a sense of place, policy must be applied which may be rigorous enough to sustain what is already significant, and flexible enough to change as the significance of the place may also adapt in time. place­sustaining, therefore, would not simply save the past for the sake of saving the past. the concept of place­sustaining is far more holistic, encompassing the ideas of preservation in forms that represent culture and quality of life. place­ sustaining is concerned with looking forward to the planning of the future. place­sustaining is intrinsically linked to identity. in an era of globalisation and urban homogenisation, identity of place can represent the unique attributes of a distinct culture. in many ways, localised identity becomes the foundation of a place’s significance. when a sense of place represents the identity of the people and landscape, its significance can be invaluable. as a global trend, it has become easy and even convenient to ignore identity as a significant factor of a place. as michael hough writes, “one modern city radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 110vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 tends to be very similar to another. the influences that at one time gave uniqueness to place – the response of built form to climate, local building materials, and craftsmanship, for instance – are today becoming obscured as technology makes materials universally available and as climate is controlled by artificially modifying the interior environment of the building. the question of regional character has become a question of choice and, therefore, of design rather than of necessity” (hough, 1990). sustainability of place involves finding richness in any local landscape and focusing on this richness as the place’s asset. this richness may be represented in such aspects as culture, environment, industry, history or a combination of several different aspects. while planners are focusing on the large metropolises of the world, the true local identity of these small towns and regions may be lost forever. building upon the local and regional assets, and establishing these as the foundation provides an avenue towards holistic sustainability without losing what is most important in an identity. therefore, understanding that urban areas around the world are changing, and that the need for place­sustaining is critical, the planning discipline must begin to apply this knowledge in a practical method. it is in regard to this challenge that cittaslow performs an essential role. whereas planning literature does not yet provide an adequate knowledge base required for a holistic planning framework which focuses on sustaining place, cittaslow actively embodies these theories. these cities provide a unique case to be studied and reported on, so that the broader planning community will gain applicable knowledge concerning the area of place­sustaining as a holistic framework. traditionally, italy has been known for its regionally­specific and place­based identities. from a historical perspective, the city­states which made up modern­day italy were the basis of regional identity as well as administration. although the governmental framework has changed so that the former city­ states now make up a larger nation, the smaller­scaled regional identities remain. this may be, in part, one reason that a framework such as cittaslow has developed in italy. the strong local identities are conducive to an organisation which thrives on this local sense of place. radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 111vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 although cittaslow has existed for a number of years, it is still relatively unknown. whereas cittaslow is becoming a prime ‘best practice’ candidate, the cities are focusing on simply being good places for their residents to live. cittaslow is about sustaining what is good about a certain place and helping cities to be even better places to live, being healthier and offering an even higher quality of life. many urban environments seem fixated on trying to lure people to a few tourist sites. these tourists will spend money in the city, but then they will leave. tourism can certainly be a viable industry – but should it be the primary focus? a city is not only a tourist attraction. it is a place to live. a place to call home. the truth is that cittaslow does have a focus on hospitality, awareness and education. the accessibility of cittaslow to tourists is part of the organisation’s overall goals. it is important to remember that a cittaslow member city’s main priority is to its residents. however, it is clear that a liveable and accessible city is one which welcomes guests and offers a high quality of life to everyone, including those who live there or are simply passing through. the cittaslow have chosen to not give up their sense of place for the sake of perceived tourist demand, imported industry, or the latest urban fad. if cittaslow were strongly advertising their cities, there could potentially be many more people visiting each city. there could also be many more people moving to the cities. while this is not necessarily a negative, it is also not the focus of cittaslow. a fast­growth city which seeks brand recognition based on tourist amenities – or even membership in a popular group – has not truly realized the cittaslow philosophy. when this original research was completed, some residents of cittaslow were still unaware that they lived in a slow city. some tourists didn’t see anything too special or different about some of the cittaslow member cities. they were expecting rome or florence – but on a smaller scale. instead, they may have seen a typical, hardworking italian town. it may not have been geared towards tourism, but it was likely a town which was working to retain much of its traditional industry and connections to the local landscape. people who live in, or visit, a slow city should know that they are in a real city, not a city radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 112vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 that is only trying to put on a face for tourists. this represents the appeal of cittaslow. residents and visitors alike are able to see, taste and touch the sense of place. conclusion the cittaslow organisation has a strong focus on traditions, context and history. yet positive change is still welcome to cities and their surrounding areas. when cities do implement changes, however, they should do so with the desire to improve the quality of life for their residents, improving the environmental sustainability of the area, and always remembering the underlying importance of sense of place. an area’s local sense of place does, at times, evolve. however, it should not become so detached from local context so that it is indistinguishable from the many other increasing homogenous places. cittaslow are choosing to maintain the aspects which define them, which make them great places to live. the cities don’t necessarily need to make huge changes. some places clearly still have room for improvement. other places are well on their way by already having that high quality of life. through the strength of the cittaslow network, more and more small cities are able to sustain their local sense of place in an ever­increasing global society. the cittaslow are only just beginning. the steps of their future will determine their success. however, already they are a noteworthy case to be studied and more fully understood as examples of cities applying philosophy in order to sustain their own local sense of place and vernacular identity. it is through these place­sustaining measures that local places may indeed be able to thrive in the face of increased global homogenous urban centres. radstrom ­ place­sustaining framework for local urban identity ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 113vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 references calthorpe, p. and fulton, w. (2001) the regional city: planning for the end of sprawl. washington: island press. honoré, c. (2004) in praise of slow: how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed. london: orion books. hough, m. (1990) out of place: restoring identity to the regional landscape. new haven: yale university press. nozick, m. (1992) no place like home: building sustainable communities. ottawa: canadian council on social development. radstrom, s. (2005) an urban identity movement rooted in the sustainability of place: a case study of slow cities and their application in rural manitoba. master of city planning practicum. department of city planning, university of manitoba, winnipeg, manitoba, canada. accessible from: http://www.radstrom.ca/susan/slowcities/sradstrom_mdp.pdf schneekloth, l. h. and shibley, r. g. (1995) placemaking: the art and science of building communities. new york: john wiley & sons, inc. on­line references cittaslow www.cittaslow.net slow planet www.slowplanet.com the “slow cities philosophy” was accessed on­line, on october 11, 2004. available from: http://www.cittaslow.net/world/citta_slow.asp?sez=2 italian city promotes slow life, but is too busy to enjoy it [on­line article, accessed march 12, 2003]. available from: http://potpouri.fltr.ucl.ac.be/files/aclassftp/textes/articles_usa/nyt_2002_juin_16et17_greve.text microsoft word valentina_final_vale con doi.docx ijpp   issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 132 the hard work of preserving the value of doctoral education. the case of the ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome valentina alberti p h . d . i n r e g i o n a l a n d u r b a n p l a n n i n g d e p a r t m e n t o f p l a n n i n g d e s i g n t e c h n o l o g y o f a r c h i t e c t u r e – s a p i e n z a u n i v e r s i t y o f r o m e v a l e n t i n a . a l b e r t i @ u n i r o m a 1 . i t abstract the ph.d. programme in regional and urban planning at sapienza (university of rome) underwent some significant changes during the last thirty years. a large part of these changes was requested by mutations in the higher level education system and in the planning discipline at the european scale. during last decades, indeed, the doctorate became the third level of higher education and it no longer qualified researchers only for academia, but for a broader labour market. moreover, the planning discipline developed a common language between the different european schools. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 133 despite changes, the value that the doctorate represents for education of researchers seems to be unchanged. this work aims at visualizing some possible problems in pursuing the value of doctoral education. the purpose is to identify some events that can help or contrast the vale that each doctorate should be able to provide. four sections structure the article. the first part presents the most significant background transformations that promoted changes in doctoral education. the second part offers some elements to define the value of a ph.d. the third part highlights discrepancies between purposes and outcomes in promoting the value of the doctorate in the evolution of the ph.d. in regional and urban planning of sapienza. the last part collects principal issues linked to the pursuing of the value of a doctorate, and identifies the role of the “intellectual out of academia” as one of the foremost concern to preserve the value of the doctorate training. introduction the process of europeanisation that involved both higher education and planning discipline during the last decades produced significant changes for doctoral education in the planning discipline. doctorates become the place for educating researchers not only for an academic career. indeed, they tend to reach a comparable system of education and to level out standards in the european countries. thus, planning discipline seeks to assume a common language and to find a european dimension. these changes required an improvement in the training structure of doctorates and furthermore an acquisition of a shared disciplinary language. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 134 1. the doctoral education in a changing background italy introduced ph.d. in 19801, later than other european countries. italian law gave few recommendations to universities for the doctorate organisation. each department was able to manage autonomously the doctoral activities. doctors received the title for a proved research activity that produced original outputs (fubini, 2009). at that time, doctorates were the first level of academic career, and the training of researchers was mostly functional to academic research. the institution of doctorates helped to develop disciplinary fields, although it happened in a different way among the european countries (davoudi & pendlebury, 2010), generally without a strong connotation and clear boundaries (fubini, 2004). in italy, the planning discipline grew largely from the architecture field. therefore, it paid attention mostly to physical aspects and in fact it was deeply tied to city design. planning tools that regulated the shape of cities and territories were not yet sensitive to the city complexity (gabellini, 2008). the institution of doctorates helped to review the discipline and to redefine boundaries. planning started to link different disciplines and to be interested in dynamics of local development (gabellini, 2008). however, from the institution of doctorates to nowadays, many changes took place both in education and in the disciplinary field of planning. 1 the edict that instituted doctorates in italy was the dpr 11 luglio 1980, n.382 “riordinamento della docenza universitaria” (reorganisation of university teaching). alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 135 doctorate as the third level of higher education the event that deeply changed european higher education was the bologna process, which formally started in 1999, through the bologna declaration (ehea, 1999). twenty-nine countries signed the covenant that recognised the centrality of universities in developing european cultural dimension. uniformity in european countries education was supported to straight competitiveness and attractiveness of european education. at that time, also doctorates took part in the reform. doctorate became an integral part of higher education across europe, one of the two pillars2 of the “knowledge-based society” (christensen, 2005), the one that holds the training process. this fact changed the previous vocation of doctorate, and it needed deep mutations both in training and in positioning doctors in the employment market. the ten salzburg principles collected the major innovations that the bologna process produced in the ph.d. education (christensen, 2005). in particular, in this context it is important to remember three of them: doctoral candidates as early stage researchers. the doctorate is no longer the starting point of the academic career. it becomes the third level of the higher education; nevertheless, doctoral candidates are considered both student and workers. abilities to develop are related to the advancement of knowledge through original research; achievement of critical mass and innovative structures. the ph.d. candidate, as early stage researcher, entails that doctorates become a hotbed of new ideas. for this reason, doctoral education should promote schools of doctorate3 in which different disciplines and 2 european higher education area (ehea) and the european research area (era) are considered the two pillars of the knowledge-based society. 3 the schools of doctorate gather together different disciplinary fields of research. they usually organise under the same structure affine disciplines in order to alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 136 specialities work together. experienced researchers and supervisors should ensure wider competencies, to create an “intellectual community” (walker et al., 2008) inside departments. in the growing process, this community has to relate itself to the new european knowledge context; the employment market becomes wider than academia. this aspect requires that topics and methods have to be continuously up to date and related to multiple needs. while higher education aimed at strengthening the european cultural dimension, at disciplinary level the will to find a common language for the planning discipline was emerging. attempts to europeanize the planning discipline the need for european countries to find a common language for the planning discipline forced to compare different disciplinary definitions to highlight boundaries and to raise new issues for planning. although a debate about spatial planning as a european issue began in the 70s, it was almost unknown in europe until the years of the past century (kunzmann, 2006). in 2004, the scenario that aesop described 4 was extremely heterogeneous. only in few countries (like germany, uk and netherlands), planning had a strong identity. in other cases (like france empower the field of investigation. in italy, the first school of doctorate were born in turin, in countertrend of the proliferation of courses due to the process of autonomy of university. 4 in 2004 the association of european school of planning (aesop) published a report on planning education in europe (fubini, 2004). it highlighted still deep differences both between planning practice and research. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 137 and belgium), there was a sort of ambiguity between aménagement and urbanisme. in most of the european countries, planning was not an independent discipline (finland, norway, spain, greece, bulgaria), and in italy, even though it was essentially identified as urbanism, it was strictly linked to architecture. in the last decade the attempt to find an european language for the planning discipline continued. italy tried to orient planning research towards a multi-disciplinary approach, closer to the anglo-saxon attitude, which furthermore includes the discipline in the range of the social sciences. nevertheless, some critical issues appeared both in the disciplinary literature and in the relation between practice and research. for the research product “the risk is that the areas of concern to the discipline will be expanded by the addition of new topics and the accumulation of new methods and tools without evidence being provided of their relevance and effectiveness” (zanon, 2014; pp.48). on the other hand, practice struggles to follow progress of the discipline and it tests new approaches only in some experimental context. 2. the value of the doctorate in planning the mentioned changes that made the doctorate the highest level of education and the tools through which to promote a european identity of the planning discipline did not significantly modify the value that the doctorate should be able to provide. since its establishment, the doctorate aimed at the formation of researchers (walker et al., 2008), and although the potential employability of the researcher changed (as a result of bologna process the employment market for doctors is wider than academia) the attitude of this education process continues to be unvaried: doctorate arranges the way to think and to organise ideas in order to produce new knowledge. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 138 if we assume that research is a creative work that is undertaken on a systematic basis of knowledge, and that leads to new insights, effectively shared (silva et al., 2015), the value of doctorate can be identified as the capacity to develop the attitude of producing new knowledge by means of creative and rigorous work. the creativity takes place in the innovative way to talk about disciplinary issues while the methodological rigour validates the precision of thought in relation to disciplinary principles. however, it has to coexist with relevance in order to maintain the disciplinary value of the research output (campbel, 2015). therefore, doctoral education is more than a disciplinary training process: the acquisition of a deep knowledge in a disciplinary field is only a first step to develop the discipline. the researcher is the one who knows how to make questions and how to link arguments to improve knowledge, and this requires the development of a state of mind that demands a deeper process of self-education. beyond academic and technical skills, doctoral education helps to develop intellectual, personal and professional management skills (bogle et al., 2011). “these skills should enable and enhance the doctoral graduate in three complementary domains: competence: acquiring specific expertise, knowledge, technology and methodology to conduct and understand research within a discipline and across disciplines; achievement: gaining personal effectiveness, time, project, and self-management, developing a problem solving attitude and assuming a leadership role; relationship: developing a team work attitude, collaborating and communicating with specialists and non-specialists” (bogle et al., 2011; pp.40). in reference to the competences, the training process foresees a learning-by-doing method. the most important skills needed to be a alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 139 researcher cannot be acquired only by attending courses, but by performing research, and reflecting on the process. “that means doctoral structures should not organise taught courses on skills, but should offer, more than impose, a positive environment for students to development their awareness of the skills they could gain by performing research without overcharging the load work” (chambaz, 2008, p.13). in this kind of formation, the role of the supervisor and the intellectual community acquire great importance. these are the means that candidates use to verify their habits, work, and ideas, and to acquire achievements beyond competences. during their process of learning, candidates establish a learning alliance with their supervisor, a kind of “contract between the supervisor and student, and is akin to the collaborative ‘therapeutic alliance’ between a patient and clinician to work together to diagnose the illness, pursue therapy and achieve recovery. […] the learning alliance is based on responsibility and relationship rather than rights and rules; is grounded in concrete circumstances rather than abstractions, and is expressed as an ‘activity of care’ rather than as a set of principles” (halse & malfroy, 2010; pp.83). otherwise, the intellectual community is “not simply a matter of potlucks and hallway conversation; it is “the hidden curriculum”, sending powerful messages about purposes, commitment, and role, and creating (or not) the condition in which intellectual risk-taking, creativity, and entrepreneurship are possible” (rogers, 2008, p.10). in discovering activities and relationships that give doctoral education its value, therefore, we can identify: alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 140 the activity of the ph.d. candidates as action in doing research, that offers a progressive development towards increasing independence and responsibility; relations between supervisor/professors and candidate, that means collaboration with peers and faculty in each stage of the process; development of a network (critical mass and intellectual community), for integration across contexts and arenas of scholarly work (walker et al., 2008). these points can be assumed as potential parameters to investigate how doctorate programmes support the value of doctorate. the mentioned europeanization process considers the importance of these aspects (see as example the salzburg principles) but it does not provide any tool to assess doctorate programmes from this point of view. in the following paragraph, we can observe difficulties of a ph.d. programme in pursuing the value of doctoral education in order to understand if, apart from specific problems, general responsibilities can be identified. 3. doctorates change. which is the direction? the case of rome the experience of the ph.d. in regional and urban planning at the sapienza university of rome is an attempt to put in practice the european directions. it underwent some significant changes during the last fifteen years. in particular, in the 2003 and 2013 the educational programme was subjected to deep mutations in its structure. this paragraph examines the way in which this doctorate changed and how these changes supported the attitude to produce new knowledge through creative and rigorous work. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 141 the study of this experience has been conducted from a double point of view: who made changes (professors) and who attended the programme (students). this approach allows the comparison between purposes and outcomes and it leads towards a better understanding of the potential improvement of the aforementioned values. the analysis of indirect and direct sources introduces the dynamics of changes occurred during the years. while some publications about the history of the ph.d. programme (nigro, 2004; bianchi, 2004; bianchi & talia, 2004; bianchi, 2005; bianchi, 2012) describe motivations of the deep reorganisation, the annual pamphlets aim at introducing the training path to students showing in which terms changes actually happened. some interviews supported the analysis of experience. professor giovanna bianchi was interviewed for reporting the point of view of who made changes. she was the coordinator of the ph.d. from 2008 to 2013 and she followed doctorate evolutions since the beginning. moreover, some interviews are conducted with ph.d. students of the last five cycles for collecting the point of view of who attended the programme. the focus of the interviews was the education provided. the interviews aimed at clarifying the level of comprehension of the general training programme (purposes, methods, intentions) by students, and the correspondence between what programmes proposed and what students have done and learned. training frameworks in evolution between plans and actions the italian ph.d. programme consisted of three years in which students freely deepened a disciplinary topic together with their supervisors. they were not required to attend classes neither about research method nor thematic ones. candidates were free to choose the research topic in the whole discipline, although the ph.d. learning alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 142 approach was mostly oriented to planning process generally understood as architecture of the city (gabellini, 2008). the ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza was born in 1984 in the first cycle of italian doctorates. as mentioned before, italian departments and universities were free to manage independently education programmes. thus, doctorates acted as mentors assisting the future teachers to lead original reflections about disciplinary issues. no training courses were foreseen for the improving of planning discipline (fubini, 2009). until the early 2000s, not many changes occurred in the ph.d. programme, but in 2002, the xviii cycle was not activated. the reduction of the university’s resources and the new arrangement of the department encouraged to redesign the doctorate programme. professor nigro, who succeeded to prof. malusardi as coordinator of the ph.d. in the year 2002, introduced a training plan and a teaching programme, which are partially in use still today. the purpose was to give a methodological and disciplinary framework to students. the doctorate continued not to be thematic but disciplinary. since 2003, the training plan ensured four training steps: 1) the introduction training provided some basis for the research methods and techniques. training is provided during the first year. a special attention was paid to the increase of the classes on research methods and techniques at least until the xxvii and xxviii cycles. they consisted in twelve lessons concerning: rudiment on the coinceiving of a research project, the correct use of references, the epistemological issues, the establishment of the research framing, and the assessment of the research. 2) the updating of the discipline offered the basis for the disciplinary learning process. it provided thematic lessons (led by the professors of the department), and seminars for the updating of specific disciplinary alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 143 fields (led by experts that share their experience with students). the activities were held during the first and the second year. 3) the advanced training consisted in conference papers submissions and attendance and in the organisation of the cycle seminar5. ph.d. students were encouraged to attend conferences, workshops and seminars in an active way to share findings, reflections and points of view and to gradually build a network of researchers in their specific research field. as regards the cycle seminar, candidates were required to organise a seminar on their dissertation topic and to invite prominent scholars in the field to give presentations and stimulate the debate. such activities were required to be held during the second and the third year of the ph.d. programme; 4) the development and preparation of the doctoral thesis was a process that was to be developed during the three years. in the first year, they defined the research project. during the second year, students started to work with a supervisor and to develop parts of their thesis. in the third one, they worked for the conclusion of the thesis. periodical reports assessed research progresses. every two (for the first year) or three months (for the second and the third years) candidates presented their work and discussed it with the doctorate board. however, the training plan only partially describes the doctoral education. in fact, interviews with students helped to have a wider view of the process and highlighted that: 5 the cycle seminar is a seminar that students of the same cycle and with similar themes organize to test their research with experts, to share the first results of their work and to build their research network. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 144 the involvement of the doctorate committee decreased during the last years6. this fact greatly reduced the possibility of interacting with professors and consequently the benefits of the meetings. not all the students organised the seminar of the cycle. although this initiative was appraised both to improve skills of candidates and to develop a network, it was not easy to organise it for all cycles. the research topics were often very different (we have to remember that the doctorate chose not to give thematic directions to the research) and it was difficult to link them together in single event. the thematic lessons were specific about some aspects of the researches run by the professors who presented them. this approach seems to be in contradiction with the peculiarity of the doctorate since the professors should provide general disciplinary basis in order to place pillars for the construction of personal research rather than focus the attention on very specific issues. the lack of general disciplinary lessons also entailed limitations considering students background. only few of them had a degree in planning and even if most of them were architects, their previous academic experience supplied them with no more than some rudiments of planning. students were free to deepen only their research field, but this approach did not let them consider the complexity of the discipline and left them without a common background of disciplinary knowledge. methodological lessons offered rudiments for research, but ph.d. candidates had very few occasions to deepen disciplinary methods and 6 the number of professors that participated to the meetings decreased from seveneight (for the meetings of the 24th cycle) to four-five (for the meetings of the 28th cycle). alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 145 techniques. generally, this occurred during external seminars or periods spent in foreign universities. in general, an increasing disinterest of professor in the doctoral education during the last years of the programme compromises the activity of the ph.d. and the exchanges between students and professors. moreover the discrepancy between purposes and outcomes let emerge divergent positions between the professors on the educational asset of the phd. in the end, it is possible to identify a weak attempt to promote networks for students through the cycle seminar that, however was organised only for a limited number of years. the doctorate in regional and urban planning becomes part of the ph.d. in planning, design and technology of architecture in 2013, further reduction of university resources and new standards for reconfirming doctorates7 encouraged a new reconfiguration of the ph.d. programme. at that time, the department of planning design and technology of architecture (pdta) had two doctoral programmes8, but the new rules excluded several professors from the doctorates boards: the legal number was not reached. mainly for this reason, the two ph.d. programmes merged into a new doctorate: the ph.d. in planning, 7 the ministerial decree of the 8th february 2013, n.45 (“regolamento recante modalità di accreditamento delle sedi e dei corsi di dottorato e criteri per la istituzione dei corsi di dottorato da parte degli enti accreditati”) gave new indications for validation of new doctorate cycles. it fixed at sixteen the minimum number of members of doctorate board, and only a quarter of them could be researchers. 8 the doctorate in regional and urban planning (pianificazione territoriale e urbana) , and in environmental design (progettazione ambientale). alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 146 design and technology of architecture. it intended to give a doctoral programme to each disciplinary component of the department9: it holds together the three curricula, one for each disciplinary component with just one doctorate board. the new training programme was born for promoting interdisciplinary exchange and for testing a common space in which the three curricula could collaborate. these goals were not easy to achieve. different methods in conducting research and the rarely experimented collaboration between the disciplinary fields needed a long process to finalise the training programme. in the same year another innovations promoted by the minister of public education was the introduction of ects10 and the evaluation of the research products also for ph.d. candidates. they put into effect the guidelines of the bologna process and for all practical purposes doctorate became the third level of education. on the other hand, the department improved old training programme and it tried to find a contact point between the three disciplinary fields. 9 the department of planning, design, technology of architecture was born by several unifications of departments that had different disciplinary orientations. the last change happened at the end of 2013 (although the new department was instituted in the 2014), when department members decided to clarify orientation of departmental research by renaming it with the three main fields of research: planning, design, and technology of architecture. 10 ects stands for european credit transfer and accumulation system. in italy it corresponds to cfu (crediti formativi universitari). alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 147 table 1 training programme of the xxx cycle of the ph.d. in planning design and technology of architecture. activities ects / year i ii iii advanced institutional courses 16 0 0 seminars and workshops 22 12 0 activities linked to the research 22 32 50 elective activities 0 16 10 total 60 60 60 the new doctorate provides four types of activities: 1) the advanced institutional courses introduce the research methods and the main disciplinary issues. they are an evolution of the introduction training and updating of the discipline provided in the previous programme, but the number of lessons has decreased. they characterise a significant part of the first year work while they are not foreseen during the second and the third years; 2) seminars and workshops. twenty-two ects for the first and twelve for the second year are provided for specialised, in-depth analysis of the discipline presented in occasion of seminars and workshop. for these activities, students have to prepare specific reports; 3) activities linked to the research are developed with increasing responsibilities during the three years. these include research activities in the department labs and research groups framing and discussing the research project with the doctorate committee; 4) elective activities are different for the three years. they include participation in conferences, research presentations, publications and participation in architectural prizes. these activities required a high level of performance and involvement that could be seen as a brand new signal for an improvement of the student activity. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 148 the training programme also displays another aspect that never explicitly emerged previously: mobility. the new programme makes a list of universities with which students of the previous years had exchanges. the doctorate board considers to support both national and international mobility if the exchange can confer quality to the research work. the interviews with students highlighted: the availability of professors to support exchanges with foreign universities, but they also underlined difficulties of international students to attend courses and meetings completely in italian. the difficulty to manage together the research processes in planning, design and technology of architecture. the more practical and product-oriented nature of the research in design and technology entailed a reduction of methodological courses and lower the consideration for disciplinary issues about methods and research techniques. for the xxix cycle, the periodical meetings are foreseen only for the curriculum in planning. therefore, the interaction during the meetings happens just inside the same discipline: from this point of view doctorate loses its interdisciplinary character. only one activity (workshop or literary exercise11) during the first year foresees an exchange between the three disciplinary curricula. the xxx cycle is testing a more integrated training. students of the three curricula attend together methodological lessons (that are less numerous) and seminars, that try to give suggestions to the three disciplinary fields. nevertheless, the reduction of planning professors 11 committee members chose a list of books to read and discuss during doctoral meetings. ph.d. candidates were also demanded to do a written critical review of books, and some of them were published. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 149 (from twenty, for the xxix cycle, to six, for the xxx cycle) in the doctorate committee does not facilitate the interaction with professors and researchers of the planning discipline. mostly for this reason, the interest in planning research is reducing. doctorate changes: which place for the “added value”? the evolution of the ph.d. programme highlights a fluctuating trend in the updating of the education towards the straightening of the value. the experimentation of a training programme before ministerial directions (in 2003), and a progressive upgrading of it during the years, affirmed the purpose of improving the ph.d. candidates experience. especially for the ph.d. programme characterising the cycles until the xxviii, the interest to develop training activities seems to consider some changes in background. in the new doctoral configuration (2013), interdisciplinary characters take into consideration only partially changes of the background (paragraph 1). in the disciplinary ph.d. programme, courses on methodology were improved over the years. although they were not thorough, in comparison with the variety of methods and techniques of discipline (silva et al., 2015), they provided the student with some disciplinary rudiments of research, progressively reduced in the new doctorate. the reports and meetings with the doctorate committee are a useful tool for improving communication and interaction with professors. they represent a periodical deadline by which testing the research work. they were regular and usual in the old doctorate, less frequent for the last cycles. other modalities of exercise (like critiques of books) replaced them. they are less related to everyone’s own research topic and have a more general approach to the three different disciplines. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 150 the way to interact with the experts of the discipline changed over the years. the cycle seminar was an occasion to improve and test the initiative of candidates with outside experts while during the last years the mobility can be considered the most supported activity to interact with experts from other universities or research centres. overall, the attempt to promote interdisciplinary characters weaken the disciplinary field and also the skills that should support the added value are not still valued in the disciplinary doctorate. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 151 4. conclusions the process of europeanization, that involved the higher education and the disciplinary field of planning, promoted changes in the way doctoral education is organised. ph.d. programmes need a further structure since doctorate corresponds to the third level of education and planning discipline aims at european shared language to foresee european disciplinary development. despite these changes, the doctorate continues to represent the principal means for disciplining the attitude to produce new knowledge through creativity and rigorous work. the ability to develop this attitude can be considered the value of doctorates: it changes the way to organise thought and to move forward in knowledge. it is undoubtedly a value for ph.d. candidates, that increase professional and personal skills but it is also a value for the scientific community, that thanks to creativity and rigour can further develop discipline. this way to develop knowledge can be considered a value also for other managerial positions, outside academia. mostly intellectual, personal and professional management skills are transferable as value for other high professional figures. to sustain and promote this value, the education process foresees a high commitment of the candidates, which have to learn by doing research and to maintain a deep exchange with supervisors and the intellectual community. although the mentioned europeanization process did not modified the value of doctorates, it required a more structured education process and it enlarged geographical boundaries in which to build an intellectual community and a network where could be shared ideas and results tested. despite some european directions, changes were welcomed in different ways by the doctoral programmes. experience (of the ph.d. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 152 in regional and urban planning, at sapienza) reported in the article helped to understand that is not easy to support the value of doctorate, but it is possible to reflect on some issues, in order to face possible problems: planning discipline has a quite recent european identity, and still nowadays differences persist between countries. a more accurate knowledge of these differences should help to develop discipline at the european level. to increase knowledge of planning discipline of different european countries could contribute to facilitate the rigour required in research activities that nowadays have not a clear framework of reference. the same can occur for the disciplinary research methods, which are not completely defined and supported by the educational system. we’ve seen that doctoral education is a complex process of personal and professional growth, and disciplinary and methodological courses are not enough for ensuring doctoral value. nevertheless, in order to facilitate the reach of mentioned skills rules could be fixed for ensuring the acquisition of disciplinary and methodological basis. interdisciplinary is considered a value by salzburg principles, but the selection of disciplines to put in touch cannot be accidental, or decreed by exigencies of unification in faculty departments. if it happens doctorate can lose value instead of acquiring it from the joining of different disciplines. european credit transfer and accumulation system ensures comparability between educational programmes in terms of hours of work, but it does not provide any information about the nature of the activities. the participation of the ph.d. candidates, the relation between professors and students and the creation of a network are not measurable parameters by ects. in general, we can say that definition of contents and boundaries in planning education is one of the most important issues to improve alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 153 research and to strengthen planning from a geographical and disciplinary point of view. however, for saving the value of doctorate is also crucial to take care of activities and relations of the ph.d. candidates. nowadays, the preservation of the value of the doctorate is threatened from external hindrances like reduction of economic resources, so it is difficult to find out which features to promote. assessing the activity of ph.d. candidates in hours of work makes training more important than education. moreover, the relation between professors (in particular supervisors) and students, a crucial point of the education process, is not usually considered. in order to modify this trend and to consider the academic value of the ph.d. as the focus of changes in doctoral education, we should ask who has an interest at stake and who cares about the intellectual features of the research results. this way it should be possible to promote the discipline beyond its technical aspects, and to reconsider the doctorate in planning as the means to innovate practices while preserving it as a disciplinary field in academia. alberti the hard work of preserving the value of the doctoral education. the case of ph.d. in regional and urban planning at sapienza, rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 154 references bianchi g. 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(available at: http://ijpp.uniroma1.it/index.php/it/article/view/2/2) ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 1 analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran) narges ahmadpour ph d stu d en t, dep ar tm en t o f ar ch i tec tu r e an d ur b an p lan n in g , ar t un iv er s ity o f teh r an , i r an . em ail : n .ah m ad p o u r @ stu d en t.ar t. ac.ir samira yousefian ph d in ur b an plan n in g a n d des ig n , tar b i at mo d ar es un iv er sity , teh r an , i r a n . em ail : s am ir a .y o u sef ian 0 3 @g m a il.co m vahid moshfeghi * ph d, facu l ty o f ar ch it ectu r e an d ur b an p lan n i n g , qazv in br an ch , i s l am ic a zad un iv er sity , qazv in , i r an . ( * co r r e sp o n d in g au th o r ) em ail : v .m o sh f eg h i @q iau .ac.ir hadi alizadeh ph d in geo g r ap h y an d u r b an plan n in g , sh ah id ch am r an un iv er si ty o f ah v az, ah v az, i r an em ail : h al izad eh @p h d st u .scu .ac .ir keywords: urban design, hot and dry, thermal comfort, pmv index, mrt index, kashan abstract the relationship between ambient temperature, urban geometry and human activities in cities has been proven by numerous studies. this study aims to analyze the effects of design elements on thermal comfort in hot and dry urban areas by simulating comfort quality. in this regard, impacts of urban geometry on thermal comfort have been simulated in the historical area of kashan, iran. the modeling evaluates predicted mean vote (pmv) and mean radiant temperature (mrt) in different seasons by envi-met. considering urban designing characters, four sample sections of the case study have been analyzed and then three formal cases have been presented to improve the thermal comfort in the most problematic section. it is concluded that the case in which street vegetation, sideway shading (overhang) and low albedo materials are taken into account, overweight other cases which are based on the enclosure of urban spaces, the sidewall height and canopy at the middle part of the street. finally, this article presents a technical and practical process of environmental design. ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 2 1. introduction thermal comfort is an important factor to evaluate the quality of public spaces and the effects of time and intensity of using urban spaces. in fact, public spaces that cannot provide comfort conditions -particularly the thermal comfort of peoplewill be underused, or even avoided (carmona, 2019; chen & ng, 2012). therefore, minimizing the discomfort of outdoor areas could increase the liveability of urban places during periods of thermal stress in both low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer (costamagna et al., 2019). the effect of spatial geometry on the urban microclimate is also significant in increasing thermal tensions as the solar radiation is stored and reflected in urban areas (mirrahimi et al., 2016). generally, the heat stored by buildings during the day and reflected slowly during the night, along with the side effects of human activities and increase in paved surfaces -with low albedoresult in heat island phenomena, which is a concerning issue due to urban cooling and heat resilience in cities (battista et al., 2020). the measured albedo in the cities indicates that the paved surfaces keep a lot more heat than the natural lands (chen et al., 2020). thus, the reflected heat could be considered as an uncomfortable condition for pedestrians, which brings up the importance of shading on streets and sidewalks (kleerekoper et al., 2012). the origin of thermal comfort research in urban open spaces can be traced to four decades ago when increasing the presence of pedestrians boosted the number of outdoor thermal comfort studies. this leads to a vast body of studies in the context of climate-based design parameters based on pedestrians’ safety (taleghani et al., 2015). in recent years, several studies have been conducted on thermal comfort in urban open spaces as this is strongly associated with health and wellness (lai et al., 2020). furthermore, the gradual rise in global temperature and its impacts on human health has engaged researchers' consideration to formulate some useful policies and guidelines to provide thermal comfort for city residents (carter et al., 2015). climate adaptation efforts tend to reduce the negative effects of urban heat islands (uhi), improve human comfort and energy saving of cities. as stated by wheleer et al. (2019) "one goal of climate adaptation efforts worldwide has been to cool cities and reduce urban heat island (uhi) effects. such steps can improve human comfort, protect human health and reduce energy use". according to the results, the high temperature-urban areas can cause high energy consumption to provide cooling demand and reduce negative effects on an individual's health (pyrgou et al., 2017). in this regard, numerous efforts have been made to assess adaptation and mitigation of the effects of urban heating, urban heat islands as well as moving toward cool cities and thermal comfort. besides, some efforts have focused on urban geometry, design patterns and formal modeling. studying the effect of urban geometry and architectural spaces on outdoor thermal comfort ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 3 refers to luke howard’s study (howard,1833). he is known as the first person who considered the impact of urban areas on regional climate (ampatzidis & kershaw, 2020). also, several studies have been done on the relationship between urban geometry and the concept of thermal comforts well as urban canyons and the effect of wall form and pavement direction on the pavements-microclimate (sen et al., 2019; tsoka et al., 2020). taleghani et al., (2015) have applied the envi-met model to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort within five different urban forms in the netherlands. salata et al., (2016) have assessed urban microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort using the envi-met model in the cloister of the faculty of engineering (sapienza) in rome. yousefian et al. (2017) have examined the impacts of buildings form on climatic comfort through envi-met software. abdallah et al. (2020) have evaluated the impact of outdoor shading strategies on student thermal comfort in open spaces by using the envi-met simulation model. the aforementioned studies prove the considerable role and effect of radiation control in urban space, which has been mostly measured by factors such as pavement direction, closeness, vegetation, and additional elements of the building. according to the importance of thermal comfort in urban public spaces, devoting attention to climate-based design in cities especially those are in harsh weather conditions is a vital mission. this study aims to analyze the climatic comfort condition in different seasons and simulate the effect of design elements (width, height, closure, materials, pavement and shading) on thermal comfort in hot and dry weather in the historical part of kashan, iran. research questions seek to recognize formal factors affecting thermal comfort and the intensity of the effects of recognized factors on microclimate characteristics in hot and dry areas. the structure of the current article includes four general steps. at the first step, thermal comfort theory and indices are explained. then, the methodology and research process and the case study are presented in the second step. the simulation and modeling are done at the next pace. finally, based on the results, the effects of variations and their impacts on the thermal comfort quality are discussed and the conclusion is rendered. 2. literature background analyzing thermal comfort has long been faced with difficulty in achieving stability, because of a wide range of factors associated with environmental and personal (physical and psychological) aspects of urban open spaces (johansson et al., 2018). furthermore, outdoor areas are exposed to uncontrollable climate variables which make them very challenging to measure and achieve a standard comfort level (taleghani et al., 2015). therefore, research associated with urban open spaces faces more obstacles in comparison to interior space studies which have more controllable conditions (taleb, 2014) and would be involved with several issues which have not risen in the indoors. regarding the solar radiation, shade and wind speed of outdoor space, a great variation in climatic conditions is expected that can greatly adjust pedestrians' reaction toward temperature and humidity (blocken et al., 2016). additionally, people wear different clothes according to the seasons. thus, fixed cover standards are not applicable for outdoor (zhao et al., 2020). moreover, outdoor space has a wider range of short and ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 4 long wavelength radiation than indoor spaces and radiant asymmetry, which occurs as a result of direct sunlight is much higher than the level of comfort in the interior spaces. (lin et al., 2010). thermal comfort is the body's response to environmental conditions in internal and external spaces (lomas & giridharan, 2012). a more detailed definition of this condition can be summarized into three groups. first, the psychological definition refers to brain satisfaction of temperature (elnabawi & hamza, 2020). second, the thermo-physiological definition is related to the biological responses of the body and the nervous system to external influences on skin thermoreceptors (santos nouri et al., 2018) and the third definition points out the temperature balance between inside and outside of the body (bouzida et al., 2009). in addition to these three general definitions of comfort conditions, several other definitions that are especially associated with the hot or cold places without defined comfort have been presented. as mentioned before, thermal comfort is a difficult and complex concept to study, as it is dependent on several parameters. at the following four physical parameters thermal environment and thermal feeling is described: • ambient air temperature: this factor affects dry and wet exchanges as well as heat transfer coefficient (gagge & nishi, 2010; song et al., 2017). • airflow rate: generally, this factor affects heat losses due to convection and evaporation around the body, which is covered by clothing and is affected by the body movements (melikov, 2015; zhang et al., 2020). • relative humidity: when there is no sweating, this factor has little impact and hidden respiratory exchange and insensible sweating of skin are the only factors relevant to humidity. on the other hand, air humidity affects the evaporation of moisture from skin sweats (takada & matsushita, 2013). • mrt: in outdoors, mrt indicates the integrated temperature of an imaginary area that all parts of it have a similar temperature (walikewitz et al., 2015). in addition, other parameters involved in calculating thermal comfort are as follows: • activity level: according to the activity level, the body converts food into energy. the amount of energy produced per unit of time is called “metabolic rate” and is measured based on the number of watts per square meter of body surface (herman, 2016). • cover: this factor acts as a link between the body and the environment in connection with both heat and humidity. it can have the role of a facilitator or an inhibitor (junge et al., 2016). among these factors, the first five items depend on the physical and environmental conditions and therefore are involved in the urban design category. other factors are related to individual behavior categories, which vary over time and are outside of the scope of designing. so, some indexes are defined to apply an integrated assessment of ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 5 the effects of both environmental and individual factors on people's comfortability. the first thermal equilibrium model was developed and described by fanger in 1972 which applied “predict mean vote” and “predict percentage dissatisfied” to help ventilation engineers in the room (indoor) condition (karyono et al., 2020) and has been still in the scope of many kinds of research (enescu, 2019; zhao et al., 2020). two decades later and by assigning appropriate variables jendritzky et al. (1990) were succeeded to adjust fanger’s complex approach to the outdoor condition, which today is known as the memi model (matzarakis & amelung, 2008). memi stands for munich energy-balance model for individual and is considered as one of the thermal equilibrium models of thermo-physiology. it is also used as a basis for obtaining pmv and pet indexes (taleghani et al., 2015). 3. methodology this study tries to evaluate the effect of design elements on thermal comfort in tamqachy street in kashan, iran. the pmv and mrt index has been used for this purpose. american society of heating refrigeration and air conditioning engineers (ashrae) standard 55-2004 elaborates the use of fanger’s heat balance equation for the calculation of pmv to determine the scale of thermal comfort as shown in equation (1) (ashrae; 2004). pmv= (0.303 e -0.036m + 0.028) × {(m – w) – 3.5 × 10 −3 [5733 – 6.99 (m – w) − pa] – 0.42 ((m – v) -58.15) – 1.7 ×10 −5 m (5867 – pa) – 0.0014m (34 – ta) – 3.96 × 10 −8 fcl [( tcl + 273) 4 – (tr + 273) 4 ] –fcl × hc (tcl– ta)} (1) where m and w are the metabolic rates and external work, both in w/m2, pa is the partial water vapor pressure in pascal, and ta and tr are the air temperature and mean radiant temperature in degrees celsius. the surface temperature of clothing, tcl, and the convective heat transfer coefficient, hc, can be calculated by equation (2) and (3). 𝑡𝑐𝑙= 35.7-0.028 (m-w)𝐼𝑐𝑙[3.96 × 10 −8𝑓𝑐𝑙((𝑡𝑐𝑙+273) 4-(𝑡𝑟+273) 4)+ 𝑓𝑐𝑙 ℎ𝑐(𝑡𝑐𝑙-𝑡𝑎)] (2) ℎ𝑐= {12.1√𝑉𝑎 , ℎ𝑐<12.1√𝑉𝑎 2.38 (𝑡𝑐𝑙−𝑡𝑎) 0.25 , ℎ𝑐>12.1√𝑉𝑎 (3) va is the air velocity in m/s and icl is the clothing thermal resistance in m 2 .oc/w. these two equations are solved iteratively until a prescribed degree of convergence is attained or the maximum number of iterations reached. while fcl is the ratio of body surface area covered by clothes to the naked surface area is defined by equation (4). 𝑓𝑐𝑙 = {1.05 + 0.645 𝐼 𝑐𝑙 , 𝐼 𝑐𝑙 > 0.078 1.00 + 1.290 𝐼 𝑐𝑙 , 𝐼 𝑐𝑙 ≤ 0.078 (4) envi-met simulates the surface-plant-air interactions in an urban environment (bruse, 2004). it is validated and compared to onsite measurements (jeong et al. 2015). envimet calculation of mrt is defined by the following equation (5) (bruse 1999): 𝑇𝑚𝑟𝑡 = [ 1 𝜎 . (𝐸𝑡 (𝑧). 𝑎𝑘 𝜖𝑝 . (𝐷𝑡 (𝑧) + 𝐼𝑡 (𝑧)))] 0.25 [𝐾] (5) ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 6 the surrounding environment consists of the building surfaces, the atmosphere and the ground surface. all radiation fluxes, i.e., direct irradiance it(z), diffuse and diffusely reflected solar radiation dt(z) as well as the total long-wave radiation fluxes et(z) from the atmosphere, ground and walls, are taken into account the research is conducted through the following steps (fig. 1). first, using the pmv index the domain is evaluated and the worst temperature condition of the year is chosen for further steps. besides, those parts of the passage that have lower levels of thermal comfort are chosen for more detailed analysis. second, four different sections of the tamqachy passage were chosen based on their thermal comfort level and formal attributes. outputs required for analyzing thermal comfort were used as potential air temperature and pmv index. modeling has been done in peak-hours pedestrian flow (from 6 am to 9 pm). it should be noted that the output of the model is produced every 30 minutes. third, taking the advantage of different elements of design, three cases are proposed for the section with the highest mrt condition. the mrt simulation at the hottest times of the day results in the optimum case. figure 1the research conceptual framework source: authors evaluation of thermal comfort conditions has been performed during a tropical year. kelvin temperature scale, speed and direction of the wind at a height of 10 meters above ground and relative and specific humidity are the climate data of kashan meteorological synoptic station from january to december 2019, which has been entered in the model (table 1). table 1average wind speed, wind direction, average daily temperature, relative humidity and specific humidity season wind speed in 10 m ab ground (m/s) wind direction initial temperature atmosphere (k) relative humidity )%( specific humidity (g water/kg air) ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 7 spring 2.40 90 296.10 27.00 4.66 summer 2.00 0 303.60 22.00 2.00 autumn 2.40 270 286.30 50.30 2.00 winter 2.20 260.00 285.20 43.00 3.00 source: kashan meteorological synoptic station (2019) 4. case study kashan is a city in isfahan province in the central part of iran. it is located at a longitude of 51°27' e and a latitude of 33° 59' from the greenwich meridian (fig. 2). it has a hot and dry climate. figure 2the location of case study source: authors tamqachy pavement is considered as the old texture and historical center of kashan, adjacent to the northern side of the grand bazar (fig. 3). having organic urban forms, the historical area of kashan has a wide variety of pavements in terms of width, direction, length and roof, which provides a wide range of choices for pedestrians to adapt to the thermal condition. therefore, passing such diverse forms users would have less possibility to overwhelmed temperature and heat dissatisfaction. but the open spaces, where have been widened due to the presence of cars, are in a different condition from human thermal requirements in terms of accommodation. ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 8 having black asphalt and facing more sunlight, the main streets are hotter than pavements on summer days due to the vastness of space and sun exposure. in winter, streets are in a better thermal status, provided that they are protected from the cold. the selected area for this study is a historical pathway. it is an example of a road widening project to facilitate the movement of cars regardless of its environmental effects. the high width of the crossing, which has no significant vegetation, causes severe heat stress. figure 3the historical area of kashan, tamqachy street source: authors 5. findings at the first step, the climatic comfort condition of the passage during four seasons is simulated. as it is illustrated in fig. 4, autumn, winter, spring and summer is observed to have the best thermal comfort condition respectively. as mentioned above, summer which has the less suitable thermal condition is chosen for further analysis. figure 4climate simulation of tamqachy in four seasons of the year, based on pmv index ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 9 source: authors based on analyzing the climatic comfort condition of the passage in summer, four different sections of the street with the most critical pmv index are selected (fig. 5). samples are selected in such a way that each section has a different width, sidewall height and pavement. figure 5the position of selected sections source: authors ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 10 fig. 6 reflects mrt at the human height level from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. due to the geographic location and northeast-southwest direction of the street, the changes of mrt at various parts of the sections, follow quite a similar pattern. in this regard, the rise of the radiation temperature starts from the west sidewall of the street at the earlier hours of the day (mostly between 7 to 8 a.m.). the western sidewall's radiation effect continues to increase and reach the peak in the middle of the day (mostly between 2 and 3 p.m.). in the afternoon, the thermal stress then has shifted toward the eastern part of the street and the temperature of the west part has started to decrease gradually. the highest thermal stress is reported next to the east sidewall (at about 4 to 5 p.m). at this time of the day, the sunlight becomes almost vertical and the heat absorption increases accordingly. generally, the amount of energy absorbed and reflected by surfaces also depends on the angle of solar radiation. therefore, a greater angle of solar radiation causes more reflection and less energy absorption. figure 6mrt index in four sectionsfrom 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. source: authors in the investigated latitude, due to the solar elevation angle, the influence of the southeast sidewall on shading is more than the other sidewalls. on the other hand, the thermal stress applied on the east side of the street is directly influenced by the aspect ratio (the of the southeast sidewall height to the width of the street). according to fig. 6, all sections of the path are faced with a significant increase in temperature from 8 am (after sunrise). in sections, a and c (respectively with the aspect ratio of 12 and 9) thermal stress is seen from 8:30 am and 9:30 am which is 6 hours more than sections b and d (with the aspect ratio of 1 to 3 and 1 to 1) which face with the thermal stress since 3 pm. hence, sections a and c face unfavorable comfort conditions 6 hours more than sections b and d. moreover, the effect of vegetation is also clear in the diagrams of sections a and b. although section b is wider than section d and the aspect ratio is much fewer, it has less thermal stress during a day. as a result, section a is known to have the most critical thermal comfort condition and is elected for further analysis at the design phase. ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 11 6. discussion and design options one of the solutions to remove the barrier of achieving thermal comfort in urban open spaces is to interact with design components that are easily comprehensible and applicable (ahmed, 2003; yang et al., 2011). exposure to unfavorable environmental conditions can be controlled or filtered through architectural tools (liu et al., 2017). table 2 presents general strategies for environmental designing. obviously, there is a wide range of methods of improving thermal comfort through design elements and materials in urban open spaces. table 2factors of thermal comfort and design elements used in controlling the quality of comfort factors of thermal comfort methods of control design elements c o n tr o ll a b le f a c to rs b y d e si g n e le m e n ts air temperature control of received radiation choosing an appropriate direction for passage, appropriate closeness, overhang, shade, canopy humidity increase of humidity canopy, bushes and grass, water surfaces, fountain air flow leading the wind flow canopy, wind brace, choosing an appropriate direction for passageway, passageway closeness, passageway geometry mean radiant temperature determining the surfaces’ albedo bushes and grass, water surfaces, flooring by the use of materials with low albedo u n c o n tr o ll a b le fa c to rs b y d e si g n e le m e n ts the number of user activities the type of the user coverage sex and age of the user source: alonso & renard, 2020; barakat et al., 2017; chandel et al., 2016; cheong et al., 2020; gómez et al., 2013; kamalha et al., 2013; kontes et al., 2017; li et al., 2017; manzano-agugliaro et al., 2015; martínez-molina et al., 2016 as it is mentioned, the impacts of design elements are not easy to be analyzed with correlation relationships and direct effects. it is mainly because of the complexity of urban geometry which is varied according to a wide range of factors namely enclosure, direction, shape, material, vegetation, etc. at the design phase, three cases for section a are presented (fig 7.). these cases are designed to improve the thermal comfort condition of the case study through different physical interventions including the enclosure of urban space, street vegetation, shading, materials. cases describe and compare the most suitable physical arrangement of section a in terms of thermal comfort. they are designed to separately reflect the effects of the above-mentioned design elements. the cases have been presented in table 3. ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 12 table 3the details of cases of section a case details of case in compare with current state of section a 1 relative aspect ratio: 0.6 relative height: 6/1 width:5/7 planting trees on the middle of the street (current state) low albedo materials 2 relative aspect ratio: 0.2 height:2/1 width:5/7 planting trees on both sides of the street canopy in the middle of the street low albedo materials 3 relative aspect ratio: 0.5 height:2/1 width:2/7 planting trees in the middle of the street (current state) sideway shading (overhang) low albedo materials first designed case: this case is mainly based on an increase in the level of the enclosure with respect to higher sidewalls. based on the results, compared to the current situation, the maximum amount of mrt that a pedestrian tolerates during a day is decreased to 80.13 ° c in this model. according to the temperature changes in the cross-section, the pattern of mrt is similar to the current situation. however, the duration of thermal stress is reduced in comparison with the current state, especially in the vicinity of the southeast sidewall. on the other hand, there is a controversial effect around the northwest sidewall, which needs further evaluation. second designed case: this case takes the advantage of vegetation, street canopy and materials with low albedo. compared to the current situation, the maximum amount of mrt that a pedestrian tolerates during a day is decreased to 76.85 ° c. the effect of the canopy on the thermal stress reduction is completely clear in the middle of the street. according to the temperature changes in the cross-section, the amount of received radiation in the vicinity of the northwest sidewall has been reduced and the thermal stress can mostly be seen in the vicinity of the south-eastern wall, from 9 am. to 12 p.m. besides, due to decrease in the received radiant, the effect of vegetation in the street is quite obvious. moreover, the duration and the area of thermal stress are ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 13 reduced in comparison with both the current state and the first case. generally, in this case, the thermal stress started earlier than in other cases. third designed case: in this model sideway shading (overhang), vegetation, and materials with low albedo are taken into consideration. compared to the current situation, the maximum amount of mrt is decreased to 75.61 ° c. in this case, the effect of sideways shading (overhang) is quite obvious. there is also a significant reduction in thermal stress, adjacent to the northwest sidewall. on the other hand, the effect of vegetation on thermal comfort stress is obvious. in general, this case has the lowest duration of thermal comfort stress from about 12 to 2. figure 7the mrt in the proposed options from 7 am. to 9 pm source: authors as it is shown in fig. 7, the maximum mrt that a pedestrian tolerates during a day in section a has been decreased in all options. table 4 presents the differences of the maximum, minimum and mrt in the proposed options and the current status. table 4the received maximum, minimum and mrt in the current status and the three proposed options in section a, during a summer day max min average current situation 82.66 13.09 47.49 case n. 1 80.13 13.27 36.06 case n. 2 76.85 13.52 31.14 case n. 3 75.61 13.91 31.06 7. conclusion analysis revealed that there is a similar pattern of mrt changes at various parts of the northeast-southwest streets in the hot and dry climate. the radiation temperature starts from the west sidewall at the earlier hours of the day and shifted toward the eastern part of the street. the highest thermal stress is reported next to the east sidewall. besides, southeast sidewall shading has been known to be the most efficient sidewall. ahmadpour et al., analysing the impact of urban morphology on the thermal comfort of the street canyon in a hot and dry climate (case study of kashan, iran ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 14 in addition, canopy, vegetation and materials have been proved to have significant effects on radiation temperature. in conclusion, the area ratio of each temperature level (in the surface charts) is calculated and compared to the total value as well as the amount of mrt index. by calculating the amount of energy level, table 5 indicates the comparison of mrt pedestrians’ tolerance in all cases. thus, the third case is reported to have the least mrt and the best thermal comfort condition. the case takes the advantage of shading, vegetation, low albedo materials. this case has a middle height wall with an aspect ratio of 0.2. besides, sideway shading and plating trees play an important role to prevent thermal comfort stress. table 5the percentage of received mrt case 0-20 20-40 40-60 60-80 80-100 total 1 17.05% 46.29% 20.82% 15.85% 0.00% 100.00% 2 16.76% 66.06% 12.41% 4.77% 0.00% 100.00% 3 13.64% 67.31% 15.33% 3.71% 0.00% 100.00% it should be noted that due to the complexity of climate variables and their reciprocal effects, it is difficult to derive their direct effects. however, the proposed method of this research makes it possible to compare different cases on the micro-scale of the street by drawing surface charts. the findings provide an accurate analysis of the thermal comfort condition in a crosssection of the passage over a period. in the present study, due to the limitations in the type of statistical outputs of the model, the average radiant temperature was used as the most effective variable of thermal comfort. taking into account other influential parameters, future studies could provide a more accurate analysis. references abdallah, a. s. h., hussein, s. w., & nayel, m. 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(2017). impacts of high-rise buildings form on climatic comfort with emphasis on airflow through envi-met software, case study ekbatan complex in tehran, iran. http://bsnt.modares.ac.ir/article-2-1220en.html zhang, y., zhou, x., zheng, z., oladokun, m. o., & fang, z. (2020). experimental investigation into the effects of different metabolic rates of body movement on thermal comfort. building and environment, 168, 106489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106489 zhao, q., lian, z., & lai, d. (2020). thermal comfort models and their developments: a review. energy and built environment, 2(1) ,21-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbenv.2020.05.007 short author biography: narges ahmadpour is phd student, faculty of architecture and urban planning, art university of tehran, iran. her research interests include environmental perception & cognition, sustainable urban design & planning , etc. samira yousefian is a phd in urban planning and design at tarbiat modares university of tehran. her research interests include sustainable urban design & planning, quality of urban public spaces, urban comfort and designing, urban morphology and air pollution, etc. vahid moshfeghi is an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at qiau. his research interest involves the area of sustainable development and environmental planning, spatial planning, and urban systems analysis. hadi alizadeh is a phd in geography and urban planning at shahid chamran university of ahvaz. his main research interests are focusing on urban resilience; urban sustainability and smart city and digital transformation in the cities. https://doi.org/10.1080/00038628.2011.613646 http://bsnt.modares.ac.ir/article-2-1220-en.html http://bsnt.modares.ac.ir/article-2-1220-en.html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106489 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbenv.2020.05.007 box 1: the policy of reconstruction and reduction ofseismic risk in italy giacomina di salvo pp. 1­3 tables of contents ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 issn: 2239­267x earthquakes, public spaces and (the social constructionof) environmental disasters. barbara pizzo, giacomina di salvo, margherita giuffrè, piera pellegrino pp. 4­41 box 2: strategic urban structure (sum) piera pellegrino pp. 46­68 the role of knowledge in the prevention of naturalhazards and related risks. enrico miccadei, tommaso piacentini pp. 42­45 urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building. francesco andreani, caterina f. carocci pp. 69­89 environmental risk prevention, postseismic interventionsand the reconstruction of the public space as a planningchallenge. barbara pizzo, valter fabietti pp. i­viii public spaces in new orleans post­katrina. paola branciaroli pp. 93­109 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 industrial production and temporary developmentafter the emilian earthquake. matteo scamporrino pp. 110­126 glossary giacomina di salvo pp. 127­129 box 3: the analysis of historical buildings margherita giuffrè pp. 90­92 ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 42 toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change marcello magoni co o r d in a to r o f c lim ate c h an g e, r isk an d r es ili en c e lab o r ato r y , dep ar t m en t o f ar ch it ectu r e an d ur b an s tu d ie s, po lit ecn i co d i m il an o piaz za leo n ar d o d a v inc i 3 2 , mil an o , m ar ce llo .m a g o n i@p o l im i. it rachele radaelli mem b er o f cl im at e ch an g e, r isk an d r es ili en ce l ab o r ato r y , dep ar tm en t o f ar ch it ectu r e an d ur b an s tu d ie s, po lit ecn i co d i m il an o piaz za leo n ar d o d a v in ci 3 2 , mil an o , r ach e le.r ad a elli @p o lim i.it keywords: glossary, territorial risk, climate change, risk reduction capabilities, responses for risk management abstract the dynamics of demographic, industrial and economic growth that have occurred on a global scale since the industrial revolution have over time resulted in an increase in the frequency and intensity of hazards and in the levels of vulnerability of the exposed resources at local level. the need to counteract these phenomena has led to substantial international development of territorial risk management techniques with contributions from experts in different disciplines and which, to facilitate communication and exchange of information between professionals, has led to the construction of very similar methodological approaches and specialised glossaries. this article was produced to contribute to meeting the need, which emerged during an erasmus+ european research project called care empowering climate resilience, in which numerous european and latin american universities took part, to overcome the existing terminological differences between the different schools of thought in managing risk due to climate change, a european one, mainly oriented to spatial planning, and a latin-american one, mainly based on social science. this contribution consists of proposing a set of clear and consistent definitions of the main words used for the territorial risk management due to climate change. as this glossary refers to the management of risks due to climate change, it has mainly been developed on the basis of the definitions indicated by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc). mailto:marcello.magoni@polimi.it mailto:rachele.radaelli@polimi.it magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 43 1. why a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change the management of territorial risks is a global issue that has amplified its importance due to various phenomena that have increasingly affected human settlements since the industrial revolution and especially since the end of the second world war. these phenomena consist mainly of demographic, industrial and economic developments which have caused a marked expansion of settlements and territorial infrastructures, with consequent increase in exposure to territorial risks of population, assets and activities (bobrowsky, 2013; gfdrr, 2016). for about 30 years, the effects of climate change have been added to those processes, which are causing an increase in the type, frequency and intensity of the hazards and vulnerability of the exposed resources. the management of territorial risks due to climate change constitutes the main reference of this glossary, even if it can be used for the management of any type of territorial risk (ipcc, 2018a, 2019). territorial risk management requires the contribution of experts from different disciplines who must find a common methodological approach and language, to favour an effective integration of the relative knowledge, skills and practices and to achieve efficient communication in the development and implementation of policies, strategies and actions (gfdrr, 2014; undrr, 2019). among the experts who deal with territorial risks there are also the urban and territorial planners, since risk prevention policies and the results of emergency interventions have a significant impact on the transformations of increasingly large parts of the territory. furthermore, these issues are central factors in the construction of sustainable and resilient cities and territories, so they must be considered in ordinary planning practice. in fact, with climate change and pandemic phenomena, the issue of territorial risks is no longer a niche topic as it relates to some circumscribed phenomena and processes and affects ordinary urban and territorial planning. territorial risk analysis, which is the tool that underlies the techniques of risk management, has built up a rigorous and internationally agreed approach to the problem and language over time, even if for some terms there are slight differences (unisdr, 2009; menoni et al., 2012). although it is a secondary aspect of territorial risk management compared to the development and implementation of contrast and adaptation strategies, actions and interventions, the possibility of sharing a broad and detailed terminology favours a more effective use of information and analysis and evaluation results of the cases dealt with. this article has been prepared to contribute to meeting the need, which emerged during the development of a european project financed by erasmus+ funds and called care empowering climate resilience (https://www.erasmus-care.eu), in which numerous european and latin american universities took part, to promote the https://www.erasmus-care.eu/ magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 44 interdisciplinary skills of hei staff and students by developing innovative educational approaches to planning and to shape climate change resilient policies. right from the design phase of the training modules the work group tried to overcome the problem of different terminology and, more widely, different approaches in risk management due to climate change among the different university disciplinary sectors: urban and territorial planning (politecnico di milano italy, universiteit twente netherlands, uc and udec chile), social sciences and territorial studies (ufpa and ufabc – brazil, udelar uruguay), geography (upo – spain), environmental sciences and forestal/agronomic engineering (unibague and ut – colombia, ute and uteq – ecuador), decision support system and urban governance (poliedra politecnico di milano italy and unal colombia) and community empowerment (uim unión iberoamericana de municipalistas – spain and cric centro regionale d'intervento per la cooperazione onlus – italy). two main schools of thought have emerged, one mainly oriented to spatial planning, predominant among european universities, which aimed at the reduction of risk impacts starting from the prediction and prevention of its components of hazard, exposure and vulnerability and from the enhancement of adaptive capacities (schmidtthomé, 2007; menoni, 2011; bobrowsky, 2013) and the second one based on the social theory of risk (giddens, 1990; barrenechea et al., 2003), prominent in the latin american academic context, which mainly focuses on the social component of vulnerability and considers risk as an outcome of the social perception and responsibility for decisions. a great effort was made to integrate these cultural approaches, selecting a basic and restricted set of concepts and terms related to risk management and agreeing on a first shared definition, while for other terms it was not possible. starting from this preliminary exploration, it is intended to contribute to the improvement of a glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change by proposing definitions of those terms that are still discordant or that have not yet been explored, trying to take a step forward from the glossaries relating to climate change. we have proceeded on the basis of the most widely shared definitions on fighting climate change, such as those indicated by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc, 2014a, 2018b), integrating them with the indications of the glossaries prepared by the undrr (undrr, 2016, 2019), the armonia eu funded project (schmidt-thomé, 2007), the ensure eu funded project (menoni, 2011) and the encyclopedia of natural hazards (bobrowsky, 2013). for the development of this glossary a "risk-thinking" approach was adopted, which focused attention on the analysis, assessment, action for territorial risk management, reassessment, and response, acknowledging uncertainty and achieving management objectives through a structured feedback process that includes stakeholder magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 45 participation (ipcc, 2014b, 2019), and the two terms that characterise it, that is, those of risk and territory were defined first. risk: the term risk is meant as “the potential for adverse consequences where something of value is at stake and where the occurrence and degree of an outcome is uncertain. in the context of the assessment of climate impacts, the term risk is often used to refer to the potential for adverse consequences of a climate-related hazard, or of adaptation or mitigation responses to such a hazard, on lives, livelihoods, health and well-being, ecosystems and species, economic, social and cultural assets, services (including ecosystem services), and infrastructure. risk results from the interaction of vulnerability (of the affected system), its exposure over time (to the hazard), as well as the (climate-related) hazard and the likelihood of its occurrence” (ipcc, 2018b). therefore, the term risk refers to adverse consequences of both shock events, such as natural disasters and other sudden and extreme events, and stress pressures, such as continuous and incremental changes to temperature and rainfall (chambers and conway, 1991; jones et al., 2010). territory: the term territory means a complex system consisting of the totality of the elements and their relationships located on a defined portion of terrestrial space, which can be of an urban, rural and / or natural type. in particular, it consists of the set of resources, material and intangible, of a social, economic, cultural, environmental, organisational nature, the set of relationships and interactions that take place between the subjects (public and private, individual and collective, local and supra-local) present in it, the set of cognitive and material interactions undertaken by the subjects with the resources, the set of relationships between local and supra-local subjects and organisations (dematteis, 1985; magnaghi, 2010; bonesio, 2011; caroli, 2006). the glossary has been compiled in four sections according to the main logical elements of the analysis and management of territorial risks, which are the components of risk, the phases of the risk cycle, the capabilities to reduce the risk, the responses for risk management. to make the definitions given more understandable, illustrative purposes related to two of the phenomena that most characterise climate change have been given, heat waves and floods. 2. the components of risk there are three main components of territorial risk and they are hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. these in turn are divided into further components that describe their characteristics more in detail. the term hazard is defined as “the potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems, and environmental resources” (ipcc, 2018b). the hazards could be magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 46 referred to climate-related physical events or trends (shocks and stresses) or their physical impacts (ipcc, 2014a). the hazards due to climate change are socionatural because they are associated with a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. the term hazard indicates an event or phenomenon that can occur individually or in conjunction with others, therefore combined or sequential in their origin and effects, the severity of which depends on the probability with which it can occur, its intensity, its frequency and the extent of the affected area. its occurrence can generate negative impacts on the territory, depending on the severity of the hazard itself and the degree of exposure and vulnerability of the affected area. the term exposure is defined as “the presence of people, livelihoods, species or ecosystems, environmental functions, services, and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected” (ipcc, 2018b). exposure therefore constitutes the total value of people, livelihoods, infrastructures, animal and plant species, ecosystems and environmental, economic, social, and cultural services-goods-resources potentially affected by a hazard, because of their location in or connected to hazard-prone areas. it depends on the quantity and value of the exposed elements that could be negatively impacted at the same time by one or more hazards on their structures, functions, and responsiveness. the term vulnerability is defined as “the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt” (ipcc, 2018b). vulnerability constitutes the propensity or predisposition of a territory to be negatively impacted by a hazard and therefore to suffer losses and damage when it is exposed to a hazard. the vulnerability of a territory depends on socio-economic, environmental and institutional factors and on the characteristics of the built environment, the uses of resources and the activities that take place there and can be divided into two types of interconnected factors, namely sensitivity and systemic vulnerability, which both express the resistance capability of a territory to hazard, and the capability for protection, recovery, reconstruction and preparation, which constitute the capabilities that are most recognised in the concept of resilience (ipcc, 2012; menoni et al., 2011). sensitivity is the predisposition of a territory to suffer direct negative impacts due to a hazard according to its intrinsic characteristics of human beings, infrastructure, environmental elements and their content. this word is mainly used in studies on climate change, while in studies on natural hazards the words ‘susceptibility’ or ‘fragility’ or ‘physical vulnerability’ are mainly used. an example of a person's sensitivity factor to heat waves is his or her physical condition which influences the physiological thermoregulation capacity as the environmental temperature varies, magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 47 while a sensitivity factor of a settlement to floods is given by the levels of material and structural stability of embankments and buildings. systemic vulnerability expresses the difficulty of a territory in guaranteeing its functionality when it is affected by the consequences of the direct impacts of a hazard, that are defined as indirect impacts, such as the worsening of the functioning of critical infrastructures or a significant increase in the demand for resources and services (menoni et al., 2011). it depends on the balance between the resources available in the emergency phase following the occurrence of a hazard and the need for these resources by the community involved in the hazardous event. systemic vulnerability also considers the negative effects of a functional type that physical losses and damage, occurring on a local scale, cause at the higher scales and therefore it increases its importance as time passes after the hazardous event. it depends on the level of resources and services useful in the event of an emergency and on the degree of dependence of the territory on damaged critical infrastructures. for example, systemic vulnerability to heat waves depends on the relationship between the provision of services and resources needed by vulnerable subjects such as usable health (hospitals, first aid, ...) and social (institutions, associations, solidarity networks, ...) services, the delivery services of water, food and home equipment, the activation of cooling systems, ... and the number of people who are in critical conditions during these events. systemic vulnerability to floods is instead given by the interruption of the road connections essential to reach the rescue facilities (hospitals, firefighters, civil protection, ...). the systemic vulnerability to floods, on the other hand, depends on the possibility that the road connections essential to reach the rescue facilities (hospitals, firefighters, civil protection, ...) can be interrupted. critical infrastructure means a system or parts of it which are essential to maintain the health, safety and economic and social well-being of citizens and the vital functions of society and whose damage or destruction, even partial or temporary, can have a weakening impact, also due to possible domino effects, of the whole territory (directive 2008/114/ec). critical infrastructures are the networks for the extraction, production, transmission and distribution of energy, telecommunications and telematic networks, networks for the water supply and wastewater management, health facilities (clinics, hospitals, service networks, ...), air, sea, rail and road transport and the distribution of basic necessities, the production of foodstuffs, banks and financial services, organisations and structures for security and civil protection (law enforcement, armed forces, urban surveillance and civil protection, ...) and the central and local government structures. the impact is a “consequence of realised risks on natural and human systems, where risks result from the interactions of (…) hazards (…), exposure, and vulnerability” (ipcc, 2018b). in fact, impacts are caused by hazards and their magnitude and extend magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 48 depend on both the severity of hazard and the degree of exposure and vulnerability of impacted natural and human systems. “impacts generally refer to effects on lives, livelihoods, health and well-being, ecosystems and species, economic, social, and cultural assets, services (including ecosystem services) and infrastructure. impacts may be referred to as consequences or outcomes and can be adverse or beneficial” (ipcc, 2018b). the impact can be a qualitative-quantitative modification of available and potential assets, activities and natural and anthropogenic resources, material and intangible, and the health conditions of the people involved. an impact can be direct or indirect.the modification, mostly of a physical and material nature, caused by a hazard which occurs in close spatial-temporal concomitance with it, such as the collapse of a building or a pylon of the electricity grid due to an earthquake is a direct impact. an indirect impact is the modification that occurs subsequently, even over a long period of time, due to a direct impact, such as the interruption of the electricity supply due to the damage to a pylon following an earthquake. impacts, when negative, can be expressed in terms of losses and / or damage. as some authors specify, losses and damage have been taken to refer both to impacts and risk, considering in the first case observed harm from impacts and, in the second case, projected harm from risks (mechler et al., 2018). the damage is the result of a negative (observed) impact or a (projected) risk due to the elimination or quantitative and functional reduction of a non-unique asset or of any other element that has an economic, emotional and moral value, see for example the destruction or putting out of use of an infrastructure, the loss of functionality of services, the increase in diseases, the degradation of ecosystems. the loss is the result of a negative (observed) impact or a (projected) risk that cannot be assessed in monetary terms because it affects people, such as their death or the loss of basic physical or mental faculties, or goods of a unique nature, such as animal and plant species and monuments of inestimable value. 3. the phases of the territorial risk cycle the territorial risk cycle is a process that does not end with the complete recovery of the conditions prior to a hazardous event but continues when, if such condition should occur, there are no more known or predictable hazards that constitute problems, or when unpredictable shocks and stresses because of unavoidable uncertainty conditions should occur. the phases that characterise the risk cycle are of two types, the first type concerns the phases that envisage actions of contrast, adaptation and reconstruction and are the pre-event, impact, emergency, and post-emergency phases while the second type concerns the period of ordinary management of a territory, when a new hazardous magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 49 event is not expected or not predictable and at the same time the reconstruction of what has been suffered from previous hazardous events has been completed. in this regard, different parts and areas of a territory that has suffered a hazard may be in different phases over time, so that, for example, in some areas it may still be in a situation of reconstruction while in other areas this situation has been finished. the pre-event phase is the one that precedes a potential impact, in which precursor or premonitory events of a hazard occur, for which a community is alerted and prepared to face it to reduce its consequences. the effectiveness of this phase depends on the preparation capability of the vulnerable exposed area. for example, in the pre-event phase of a heat wave, the temporary transfer of the most sensitive individuals to their own or third party homes located in cooler places, where available, is promoted, while in that of a flood, the flood wave upstream of the considered area is monitored and the population alert tools are activated. the impact phase is the one in which one or more hazards occur that can generate direct impacts on people and assets according to their exposure, sensitivity and selfprotection capability. direct impacts on critical infrastructures can trigger indirect impacts on the territory depending on the systemic vulnerability of the territory itself. sensitivity and systemic vulnerability influence the resistance capability of the system (menoni et al., 2011, 2012; ipcc, 2012). for example, in the impact phase, a heat wave can cause illness (direct impact) to elderly people or with thermoregulation problems (high sensitivity) and / or whose mobility problems do not allow them to drink or independently change their clothing (low self-protection capability), thus causing an increase in the demand for rescue services (high systemic vulnerability). in the impact phase, a flood can lead to the collapse (direct impact) of a road section with low structural stability (high sensitivity) where no elements for the construction of water barriers (low self-protection capability) are available thus causing the interruption of essential road connections (high systemic vulnerability). the emergency phase follows the impact phase when, as a result of the direct and indirect impacts suffered, problems arise in the performance of the activities of a territory, in particular for critical infrastructures, and there is a strong increase in the demand for resources and services. this phase is characterised by the implementation of interventions to restore or upgrade critical infrastructures and those of rescue, shelter and safety of people and assets damaged due to poor resistance and selfprotection. the effectiveness during the emergency phase depends on the recovery and protection capabilities of the territory itself. for example, in the emergency phase of a heat wave, elderly people with mobility difficulties can be given social and health care at home (high protective capability) to hydrate and cool their homes. in the event of floods, any damage to the electricity network can be subject to immediate repairs while residents who have unusable homes can find accommodation in temporary magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 50 homes (high recovery capability). the post-emergency phase, or reconstruction phase, begins when the critical infrastructures have been repaired and the emergency requests are permanently met, while the restoration, recovery and reconstruction of the remaining damage must be completed, and the resumption of economic, productive and service activities supported. the effectiveness in the post-emergency phase depends on the reconstruction capability of the territory itself. for example, after a heat wave, when sick people have been rescued, damaged trees must be recovered or replaced, while after a flood it is often necessary to provide definitive housing solutions for the displaced (high reconstruction capability). the ordinary phase, so called with respect to a territorial planning approach, since the term peace phase is more widespread in the field of natural hazards, occurs when the impact on the territory of a hazardous event has been completely absorbed and there is no prediction of imminent occurrence of a new one or when unpredictable shocks and stresses because of unavoidable uncertainty conditions could happen. in this phase, the territory is in a normal state and can therefore implement effective risk reduction, prevention and adaptation strategies and actions by acting on hazard, exposure and vulnerability, with appropriate attention to temporal and spatial dynamics that characterise the three risk components, and, where shocks and stresses are unpredictable because of unavoidable uncertainty conditions, by focusing on system vulnerability. more than in the other phases, in this phase a co-evolutionary resilient vision of the interventions can be adopted and the system can seek not only to manage the risk conditions but think about the evolution of the territorial system in the long term. 4. risk reduction capabilities risks reduction capabilities are a set of complementary capabilities that need to be integrated as much as possible to increase their systemic effectiveness and whose overall effects lead to a reduction in intensity and / or modification of the characteristics of the impacts due to a hazard. those capabilities are obtained through interventions on hazard, exposure and vulnerability factors related to both known and unpredictable risks. they are the capabilities of resistance, protection, recovery, reconstruction and preparation (wisner et al., 2004, schmidt-thomé, 2007). resistance capability is the ability of a territory to counteract the generation of direct and indirect negative impacts and therefore to preserve its structural and functional integrity after the occurrence of a hazardous event. it depends on sensitivity to direct impacts and systemic vulnerability to indirect ones. for example, the ability to withstand the illnesses of a heat wave is greater in healthy and young people than in the elderly or sick with thermoregulation problems (sensitivity), while in the event of magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 51 a flood the resistance capability to ensure a good supply water (systemic vulnerability) is lower where the related critical infrastructures have problems of structural and / or functional stability (sensitivity). protection capability is the ability of a territory to use defence devices and / or behaviours to cushion the direct impacts of a hazardous event, both with autonomous actions (self-protection), and with external help (care, rescue, safety, ...). these capabilities are influenced by personal conditions of a psychological / cognitive, mobility, socio-economic, cultural nature, which can facilitate or hinder the implementation of protective behaviours, and by external factors of a technological, localization and organizational nature, which can favour the use of protections for people and assets in critical situations. for example, the self-protect capability with respect to illness due to a heat wave is lower in people whose mobility difficulties do not allow them to drink or change their clothing independently. the protection capability is greater where there is a social and health care service at home to support the hydration of people and the cooling of the rooms. on the other hand, in the event of a flood, the self-protection capability is low where the inhabitants of an area that is about to be reached by a flood wave are not equipped with elements capable of forming water barriers, while it is high where the exposed critical points of an electricity network are promptly secured by the competent entities. recovery capability is the ability of a territory damaged by a hazardous event to promptly recover a satisfactory operating condition and, pending or unable to complete the restoration of critical infrastructures, to activate responses, even temporary ones, to ordinary and extraordinary requests for resources and services for the rescue, recovery, shelter and safety of people and assets. it depends on the ability to carry out the necessary interventions in a timely manner to repair the damage and the ability to know, organise and mobilise the resources of the territory to respond to unforeseen situations. for example, the recovery capability from a heat wave is greater where it is possible to activate rescue and care services for people who suffer from the heat or have suffered from illness. the recovery capability from a flood is greater where dedicated financial resources are available for carrying out repairs to damaged critical infrastructures. reconstruction capability is the ability of a territory to return to a normal condition after the occurrence of a calamitous event through the completion of the restoration and development interventions of what has been damaged or interrupted, including economic and productive activities and services. it depends on the ability to repair all the damage suffered and the ability to know, organise and mobilise the resources of the territory to effectively support reconstruction. for example, the reconstruction capability of agricultural activities affected by droughts is greater where farms are covered by insurance policies against natural disasters, while the reconstruction magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 52 capability after a flood is greater where there are sufficient financial and economic resources to repair or rebuild damaged buildings. preparation capability is the ability of a community to foresee and prepare the actions to be activated during and after the occurrence of a hazardous event, in order to cushion its negative impacts as much as possible. it depends on the knowledge of the characteristics of the potential risk and the organisation of behaviours and actions that can directly and indirectly influence risk components (hazard, but most of all exposure and vulnerability). for example, the preparation capability for a heat wave is greater where exposed subjects are sensitised on good hydration rules to follow in the hottest periods of the year, while the preparation capability for a flood is greater where the communication methods of the organisational aspects to the subjects involved in the management of the emergency are well defined. 5. the responses for risk management the term responses indicates the policies, regulations, strategies, actions and interventions with which a community and the delegated institutions face territorial risks to reduce and, if possible, eliminate them and, when risks are unpredictable, to reduce the system vulnerability enhancing risks reduction capabilities. therefore, this purpose can be achieved by acting in an integrated way on the causes and effects of risks through the reduction and elimination of situations and factors of hazard, exposure and vulnerability and also through the improvement of the capabilities of resistance, protection, recovery, reconstruction and preparedness of the involved territories. hazard reduction involves decreasing its frequency, duration and / or intensity. for example, the hazard of heat waves can be reduced by acting on the shape (height, roughness, density) of the buildings, in order not to hinder air flows, on the optical and chromatic characteristics of their surfaces, to increase reflecting power, on the vegetation cover and the permeability of the soils, to favour the evapotranspiration processes. the flood hazard can be reduced instead through the construction of river accommodation works, much better if based on nature-based solutions, for the reduction of the flow rate (rolling tanks), for the control of the solid transport (restraining bridles), for the defence against erosion (banks of support). exposure reduction involves the reduction or elimination of the presence (permanent, prolonged or short) of goods, people and activities in the areas affected by a hazard, starting from the subjects who remain there for longer to reside or work. for example, exposure to heat waves can be reduced through the transfer of elderly and children to cool places for their vacations during the hot period of the summer season or through their temporary movement during emergency phases in air-conditioned spaces (commercial centres, cooled public areas, ...). flood exposure can be reduced through magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 53 the evacuation of exposed people to safe collection areas, the temporary transfer of people and goods to safe temporary homes and spaces, the permanent relocation of people, goods and activities to non-exposed areas to hazard. vulnerability reduction involves the reduction or elimination of the vulnerabilities and factors of vulnerability of potentially exposed assets and people, aiming to reduce damage and losses. a first form of vulnerability reduction concerns the actions to increase the resistance capability of a territory to a hazard, decreasing its sensitivity with respect to the relative direct impacts and its systemic vulnerability to the indirect consequences of the damage suffered. the decrease in sensitivity can be obtained by improving the intrinsic characteristics of a territory. the decrease in systemic vulnerability can be achieved by increasing the supply of resources and services useful in the event of an emergency and reducing the degree of dependence of a territory on critical infrastructures that can potentially be damaged after a hazardous event. possible responses to increase the resistance capabilities to heat waves are the improvement, through medical treatment, of the thermoregulatory capacity of heart patients (sensitivity), the increase in the availability of food to meet the dietary needs in case of subsistence crop loss (systemic vulnerability) and improvement of the efficiency of irrigation systems to be able to irrigate agricultural crops even in dry periods (systemic vulnerability). responses that increase the resistance capabilities to floods are those that improve the structural stability of bridges, homes and other territorial infrastructures (sensitivity) and increase the availability of secure infrastructure connections to reach the rescue points (systemic vulnerability). a second way of reducing vulnerability is obtained with actions that increase, where a territory is not resistant enough, the capability for protection, recovery, reconstruction and preparation. the increase of the protective capability can be obtained by improving the psycho / cognitive, mobility, socio-economic and cultural conditions in the population that facilitate the execution of self-protective behaviours and by strengthening the technical, localisation and organisational conditions necessary to activate the protections in case of hazardous. for example, some possible responses to increase the protective capability of a territory against heat waves are the technical solutions that facilitate the elderly with mobility difficulties to quench their thirst and activate the cooling in their homes rather than the strengthening of irrigation systems for being able to supply water even in dry periods. responses that increase the protective capability to floods are instead those that provide the inhabitants located in sensitive areas with devices for the construction of temporary barriers or those that activate a defence for the maintenance of critical infrastructures exposed to a hazard. the enhancement of the recovery capability can be achieved by improving the magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 54 technical, urban, environmental, economic-financial factors, which affect the feasibility of repairs and construction interventions of damaged essential services, especially relating to critical infrastructures, and by enriching knowledge, skills, organisation, and management of existing or potential resources of a territory for rescue and safety operations. in this regard, it is necessary to consider the higher decision-making levels since the resources necessary to restore local conditions come from the different levels of government and also depend on the type and strength of the relationships between the affected places and the wider concerned region (menoni et al., 2011). for example, a response that increases the recovery capability in the event of heat waves is the strengthening of the interconnection of electricity dispatching networks to ensure its availability in case of a shortage of water flows. a response that increases the recovery capability in the event of floods is the sharing of knowledge and skills of institutional and non-institutional subjects who carry out rescue operations in the emergency phase (civil protection, associations of health volunteers, ...). the increase in reconstruction capability can be obtained by improving the technical, urban, environmental, economic-financial factors that affect the feasibility of repairs and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures and by enhancing knowledge, skills, organisation and management of existing and potential resources in the area to support the resumption of interrupted economic-productive activities and services. reconstruction capability can be improved by considering the weaknesses that a territory has revealed during a past event and by seizing, in reconstruction, the opportunities to build a better and safer place to live (rose, 2004). for example, a response that increases the reconstruction capability in the event of heat waves is the spread of insurance protections by farms to compensate for damage suffered due to droughts, while a response that increases the reconstruction capability in the event of floods is the improvement of design and technical solutions for the consolidation and reconstruction of damaged buildings. the increase in preparedness capability is achieved by improving the knowledge of risk conditions, through more precise forecasting systems, with appropriate attention to temporal and spatial dynamics that characterise risk, and, especially when shocks and stresses are unpredictable because of unavoidable uncertainty conditions, by focusing on system vulnerability and enhancing the awareness of the involved subjects, the promotion of appropriate behaviours to mitigate the impacts and the planning of emergency procedures. for example, an increase in the preparedness capability for heat waves is obtained through an arising awareness of the hydration rules of vulnerable subjects, while the increase of the preparedness capability in case of floods is obtained through the development of emergency plans to organise communication and emergency operations during the weather alert. magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 55 6. final remarks sharing a glossary constitutes, in various scientific and disciplinary fields, one of the first problems that experts who have different scientific-cultural approaches must face when they must carry out a common task. over the last 3 decades, this type of problem has taken on different connotations with the ever-increasing internationalisation of research and professional works and editorial products. in fact, on the one hand more and more international research groups and scientific associations have shared their approaches and terminologies, thus converging towards the drafting of common glossaries; on the other hand, more and more new networks have been created which connect different realities and which therefore require a comparison of existing glossaries to develop new ones. in research activities it is often not possible to share a common glossary and, when this happens, most of the time it is shared at the end of the work. this is because sharing a glossary is not a simple terminological issue but also requires sharing the approach and foundations of the research or professional activity to be carried out. this article was written to respond to a need that the authors strongly felt during the research care empowering climate resilience, a need that began to arise about 15 years earlier during the research interreg–medocc quater qualité dans le territoire and in some subsequent research of national interest on these issues. thus, during the care project, what was a shared approach between european partners, due to a reference framework that was built up over years of scientific activity at european level and which has been enriched with numerous neologisms to take into account the increasingly articulated, in-depth and innovative policies and strategies that have been developed and implemented over time, was compared with a different approach proposed by some of the latin american partners. in drafting this glossary, the main aspects that should characterise the plans, strategies and actions aimed at managing the territorial risks associated with climate change have been considered. first of all, a co-evolutionary resilient vision of the interventions to be implemented was taken as a reference, which requires thinking about them within an ever-evolving process that seeks to transform crises into development opportunities (davoudi et al., 2013; holling, 1973). this type of vision does not only involve the achievement of a high resilience from natural and / or anthropic disasters and shocks, but also considers the evolution of the territorial system in the long term. this characteristic of resilience requires citizens to share not only the objectives of the change but also the usefulness of the change itself and therefore the predisposition to act on potential shocks and stresses by anticipating changes. secondly, the search for a profitable and efficient relationship of actions related to risk prevention and postdisaster recovery both in the emergency phase and in the subsequent phases was magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 56 considered as an indispensable strategic objective. in particular, the ability to intervene in the reconstruction phase with actions that reduce risk levels is a factor of considerable efficiency in the use of resources. finally, the involvement of the population in decision-making and implementation aspects in all phases of the risk cycle was considered as a very important factor in achieving a strong capacity for intervention. in 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(2009). 2009 unisdr terminology on disaster risk reduction. geneva, switzerland: unisdr. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2019/11/10_chapter-7.pdf https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/16261/1/ensure_del_wp4_110919%5b1%5d.pdf https://www.preventionweb.net/files/submissions/15234_respondingtoachangingclimate.pdf https://www.preventionweb.net/files/submissions/15234_respondingtoachangingclimate.pdf https://forum.eionet.europa.eu/nrc-air-climate/library/public/2010_citiesproject/interchange/armonia_project/armonia_project_7/download/en/1/armonia_project_deliverable%204.1.2.pdf https://forum.eionet.europa.eu/nrc-air-climate/library/public/2010_citiesproject/interchange/armonia_project/armonia_project_7/download/en/1/armonia_project_deliverable%204.1.2.pdf https://forum.eionet.europa.eu/nrc-air-climate/library/public/2010_citiesproject/interchange/armonia_project/armonia_project_7/download/en/1/armonia_project_deliverable%204.1.2.pdf magoni, radaelli – toward a shared glossary for territorial risk management due to climate change ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 60 https://www.preventionweb.net/files/7817_unisdrterminologyenglish.pdf. accessed 8 jun 2021. undrr united nations office for disaster risk reduction. (2016). terminology: online glossary. https://www.undrr.org/terminology#a. accessed 30 apr 2021. undrr united nations office for disaster risk reduction. (2019). global assessment report on disaster risk reduction. gar distilled. geneva, switzerland: undrr. https://gar.undrr.org/sites/default/files/gar19distilled.pdf. accessed 8 jun 2021. wisner, b., blaikie, p., cannon, t., & davis, i. (2004). at risk: natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters. london: routledge. isbn 9780415252164. short author biography: marcello magoni is an urban and environmental planner and coordinator of climate change, risk and resilience laboratory (department of architecture and urban studies – politecnico di milano). he has written about 100 papers in national and international journals and written and edited some monographs. rachele radaelli is an urban and environmental planner and member of climate change, risk and resilience laboratory (department of architecture and urban studies – politecnico di milano). she carries out research and training activities in the fields of climate change mitigation and adaptation in the context of spatial planning. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/7817_unisdrterminologyenglish.pdf https://www.undrr.org/terminology#a https://gar.undrr.org/sites/default/files/gar19distilled.pdf ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 106 the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures marcello magoni re sp o n s ib le o f c lim a te c h an g e, r isk an d r es ili en c e lab o r ato r y , po l itecn ico d i milan o , pi azza leo n ar d o d a vin c i, 2 6 , m ilan o , m ar cello .m ag o n i @p o li m i.i t roberto adami bu i ld in g en g in e er an d ar ch itec t, i t aly via ai fo r n i, 1 5 , su lb i at e ( m b) , ad am i.r o b er to @g m ail.co m acknowledgments the paper was conceived by both authors in the context of a research activity financed by the italian ministry of university. in particular, marcello magoni has edited paragraphs 1 and 4, while roberto adami has edited paragraphs 2 and 3. keywords: renewable energy plants; energy planning; energy landscapes; energy land suitability; governance of energy plants abstract the implementation of strategies oriented to the transition towards energy systems characterised by the use of renewable sources, high levels of energy efficiency and good quality landscapes, requires the organisation of effective decision-making processes and authorisation procedures. in italy, the twenty-year development of these aspects in relation to renewable energy plants highlighted situations of conflict due to two different rationales. the first type of rationale is resulting from the need to achieve the european targets for energy production from renewable sources. it pays little attention to the territorial and environmental contexts in which the projects are located. the second type of rationale is consequent to a systemic vision of development, whereby the energy factors must be integrated with the landscape characteristics of the sites. this essay analyses the framework of the legislation related to the above-mentioned topics and identifies conflicts and inconsistencies in the procedural paths. the analysis is conducted highlighting the relevant legislative and juridical background, the characteristics of the current procedures, the actors involved and the main operative tools, particularly regarding design criteria and location choices. the conclusions will summarise the unresolved issues and provide some considerations on the way forward towards a more balanced and effective approach. mailto:marcello.magoni@polimi.it mailto:adami.roberto@gmail.com magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 107 the governance for the res plants diffusion the diffusion of plants that use renewable energy sources (res) in italy has had, and will continue to have in the future, unstable trends according to public funding flows, which favour their use and scientific innovation, technological developments, which increase their competitiveness with respect to plants using non-renewable sources, and energy infrastructure, which facilitate their use (gestore servizi energetici, 2020). the diffusion of these plants has significantly modified some areas of the italian territory, and their future development is expected to produce even more intense modifications. these transformations have had significant effects on the landscape and the environment, especially with regard to biogas and photovoltaic plants located in agricultural areas and wind farms located on the ridges of hills, which, in several cases, have triggered strong negative reactions from the most sensitive members of the local communities (cialdea, maccarone, 2014; frolova et al., 2015; leibenath et al., 2015; roth, 2018). furthermore, in the first years of strong diffusion of res plants, a high demand for stricter rules for their construction emerged and consolidated, in order to avoid their location in sensitive or valuable environmental and landscape contexts. in addition to that, there was a significant process of technological innovation, still in continuous development, which, combined with a substantial increase in energy efficiency, led to an enhancement of the aesthetic-formal qualities of products and projects. as a result of design improvements in the res plants, together with a greater attention to how the local communities perceive the landscape, the localisation of these plants in different territorial contexts, both urban and extra-urban, has refined. in particular, many regions and municipalities initially tried to insert rules and regulations in their landscape-territorial and urban plans. this was done to encourage a broader spread of these plants, which is essential to respond to the energy transition from fossil fuels, in a respectful and harmonious way with the landscape. however, the results achieved were unsatisfactory because these measures were not effective in protecting the areas with high sensitivity and landscape value, as the traditional planning mechanisms are unsuitable for this purpose. thus, the main outcomes of these early interventions were a significant lengthening of the approval time for projects and a noteworthy increase in the number of the legal disputes. in order to harmonise the "environmental and landscape protection policies with those for the development and enhancement of renewable energies" (rossi, 2012) and to facilitate the decision-making process for their implementation, while limiting legal disputes, in 2010 the ministry for economic development issues a decree titled “linee guida per l’autorizzazione degli impianti alimentati da fonti rinnovabili” (guidelines for the authorisation of renewable sources plants). with this, each region is required magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 108 to draw up a specific map1, called the map for the identification of areas and sites unsuitable for the installation of renewable sources plants (masu), to indicate to the companies that build res plants the areas in which their construction involves significant impacts on the landscape, the environment and the territory and therefore where it is recommended not to intervene (see fig. 1). in case of interest in building a plant in an area not recommended, a company will have to develop an innovative project with particular care, in order to fully respond to the need for a correct insertion of the plant in the territory, and undertake a longer and complex authorisation process. the approach adopted in this decree aims to define the intervention possibilities in a negative way, whereby the plants can be located with ordinary procedure in all areas except those not recommended. with this kind of approach, the criteria and guidelines towards which the proponents of the plants can direct their projects are missing. in order to remedy this shortcoming and to favour a system design immediately oriented towards shared solutions, almost all the regions have integrated the masu with guidelines and examples of possible solutions (ministero dello sviluppo economico, 2018). furthermore, by not aiming to direct the diffusion of res plants in the most suitable places and to build them in the most suitable ways, this approach makes it difficult to exploit one of the most interesting potentials of these plants, that is a strong integration with the activities and settlements of a territory. to achieve the energy targets set by the european union for 2020, in 2012 the national government assigned to each region the task of producing a minimum share of energy from renewable sources, the so called "burden sharing". burden sharing will be, most likely, one of the main mechanisms to achieve the ambitious goals set by the european union for the next three decades. as a result, it is urgent for the regions to find, within the planning, design and authorisation procedures, suitable modalities to achieve a synthesis between two different and often conflicting needs: (i) the exponential growth of the use of renewable energy sources, to meet the increasingly challenging objectives of renewable energy production targeting the de-carbonisation of the economy by 1 the criteria for identifying unsuitable areas and sites are contained in "parte iv (part iv) inserimento degli impianti nel paesaggio e sul territorio” (insertion of plants in the landscape and territory) of the annex to the ministerial decree 10th of september 2010, in particular in paragraph "17. aree non idonee” (unsuitable areas) and related criteria for identifying unsuitable areas (annex 3 to the aforementioned ministerial decree 10th of september 2010). examples of unsuitable areas or sites are: the ones included in the unesco world heritage list and in the lists of national cultural interest, the areas located within visual cones of historical and tourist interest, the areas near archaeological, cultural, historical and religious sites, the natural areas of international, national and local interest, the agricultural areas for high-quality productions, the areas of hydrogeological instability. magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 109 2050, and (ii) the location of res plants in a harmonious and integrated way with the landscape, the environment and the territory. figure 1 excerpt from the map of unsuitable areas for photovoltaic plants in the umbria region source: umbria regional regulation of 29th of july 2011, n.7 these conflicting requirements highlight the need to build planning and design processes capable of identifying and using as much as possible the opportunities for locating res plants, as well as the objective of not degrading, and possibly improving, the landscape and territorial qualities of the areas concerned. with this in mind, the parameters of burden sharing should be considered together with the definition of unsuitable areas, creating a general estimate of the potential energy production from the various res systems that can be located in an area respecting and enhancing its territorial and landscape characteristics. the quantities of renewable energy that can be produced in a region would at that point be based on the real potential of the territory. in this regard, the higher the design quality of the interventions and the technological flexibility of the plants, the greater the areas suitable for their location, in the same way that a higher efficiency of the installations involves an increase in the amount of energy that can be produced. another aspect to be evaluated is that, without considering the infrastructure necessary for the supply of fossil fuels, res plants magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 110 require greater land surfaces (see fig. 2) in comparison to the traditional plants to produce the same amount of energy, if they are not organically included in the building structures or territorial infrastructure (fritsche et al., 2017; landon, 2017). figure 2 white wind turbines on green grass field during daytime source: photo by rawfilm on unsplash the planning of the construction of res plants mainly uses national and regional energy strategies, maps of unsuitable location, energy, territorial, landscape and urban planning instruments on regional, provincial and municipal scale, landscape guidelines and building regulations. unfortunately, the authorisation approach adopted has made it more difficult to conceive a positive relationship between energy and territory and to imagine and build energy landscapes that are representative of shared values (hastik et al., 2015; huber et al., 2017). on the other hand, over time the ability to design, evaluate and develop harmonious solutions has increasingly refined, allowing a more productive and agile dialogue between the parties involved in the decision-making process, and also leading to a better quality of approved projects (see fig. 3). at the same time, the way in which the population and the other stakeholders are informed and involved is becoming increasingly important, in order to share the characters of the new energy landscapes. therefore, the renewable energies landscapes emerge more and more as the outcomes of approaches in which bottom-up processes play an important role both in a positive sense, see for example the increase in distributed energy production and a strong attention to the contextualisation of res plants (see fig. 4), and in a negative sense, see for example the different forms of opposition to the construction of some types of these plants (ferrario, castiglioni, 2017; leibenath et al., 2015; pasqualetti, 2012; vecchiato, 2014). magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 111 figure 3 wind power plant in mountain area source: https://pixabay.com/it/energia-eolica-pinwheel-2244141/. figure 4 caption: micro hydro plant in agricultural area source: http://www.dabitronimpianti.net/green_energy_technology/hydro_power_plant_small_mini_plant_e nergy_solutions_africa_subsaharan_afrique.htm. given the premises described in this introductory paragraph, the essay is aiming at outlining the characteristics of the authorisation procedures in italy in the light of the conflicting dialogue between the need for spreading the res plants and the necessity to protect and valorise the landscape. since this conflict has not been fully resolved magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 112 yet, the understanding of the problems that have occurred in the last decades, and of the pending issues, can help to identify lines of intervention to favour feasible and shared solutions. in particular, even if we consider the introduction of both the masu and the specific contributions given by each territorial body (e.g. the regional guidelines for the location of the plants) as a step forward compared to the previous authorisation procedures, it is not always possible to carry out a widespread and systematic implementation of decision-making processes shared with local communities. authoritation procedures for res plants realisation the first significant intervention by the national government on decision-making processes and authorisation procedures for the construction of res plants was made in 2003, with the issue of a regulatory framework (legislative decree 387/2003) for their promotion (in particular microgeneration in agricultural and mountain areas) and expansion in the energy market. the implementation of this framework only came in 2010, after a long legislative vacuum, via the above-mentioned ministerial decree 10th of september 2010 which included the guidelines for the authorisation of the plants. between 2003 and 2010, however, the market of renewable sources has evolved faster than the administrative apparatus and the large number of projects for res plants presented, with the consequent growing landscape, environmental and economic impacts, has pushed the local authorities to issue new regulations autonomously, free from national indications. systematically, these measures were deemed unconstitutional and many projects, already underway or in the authorisation phase, have been suspended. this highlighted on the one hand the need and urgency with which the regions decided to legislate on the topic, to avoid possible negative effects on the territory, and on the other hand the discrepancy between the strong expansion of the sector promoted by operators and investors, and the poor institutional capacity to implement and support it considering a correct distribution and contextualisation of the interventions. finally, to complete the regulatory definition of the authorisation procedures, the legislative decree 28/2011 was approved as a result of the transposition of the european directive for the promotion of res plants issued in 2009 (see directive 2009/28/ec ). the framework defined by these decrees is the current national reference, assigning a specific authorisation procedure to each res plant according to its type, size (defined in terms of installed power), and morphological characteristics. on this last topic, the integration of the systems in existing buildings is considered as a positive factor (e.g. photovoltaic panels installed in adherence to a factory roof), because it means placing them in built environments, thus minimizing the consumption of soil and marginally impacting the local landscape. magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 113 there are two simplified authorisation procedures of municipal competence, the socalled communication and the simplified authorisation procedure (sap), and a more complex tool for interventions characterised by high powers, which is the single authorisation (see table 1). to start a project with a communication, the presentation of a notice of commencement will suffice (including the project documentation and description), while for a plant which has to undergo a sap the developer must submit design documents demonstrating the compatibility of the intervention with the urban planning instruments and building codes, other than indicating the connection to the electricity grid, and wait for 30 days (or official approval) before works can commence. the single authorisation entails a longer procedure (theoretically 90 days, not considering the environmental impact assessment proceedings when required) and the implementation of a conferenza dei servizi (conference of services). for the italian legislation, the conferenza dei servizi is a tool designed to allow the discussion between multiple public entities involved in an administrative procedure, which can be convened to acquire either opinions or authorisations. it is the key moment, during an approval process, to debate and decide on complex projects which can significantly transform the territory, therefore it is the appropriate stage dedicated to the discussion of topics, sometimes conflicting, related to energy production and landscape (see constitutional court, sentence no 44/2011). the evaluations during the single authorisation procedure concern the technological characteristics of the intervention (its impact and its compatibility with all the constraints regarding the area concerned), the infrastructure and grid connection works, and the details on the energy source used in terms of both supply and expected production. in addition, they also consider the possible socio-economic impact and the aspects related to the energy plants decommissioning and dismantling, and subsequent environmental recovery of places. the national legislation gives some discretion to the local authorities for changing the dimensional thresholds described in the summary table above. this fact, combined with the competence attributed to the same authorities for the definition of unsuitable areas for the location of the plants, should lead to considering in the decision-making processes both the territorial effects of the different types of intervention and the potential that each area can offer in terms of energy production. the concept of unsuitable areas, described in the introductory paragraph, aims to create shorter and more successful authorisation procedures, since it leads operators and developers to concentrate their proposals on areas where the localisation of plants is more likely to be accepted. at the same time, it is a general tool that needs, in order to be effective, a strong local characterisation considering the different types of areas with high values or landscape-territorial fragility and their potential integration with the various types of plant. magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 114 table 1 – authorisation procedures for res plants (gestore servizi energetici, 2019) source single authorisation sap communication biomass and biogas biomass plants > 200 kw biogas plants > 250 kw cogeneration plants > 1 mwe (or 3000 kwt) biomass plants ≤ 200 kw biogas plants ≤ 250 kw cogeneration plants 50 kwe -1 mwe (o 3000 kwt) plants in existing buildings, onsite exchange regime cogeneration plants ≤ 50 kw wind wind energy plants ≥ 60 kw wind energy plants < 60 kw single generator on existing roof (height ≤ 1,5 m, diameter ≤ 1 m) in areas not protected by the legislative decree 42/2004 “code of cultural and landscape heritage” solar photovoltaic photovoltaic plants > 20 kw photovoltaic plants ≤ 20 kw photovoltaic plants on buildings (overall covered surface not exceeding roof surface) plants in adherence to existing roofs (not changing the building shape and not exceeding the roof surface) in areas not protected by the legislative decree 42/2004 plants on existing buildings or their adjacent areas, with on-site exchange regime (≤ 200 kw), in areas not indicated as “zone a” by the ministerial decree 1444/19682 geothermal any power plants in existing buildings, onsite exchange regime (≤ 200 kw) hydro hydroelectric plants > 100 kw hydroelectric plants ≤ 100 kw plants in existing buildings, onsite exchange regime (≤ 200 kw) source: gestore servizi energetici (energy services manager), regional regulation for the electric generation from renewable energy sources (state of the art on the 31st of december 2018) – translation and formatting by the authors. in parallel with the mentioned authorisation procedures, res plants are sometimes subjected to a “screening” procedure and an environmental impact assessment (eia), depending on their characteristics and their potential negative impact on the territory. also in this case, the thresholds to identify energy plants to be assessed are defined by the national authorities, with the possibility for the local bodies to make changes on the basis of site-specific considerations. 2 the ministerial decree 1444/1968 identifies “zone a” as the areas of a built environment with historical, artistic or environmental values. magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 115 the most comprehensive italian regulatory intervention on the matter, the legislative decree 152/2006, indicated for the main renewable energy plants with a total nominal power greater than 1 mw, with the exception of hydroelectric plants for which the limit is 100 kw, the need to undergo the screening procedure and to discuss the related outcomes in the conferenza dei servizi. the general criteria indicated by the decree for the assessment of the projects pertain two aspects. the former refers to the characteristics of the projects in terms of accumulated impacts with other interventions, use of natural resources, waste production and risk of accidents. the latter is related to their location, considering the "environmental sensitivity of the geographical areas that may be affected by the impact of the projects" . however, this first transposition of the european directives was contested by the eu, which indicated that a mainly dimensional approach, linked to the installed power threshold values, was not sufficient. the ministerial decree 52/2015 accepted the remarks of the european union and modified the regulation by indicating a series of additional parameters to be taken into consideration for the screening. the main goals of these regulatory amendments are to prevent the artificial fragmentation of a project into smaller interventions below limits, and the reduction of the thresholds by 50% in sensitive areas. nevertheless, some of the indications contained in the decrees still raise doubts about their effectiveness in preventing negative territorial impacts of the plants. for example, concerns are about the accumulated impacts being considered only for projects in the same category, and the lack of clearly defined distances to be respected in relation to areas of historical, cultural and archaeological importance. the most recent regulatory intervention on the subject is the legislative decree 104/2017, which introduced further changes to the regulation of the eia procedures in accordance with the european directive 52/2014. among these, the most significant concern the extension of the project types under the state jurisdiction, the changes to procedures to make them more effective and faster, the compulsoriness of the eia for projects falling within the natural sites of european interest of the natura 2000 network, the modification of the contents of the environmental impact studies, the possibility of requesting a single environmental measure to replace all the authorisations, the variation of the characteristics of the environmental monitoring to make it more effective (arona, latour, 2017; gamba, 2017). a further significant element is the increasing importance attributed to the active participation of stakeholders, with an explicit reference to the opportunity to develop public surveys on projects (see legislative decree 104/2017, art. 13). in most cases, the competence for the authorisation and eia procedures is under the regional jurisdiction, when not handled directly by the state, and the option to delegate this decisional power to sub-territorial bodies was chosen only in few cases (gestore servizi energetici, 2019). the same local authorities, with regards to the magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 116 environmental assessments, often exercise the possibility of reducing or increasing the thresholds for identifying res projects to be subjected to the procedure (gestore servizi energetici, 2019). based on the framework described in this paragraph, the regions emerge as the territorial body most involved in the diffusion of res plants in italy, with decisive authorisation powers (competence on the authorisation and eia procedures for several res plant typology) and planning responsibilities (definition of unsuitable areas, strategies and actions to meet burden sharing requirements). energy razionalities and conflict factors european energy policies aim at the maximum diffusion of res plants, also by imposing the implementation of binding targets in terms of energy efficiency and levels of production from renewable sources (see directive 2009/28/ec, directive 2012/27/eu and eu directive 2018-2001). the importance of these supranational commitments can be read, with reference to the authorisation procedures, as an implicit expression of a prevalence which the theme of renewable sources gained at the european level. in this regard, italian jurisprudence has had different attitudes not always characterised by a balance, based on case-specific evaluations, between the two instances highlighted in the previous paragraphs. in some cases, the need to obtain the maximum diffusion of res systems prevailed, while at other times the theme of landscape protection was predominant, or at least of equivalent importance 3 . on several occasions, the administrative court of local authorities had to clearly state that the promotion of res cannot be considered separately from other instances, and that project evaluations should aim at an overall positive environmental balance (see piemonte regional administrative tribunal, sentence no. 219/2011). on the one hand, it is the same definition of environmental assessment given by italian legislation that indicates its "purpose of protecting human health, contributing with a better environment to the quality of life, providing for the maintenance of species and maintaining the reproductive capacity of ecosystems as essential resources for life" (see legislative decree 152/2006, art. 4, comma 4, letter b (quote translated by the authors from the original italian version)). 3 see basilicata regional administrative tribunal, sentence n. 869/2014. molise regional administrative tribunal, sentence no. 985/2006 states that “the fact that at a general level even at european level there is a favor with respect to wind energy does not imply that the plants must be authorized sic et simpliciter, even in the presence of a landscape constraint on the area” (quote translated by the authors from the original italian version). magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 117 on the other hand, landscape protection is one of the fundamental principles of the italian constitution (see article 9, italian constitution, stating that “the republic […] protects the landscape and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation” (quote translated by the authors from the original italian version)) and it is important to underline that its protection, considering both geomorphological and socio-cultural aspects, is first and foremost guaranteed by the active participation of all the administrative bodies involved in authorisation and eia procedures. in addition to the local authorities, these are mainly the ministry of cultural heritage and activities and its peripherals structures, the superintendencies. it has to be mentioned that sentences already stated that landscape conservation must be contextualised in the territory, defining the provisions as not legitimate if, for example, they protect the landscape and the interests of the agricultural market in a generalised and preventive way at the expense of the need to favour the maximum diffusion of renewable energy plants and, therefore, energy systems which are more sustainable from an environmental point of view. following this reasoning, a recent ruling (march 2017) relating to an authorisation requested for the construction of a photovoltaic roofing system in a landscape protected area is emblematic: the authority in charge of the final decision on the project gave a favourable opinion on the realisation of the plant considering as disproportionate and illogical some of the requests made by the superintendency. according to the ruling, these requests provided rigid and unfeasible indications of landscape protection, penalising the need to encourage the production of energy from renewable sources. as a matter of fact, the relevance of the themes just described is explicitly highlighted by the same national regulatory instruments seen previously, and by their transposition and development at regional level (e.g. guidelines, landscape plans, ...) which regulate the diffusion of res plants. therefore, notwithstanding the problems already expressed in the first paragraph, the aim is for a distribution of the plants that takes into account the specific local potentialities and criticalities of the territories, and that is concentrated in the areas where the capacity to use the available energy resources is higher. however, the territorial regulatory interventions on the matter have not always managed to obtain a balance between the different rationalities indicated. this is mainly because the provisions on unsuitable areas and burden sharing were issued separately and were only partially complementary, not being able to provide clear and unambiguous indications for the development of the sector. furthermore, the same application of the concept of unsuitable areas has seen over the years very different interpretations by the parties in charge to decide on the feasibility of the projects, adding uncertainty for operators and investors. however, there seems to be a constant tendency, from a jurisprudential point of view, to automatically reject the requests to build a renewable energy plant in an unsuitable area, without the need for a specific magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 118 detailed assessment of the project by the competent body. therefore, the correct definition of these areas takes on even greater importance. it is important to note that for some types of plants it is particularly difficult to find a mediation between the different instances and this situation has evident impacts on the market of renewable sources and on their distribution. for example, despite their high efficiency and production potential, most of the offshore wind farms proposed in italy since the early 2000s have not been built to date, and some of them had to face decennial authorisation procedures. in a number of occasions, the rejection of the project was in contrast with the favourable opinions expressed in the eia, highlighting a significant difference between the criteria used for the assessment by the various bodies involved in the decision-making process (whether they be technical-scientific or political) (legambiente, 2015). the result is that, although the energy produced in europe by wind farms in recent years has increased up to a mean coverage of 15% of the total electricity needs in 2019, italy stands at 7% (wind europe, 2020) in spite of the significant availability of this resource on the national territory (anev, 2020). on these topics, also the standpoint of the associations traditionally interested in landscape and environmental issues diverges. to exemplify, among italia nostra and legambiente, two of the most recognised organisations of these sort in the italian context, the former focuses more on landscape preservation and opposes to several plants proposed next to sensitive areas, meanwhile the latter pushes more towards a rapid and widespread transition to carbon-neutral energy production. the above-mentioned wind farms are also often cited to underline an additional aspect related to the conflicting relationship between the diffusion of res and the landscape protection, that is, community acceptance. outside the areas defined as to be protected for their objective (and/or recognised by law) environmental values, the difficulty of outlining common acceptability standards for the introduction of a res plant in a given context often emerges (mejia-montero et al., 2018). mejia-montero states that “the multifunctionality and heterogeneity of landscapes makes it impossible to create a comprehensive institutional system to regulate all areas, or to reach general consensus on visual fit and compatibility between specific reps with specific types of landscapes. this is also due to perceptions and evaluations varying in geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts, traditions, and personal experiences”. this represents a further factor of uncertainty in the authorisation procedures, linked to the interpretability of the concept of landscape compatibility, which influences the choices also at a political level and which recalls the importance of collective participation in the processes. in addition, it should be noted that the different types and sizes of res plants raise significantly different reactions by the communities. for example, unlike wind farms, small-medium photovoltaic plants have in recent times gained a commonly shared status of acceptability so that "the presence of photovoltaic magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 119 systems on the top of buildings while innovating the type and morphology of the roof is no longer perceived as not aesthetically pleasing visual factor, but as an evolution of the constructive style accepted by the system and the collective sensitivity” 4 . nonetheless, the path towards a wider acceptance of the changes that res plants will cause in our familiar and consolidated landscape is still long and there will be better chances for the new energy landscapes to be embraced by communities if their key role in achieving a sustainable development is acknowledged (selman, 2010). towards an energy system integrated with the territory the methods of production, distribution and consumption of renewable energy that have consolidated in this first phase of transition towards a de-carbonised economy show an overall unsatisfactory integration with the respective territorial contexts (hastik et al., 2015; huber et al., 2017; leibenath et al., 2015). this aspect becomes even more important considering some of the objectives of the recently drafted italian proposal for an integrated energy and climate plan (ministero dello sviluppo economico, 2018), such as promoting the transition of the energy system from a centralised to a distributed one, simplifying authorisation procedures for the revamping, repowering and energy production optimisation of existing plants, integrating the various energy systems (electricity, gas, water) using current infrastructure with effective solutions from both an economic and an environmental point of view. achieving these objectives requires an upgrade of the tasks of the various public bodies operating on energy and environmental issues, in order to better coordinate their respective activities. furthermore, this coordination will be increasingly important because a key point indicated by the plan is to identify the areas which have an energy potential since they cannot be suitable for other functions. so, the new focus will be on finding the suitable areas instead of considering only the unsuitable ones. in the previous paragraphs we have seen how the unsatisfactory integration between plants and territory is due to the need to achieve the increasingly ambitious european targets for the production of energy from renewable sources and to the difficulties in 4 see lombardy regional administrative tribunal, sentence no. 496/2018, concerning the project of demolition and reconstruction of a roofing in a landscape protection area, stating that "[...] the legislative favor for renewable energy sources requires to concentrate the absolute impediment to the installation of photovoltaic systems [...] only in "unsuitable areas" [...], while in other cases, the compatibility of the photovoltaic system [...] must be examined taking into consideration the fact that these technologies are now considered normal elements of the landscape" (quote translated by the authors from the original italian version). magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 120 developing solutions that take into account the location factors and the relationships that each res plant has at different territorial scales. to improve the quality of these plants, it should be adopted a planning and design approach that integrates the complex of strategic and regulatory measures in the energy sector with paths of co-design solutions and with the assessment and monitoring of the related energy, territorial and landscape results. this approach requires acting on different types of instruments, both on a territorial and urban scale, where they have a planning character, and on a neighbourhood or building scale, where they mainly have a design character. first of all, the construction of an energy system which is sustainable and integrated with the territory requires the identification and quantification of the current and foreseen energy needs and then a comparison with the potential energy production from renewable sources. with this background it will be possible to appropriately evaluate the res plants to be built and the relative energy powers, the areas in which to locate the plants, their technical and aesthetic-formal characteristics and their construction and management methods. for example, to build biomass plants in agricultural areas (see fig. 5), it is necessary to consider factors such as energy demand and supply, energy infrastructure, livestock load, surface and groundwater quality and their availability for irrigation and management of farms, rural landscape and historical-architectural features of the farmhouses. to facilitate these operations, the masu and the related guidelines should be integrated with other planning tools of knowledge and intervention, primarily landscape-related, such as regional landscape plans and landscape observatories . an example is that it is necessary to verify the indications for plants location with the territorial and urban plans (both general and implementation plans), in order to benefit from a more detailed knowledge of the territory and to improve sharing in the choices of suitability of res plants at local level. the identification of unsuitable areas can also become an opportunity for a comparison between the requests for the use of common goods such as water, soil and landscape for energy production, and the levels of acceptability expressed by the communities concerned. in this way, masu could contribute to the realisation of decision-making processes capable of identifying shared solutions through the involvement of the population during their elaboration and application. in this regard, the activation of co-design processes is a very useful tool for building effective and shared decision-making processes, through which the problems affecting a population can be immediately addressed by sharing the solutions. magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 121 figure 5 – geothermal and biomass integrated plant in castelnuovo val di cecina (italy). source: http://www.pisatoday.it/green/energia/castelnuovo-valdicecina-impianto-geotermiabiomassa.html. the detailed declination of the location choices can take place according to two complementary paths. the former path aims to indicate in detail, for each type of area referring to the categories established by state regulations, the specificities that determined its protection, the related non-suitability criteria and the types of plant deemed unsuitable. the latter path, on the other hand, aims to identify the typical local elements that need to be protected. both paths require a high knowledge of the territory and an in-depth definition of the values to be preserved, in order to improve the quality of the project’s evaluation making it more comprehensive and rigorous, and therefore less arbitrary. it is therefore necessary to develop flexible and incremental tools that, in addition to giving indications on the location possibilities of res plants, specify evaluation, design and technical-management criteria. at the same time, they should produce guidelines on energy landscapes and recall good practices, in order to encourage the construction of these plants in conformity with the characteristics of the places and looking at the possible formation of new social and landscape identities. finally, these tools must be flexible to review the criteria and location conditions over time, in order to improve their integration with other planning and design instruments, considering the monitoring results of these indications and taking into account the continuous and rapid technological and design advancement of res plants. references http://www.pisatoday.it/green/energia/castelnuovo-valdicecina-impianto-geotermia-biomassa.html http://www.pisatoday.it/green/energia/castelnuovo-valdicecina-impianto-geotermia-biomassa.html magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 122 associazione nazionale energia del vento – anev (national association for the wind energy) (2020). brochure anev 2020. https://www.anev.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/anev_brochure_2020web.pdf arona, a., latour, g. 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(2015). renewable energies and ecosystem service impacts. renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 48, 608-623. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.0 4.004 huber, n., hergert, r., price, b., zäch, c., hersperger, a.m., pütz, m., kienast, f., & bolliger, j. (2017). renewable energy sources: conflicts and opportunities in a changing landscape. regional environmental change, 17(4). 1241-1255. doi:10.1007/s10113-016-1098-9. landon, s. (2017). the footprint of energy: land use of u.s.a. electricity production. working paper. strata. https://www.strata.org/pdf/2017/footprints-full.pdf legambiente (2015). l’assurdo stop dell’eolico off-shore in italia (the absurd stop to offshore wind energy plants in italy). https://www.legambiente.it/sites/default/files/docs/eolico_off-shore_dossier2015.pdf leibenath, m., lintz, g., wirth, p., & zegada, m.e. (eds.) (2015). abstracts. energy landscapes: perception, planning, participation and power. european conference of the landscape research group. dresden, 16-18 september 2015. – dresden: leibniz institute of ecological urban and regional development. lrg2015.ioer.info mejia-montero, a., roth, m., & frantál, b. (2018). the potential and vulnerability of landscapes for specific renewable energy production systems, in roth, m., eiter, s., röhner, s., kruse, a., schmitz, s., frantál, b., centeri, c., frolova, m., buchecker, m., stober, d., karan, i., & van der horst, d. (eds.). renewable energy and landscape quality. berlin, jovis. 166-167. https://pearlsproject.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/10/renewable-energy-and-landscape-quality.pdf ministero dello sviluppo economico, ministero dell’ambiente, ministero delle infrastrutture e trasporti (ministry of economic development, ministry of the environment, ministry of infrastructure and transport), 2018. proposta di piano nazionale integrato per l’energia e il clima (proposal for an integrated national plan for energy and climate). https://www.mise.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/proposta_di_piano_nazionale_int egrato_per_energia_e_il_clima_italiano.pdf pasqualetti, m.j. (2012). the misdirected opposition to wind power, in szarka, j., cowell, r., ellis, g., strachan, p., & warren, c. (eds). learning from wind power: https://pearlsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/renewable-energy-and-landscape-quality.pdf https://pearlsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/renewable-energy-and-landscape-quality.pdf https://www.mise.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/proposta_di_piano_nazionale_integrato_per_energia_e_il_clima_italiano.pdf https://www.mise.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/proposta_di_piano_nazionale_integrato_per_energia_e_il_clima_italiano.pdf magoni, adami – the decision-making steps for the construction of renewable energy plants: an analysis of the conflict factors of the italian authorisation procedures ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 124 governance, societal and policy perspectives on sustainable energy. 133-152. palgrave mcmillian, new york rossi, b. (2012). aree e siti non idonei: spunti di riflessione sulla normazione regionale in tema di impianti alimentati da fonti rinnovabili (unsuitable areas, considerations on the regional regulation for renewable energy plants). giurisprudenza di merito, fasc. 10. roth, m., eiter, s., röhner, s., kruse, a., schmitz, s., frantál, b., centeri, c., frolova, m., buchecker, m., stober, d., karan, i., & van der horst, d. (eds.) (2018). renewable energy and landscape quality. berlin, jovis. available at : https://pearlsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/renewable-energy-andlandscape-quality.pdf selman, p. (2010). learning to love the landscapes of carbon-neutrality. landscape research, 35(2). pp. 157-171. issn 0142-6397. uwe, f., berndes, g., cowie, a., dale, v., kline, k., johnson, f., langeveld, h., sharma, n., watson, h., & woods, h. (2017). energy and land use. working paper. available at : http://iinas.org/tl_files/iinas/downloads/land/iinas_2017_unccdirena_energy-land_paper.pdf vecchiato, d. (2014). how do you like wind farms? understanding people’s preferences about new energy landscapes with choice experiments. aestimum 64, giugno 2014. 15-37. wind europe (2020). report wind energy in europe in 2019. https://windeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/files/about-wind/statistics/windeuropeannual-statistics-2019.pdf short author biography: marcello magoni is responsible of the climate change, risk and resilience laboratory at the department of architecture and urban studies politecnico di milano. his research interests are about urban, landscape and environmental assessment and planning. he has written about 100 papers in national, international and online journals and has written and edited some monographs. roberto adami is a building engineer and architect, graduated at politecnico di milano, who is currently working as a project engineer in the caribbean/atlantic area. his research interests include renewable energy sources, climate change, social and territorial resilience. https://pearlsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/renewable-energy-and-landscape-quality.pdf https://pearlsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/renewable-energy-and-landscape-quality.pdf http://iinas.org/tl_files/iinas/downloads/land/iinas_2017_unccd-irena_energy-land_paper.pdf http://iinas.org/tl_files/iinas/downloads/land/iinas_2017_unccd-irena_energy-land_paper.pdf https://windeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/files/about-wind/statistics/windeurope-annual-statistics-2019.pdf https://windeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/files/about-wind/statistics/windeurope-annual-statistics-2019.pdf ijpp issn: 2239-267x the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). lucrezia lopez associate researcher , university of santiago de compostela avda das ciencias, chalet nº1. 15782, santiago de compostela, a coruñna, spain, lucrezia.lopez@usc.es yamilé pérez guilarte associate researcher , university of santiago de compostela avda das ciencias, chalet nº1, 15782, santiago de compostela, a coruña, spain, yamile.perez@usc.es rubén c. lois gonzález full professor, university of santiago de compostela praza da universidade, s/n, 15782, santiago de compostela, a coruña, spain, rubencamilo.lois@usc.es keywords: land’s end destination; pilgrimage; finisterre; the way to st. james. abstract finisterre, a location at one of the most western european regions: galicia (spain) is being repositioned in europe as a “land’s end destination”. it is becoming a second possible destination for one of the most relevant european cultural itineraries: the jacobean pilgrimage. as a consequence of the increasing number of pilgrims arriving at finisterre, territorial changes have transformed the landscape and contributed to its local socio-economic development. this paper aims to investigate how this kind of “reinvention” has contributed to shape a new sense of place. moreover, it aims to evaluate the role of intangible heritage in the social and landscape transformations in finisterre and its reconversion to a tourist ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 186 mailto:lucrezia.lopez@usc.es mailto:yamile.perez@usc.es mailto:rubencamilo.lois@usc.es lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). destination. we will address the changes occurred in the tourist offer over an 18 years period, including pilgrims’ hostels and reception facilities; the institutional tourist promotion; and pilgrims’ profile and behaviour. the research methodology is based on the use of statistical sources and document archives from the pilgrim’s office. it also presents an empirical study through the application of questionnaires to managers of local accommodation facilities and a semi-structured interview to the director of the tourist office of finisterre. the results contribute to highlight the changes that are taking place in finisterre, both in terms of its peripheral condition, and in regards to the level of tourism management. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 187 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). introduction land’s ends are characterized by a peripheral geographical context in which the marine and geomorphologic environment have usually left quite spectacular landscapes. besides that, its own extreme location has helped to create a symbolic and unique oral and intangible heritage of strong appeal and enormous potential (alberro, 2004). this study focuses on one of the ends of the european continent which is located in the northwest of the iberian peninsula, on the coast of death that belongs to the autonomous region of galicia, spain. it is finisterre, the village that for centuries has been considered the end of the western world of europe. lately, the increasing trend to continue the pilgrimage from santiago de compostela to finisterre has contributed to put this peripheral location on the map. a fact that requires reflection on the dynamic character of a relative and relational peripherality (hall et. al, 2013; pezzi & urso, 2016). its enchanting landscape is accompanied by great symbolism arising from a location at one of the most western european regions. the toponyms coast of death and finisterre link directly to a rich tradition of myths and legends, also enhanced by the jacobean phenomenon (alonso, 2002; sánchez-carretero, 2015). thus, following the theory of hall et al. (2013), it can be said that the remote location of finisterre as a "land's end destination" is being reinvented. it has become a second possible destination of one of europe’s most relevant cultural itineraries: the jacobean pilgrimage. this paper aims to investigate how this contemporary “reinvention” has contributed to shape a new sense of place (stoddard & morinis, 1997). it also aims to discuss the role of intangible heritage in the social and landscape transformations in finisterre and its reconversion into a tourist destination. as a matter of fact, the increasing pilgrim influx has led to the creation of new hostels and other reception facilities, thus contributing to its local development. the paper is structured into four sections. it starts with a contextualization of the case-study, finisterre and a brief insight in to the route, symbols and rituals of the itinerary santiago-finisterre. then, it moves to the methodological section. a quantitative and a qualitative methodology have been combined with the intention of presenting the changes that ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 188 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). have occurred in the tourist offer over the last 18 years. next the results and discussion section is introduced, it is based on three interpretive pillars: (1) the evolution of the accommodation offer; (2) the pilgrim profile; and (3) the promotion. finally, a set of conclusions are presented taking into account the research results. finisterre: the european western land’s end in recent years both the growing interest and the recovery of the idea of landscape as a fundamental element of cultural heritage have brought new forms of heritage exploitation, development and management within the framework of territorial planning. as a matter of fact, this is currently one of the priorities of european and international organizations. the european landscape convention, sponsored by the council of europe in 2000, considers the landscape as a key element of social welfare. it has a symbolic value which can be accessed according to the culture of belonging, the sensitivity and its willingness towards symbols and their interpretations (dewsbury & cloke 2009; lois, castro & lopez, 2016). the land’s ends territories are defined by the border and the end of the world of the european continent in northern and western directions. these borders have a cultural imprint in oral tradition and imply an extraordinary immaterial heritage (alberro, 2004). "learning to read" the evolution of a place can rebuild its territorial and landscape history, its meaning and how it relates to others (lynch, 2008). in order to obtain a better understanding of the regional aspects, ferrão & lopes (2004) analysed its peripheral situation through the eyes of the four-dimensional periphery concepts. these authors analysed peripheries and their developmental situations by using the categories of distance, dependency, difference and discourse. reading the landscape is a process of decoding symbols linked to cultural, spatial and temporal factors (antrop, 2005; nogué & vicente, 2004). some features that serve to define the peripheries can be summed up as follows: distance from core and/or difficulty and costly access; sparsely populated; low gdp per capita that is substantially bolstered by public transfers; an economic structure which is largely primary and tertiary; and limited local economic ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 189 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). control (wanhill, 1997; pezzi & urso, 2016). all these characteristics contribute to the creation of conditions of competitive disadvantage, understood as a lack of capacity to generate innovation and reinvention processes in production bases to ensure a lasting socioeconomic development. intangible heritage is a relevant aspect in the context of maritime peripheries (lindkvist & holmgren, 2014). it is true that there is a wide range of buildings related to fishing and other maritime activities and even important religious assets but myths, legends and oral tradition are the most singular heritage elements of these territories (sánchez-carretero, 2015). the history of finisterre is an example of a peripheral place, whose speculation about its meaning and past has turned it into a mythical space (margry, 2015a), as usually happens in other areas with similar characteristics. there have been several authors who have studied the profound significance of this territory, as for example: alonso (2002), pombo (2000), trillo (1999), besteiro (2004) and herrero (2009). on the coast of death there are tangible elements of great relevance. however, its dramatic landscape is accompanied by a great symbolism coming from a location in one of the continent’s westernmost regions. considering that the finisterre latin name means "end of the world", herrero (2009, p. 166) takes from garcia "the name becomes the great cultural capital that allows […] the seizure of all narratives and mythical references related to antiquity, world's end”. also the expression coast of death is quite suggestive, since it refers to the dark sea or the many shipwrecks (sánchez-carretero, 2015). the creation of narratives, as well as its proper toponym, has played a decisive role in its projection in past and future history. following maccannell's (1976) theory of attraction, the symbolism of the last 40 years has been important for the tourist. the catastrophe of the oil tanker prestige that on the 19 november 2002 sank off the coast of galicia paved the way for the approval of a tourism promotion plan of the coast of death (2003-2007). it allowed the investment of almost €5 million in this territory and major investments in heritage recovery. these programs accounted for an injection of €25 million in total, to which we must add a further €23 million of investment by the regional government between 2006 and ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 190 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/galicia_%28spain%29 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). 2010 in the plan of the coast of death. despite all these actions, the coast of death continues to show a marked decline in its population. this negative trend is derived from the low birth rate that, coupled with the progressive aging of the population, causes higher mortality rates than the provincial average. in addition, the existing migration from the area contributes significantly to its negative demographic trend (besteiro, 2004; balsa & landsperger, 2015). according to projections from the galician institute of statistics, the population loss will continue over the next 15 years. in 2015 the number of inhabitants on the coast of death was 138,586 and it is estimated that by 2030 it will be 18% less, at 113,438. in addition, the number of people over 60 will rise, increasing from 34% in 2015 to 43% in 2030 (galician institute of statistics, 2016). the village of finisterre, with less than 5,000 inhabitants, has undergone major socio-economic transformations. traditionally fishing was its main economic activity. however, in recent years locals have witnessed how tourism has become the economic engine, not only of the village but of the whole surrounding area. the pilgrimage to finisterre: route, symbols and rituals tourism development in the town of finisterre in recent decades has been due to the growing importance of the way to finisterre. institutionalization is the result of different human intentions. there are clear links between the growing number of pilgrims along this route and changes in production models of the local communities involved (parga, 2012; sánchez-carretero, 2015). both political willingness, represented by institutions of different levels, and the pilgrims' increasing willingness to decide to continue their way have given voice to this route, which is not recognized by the catholic church. in fact, unlike other ways, the way to finisterre starts in santiago de compostela and finishes in either finisterre or in muxía, another town on the coast of death (figure 1). the characterization of the spatial transformations of finisterre revolves around a figure: the pilgrim, who stars as part of a public act (pilgrimage). during the walk the pilgrim modifies the space around him or her at an immaterial (rites and practices) and material (facilities ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 191 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). and the visible consequences of rituals) level. in the jacobean studies, the symbolic language of the pilgrim has always been important; therefore in this case some rituals are present. in the first place, we can distinguish the starting rituals (the main one being the dressing ritual) through which the pilgrim status is assumed (caucci, 1989, 1993). these also include the preparation of the backpack, as well as getting the pilgrim passport. today, along the way, a renewed reading of the old obligations of visiting churches and monasteries is offered, and although they are still present along the way, they have become resources for cultural tourism. finally, once in santiago, pilgrims collect their credential, called the compostela, attend mass with the botafumeiro, embrace the statue of the apostle and make offerings. in the case of finisterre, the rituals that have appeared have been part of a process of building the mythical image of the place along the jacobean ways (sánchez-carretero, 2015). for the pilgrimage to finisterre, the lighthouse is the arrival point and the end of the pilgrimage has been transformed into a sacred place. this change can be justified according to two criteria: 1) location; 2) ritual. in the first case, the lighthouse is in an elevated location, whose natural elements serve to reinforce the perception of sacredness (nolan & nolan, 1997; lopez, 2014). in the second case, the increasingly intense streams of worshipers, visitors and tourists, feed the power of attraction of the place, modifying the perception and enjoyment (present and future). ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 192 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). figure 1 – map of finisterre: the town and the way source: authors’ elaboration ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 193 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). pilgrims arriving at finisterre collect their credential, the finisterrana, in the finisterre hostel, stating that they have reached the "end of the world". the above mentioned ritual of dressing, contrasts with the ritual of burning clothes and other symbols used to travel the way to the lighthouse. many guides describe it as a ritual of purification at the end of the way (pombo, 2000; rudolph, 2004; vilar, 2015). when burning clothes is not possible due to wet weather conditions, margry (2015a) states that the pilgrims experience a feeling of dissatisfaction. as was stated by the director of the tourist office of finisterre, begoña valdomar insua in an interview, they have been trying to: "eliminate the burning of clothes at the lighthouse, or at least control it. the increasing number of pilgrims who come to this point in the end of the way is causing fires and waste that is turning such a beautiful and important place on the way to st. james into a huge uncontrolled dump". it is a ritual that is changing the landscape, since its repetition does not meet the basic principles of caring for nature and sustainability. therefore, a new ritual is taking off, consisting of “placing the objects on smaller, more accessible masts at the cape” (sánchez–carretero, 2015, p. 7). another ritual of purification confirmed in the interview is the swim at langosteira beach. at the end of the day all of the pilgrims climb to the lighthouse beach to watch the sunset, a ritual par excellence at the end of the way for all pilgrims. in regards to symbolism, the pilgrimage to santiago and the pilgrimage to finisterre show no differences. in both cases the pilgrims carry their backpacks, comfortable clothes and end their walk collecting (in most cases) the credential (compostela or finisterrana). among all the symbols, the jacobean shell, signum peregrinationis par excellence, proves the realization of the jacobean pilgrimage (castiñeiras, 2007). it does nothing but confirm the geographical position of the jacobean pilgrimage. with originally pagan and later christian historical roots, the shell of santiago belongs to the pecten maximus species present in the mediterranean sea and the atlantic ocean. the mediterranean pecten is the species that is related to the myth of venus and for this reason, is often called veneris shell ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 194 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). (castelli, 1995), while the pilgrimage scallop shell or venera scallop is the plecten jacobeus. as for its symbolic value, considering that venus is the goddess of fertility and regeneration of life, the scallop shell reflects these properties becoming the symbol of venus and her fertility, referring to biological, spiritual or symbolic birth of the life and regeneration (fernández, 1995; castiñeiras, 2007). likewise, the symbolic meaning of the shell today meets some sought after and valued aspects by pilgrims who decide to continue their pilgrimage to finisterre. spiritual birth and regeneration are some of the expectations of pilgrims who, with their ancient rituals associated with fire and water, enshrine new spaces such as the lighthouse, the place par excellence of the finisterrana pilgrimage instead of the church of saint mary “das ares”. methodology for the development of the case study we used secondary sources from a review of significant literature on the characteristics of the region and the pilgrimage phenomenon. equally, in order to study the changes produced by the tourism development in the territory between 1997 and 2015, data from the finisterre tourism office regarding the flux of pilgrims have been presented and interpreted. this information was the basis for the development of an empirical study using a combination of quantitative methodology, through the application of questionnaires, and qualitative methodology by making use of the semi-structured interview technique for the interview was given by the director of the tourism office of finisterre, begoña valdomar insua. in order to enrich the study from the perspective of the service providers, questionnaires were given to local accommodation facilities. the questionnaires aimed to enhance the knowledge of the current situation of the accommodation offer in finisterre and its orientation to pilgrims. two questionnaires, one directed at shelters and the other to other facilities (hotels, hostels, guesthouses and apartments) were designed. both questionnaires included similar topics such as: renovations, guest capacity and number of employees, occupation and seasonality, the length of stay, origin of the visitors and actions taken to promote the establishment. this last one was ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 195 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). measured through a scale question, from 0 to 5, and the mean value was determined to analyse the results. in the case of the shelters it was aimed toward specific services offered to the pilgrims. while in the other facilities, the weight that pilgrims had in the total number of guests received was also investigated. questionnaires were sent to all 34 accommodation businesses in finisterre (finisterre tourism, 2016): 13 shelters, 11 hotels, 8 hostels and b&bs, and 2 apartments. these were sent in november 2016 by e-mail including a link generated by the use of the google questionnaire tool1. however, the response rate was 46% for shelters and 39% for the rest. in the case of shelters, this rate can be explained by the closure due to the low season and the rest simply to a lack of cooperation with the study. an interview was given by the director of the tourism office of finisterre, begoña valdomar insua. the aim was to deepen the knowledge of the profile of the pilgrims to finisterre, the rituals performed, the institutional actions taken to promote the way to finisterre, and the impact of the jacobean phenomenon at a landscape and socioeconomic level. results and discussion to understand the changes that have taken, and are still taking place in finisterre as a result of the pilgrim phenomenon, this analysis has been based on three interpretive pillars: (1) the evolution of the accommodation offer; (2) the pilgrim profile; and (3) the promotion. the knowledge regarding the evolution of the accommodation offer aims to analyse the socioeconomic and landscape impact that this phenomenon has had in the territory over the last 18 years. for its 1 the questionnaire for shelters is available at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yjddmpai8wpdhzqyhrnfgrhndforlswvsyl kxz5szwe/edit?usp=forms_home&ths=true. the questionnaire for the other facilities (hotels, hostels, guesthouses and apartments) is available in https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qkbzbnmr7phcawbdtfi9qsafplribv9ie4qk 9u8fqq4/edit. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 196 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yjddmpai8wpdhzqyhrnfgrhndforlswvsylkxz5szwe/edit?usp=forms_home&ths=true https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yjddmpai8wpdhzqyhrnfgrhndforlswvsylkxz5szwe/edit?usp=forms_home&ths=true https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qkbzbnmr7phcawbdtfi9qsafplribv9ie4qk9u8fqq4/edit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qkbzbnmr7phcawbdtfi9qsafplribv9ie4qk9u8fqq4/edit lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). part, pilgrim profile study has enabled an approach to the behaviour and motivations to do the way to finisterre, allowing an understanding of the changes associated with the intangible heritage of this unique site on the coast of death. the study of tourism promotion offers a perspective of shared work between enterprises, public administration and other institutions to advertise the way and reinforce its image as a sustainable destination. the results are presented and discussed combining the data from the questionnaires, the interview to the director of the tourism office of finisterre and information provided by this same office. the evolution of the accommodation offer until 2002, there was only one public shelter, the municipal hostel in the town of finisterre. however, since this date a rapid proliferation of private shelters has taken place. as indicated by begoña valdomar insua in her interview, the guest capacity in private shelters has tripled over the last 10 years as a result of the sudden influx of pilgrims. additionally, other private accommodation such as hostels, guesthouses and apartments have emerged. this proliferation of supply is clearly evident in the number of overnight stays. as shown in figure 2, overnight stays in private accommodation started increasing in 2003 and by 2015 they had exceeded the initial number 17 times. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 197 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). figure 2 evolution of the number of overnight stays source: authors’ elaboration based on data personally provided by the finisterre office of tourism (2016). the surveyed shelters were all built after 2010, except for the municipal shelter which was built in 1997. 60% of them have made renovations, mainly increasing the number of beds available and the modernized services. it should be noted that some services such as: kitchens, showers, refrigerators, washing machines and wi-fi are offered by all the shelters. as for the rest of the accommodation, 78% of respondents were hotels and 22% hostels. among the hotels, 25% belong to the category of one star, 50% to 2 stars, and the other 25% 3 stars. 67% of them have been built in the last 5 years. with respect to renovations, these hotels and hostels have mostly introduced new services and/or modernized existing ones. in relation to the guest capacity and the number of employees, shelter figures averaged less than other accommodation. however, as shown in figure 3, the differences are not as far apart as expected considering their categories. this indicates that in the case of finisterre, a similarity can be seen in the size of these facilities and the volume of people employed. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 198 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). figure 3 guest capacity and number of employees by type of facility. source: authors’ elaboration based on data from the results of the questionnaires. the average occupancy rate of interviewed shelters was 57.5%, with june to september having the highest occupancy. for the rest of the accommodation the situation is the same as for the high season, however the average occupancy rate is more than 76.5%. the average stay of pilgrims in shelters is 1.17 nights. in the other facilities the stay increases to 2.17 nights. in this case, it could be said that this is a higher status pilgrim or a pilgrim-tourist that takes advantage of the arrival to finisterre to perform other activities besides those that are part of the ritual and have been discussed earlier. we can also infer that not only do all facilities receive pilgrims, but their volume is relevant. thus, in 6 of the 9 businesses that participated in the study, pilgrims represent or exceed 40% of the total guests in one year (figure 4). while in 2 of them, pilgrims represent more than half of the guests. this result confirms the fact of the importance of the pilgrims as users, not just of the shelters, but of the entire range of accommodation in the region. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 199 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). figure 4 percentage of pilgrims as guests in one year. source: authors’ elaboration based on data from the results of the questionnaires. the impact of increased flows of pilgrims can also been seen in the proliferation of restaurants and cafes and transport. bus frequencies to santiago and a coruña have increased, as well as the number of local taxis. as gibson & kong (2005) state, the concept of the cultural economy has helped transform economic activity in many places. as we have discussed, this is also the case of finisterre. so far, the local population has benefited thanks to the socio-economic transformation of the pilgrim phenomenon. as begoña valdomar insua mentioned, locals have learned to live with the pilgrims. however, in her opinion "some residents see them as the only source of money, but others understand the sense of the way". integrating the population of finisterre in this reinvention process through new methods of communication and management is essential. these methods essentially reflect the identity of people and associate them with future projects. they allow a better expression of local people’s values, beliefs and needs about their territory, and it better articulates the local resources for multiple purposes (political, cultural, economic or social) (loulanski, 2006). despite the positive effects of the pilgrimage phenomenon for finisterre, as the numbers of visitors continue to rise, public officials should consider how to organize the flow of pilgrims. this measure is essential to ensure both the quality of the pilgrim experience and the resident’s quality of life. in addition, more emphasis on conservation and education issues, developing new uses and adapting heritage to the contemporary needs of local communities is needed. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 200 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). the pilgrim profile according to data from the office of tourism, the number of fisterranas awarded to pilgrims when they reach finisterre rose from 367 in 1997 to 24,296 in 2015, increasing 66-fold (figure 5). therefore, these figures represent an estimate of the number of pilgrims who have come to finisterre in the last 18 years. figure 5 evolution of the number of fisterranas source: authors’ elaboration based on data personally provided by the finisterre office of tourism (2016). the destination of finisterre clearly shows the challenge of seasonality, a persistent feature of peripheral destinations (baum & hagen, 1999) in which accessibility issues, as well as those associated with climate, generate significant imbalances throughout the year (kühn, 2015). as described by the finisterre office of tourism, the pilgrim’s profile is seasonal. in winter they are older than in the rest of the year, with an average age between 40-70 years old. the number of people who complete the way at this time of the year is smaller, especially due to the weather conditions and the christmas period. usually there are more men than women, and also more selfemployed or retirees. in autumn the number of pilgrims increases, although ages and profiles are very similar to the winter. in spring, there are larger numbers of pilgrims, but their ages begin to change thanks to younger people coming mostly from the usa, south korea, australia and canada. at this time retirees from central and northern europe are almost the majority. these are mainly countries ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 201 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). with better economic conditions and whose pensions are much higher than in southern europe. in summer, it is the time where the average age varies considerably as it is the holiday season. therefore, students have more time to do the way. also in the summer the volume of spanish pilgrims increases in regards to the rest of pilgrims. according to the questionnaires, pilgrims staying in shelters come mainly from germany, italy and spain, with a special note that italy was mentioned by all the hostel facilities. the rest of the accommodation includes the united states, canada and australia. therefore, it might seem that visitors from these countries have less preference for staying in shelters. regarding motivation, the office of tourism has indicated that they do not ask about this issue as they consider it too personal. however, previous studies on the pilgrimage to finisterre lay out some of the motivations that drive pilgrims to continue the way (margry, 2015b; blom, nilsson & santos, 2016). in his essay "spirituality, motives and the end of the world", margry (2015b) provides a detailed analysis of the motivations of pilgrimage to finisterre, which allow us to understand the validity and relevance of this "post-santiago" route analysis. in his view, the key lies in the "spiritual pluralism" of the way, i.e. the different concepts of spirituality that walkers to finisterre find (van der veer, 2008). also, prolonging the walk reinforces the individual character of the post-contemporary spirituality, detached from the power of the catholic church (blom, nilsson & santos, 2016). continuing to the end of the world serves to make pilgrims feel satisfied and complete; many of the pilgrims do not share a sense of satisfaction after their arrival at the traditional goal (santiago de compostela) and keep looking for the meaning of life, thanks to all ancient symbols of the finisterre pilgrimage. it is a motivation which blom, nilsson and santos (2016) agree upon, which interprets the decision to continue to finisterre as an anti-movement of the touristification of santiago de compostela. no less important, is the impact of the media, which helps spread the discourse of mythical and pre-christian pilgrimage (margry, 2015b). according to blom, nilsson and santos (2016, p. 140), "for some of the pilgrims the motivation to continue to finisterre was a decision that had been taken ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 202 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). in advance", while in other cases the decision develops during the pilgrimage. in the latter case, this decision is possible if time allows. the promotion the revival of finisterre is not only due to its heritage, made up of myths and legends, but also lies in the work of valorisation carried out by regional, provincial and municipal political institutions (roseman, 2008; sánchezcarretero, 2012; margry, 2015a). for example, in 2009 the government of galicia inaugurated the publication of colour brochures and launched new websites (fernández-poyatos et. al., 2011). therefore, another aspect included in the questionnaire provided to the accommodation businesses was about what promotional source they used. as shown in table 1, the xacobeo is the most used source to promote hostels in finisterre, with a value of 3.67, corresponding to the mean value in a scale from 0 to 5. the xacobeo is a regional public body created in 1991 aimed at the management of shelter network services in galicia and its remaining social assets. the accommodation’s website is the second most used source, followed by social networks, the council of finisterre, the associations of the way and travel agencies. table 1 degree of utilization of promotional sources (scale of 1 to 5). promotional source shelters accommodati on businesses own website 3.25 3.78 social networks 3.0 2.89 council of finisterre 3.0 1.22 xacobeo 3.67 1.33 associations of the way to st. james 3.0 1.22 travel / incoming agencies 3.0 3.11 others 2.67 source: authors’ elaboration based on data from the results of the questionnaires. however, for the rest of the accommodation (hotels, hostels, and apartments) their own website is the most used tool, as well as travel or incoming agencies. these businesses which are not exclusively for ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 203 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). pilgrim’s use, work more thanks to their own web pages and with the help of travel or incoming agencies. as already mentioned, promotion is also done at a municipal level; in fact, the council of finisterre has taken actions to promote the way including the workshops “camiño do solpor i” “and “camiño do solpor ii”. in this framework, activities such as designing a website to promote the santiago-finisterre pilgrimage route have been developed. in addition, the council has developed route signalling and recovery works, tourism promotion in several fairs and dissemination of the way information materials. all these actions can be interpreted as efforts to improve the social settings of finisterre and placing it in a network that allows it to be part of the political and territorial decisions (herrschel, 2011; kühn, 2015). conclusions landscape has its own iconography, with conventional and consciously registered symbols. the enhancement of the cultural criteria of authenticity in maritime peripheries is not only because these territories have the singularity of the sea’s proximity, which has a role in its cultural heritage, but also because of its peripheral position that determines the existence of a unique oral and intangible heritage. nowadays nobody doubts that good management of heritage implies that it cannot be only profitable from a social and cultural standpoint, but also from an economic one. the pilgrimage is a human experience and everyday life practice, arousing interest as it is another way of understanding human beings, their behaviour in certain spaces and their relationship with certain territories (lois & lopez, 2012; lopez, 2013). the changes that have taken place in recent years have modified the landscape through the progressive creation of a new sacred-spiritual space by pilgrims who, through their anthropogenic action, are giving new meaning to the peripheral environment. on the one hand, the intangible heritage of finisterre, formed by myths of origin, travel stories, and especially contemporary rituals nourishes the reinvention of this space. it is no longer simply a peripheral or world end space, but it is also a "spiritual space" and a "tourist space". on the other hand, the milestones that mark the way to finisterre (shown ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 204 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). in fig.1), i.e. the beach, the lighthouse and the church make its original symbolism explicit, becoming a factor of attraction for pilgrims and visitors who come to see them. as in the case of santiago de compostela, visitors and pilgrims share the same space, visit the same milestones, but they do not perform the same rituals. in other words, territorial dynamics are taking place in the periphery (the transformation of the landscape, the increase in tourist facilities, the increase in number of visitors and pilgrims), which are similar to the territorial dynamics of central areas (blagojević, 2009). just as happened in santiago de compostela, a pilgrimage centre par excellence, finisterre is being placed on the map as a "new" pilgrimage destination. the reinvention of the pilgrimage and the increasing incorporation of finisterre into pilgrims travel plans turns this place of pilgrimage into a tourist destination (della dora, 2012). the combination of landscape transformations, both socially and in terms of tourism, represents the added value of a space that is strong thanks to a mystical past and a demanding present, fostering feelings such as attachment or spirituality. these immaterial and material transformations require a reorganization of the environment for sustainable management. in fact, the development of a sacred place made for the pilgrim involves the provision of services for pilgrims and the improvement of accommodation and hospitality. residents must also adapt to these changes, and become traders or hoteliers, thus meeting the needs of the moment. and in this turn, the heritagisation of the past (the narratives and practices) has economic potential. this process favours the institutionalisation and standardisation of a jacobean way, which for years the church has refused to recognize (raju, 2009; margry, 2015a). in conclusion, the changes are modifying the condition of remoteness of finisterre. while maintaining the physical distance, the cultural distance is reduced as the number of pilgrims who decide to continue their way to finisterre increases. these physical movements and a greater international projection of the finisterrana route in literature and promotional material reduce the cultural distance. repositioning finisterre, both in tourism and pilgrimage terms, is directed towards ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 205 lopez et al. – the way to the western european land’s end. the case of finisterre (galicia, spain). the creation of a "semi-peripheral area" (blagojević, 2009; blagojevićhughson & bobic, 2014). references alberro, m. 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(2008). spirit. spirituality in modern society. in h. de vries (ed.), religion. beyond a concept (pp. 789–798). new york: fordham university press. vilar, m. (2015). analyzing narratives about the camino: from claims in support of local elements to the success of the xacobeo. in c. sánchez-carretero (ed.), heritage, pilgrimage and the camino to finisterre. walking to the end of the world (pp. 53-92). heidelberg, new york, dordrecht, london: springer. wanhill, s. (1997). peripheral area tourism: a european perspective. progress in tourism and hospitality research, 3, 47-70. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1603(199703)3:1<47::aid-pth38>3.0.co;2-f. short authors biography: lucrezia lopez, doctor in geography, is associate researcher at the university of santiago de compostela. her main research lines include human, cultural and tourism geography, heritage, geography of pilgrimages (sacred spaces and places) and the way of st james. yamilé pérez guilarte is associate researcher in the territorial analysis research group (ante) at the university of santiago de compostela. she holds a phd in management and tourism planning. her research interests include urban and cultural tourism, sustainable management in heritage cities, destination image, and pilgrimage studies. rubén c. lois gonzález is full professor of geography in the department of geography at the university of santiago de compostela. he is currently director of the euro-regional study centre (ceer) and of the department of geography. he is coordinator of the an.te (territorial analysis) research group. his main research lines are geography and urban planning; regional studies; social geography and regional planning. ijpp italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 212 ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 110 post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction process in abruzzo (italy) grazia di giovanni p h.d. re sear c her , gr a n s as so sc ie nc e i ns tit u te vial e fr a nce sco cr i sp i 7 – 6 7 1 0 0 l‟ aq u ila ( i tal y) gr az ia.d i g io va n ni @ g ss i.i n f n.i t keywords: post-earthquake reconstruction, inner areas, reconstruction plans, inter-municipal cooperation, l’aquila. abstract in 2009, abruzzo region was hit by a severe earthquake which damaged the city of l’aquila and other 56 minor municipalities already affected by trends of demographic and economic decline at the time of the disaster. this contribution focuses on the mid-term reconstruction of this “seismic crater” interpreted as a peculiar case in the scenario of italian “inner areas”. the “national strategy for inner areas” (snai) was launched by italian government in 2014 with the purpose of enhancing local development in peripheral fragile municipalities, distant from major service hubs. a large majority of the crater is included in the list of inner areas. special post-earthquake legislation and snai share multiple goals, di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 111 especially related to supporting local revitalization. l’aquila’s territory represents an “anomaly” in the milieu of inner areas: the disaster worsened pre-existing conditions of marginalisation, but post-earthquake reconstruction and related funds offered uncommon resources to shape transformative patterns of development, cooperation and innovation. using a descriptive approach and focusing on purposes and contents of the reconstruction plans, the study questions the ongoing reconstruction process as an occasion to foster long-term socio-economic recovery, urban renewal, and innovative inter-municipal governance besides the rebuilding of urban fabrics in the light of snai. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 112 introduction the morphology of italian territory portrays two peculiarities of the country: examining its spatial-functional organisation, it is a highly scattered system of towns and villages around a few major cities; analysing its physical attributes, it is highly vulnerable to several nature-related hazards (earthquakes, landslides, river floods). the italian pattern of settlement can be described as a polycentric structure, based on medium-large cities (mainly located along coastal areas and in the northern wide flatlands) which host the majority of the population and act as hubs for primary services. widespread networks of minor towns, villages and rural areas (mainly located in hilly or mountainous zones) gravitate around these “urban” systems and are defined as “inner areas” (barca, casavola, & lucatelli, 2014, p. 14). inner areas are characterised by large unused territorial capital, high social costs and limited citizenship (ivi, pp. 15-16). after two years of studies, in 2014 the italian government launched a specific long-term policy for the redevelopment of these areas, titled “national strategy for inner areas” (snai). as mentioned previously, nature-related risks affect the entire country. italy is highly earthquake-prone because of its position in the area of convergence between african and eurasian tectonic plates, and its complex orography amplifies hydrogeological instability (ance & cresme, 2012; trigila, iadanza, bussettini, lastoria, & barbano, 2015). the official snai database (agenzia per la coesione territoriale, 2014b) includes information related to seismic and landslide risks; extrapolating only municipalities classified as inner areas (≈ 4.200 municipalities), about 900 cases present the highest seismic risk for human lives, and about 330 count at least 500 inhabitants exposed to landslides. indeed, italian history enumerates many nature-related disasters: an analysis limited only to seismic activity in xx and xxi century highlights about forty disruptive di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 113 earthquakes which involved little towns and rural areas principally, but without sparing larger urban systems (boschi, guidoboni, ferrari, valensise, & gasperini, 1997; rovida, locati, camassi, lolli, & gasperini, 2016). the most recent ruinous seismic sequence started on 24 august 2016 in central italy, devastating the small town of amatrice and its surroundings, killing 298 people. this study is focused on mid-term reconstruction in abruzzo, a region in central-southern italy struck by a catastrophic earthquake in april 2009, which heavily damaged its capital city l‟aquila and a vast neighbouring territory causing 309 deaths. this large distressed area is labelled “seismic crater” and 77% of its municipalities are “inner areas” according to snai categorization. the seismic crater is here interpreted as a peculiar case in the general scenario of italian inner areas, questioning the experience of this reconstruction as a chance to promote socio-economic revitalization beyond mere rebuilding, in the light of snai. vice versa, the experience of the crater is seen as a potential testing ground for a reflexion about nonordinary long-term development strategies. a great part of principal earthquakes occurred since 1900 were grave disasters, but diverse for: impact of the event on human lives and activities, size and typology of damaged settlements, the economic base of the areas involved in the disaster, socio-political context, etc. (guidoboni & valensise, 2011). indeed, in the cases of the most ruinous ones befallen in last fifty years, national and local authorities faced post-disaster reconstruction following deeply dissimilar approaches in terms of technical, socio-economic, legislative and administrative aspects. a national-led vision of the reconstruction and centralised forms of management and control were preferred in situations like belice‟s (1968, western sicily, south italy) and irpinia‟s earthquakes (1980, central campania, south italy). on the contrary, entrusting local institutions of the principal leadership was the pillar of the reconstruction strategy in friuli (1976, north italy), as well as in di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 114 umbria and marche (1997, central italy) (mazzoleni & sepe, 2005; nimis, 2009). abruzzo‟s reconstruction is a complex and long process, still ongoing, guided by both the national government, both by local institutions and technical offices. a significant role of national boards in the emergency phase (2009-2012) was progressively replaced by a growing centrality of local institutions, in particular since the return to ordinary administration in late 2012, promoting cooperation between central, regional and local authorities. since the beginning the reconstruction process was led by special legislative frameworks to achieve short-term and long-term goals and a re-organisation of functions and administrative structures. to coordinate multiple initiatives was particularly needed for the reconstruction of the crater‟s minor municipalities 1 , through fostering inter-municipal coordination among l'aquila and the surrounding settlements. many similarities can be recognised between aims and measures of snai and those of abruzzo‟s special post-disaster framework. the research looks at the ongoing reconstruction of the crater which arises as a paradoxical network of inner areas, between pre-existing disadvantages amplified by the disaster and the unusual economic and technical resources offered by the recovery process to support new forms of local-based social and economic development. a strategy for inner areas a national proposal the “national strategy for inner areas” (snai) was officially 1 expressions like “minor municipalities of the crater” or similar exclude l’aquila city. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 115 launched by italian government in 2014 2 to “contribute to the country‟s economic and social recovery, creating jobs, fostering social inclusion and cutting the costs of regional depopulation” (barca et al., 2014, p. 7). snai is grounded on the peculiar polycentrism of italian territory: entire italy is characterised by networked minor settlements and rural areas gravitating around major urban areas which offer diversified public services. this long-term national strategy focuses on “non-urban” areas, characterised by inadequate access to collective services, and consequently recognised as marginalised and disadvantaged. indeed, criteria to identify inner areas are mainly based on the distance of each italian municipality from a so-called “essential service provision centre”, a definition that indicates a municipality 3 able to provide full secondary education, one emergency care hospital and a medium-small railway station. all the remaining municipalities are classified into 4 categories (from “outlying areas” to “ultra-peripheral areas”) according to the time necessary to reach the nearest service hub, as indicated in figure 1. inner areas demand a travel time by car of at least 20 minutes to the nearest service provision centre. snai describes inner areas as stressed by demographic decline, scarcity of job opportunities, inadequate local provision of public and private services, hydrogeological instability, deterioration of the cultural and landscape heritage. nevertheless the constant marginalisation that 2 snai’s first steps date back to the autumn 2012. the strategy is operative from 2014, as stated by the legge di stabilità 147/2013 (“stability law”), by the documento di economia e finanza programma nazionale di riforma 2014 approved on 8 april 2014 (“economic and financial document national program of reform”) and by the accordo di partenariato 2014-2020 (“partnership agreement”) adopted by the european commission on 29 october 2014. all policy documents are available at http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/. 3 also groups of neighbouring municipalities can constitute “essential service provision centres”. http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/ di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 116 affects these territories since the end of world war ii, around onequarter of italy‟s population lives in inner areas, which cover 60% of the total national territory (ivi, p. 25). assuming that “citizenship constituents” within a territory are based on adequate access to essential services, such as upgrading education, health, collective mobility and internet access, inner areas do not offer an equal quality of citizenship to their inhabitants (ivi, pp. 10, 15, 19, 22). figure 1 – classification of italian municipalities in “inner areas”, “outlying areas” and “service hubs” according to snai source: author‟ elaboration from barca et al. (2014). the general goal of snai is to improve the quality of life of inner areas‟ inhabitants and improve demographic trends, by fostering new forms of development, enhancing social inclusion, increasing job opportunities. the implementation of the strategy is based on gradual phases, starting from one selected pilot area for each region, committed to designing its own local strategy in line with the national goals. two interrelated goals are expected by pilot strategies: to promote local development, and to ensure an adequate public di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 117 provision of essential services. the strategy will be extended according to the results of these first experimental phases. snai promotes overlaps and intersections of national and local perspectives for drawing up social and economic development strategies, to avoid both the “illusion of a local project” both the “unreality of a national project” (ivi, p. 18). although single municipalities are recognised as base units for every policy-making process, the high incidence of small-sized municipalities in inner areas suggested to pursue forms of aggregations of municipalities to restructure collective services effectively and to envision long-term socio-economic scenarios. consequently, inter-municipal associations or official collaborations are an essential prerequisite for being involved in snai. between july 2014 and may 2016 every region selected one association of municipalities as “pilot area” 4 : pilot areas are required to define a local-based strategy that, starting from the current conditions of the territory, should define common goals (to inverse damaging trends and to improve citizens‟ quality of life) and sketch local development strategies (identifying actions and budget plans, involving stakeholders and local communities). inner areas in abruzzo nevertheless located in central italy, the abruzzo region is considered part of “south italy macro-region” from a social and economic point of view, an indicator of under-performance per se (oecd, 2013). it is indeed one of the least populated italian regions: about 1.326.000 inhabitants in 2016, 2,2% of the national population (istat, 2016). inner areas characterise the overall regional structure: 4 lombardia region is the only exception, with two pilot areas. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 118 75% of abruzzo‟s municipalities are so classified (38% intermediate, 27% peripheral, 10% ultra-peripheral areas), hosting 37% of abruzzo‟s inhabitants. this population is progressively shrinking and ageing: 23,4% is older than 65 years old, and only 14% younger than 16 years old in 2011 (the italian averages for inner areas are 15,7% for young population and 21,2% for aged population) (agenzia per la coesione territoriale, 2014c) 5 . as shown in figure 2, inner areas are mainly located in southern abruzzo at the borders with molise, constituting a large territory which includes the regional pilot area “basso sangro-trigno”. a wide group of inner areas is also present in central abruzzo, surrounded by the principal service hubs of the region and correspondingly for a large part with the seismic crater introduced previously. data summarised in table 1table 1 highlight the evident weight of inner areas in abruzzo and in the crater, even clearer when compared to national percentages. the crater includes l‟aquila and other 56 neighbouring municipalities, whereof 44 are labelled as inner areas: 19 are “intermediate areas” with around 30.800 inhabitants, 25 are “peripheral areas” hosting 12.500 inhabitants. 5 full data are provided by abruzzo regional dossiers and indicators on inner areas, available at: http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/eventi/regione_abruzzo/index.html http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/openareeinterne/index.html http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/eventi/regione_abruzzo/index.html http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/openareeinterne/index.html di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 119 figure 2 – inner areas in abruzzo region, with indication of the seismic crater source: author‟ elaboration from comitato nazionale aree interne (2015, p. 33) di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 120 table 1 distribution of municipalities, population and surfaces among inner areas and service hubs in abruzzo region, seismic crater and italy municipalities (no.) population (inhabitants) surface (sq. km.) service hubs inner areas service hubs inner areas service hubs inner areas abruzzo 305 ≈ 1.307.000 ≈ 10.830 75 (25%) 230 (75%) ≈ 823.000 (63%) ≈ 484.000 (37%) ≈ 3.150 (29%) ≈ 7.680 (71%) crater 57 ≈ 137.600 ≈ 2.400 13 (23%) 44 (77%) ≈ 94.300 (69%) ≈ 43.300 (31%) ≈ 860 (36%) ≈ 1.540 (64%) italy 8092 ≈ 59.434.000 ≈ 303.000 3907 (48%) 4185 (52%) ≈ 46.105.000 (78%) ≈ 13.329.000 (22%) ≈ 121.500 (40%) ≈ 181.500 (60%) source: author‟ elaboration from s.n.a.i. open data (agenzia per la coesione territoriale, 2014a) 6 the reconstruction after 2009 earthquake the seismic crater italy is highly vulnerable to nature-related hazards. data referred to only seismic activity since the beginning of xx century indicate more than seventy earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 mw or higher, whereof about forty with an intensity value of viii level or above on mercalli scale (boschi et al., 1997, pp. 120-122; rovida et al., 2016). as introduced previously, on 6 april 2009 one of the most ruinous earthquakes of italian history struck abruzzo region (6.3 mw), 6 data about population refer to istat census 2011. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 121 heavily damaging its capital city l‟aquila (main service hub of western abruzzo) and a large surrounding territory. “seismic crater” is the definition used to indicate 57 municipalities that registered a quake with an intensity value equal or higher than vi level of mercalli intensity scale (therefore considerably damaged). the crater is a large territory (about 2.400 square kilometres) with more than 130.000 inhabitants but it. is composed of numerous scattered settlements and villages, tiny in size and population: out of 57, only 10 municipalities have more than 2.000 inhabitants (l‟aquila included), mainly aged. a demographic decline in these areas started from the beginning of the last century and increased after the second world war. because of the large extension of the affected area, its internal fragmentation and the huge losses, the reconstruction appeared immediately as a highly complex process to lead, and special legislative and institutional frameworks were introduced to speed up the recovery process. to merge the physical recovery of the built environment with long-term territorial development was indicated as the overall goal to achieve and clearly stated by the national law no. 77/2009 and by the decree of the commissioner for reconstruction no.3/2010, the legislative pillars of the reconstruction. according to law no. 77, the crater‟s municipalities (in agreement with the region‟s and province‟s presidents) are asked to define strategic guidelines for municipal (re)planning to foster socioeconomic recovery and urban redevelopment, ensuring a harmonious reconstruction of urban fabrics (art. 2, 12-bis). decree no.3 widens and reinforces the general aims of the reconstruction process, calling for coordination of multiple initiatives to envision inter-municipal large scale scenarios and to reinforce mutual relations among di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 122 l‟aquila and the neighbouring settlements. general criteria for the reconstruction aim at (art. 1, 2) 7 : a. the reinforcement of local systems by identifying “homogeneous areas” (has) for strategic sectors of intervention; b. the restoration of natural and historical networks; c. the improvement of regional and local mobility networks; d. diffusion, capillarity and efficiency of infrastructures and services. consequently, inter-municipal coordination is recognised as a necessary step to manage multiple initiatives and to meet such integrated and ambitious long-term goals. excluding l‟aquila, all the municipalities of the crater have been aggregated in eight has through volunteer agreements among mayors, with a “leading municipality” for each ha and a common coordinator for all of them 8 (see figure 3). has have been planned as optimal entities to address the reconstruction, even if with no hierarchical prevalent normative role on single municipalities. 7 the same goals have been reconfirmed by law no. 134/2012, art. 67-quater. 8 l’aquila municipality corresponds to ha 1 with its own coordinator. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 123 figure 3 – organization of the seismic crater in homogenous areas source: author‟ elaboration a “mission structure” (directly dependent on the central national government) had the role to control the use of public funds and to coordinate has bridging local and national levels during the “emergency phase” (phase opened the day of the earthquake and closed in august 2012). an innovative governance model was gradually built and based on the collaboration among central control structures and local authorities: the growing relevance of local institutions emerged more clearly with the return to “ordinary administration” by september 2012 and with the addition of two “special technical offices” with the role of coordination and support di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 124 (u.s.r.a. located in l‟aquila and dedicated to the city, and u.s.r.c. located in fossa and dedicated to all other has). the reconstruction plans law no. 77 (art. 14, 5-bis) and decree no. 3 (art. 5, 1) define the “reconstruction plans” as extra-ordinary planning instruments to rule the reconstruction process in core areas of the crater‟s towns, confirming for the plans the same objectives already affirmed as overall goals of this reconstruction: 1. to ensure social and economic recovery; 2. to promote urban redevelopment; 3. to facilitate inhabitants in returning home. the plans act within specific “perimeters” (“perimetrazioni”, decree no.3, art. 1) defined after the earthquake with the aim of identifying parts of the towns with peculiar historical and landscape values, and largely damaged. in many cases, the perimeters overlap with the historical centres as defined by pre-existing town planning. the purpose of establishing these perimeters was to ensure a coherent and unitary planning for valuable portions of the settlements; outside these perimeters, the reconstruction has followed specific regulations without requiring extensive plans. nevertheless the aggregation in has, every municipality could commission the design of its reconstruction plan autonomously (di giovanni & chelleri, forthcoming). the time needed to assign, design and approve the plans varied deeply: the first plans for eleven municipalities were approved in 2012; at the moment of writing eight reconstruction plans are not yet approved.table 2 summarises principal data about the crater‟s municipalities, identifying inner areas, status of implementation of the plans, demographic data. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 125 table 2 the seismic crater ha municipality inner area reconstr. plans: implementation and designers inhabit. 1991 census inhabit. 2011 census ageing index (2011) 1 l‟aquila no approved 66.813 66.964 170 2 barete * no approved f 635 679 286 cagnano amit. yes i in progress f 1.685 1.383 332 campotosto (◊) yes p approved f 865 586 487 capitignano (◊) yes i approved / / 216 680 360 montereale (◊) yes i approved f 3.114 2.812 270 pizzoli no approved f 2.598 3.773 110 scoppito no approved f 2.251 3.285 110 tornimparte yes i in progress / / 3.016 3.096 201 3 arsita yes p approved r: enea et al. 1.061 871 309 castelli yes i in progress r: univ. chieti-pesc. 1.600 1.224 327 colledara no in progress f 2.155 2.237 188 fano adriano yes i in progress f 432 354 557 montorio al vomano * (◊) no in progress r: enea et al. 8.918 8.201 165 penna sant'andrea yes i approved r: univ. camerino 1.673 1.728 179 pietracamela yes p in progress f 350 304 494 tossicia yes p in progress f 1.456 1.418 213 4 carapelle calvisio (×) yes i approved f 125 85 300 castelvecchio calvisio (×) yes i approved r: univ. padova et al. 246 159 300 castel del monte * yes p 707 447 387 s. stefano di sessanio yes p 142 111 529 villa s. lucia yes p 305 141 2767 5 torre de' passeri no no plan 3.299 3.174 149 brittoli yes p approved r: univ. chietipescara 470 335 387 bussi sul tirino* yes i 3.236 2.636 300 civitella casan. yes p 2.156 1.875 265 cugnoli yes i 1.752 1.590 216 montebello di bertona yes p 1.183 1.023 290 popoli yes i 5.755 5.450 200 ofena yes p 757 527 500 capestrano yes i approved f 1.141 895 453 notes * leader municipality (◊) included also in the crater of central italy‟s earthquake (24 august 2016) (×) currently part of ha6 i: intermed. p: periph. f: freelance r: research institute //: missing information data: www.usrc.it % data: www.ottomilacensus.istat.it di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 126 ha municipality inner area reconstr. plans: implementation and designers inhabit. 1991 census inhabit. 2011 census ageing index (2011) 6 caporciano * yes i approved r: univ. chieti-pesc. 324 235 352 navelli yes i approved r: univ. parma 700 550 304 prata d'ansid. yes i approved f 616 501 267 san pio delle camere yes i approved r: univ. pisa et al. 554 613 130 carap.calv. castelv.calv. h.a. 4 7 bugnara yes i approved r: univ. l’aquila 1.161 1.106 238 castel di ieri yes p approved r: univ. chieti-pesc. 437 329 465 castelvecchio subequo yes p 1.448 1.067 524 cocullo yes i 416 265 885 collarmele no approved / / 1.051 950 248 gagliano aterno yes p approved / / 396 255 344 goriano sicoli* yes p approved / / 685 597 261 8 acciano yes p approved r: univ. firenze 538 351 609 barisciano * yes i approved r: univ. camerino 1.768 1.853 210 ocre yes i 984 1.100 185 fagnano alto yes i approved f 499 440 255 fontecchio yes i approved r: politecn. milano 469 410 289 poggio picenze no approved / / 917 1.068 131 san demetrio ne' vestini no approved r: univ. chieti-pesc. 1.553 1.836 151 sant'eusanio f. no approved r: univ. l’aquila 462 418 287 tione degli abr. yes p 485 326 441 fossa no approved r: univ. catania 630 690 148 villa s.angelo yes i 480 425 206 9 lucoli no approved r: univ. sapienza 1.046 1.019 241 ovindoli yes i 1.204 1.190 257 rocca di cambio yes p 447 504 335 rocca di mezzo* yes p 1.531 1.468 346 abruzzo: 1.249.054 1.307.009 167 italy: 56.778.031 59.433.744 149 notes * leader municipality (◊) included also in the crater of central italy‟s earthquake (24 august 2016) (×) currently part of ha6 i: intermed. p: periph. f: freelance r: research instititute //: missing information data: www.usrc.it % data: www.ottomilacensus.istat.it source: author’s elaboration. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 127 the has no. 4, 5 and 9 are the only cases in which plans have been designed by the same researchers, except for two other municipalities. an investigation into these plans was carried out in order to understand how these tools tried to meet the general goals of the reconstruction, in particular how to promote socio-economic development trajectories. nevertheless specific peculiarities for each ha, common themes emerge across the plans. all of them have chosen a multidisciplinary and multiscale approach to fulfil the wide technical and legislative ambitions stated in the regulations governing the reconstruction. fundamental components of the plans are prescriptive indications for the physical reconstruction of historical centres, therefore to answer the third goal of the laws: to facilitate the return of inhabitants in an anti-seismic built heritage. the plans identify regulatory standards and specific typologies of intervention on urban fabrics, and congruent budget estimates. in order to control public expenditure, the employment of reconstruction funds is strictly guided by the level of damage induced by the quake adopting the normative criteria of the so-called “causality nexus” between damages and compensations (law no. 77, art. 1, 3). according to the laws‟ requirements, the plans contain also preliminary project proposals for the first and second goal of the reconstruction process. these proposals unsurprisingly involve a scale larger than the mere extension of the “perimetrazioni”, and consequently they cannot have a mandatory role but only an indicative nature. all the analysed plans include pilot projects of urban regeneration (for promoting general improvements, introducing new functions and activities in the towns) as well as long-term strategic scenarios imagined for entire has. the wide-scale scenarios call general realm of interventions in all three has investigated, based mainly on the promotion of naturalistic tourism and sustainable local agriculture, a strategy suggested by the high environmental quality of these territories. di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 128 the seismic crater as an inner area put to the test looking at abruzzo‟s ongoing reconstruction through the lens of snai, many similarities emerge between the normative and institutional frameworks ruling the post-earthquake recovery and the strategy for inner areas, in particular related to territorial characteristics, tools, long-term goals and emerging themes of debate. the crater‟s recovery process offers the chance to tangibly explore bottlenecks and criticalities in fostering new forms of local development in fragile areas, especially related to: a. the promotion of inter-municipal cooperation and forms of innovative governance; b. the unsolved relation between claims of safeguard, restoration and transformation ; c. the definition of long-term development scenarios to enhance territorial capital. polycentrism and inter-municipal cooperation encouraging inter-municipal and inter-institutional cooperation through clustering municipalities in has was a necessary step to reach the broad goals stated by the special laws for the reconstruction. as defined also by snai, italy is a polycentric territorial system: the crater as well is a network system among minor villages (together with their mountainous landscapes) and abruzzo‟s major urban poles, l‟aquila firstly (as shown previously in figure 2). the organisation of municipalities in has could represent an opportunity to strengthen the crater‟s inner relations and to introduce innovative governance grounded on productive intersections between national and local outlooks and shared development scenarios. the strategy appears controversial in its implementation: the effective cooperation among di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 129 institutions is questionable since has have no normative authority on single municipalities but are only temporary unions. if it is acknowledged that cooperation among neighbouring municipalities can increase the scope of action of single towns (lintz, 2016, p. 957), the difficulties of voluntary collaboration emerge in the actual design and implementation of shared policies, above all if merging sectorial tools and large-scale perspectives. a symptom of this weakness is the internal fragmentation of has for what concerning the reconstruction plans, demonstrated by table 2: only three has have unitary plans planned by the same designers, and two municipalities even “switched” ha. such resistance to sharing common trajectories is even more alarming in the light of the modest demographic dimension of the municipalities and their very high ageing index (higher than abruzzo‟s and italy‟s 9 ). ultimately, even when the plans propose common projects for a larger territorial scale, they envision scenarios without any mandatory role, fading the unity achieved. the establishment of two special offices, one dedicated to l‟aquila and one to the crater, if crucial for administrative and managerial reasons, makes necessary a specific commitment to building joint policies at a regional systemic scale and to strengthen the relations within l‟aquila‟s territory. on the contrary, the risk is to incongruously exacerbate a separation between “urban” and “noturban” actors and systems, a risk emerging also in the lines of snai definition, as highlighted by urso (2016, p. 460): “can periphery be governed without an urban „node‟?”. 9 italian ageing index is the second highest in the european union according to last eurostat data (eurostat, 2016). di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 130 between restoration and transformation the legislation issued after the earthquake entrusts the reconstruction process of ambitious short-term and long-term goals, as along with the reconstruction plans, for avoiding a mere “physical rebuilding” and exploiting the recovery phase to address economic and social matters. despite the acknowledged purposes of conceiving scenarios able to combine safeguard and development of the settlements (fabietti, 2012), the same legislation limits the potential effect of the plans, and the different binding roles of tools and sub-tools contribute to disconnect the physical reconstruction from social and economic long-term strategies. the often narrow perimeters of the reconstruction plans, together with the necessary control of the public expenditure through the “causality nexus” between damages and compensations, reduce transformative purposes. the time delay in setting and approving the plans (eight are not in force yet) has progressively favoured strategies aiming at a quick return to previous conditions and focused on the urgent rehabilitation of building stocks. also, the partial function of has as binding territorial units did not push for the setting of durable collective scenarios. consequently, even if all the plans for has 4, 5 and 9 refuse an approach oriented to restore the “status-quo” or pre-existing conditions (therefore in line with the original goals of law no. 77 and decree no. 3), their contradictory regulatory roles weaken the efforts put on the ground to promote larger development projects. how to fully exploit the cognitive and experimental value of the plans, which are often the outputs of large research activities or academic collaborations? difficulties in fully leveraging on research, breaking “silos mentality” and strengthening local (technical and institutional) competence emerge also from the debate concerning snai: the expression “enemies of inner areas” has been used to define “promoters of di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 131 closed local communities, which prevent and obstruct innovation process within and among territories” (barca et al., 2014, p. 10). long-term development and territorial capital the crater is a fragile area because of the ongoing depopulation, aged and ageing communities, weak local economies and problematic mobility (mainly caused by the mountainous orography and the absence of an efficient railway system). as already illustrated, to foster long-term development is among the main broad goals of the special post-earthquake legislation, originated by the collective aim of avoiding social and economic difficulties that characterised previous post-disaster recovery paths in italy. inner areas as well as the crater mostly have a dramatic ageing index and lack ordinary capacities to attract investors and coordinate funds-programs or partnerships. to define redevelopment strategies and to implement them in a fragmented territory is definitely a crucial issue. the plans for has 4, 5 and 9 propose preliminary insights and large scale projects to support local economies and communities: they call for a general strengthening of local services, both to increase the attractiveness of these regions for future inhabitants and investors, both to provide an adequate access to services for the present communities, aged mostly. as clearly affirmed by the plans‟ designers, these long-term and large-scale scenarios represent preliminary proposals to address crucial issues – like an integrated system of services at overmunicipal scale – which deserve to be target of essential policies, wider than what a reconstruction plan can design and imagine (caravaggi, 2013; clementi, 2012; università degli studi di padova, consiglio nazionale delle ricerche, politecnico di milano, & sapienza università di roma, 2012). forms of “policy mobility” appear evidently both in the plans, both in the recent debate on inner areas. in all the analysed plans, tourism and sustainable agriculture di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 132 devoted to local productions emerge as interconnected key sectors to relaunch the economic base embedding the reconstruction of “cultural values”. the high environmental and landscape quality makes these places certainly appropriate for nature tourism, already existing; sustainable agriculture is considered an economic sector to reinforce and enlarge for increasing job opportunities and improving local incomes, reducing hydrogeological instabilities and safeguarding biodiversity. tourism arises as a kind of “panacea” in the general debate about the crater‟s future: special funding for promoting tourism-related activities were assigned to the crater in october 2015 10 ; likewise, many first pilot strategies elaborated for snai base their focus on the touristic sector. the chances of a lasting success of tourism as unique engine of development for fragile territories seem rare if touristic activities are not included in a broader and skilled chain of production – overcoming the perception of tourism as chain of consumption 11 . first evaluations of snai‟s preliminary pilot strategies show a very low frequency of the word “job” in their reports, surprising per se and even more if compared to the high frequency of the word “tourism” (punziano & urso, 2016). the priority given to the reconstruction of the built environment, postponing larger development projects, can be deduced from the official funding flows for abruzzo 12 : between april 2009 and 10 decrees of the ministry for economic development, 14 october 2015 and 3 march 2016. 11 notes of the author from fabrizio barca’s final remarks at the seminar “il turismo nelle aree interne” (l’aquila, gran sasso science institute lecture hall, may 31 st – june 1 st 2016). see also the video interview to fabrizio barca by r. ciuffini “aree interne, barca: turismo non basta" available at www.news-town.it. 12 data available on the web page dedicated to abruzzo’s reconstruction in the website of the department for economic planning and coordination of the presidency of the council of ministers (c.i.p.e.), accessed on 2 nd october 2016: www.programmazioneeconomica.gov.it/2015/12/30/ricostruire-labruzzo-3/ http://www.news-town.it/ http://www.programmazioneeconomica.gov.it/2015/12/30/ricostruire-labruzzo-3/ di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 133 december 2015 italian governments allocated more than 8,4 billion euros for the reconstruction, of which 76% for the reconstruction of private buildings and 12% for public buildings; only remaining 12% has been allocated among school building, infrastructures, sustain to industry and research, etc. data referred only to the minor towns of the crater for the period 2009-2016 confirm a similar divide: the socalled “private reconstruction” has been financed for about 1.530 million euros, while the funds allocated for “public and school reconstruction” count about 355 million euros 13 . only in august 2016 the interministerial economic planning committee (c.i.p.e.) approved a “development program” (called “restart”) for about 220 million euros to be used by 2020 , and a “plan of interventions for promoting public reconstruction” for about 57 million euros, both referred to the seismic crater 14 . in regard of the very recent earthquake in central italy, enrico borghi, special adviser for s.n.a.i at the presidency of the council of ministers, highlights questions about “reconstruction for what?”, underlining the necessity of tying the reconstruction to the issues of livelihood and economic vocation of the affected communities and places, to ensure a territorial rebirth avoiding empty “museumifications” (maccaferri, 2016). conclusions: the seismic crater as a paradoxical inner area an evaluation on the seismic crater‟s reconstruction allows a closer investigation on the challenges of implementing (re)development 13 data available on u.s.r.c. website at http://open.usrc.it/, accessed on 2 nd october 2016. 14 c.i.p.e. deliberations dated 10 august 2016confirm what already stated by law no. 125/2015, art. 11, 12. http://open.usrc.it/ di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 134 strategies in shrinking territories. looking at the crater through the lens of snai, it emerges as a peculiar paradoxical territory: on the one hand, pre-existing disadvantages, marginalisation and fragilities typical of italian inner areas already characterised the entire crater, and were worsened by the earthquake, adding new specific challenges to face. on the other hand, post-earthquake reconstruction and related funds offered the chance to open up a new debate in the same territory. the crater can rely on uncommon economic opportunities, dedicated research activities, specialised technical and human skills to build innovative patterns of place-based development and cooperation. interpreting the reconstruction as occasion to boost local development and innovative governance besides the rebuilding of urban fabrics, it appears as a process that risks to combine high costs – due to the extension of the territory and the huge severity of the damages – with limited benefits – because of the small and aged local communities, and the delayed attention for a project dedicated to enhance territorial capital. the ambitious goals of combining maintenance and restoration with the definition of different future trajectories by enhancing inter-institutional cooperation and activating local inertias, are not fulfilled yet, despite the fairly innovative normative framework and a large deployment of scientific and economic dedicated resources. moreover, those goals seem to be weakened by the implementation of that same legislative framework (the “causality nexus”, the narrow perimeters of intervention of the plans, the fragile associations of municipalities). abruzzo recent history seems a missed occasion to fully exploit the reconstruction phase to contrast the pre-existing socio-economic decline: the funding flows show that the rehabilitation of the building stock still emerges as the priority of the reconstruction, rather disjointed by a strategic recovery of territorial capital. seven years after the earthquake, the reconstruction process denotes some criticalities in fostering long-term redevelopment plans; awareness di giovanni – post-earthquake recovery in peripheral areas: the paradox of small municipalities’ reconstruction processes in abruzzo (italy) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 135 and experiences coming from cases like the crater can be beneficial in questioning policies for italian inner areas and communities, and vice versa. the main demanding tasks emerging from this study concerns how: to foster an effective and fruitful inter-municipality cooperation overcoming common local resistances towards “time and resource consuming” joint actions; to characterise flexible tools and time horizons to combine long-term perspectives, supra-local scales and control of public expenditure; to fully leverage and circulate the available cognitive contributions to support long-term development paths and policies. the debates about abruzzo‟s reconstruction and about snai‟s first steps suggest that the first antagonists of new development strategies lie in the lack of capabilities in designing and implementing 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(eds), (2016). cpti15, the 2015 version of the parametric catalogue of italian earthquakes. istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia, doi: http://doi.org/10.6092/ingv.it-cpti15. retrieved on 1 st september 2016, from: http://emidius.mi.ingv.it/cpti15-dbmi15/download_cpti15.htm trigila, a., iadanza, c., bussettini, m., lastoria, b., & barbano, a. (2015). dissesto idrogeologico in italia: pericolosità e indicatori di rischio. rapporto 2015 (233/2015). retrieved on1 st september 2016, from: www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/dissesto-idrogeologicoin-italia-pericolosita-e-indicatori-di-rischio-rapporto-2015 ufficio speciale per la ricostruzione dei comuni del cratere open data, accessed on 2 nd october 2016: http://open.usrc.it/ università degli studi di padova, consiglio nazionale delle ricerche, politecnico di milano, & sapienza università di roma. (2012). piano di ricostruzione area omogenea 4, comune di castel del monte. tav. 14 proposte per lo sviluppo socio-economico. retrieved on 1 st september 2016, from: www.halleyweb.com/c066026/zf/index.php/modulistica/index/dettaglioarea/area/10?sat=1478272083&nodo=nodo5# urso, g. (2016). polycentric development policies: a reflection on the italian “national strategy for inner areas”. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 223, 456-461. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.275 short author biography: grazia di giovanni is an italian urban planner and ph.d. student in urban studies at gran sasso science institute in l‟aquila (italy). her research interests are focused on urban resilience and the role of urban and landscape design and planning in enabling adaptation to nature-related risks. she has previously published in tema journal of land use, mobility and environment. http://doi.org/10.6092/ingv.it-cpti15 http://emidius.mi.ingv.it/cpti15-dbmi15/download_cpti15.htm http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/dissesto-idrogeologico-in-italia-pericolosita-e-indicatori-di-rischio-rapporto-2015 http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/dissesto-idrogeologico-in-italia-pericolosita-e-indicatori-di-rischio-rapporto-2015 http://open.usrc.it/ http://www.halleyweb.com/c066026/zf/index.php/modulistica/index/dettaglio-area/area/10?sat=1478272083&nodo=nodo5 http://www.halleyweb.com/c066026/zf/index.php/modulistica/index/dettaglio-area/area/10?sat=1478272083&nodo=nodo5 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.275 ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 76 local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents gabriella punziano p o st -d o cto r a l re sear c h f ello w, gr a n sa sso sc ie nc e i n st it ut e vial e f. cr i sp i, 7 , 6 7 1 0 0 l’ aq uil a, i ta l y gab r i ell a.p u nz ia no @ gs s i.it giulia urso p o st -d o cto r a l re sear c h f ello w, gr a n sa sso sc ie nc e i n st it ut e vial e f. cr i sp i, 7 , 6 7 1 0 0 l’ aq uil a, i ta l y gi ul ia. ur so @ gs si. it 1 keywords: inner areas; local development strategies; policy design; content and text analysis; national strategy for inner areas (snai). 1 sections “introduction”, “policy design and language: a constructivist perspective” and “research design” have been drawn up by giulia urso; sections “methodology” and “case studies: preliminary local strategies within snai” have been finalized by gabriella punziano; sections “local development in plan documents: main findings” and “conclusions” by both authors. mailto:gabriella.punziano@gssi.it mailto:giulia.urso@gssi.it punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 77 abstract within the huge literature on local development policies produced across different disciplines, comparatively little attention has been paid to an important element as relevant as economic, financial and social capital: the cognitive element, needed in strategic thinking and complexity management, the “collective brain” guiding the decision-making process. in this paper, we investigate what we consider a direct “proxy” for this variable, which is supposed to incorporate that “usable knowledge” assisting those making policy choices: language. language shapes the way problems are conceived, fixes priorities and delimits the range of strategic options. more specifically, our research question inquires which contextual factors are at stake in local development strategy design. the case studies were chosen among the pilot areas included in the italian “national strategy for inner areas”. through a multidimensional content analysis of the plan documents available online, we explored the ways in which development strategies are locally interpreted. the techniques we used allowed us to make a comparative analysis, testing three effects that could have influenced local policy design: a geographical effect, a concept/policy transfer effect, and a framing effect. broader, interesting reflections were drawn from research findings on the local embedded ability to designing consistent and effective development strategies. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 78 introduction in the complex process of conceiving efficient local development strategies, besides the availability of economic and financial capital, a crucial role is undoubtedly played by the cognitive one (dente, 2011). especially in place-based approaches, the issue of knowledge is given much emphasis (barca et al., 2012). policy design acquires a paramount relevance as a premise for effectiveness. in principle, there needs to be a clear connection between the assumed causes of the problem being addressed, the actions put in place to solve it and an insight into what a desirable, feasible outcome would be. the fundamental argument behind this perspective is that “beginning with a coherent conception of the policy is likely to produce a more coherent result” (peters, 2015: ix). language thus plays a key role in policy design: it shapes the way we conceive a problem and thus fixes priorities, delimits the range of strategic options and thereby serves as a precursor to policy outcomes. in essence, “language has the capacity to make politics” (hajer, versteeg, 2005: 179). hence, the importance our study assigns to language analysis and to the categories used to conceptualise action for local development. fewer attempts have been made in analysing plan documents via their language in a comparative way. we are instead convinced that an interesting investigation in this field – which could help enrich the existing theoretical and empirical literature – must begin with a systematic examination of strategic documents, going through the texts describing objectives, actions, and expected results of the policy plan. therefore, our research question inquires whether some (and eventually which) contextual factors are at stake in local development strategy design, observing a place-based, multi-level, centrally-driven policy targeting low-accessibility, peripheral areas in italy, the “national strategy for inner areas” (snai), within punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 79 which our case studies were selected. their relevance for addressing the issue is twofold: i) rural, non-core areas are assumed to lack the necessary reserve of knowledge for effective policymaking (within snai); ii) a place-based approach (which informs snai), combining the efforts of both a better-prepared central level and less-skilled local governments, is supposed to mitigate this starting condition. the rest of the paper is organised as follows. section 2 outlines the main theoretical groundings underpinning our research hypotheses, which are then described in section 3. section 4 and section 5 present methodology and case studies respectively. section 6 explains the main findings, and section 7 concludes with some theoretical challenges for future research and a call for more practice-oriented analysis. policy design and language: a constructivist perspective during the past four decades, public policies analysis has been a relatively fast-growing specialisation in the social sciences (muller, 2009). it revolves around the understanding of the policymaking process, with the ultimate aim of bringing scientific knowledge to bear on decision-making (fisher, 2003). several approaches were developed to understand how policy is both made and implemented (coletti, urso, forthcoming); our focus is on the former aspect of the process, i.e. policy design. this strand of studies puts the emphasis primarily on the ideas informing a plan (peters, 2015) and the framing of possible policy interventions (stone, 1997; chong, druckmann, 2007), basically interpreting policies as social constructions. in this constructivist view, the more interesting one for the purposes of our research, policy design is shaped through argumentation (fisher, gottweiss, 2012). in the geography and punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 80 planning literature, the social-constructivist perspective was embedded into the shift to a relational approach that recognises place as a social construct, generated as meanings are given in particular contexts to particular spaces (allen et al., 1998; graham, healey, 1999; thrift, 1996). most importantly, in developing understandings and dreams about the future of places, this approach recognizes that the imaginative content of strategic spatial planning episodes inevitably organizes the way the materialities are thought about (healey, 2004: 49). as healey (2004) underlines, articulating the vocabulary for a spatial strategy is essentially a political process, involving struggle and selectivity, not just between different interests and power blocs but also within the terrain of the mode of analysis and representation of the policy contents. policy vocabulary reflects the institutional and cognitive context where it was produced. in local development strategies, in particular, it is a primary vehicle to understand the place qualities and the drivers for growth chosen by the area – that is, the uniqueness and specificity of the local project. in fact, many studies interpreted language as a constitutive force of policy, but they primarily focused on the role of rhetoric and narrative in the exercise of power by key actors, especially in foucauldian-inspired research (edelman, 1985; fisher, 2003; lees, 2004; jacobs, 2006). such an analytic attempt brings the question of the role of language used in policies – and especially of its performative power (austin, 1962) – to the fore. though it lies at the heart of policy-making and this is probably the field in which its performative character is most evident, language as a key construct in constituting, enabling or, in some cases, weakening coherent interventions has not been sufficiently theorised and empirically evidenced. what healey (2004) noticed punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 81 about the use of the notions of space and place holds more generally for research on spatial planning. while much of the debate has concentrated on process and actors – and the related question of mobilisation and power (fischler, 1995; faludi, 1996; neuman, 1996) – much less analysis has investigated the nature of some concepts being deployed. this is actually a rich research avenue, especially with reference to local development strategies, as the chosen trajectory of a place is continually contested through local struggles over meanings and values of place qualities. as a relational geography emphasises: “what are recognized as place qualities are shaped by multiple forces, producing multiple development pathways” (healey, 2004: 50). this is why, in spite of the limitations of a rational, positivist view of the policy-making process (fisher, 2003), a rigorous reasoning when combining problems, alternative solutions and their consequences in an organic text is undoubtedly needed. language plays a vital role in building this strict internal logic and in imagining plausible scenarios. this also implies a deep contextual awareness of the issues tackled by policy, and a high level of intellectual capital to be embedded in decision-making. information and knowledge are crucial in policy studies. nevertheless, their optimal use is limited because of the following conditions, all of which affect the effective ability of policymaking to be rational (lerner, lasswell, 1951): bias in the conceptualization of the problem at stake, time constraint, uncertainty, incomplete information, complexity of chains of decisions in governance choices, and non-full predictability of consequences. time constraint (in order to meet project deadlines) and a lack of local knowledge could have played a role in our case study. in this article, we examine the frames of reference and categories related to development used in recent local strategies produced in italian inner areas, which explicitly mobilise endogenous punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 82 (cognitive) capital and especially local actors’ ability to make use of strategic thinking. the vocabulary of plan documents is under scrutiny, to find out how place qualities are conceived and possible futures dreamt about. our research thus aids in developing an understanding of the multiple values and interpretations inner areas attach to the idea of their pathway to development. as discussed above, our study lies on the assumption that the way particular issues are discussed defines the way in which the topic is understood and the perceived possibilities to act. the concepts that are part of the local development discourse, which are part of the contextual “usable knowledge” (lindblom, cohen, 1979), are rooted in specific institutional contexts as well as cultural and political formations. by generating a specific vocabulary (healey, 2004), they enable decision-makers to conceive a vision of the hindrances to development and legitimate certain choices but not others. the lack of connection between the main categories logically interrelated to one another could thereby have a disempowering effect in terms of strategic action in policy documents. articulating local development problems – this not being a selfevident issue – requires conceptual frameworks and analytical capacities, as well as the creative force of agency sometimes lacking in local contexts. a critical aspect in local policies is that their knowledge base remains fragile and contentious and, arguably, locally-relevant information produced in the academic field and by the main organisations is not absorbed as a strategic resource in full. at the local level, knowledge is a scarce resource because of the limited scale, the small size of policymakers’ communities, and the supra-local nature of challenges to be addressed (dotti, 2016). punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 83 research design having sketched the value of an analysis of language and the rationale for applying it to policy documents produced in peripheral regions, where the local stock of knowledge is often scant and dispersed, we now outline how this will be instrumental to our study and the contribution this could make to existing literature. as peters (2015: 4) observed, the approach to design – we assumed in this paper, too – “emphasizes the need for comparative analysis”, which is particularly relevant also because policy design can be generated “by picking ideas from other settings, defined geographically or through policy domains” (peters, 2015: 4). our case studies are an extraordinary field of investigation in this sense: they are local strategies produced by different italian areas that are part of the same multi-level strategy (snai) and are grouped together because of the similar start conditions hindering development (namely, low accessibility and distance from the main service provision centres). pilot areas are asked to produce an adequate design within the same policy domain (local development), but are geographically differentiated, covering the whole national territory. using all cases from snai allowed us to have comparable texts, produced by the same set of actors 2 , issued within the same policy-making process and drafted through a standard form. 2 snai has a complex governance structure, characterized by a horizontal and vertical coordination of numerous institutional public and private actors. concerning the vertical dimension, all tiers of governments are involved: local municipalities, regions and central state. the local development interventions will be financed by all the available community funds (erdf, esf, eafrd, emff), while the ones on essential services are to be financed through additional resources provided for under the italian stability law. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 84 in order to unveil the “geography” of the vocabulary used in snai strategies, evaluate if some spatial patterns exist, and attempt to give some explanations for them, we presume the existence of three effects in policy design in inner areas: i) a geographical effect; ii) a concept/policy transfer effect; iii) a framing effect, which will be investigated through a multidimensional analysis of the contents of the local strategies produced within snai. hypothesis 1 (h.1): geographically close strategic planning areas produce more similar local development strategies than distant ones. research in the area of policy diffusion studies focused on identifying trends in timing, geography and resource similarities in the diffusion of policies (evans, 2009). it was found that diffusion patterns emerge, among other dynamics, from geographical proximity of neighbouring areas (berry, berry, 1999). diffusion also seeks to identify the patterns according to which policies spread and the geographic and structural characteristics of countries that might explain them (stone, 2001). it evokes the idea of “contagion”. methodologically, therefore, “geographic proximity is a frequent operationalization of both learning and emulation” (gilardi, 2016). nevertheless, it is also widely accepted that while offering a good starting point, the classic view of policy diffusion as geographic clustering is often limiting (volden et al., 2008; shipan, volden, 2012; desmarais et al., 2015). that being said, even when they are theoretically uninteresting or blunt, geographybased spatial lags are usually effective predictors of policies, as gilardi (2016) puts it. he also adds that good measures for emulation are challenging and accurate direct indicators are still lacking, pointing at an indirect analysis through observable implications. we instead aim to seize it via a direct analysis of the content. in order to test h.1, aware that geographic contiguity represents nothing but a rough “neighbors variable” specification of punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 85 policy diffusion (baybeck et al., 2011), we check if local strategies produced by pilot areas belonging to the same macro-area (north, centre and south of italy) cluster in terms of vocabulary used to develop them. hypothesis 2 (h.2): local development strategies converge on the basis of the period of their online publication. as all documents are published online on the snai website 3 since their official approval, a “concept transfer” is likely to occur (healey, 2004) with the borrowing of vocabulary from previous local strategies. new technologies make it easier to acquire information and disseminate them, thereby boosting learning from experiences (nilsson, 2006). this is not negative per se, unless it takes the form of an indiscriminate transfer uncritically made by policymakers responding “to complexity by unreflectively cutting and pasting from foreign models” (sharman, 2010: 623). this could weaken the performative action of a local development strategy, disempowering the foreseen policy interventions. poor, partial transplantation is not as well-documented as the “success stories” in literature (stone, 2012). learning from early adopters is also widely recognised as a mechanism of policy diffusion (shipan, volden, 2008) and this seems to us a salient point dealing with strategies with different timing. relying on the key point that when considering transfer one cannot study an iterative process without a temporal dimension (marsh, sharman, 2009), h.2 will be explored by adding the “time” element in our analysis, grouping local strategies by the period of their online publication. 3 http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/index.html http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/index.html punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 86 hypothesis 3 (h.3): guidelines and formats provided by central government trap local strategic documents into some defined sets of categories and meanings. in line with what we discussed under h.2, snai acknowledges that inner areas are not fully equipped with all the economic and cognitive resources needed to carry out efficient development strategies (uval, 2014). aiming at mobilising the “cognitive capital” of selected areas, central government assists lower levels in conceiving their pathway out of marginalisation, in a paternalistic attitude. local strategies, although meant to be highly contextspecific in snai’s intention, can be developed around a limited number of themed strands. in terms of policy design, coming back more explicitly to a constructivist view, it is worth highlighting that: rather than having a single answer to the policy problem different sets of argument ideas will be associated with different design, and may produce different types of intervention (peters, 2015: 3). this framing issue is a crucial political process: it determines not only the kind of policy options to be contemplated but also the actors who will gain resources from the policy (peters, 2015). this is why, as healey (2004) asserts, the kind of imagination that is evoked by the vocabulary used in a strategic spatial planning “frame” does matter. through our content and textual analysis of the development plan documents, we will assess whether the initial inputs (both in terms of eligible sets of actions and of drafting form) provided by the central level harnessed local strategies. in the next paragraphs, after briefly illustrating methodology and case studies, we present the main research findings under the three outlined hypotheses. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 87 methodology acknowledging the primordial relevance of the vocabulary used in policy design, in our study we examined it through a content analysis perspective (benzécri, 1973; stamler, 2001; amaturo, punziano, 2013; tipaldo, 2014) aimed at directly exploring the contents of the local development plan documents produced by some of the pilot areas selected within snai. content analysis can be considered as a wide and heterogeneous range of both qualitative and quantitative techniques for the interpretation of documents within communication or signification processes, be they written, oral, iconic, audio-visual, hypertextual or multimedia. we adopted a quantitative approach, treating text – in this view a set of “minimal units of meaning” – as a set of data comparable to numerical ones, on which statistical analysis can be applied after appropriate processing procedures (bolasco, et al., 2004). a clarification is needed. this choice is not free from criticisms, limitations and pitfalls. as well-explained by krippendorff (2004), a quantitative study of texts based on a multidimensional approach 4 – assuming that it is possible to investigate the emerging meanings from the texts and vocabularies documents employ without having an a priori knowledge of it – cannot but develop an exploratory and contextual knowledge, that is the “local optimum” (fallery, rodhain, 2007), which is valid one and only in that specific case. the absence of an a priori knowledge allows to study the 4 the multidimensional approach gives more emphasis to the structural rather than distributional assumptions in the analysis of relations among the investigated units – the single words in the vocabulary in our case (han, kamber, 2011). punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 88 relationship among texts and their structures and look at the most plausible explanations of the detected trends. a heavy but conscious bias is introduced, which influences the chance to find a particular set of answers, and no other, to research questions. a proper, deep analysis, taking these limits into account, should always be carried out using these techniques as an aid or as a tool (krippendorff, 2004). however, when the main goal of a study is admittedly exploratory and aimed at comparing areas producing vocabularies related to a specific domain (local development), these approaches could be insightful being aware of bounds and biases. through our expected results we do not try to obtain inferences or generalisations: we used them as support in the empirical demonstration of some linear theoretical hypotheses. in our case study, local strategies were investigated through a correspondence analysis on the text data. it allowed us to disclose: the emerging key concepts and the way they are used within the discourse; the strategies for which they are different or similar to one another; the focuses of local strategies, and, how the detected topics contribute to building spaces of meaning within the whole process of local policy-making. the ultimate goal is to assess how the use of a certain vocabulary in policy design gives rise to types and quantity of strategic options, helping us to test the three hypotheses at the heart of our research. the main expected results are the emergence of a first summary of the information contained in the strategies and the identification of the latent meaning dimensions underlying the different concepts of local development. we relied on three techniques, namely: punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 89 frequencies analysis 5 , to discover the peculiar language within the preliminary drafts; lexical correspondences analysis 6 , to compare the emerging latent meaning dimensions related to different spheres of discourse; cluster analysis 7 , to classify the conceptualisations of local development expressed within strategies. case studies: preliminary local strategies within snai for the purposes of our analysis, the texts prepared within the italian “national strategy for inner areas” (snai) are a stimulating case study as they are all public and available online. launched in 2012, snai’s aim is to create developmental tools likely to foster a series of improvements in the wellbeing of populations living in inner areas (urso, 2016), through both better access to basic services and use of the territorial capital 8 , defined within snai as the natural, cultural and cognitive capital embedded in a place. this should lead to an inversion of the 5 this procedure provides hints on absolute or relative frequencies of words, keysymbols or segments in a text or in a set of texts, as an indicator of interest and salience of meaning. 6 a factorial analysis technique on textual data devoted to produce a synthesis of the information contained in the analysed texts; a graphical representation of the network of associations between words and between words and texts; the connection between textual data and context data (benzécri, 1973; amaturo, 1989). 7 a dimension reduction analysis aiming at synthetizing the analysed information in few characteristic groups (lebart, 1994). 8 territorial capital is defined as the system of territorial assets of economic, cultural, social and environmental nature that ensures the development potential of places (perucca, 2014). punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 90 negative demographic trend. by means of an initial screening of the national territory, 21 areas have been selected to enter the pilot phase. what is interesting from our perspective is the multi-step text production pilot areas are requested by the central government, which provides feedback and ensures support throughout, right up to its completion. it is a territorial co-planning operation carried out by the minister for economic development and coordinated by a technical committee assisting local actors. three kinds of documents are to be produced by local institutions before the complete package of interventions will be formally sanctioned through a programme framework agreement: a brief draft of the strategy (text 1); a preliminary extended version of the strategy (text 2); the proper local strategy (text 3). we examined twelve texts 2 9 , which follow a precise scheme prepared by the central government, including the following sections: key idea; education; local development; health; mobility; municipalities involved; main actors; expected results 10 . in order to test our research hypotheses, we took into consideration the only paragraph devoted to local development. for this part, as for the other, pilot areas were provided with some guidelines for elaborating their strategy. this could lead to a potential bias because of the framing effects for which we checked. as we have seen, this is a very relevant issue because it could be difficult for local areas to detach from the proposed structure received by the central government in the policy design phase. we selected the 9 authors of texts are not clearly indicated. 10 http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/documenti_di_lavoro/index.html template for drafting preliminary strategies is the document called “format di preliminare di strategia”. http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/documenti_di_lavoro/index.html punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 91 documents officially approved and available on the website 11 to test also the existence of a concept/policy-transfer effect: under this hypothesis, the texts published first influence those that come later. to this end, we grouped preliminary strategies by their online publishing period: table 1 – selected pilot areas by on-line diffusion period source: our elaboration. case studies were also chosen to ensure the three italian macroareas were represented (four pilot areas for each of them) in order to test geographical effects in strategy production: table 2 – selected pilot areas by location source: our elaboration. 11 preliminary draft strategies (texts 2) allow a representation of the whole national territory, differently from the proper strategies (texts 3) that are not available in many cases, yet. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 92 figure 1 – case studies representativeness source: produced by g. di giovanni, gran sasso science institute. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 93 local development in plan documents: main findings the first step taken was to analyse the contents of the sections devoted to local development within twelve texts 2 in order to identify common words and peculiar language. figure 2 shows word frequency diagrams. the one on the left represents the general vocabulary emerging from all local development sections. the other ones display the vocabulary of each single text: common words to all strategies are marked in orange, the same colour as the general diagram; specific words detectable in single strategies are assigned different colours. the higher the frequency of the words or key concepts, the greater their salience and the interest on that specific issue. the most frequent word is thus territory, followed by local and area, configuring a first sphere of meaning related to the policy “scale”. a second sphere of meaning collects words concerning economic activities (production, services, chain, companies, network, management, resources) as well as main sectors (tourism, cultural, agricultural, heritage). a third sphere includes words pertaining to a broader interpretation of development, embedding a social dimension (young, offer, quality, enhancement, path, social). analysing common language 12 , a greater contribution to general vocabulary is made by the strategies outlined by basso pesareseanconetano, alta irpinia, basso sangro-trigno and alta marmilla. these are mostly italian central and southern areas and are the later strategies to be published online. this leads us to reflect on the concept/policy transfer effect: we would have expected the 12 this was operationalised as the amount of common words of each strategy out of the total number of the more important words across all strategies. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 94 opposite result, with the first published strategies (by “early adopters”) laying the groundwork for the general vocabulary. reflecting on peculiar language some foci could be identified: 1. tourism, mostly sports, and promotion of natural resources, like woodlands and parks (antola-tigullio, valchiavenna, valtellina), and of the primary sector (agriculture and typical food products, fishing, etc.); 2. tourism, but mainly cultural and heritage, and enhancement of local productions and artefacts, as well as of local services and sense of belonging (casentino-valtiberina, basso pesareseanconetano, alta irpinia, sud ovest orvietano and alta carnia); 3. a more diversified economic and social development, aiming at young employment, competitiveness, attractiveness, innovation, especially with reference to the agricultural and local food productions sectors (alta marmilla, madonie, montagna materana and basso sangro-trigno). a tendency to cluster by macro area emerges. this could be explained by the geographical effect hypothesis. the separation between northern and southern areas is well evident, except for the second group, which collects strategies from the whole national territory. acknowledging the reciprocity (cycling) relation existing between place and policy-making, we interpret this geographical impact in its narrow sense: similar local structural (physical and cultural) conditions in close territories could have generated more similar policy options. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 95 figure 2 – word frequency diagrams: peculiar language and common words source: our elaboration. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 96 in order to investigate the framing effect hypothesis, we built a matrix with a set of binary variables assessing the presence of each of the five assets foreseen in snai guidelines with reference to local development (table 3). the themed strands are territorial protection and management; valorisation of natural and cultural resources; renewable energy; agricultural and agro-food systems; know-how and crafts. we also added a sixth variable to record the presence of activities that are not indicated in the official frame. table 3 – pilot areas by presence of thematic assets source: our elaboration. the strategies that developed more policy lines among the ones provided by snai belong to “southern italy” (montagna materana, madonie, alta irpinia). they also imagined some more extra options not included in the given list of assets (together to alta marmilla, and basso sangro-trigno, the only in the “centre”). they all fall into the third and fourth publishing phases. the remaining texts are more strictly bound to the institutional guidelines in designing their own local development strategy: a greater framing effect seems to be at play in this group. because of the limits of this kind of quantitative analysis, however, other punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 97 factors not detectable through it could play a role. the choice of concentrating efforts on only a few objectives could be one, for instance. in order to better interpret these results, we tested the three hypotheses by adopting a multivariate and multidimensional technique: lexical correspondence analysis was coupled with a cluster analysis, to investigate the “semantic spaces” contributing to the production of “latent dimensions of meaning” in each text. figure 3 graphically displays the main results. the information contained in texts were summarised through a factorial analysis. the axes on the plan represent the intersection of two latent variables, which are two substantial dimensions contained in texts, but not immediately detectable through a mere reading. the horizontal axis (from left to right) opposes two different ways of conceiving the pathway to local development. on the one side, we have a “generic”, a-specific vision based on the tertiary sector (namely tourism, mobility, and services of general interest), with a low specificity of the mentioned local resources. on the other side, we can distinguish a context-specific vision, substantiated by a text that makes place qualities more explicit, also aiming at external recognition through brands and quality certifications coupled with an investment in advanced sectors (renewable energy). the vertical axis (from top to bottom) opposes two categories of resources: cultural, human, social capital and natural, environmental and built capital. from the comparison of the twelve texts through a cluster analysis, three different “models” of local development strategies emerged. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 98 figure 3 – lexical correspondence analysis on the twelve local development sections source: our elaboration. this factorial graph summarising the results of the lexical correspondence analysis (about 43,000 words, 7,000 graphical forms, the percentage of distinct word 15,7%, final vocabulary made up of 600 clean graphical forms with a cut-off frequency equal to 10, 65,6% of extracted inertia from the first two showed factors. a non-hierarchical cluster analysis has been conducted, cutting the dendrogram in three classes – representing respectively 29%, 28%, and 43% of total variance – with 56% of extracted inertia. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 99 starting from the bottom-left quadrant, we find a group made up of all texts produced in the “first online dissemination phase” and in the “northern” macro-area, except for casentino-valtiberina (belonging to “centre” and “second phase”). this group, which we named “tourism-led development”, gather non-specific strategies, mainly focused on tourism, and natural and urban environment (with no reference to place peculiarities in terms of offer and attractions). this class forms a very cohesive cluster, collecting words connected to a mountain, sports, and accessible tourism, such as wood, forest, mountain, park, sport, disabled, care, gym, alpine, promotion, mobility, tourism, sustainable, environment, landscape, hospitality, accommodation, traditions. the top-left quadrant collects policy documents belonging to “centre” and to the “third publication phase”, at the intersection of an “a-specific vision” and a “cultural, human and social capital” axes. the model falling into it was defined as “unspecialised heritage-led development”, mainly connected to historical resources. many assets appear on the plan and it is not possible to detect the leading ones that local contexts focus on as drivers for their pathway to development. this class proposes, in fact, a rather multi/general-purpose strategy, or even an over-purpose one, with a generic reference to a broad conception of heritage. the aim of enhancing cultural resources emerges, but no specific activity to this aim is mentioned. most relevant words are culture, history, art, creativity, museum, tourism facilities, foreigners, city, historical centres, little companies, itineraries, associations, municipalities, archaeology. the last group shows a remarkable difference from the previous ones. it includes local strategies produced by the “southern” macroarea within the “second and forth online issue periods”. it occupies the half plane of a “context-specific vision” focused both on the punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 100 “cultural, human and social capital” and the “natural, environmental and built capital”. it could be defined as a “placeled development”, mainly linked to cultural capital. the area proposes a knowledge/innovation-driven development strategy, giving great centrality to local actors and to their ability to control and internalise knowledge and external information. the outlined model relies on endogenous assets and their self-sustainability, combining the enhancement of well-defined context-specific cultural resources (related to food, events, museums, and handicraft) with the promotion of the (renewable) energy sector and small industrial firms. most frequent words are renewable, energy, regeneration, biodiversity, leadership, local actors, food, local productions, events, eco-museum, music, school, community, young, innovation, public, private sector, research, international, productivity, learning, integration, urban space, information. this set of terms is very far from the language used in the other preliminary drafts, forming a totally independent space of meaning. relying on these results, we can discuss our three hypotheses. as for the geographical effect, a clusterisation is evident on the plan (“north”, in the bottom-left quadrant, “centre” in the top-left and “south” in the right ones), suggesting an influence of the neighbouring variable in the design of local development strategies. the interpretation of findings for the concept/policy transfer hypothesis is more controversial: while first, second and third issued strategic documents are similar to one another, fourth disseminated texts differ very much. we would have expected small incremental changes to be displayed, little detaching from the previous periods as it is for the three first groups circulating. the fourth issued group, entirely from southern italy, instead, shows some breakthrough innovations, using a totally different vocabulary, which does not seem to build on the previous ones. this could be indirectly related to an intrinsic cause, referring again punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 101 to a geographical effect: the difference in initial territorial conditions. alternatively, it may be because of some intellectual autonomy facilitated by the availability of more time. concerning the framing effect hypothesis, strategies on the right side show a greater capacity to enrich the guidelines and the template provided by national government: they are the only ones that developed the asset of “renewable energy” and which foresaw activities not included within the centrally-proposed themed strands. if coupled with the previous finding, one possible, tentative explanation could be that having embedded snai objectives and methods, they showed an ability to design local development strategies that “extend” the “physical” (format) and “cognitive” (list of contents to be included) scheme outlined by the central government. as we saw in the first paragraph (sharman, 2010), the first experimental pilot areas, since they had no points of reference, produced strategies fitting more strictly within the provided frame. conclusion researchers increasingly recognise the important role of language in the policy arena. in essence, the main assumption is that language used by decision makers both shapes and limits what policies focus on and how they articulate strategic options. it is indeed a necessary constituent of the sequence of decisions and resource commitments characterising policy action. any kind of problem is in the end “socially constructed” (feindt, oels, 2005), building on specific concepts and categories. our study stems from a deep interest in the role of ideas, knowledge and competence in shaping policies and from the awareness of the fundamentally performative character of language in policy-making, which challenges us to rethink decision makers’ punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 102 responsibilities. we, therefore, compared local development strategies produced by a number of pilot areas included in the “national strategy for inner areas” through a content and text analysis. more specifically, we put forward three hypotheses accounting for some potential effects impacting policy design in these peripheral areas: a geographical effect, a concept/policytransfer effect, and a framing effect. we found that geographical and framing effects seem to have played some role in shaping local development plans, while the interpretation of the policy-transfer impact is less plain to see. findings of our exploratory study merit some deeper analysis to answer thoroughly such complex research questions. however, these insights could help to enrich the existing empirical literature in comparative policy analysis, as well as the debate on policy design in the framework of multi-level governance. many issues within the geographical and ppa literature, such as pathdependence processes, imitation resulting in mimetic isomorphism (stone, 2012) of strategic documents and local conditions for effective planning, among others, still call for a more comprehensive understanding. more specifically, further research, relying also on qualitative methods, could investigate how consistently vocabulary of plan documents is used and fits with real contextual needs of strategic areas, or endogenous and exogenous factors affecting local policy design. from a practice-oriented perspective, an interesting avenue could assess which governance models and participatory mechanisms are likely to be more conducive to produce locally effective place-based policies. punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan 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(2001). an overview of content analysis. practical assessment, research & evaluation, 7(17), 137-146. stone, d. (1997). policy paradox: the art of political decisionmaking. new york, ny: w.w. norton. stone, d. (2001). learning lessons, policy transfer and the international diffusion of policy ideas. csgr working paper no. 69/01. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/researchcentres/c sgr/research/abstracts/abwp6901/ stone, d. (2012). transfer and translation of policy. policy studies, 33(6), 483-499. doi: 10.1080/01442872.2012.695933. thrift, n. (1996). spatial formations. london: sage. tipaldo, g. (2014). l’analisi del contenuto e i mass media. bologna: il mulino. volden, c., michael, m.t., & carpenter, d.p. (2008). a formal model of learning and policy diffusion. american political science review, 102(3), 319-32. doi: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/researchcentres/csgr/research/abstracts/abwp6901/ http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/researchcentres/csgr/research/abstracts/abwp6901/ punziano, urso – local development strategies for inner areas in italy. a comparative analysis based on plan documents ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vi, issue 1 2016 109 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003055408080271. urso, g. (2016). polycentric development policies: a reflection on the italian “national strategy for inner areas”. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 223(c), 456-461. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.275. uval (2014). a strategy for inner areas in italy: definition, objectives, tools and governance. materiali uval series, 31 (documenti). rome: http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/doc umentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree _interne_eng.pdf short authors biography: gabriella punziano is post-doctoral research fellow at gran sasso science institute, social sciences unit. she is a sociologist with particular interest in methodological issues. giulia urso is post-doctoral research fellow at gran sasso science institute, social sciences unit. her research interests include local development, rural-urban relationships, cultural events. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.275 http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree_interne_eng.pdf http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree_interne_eng.pdf http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree_interne_eng.pdf ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 82 a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning1 marcello magoni ar ch it ect , dep ar tm en t o f ar ch it ectu r e an d ur b an s tu d ie s. po lit ecn i co d i m il an o em ail : m ar c ello .m ag o n i @p o l im i. it rachele radaelli ar ch it ect , dep ar tm en t o f ar ch it ectu r e an d ur b an s tu d ie s. po lit ecn i co d i m il an o em ail : r ach e le.r ad ael li @ p o lim i. it keywords: territorial risk assessment, urban planning, heat risk mapping, climate transition, adaptation to climate change abstract the heat risk territorial assessment is a tool for evaluating strategies and actions to combat high temperatures because it can consider the spatial factors and trends and to identify the places of greatest risk. this tool requires the use of a method based on the mapping of hazard, exposure and vulnerability factors. this article is the report of two complementary and integrated activities that describes an elaboration path not yet concluded. the first activity concerns the continuation of the development of a functional evaluation method for integrating territorial risk analysis with urban planning tools; the second activity, carried out as part of an applied research on climate change adaptation actions, concerns the application of a method of heat risk territorial assessment of the population. this application was made on a municipality of the città metropolitana di milano where we were able so far to develop only some aspects of the risk analysis, while later we will integrate this application with the urban plan. however, the repercussions on urban planning decision-making processes that the aim is to achieve range from pervasive and aware management of urban transformations oriented towards the overall reduction of heat risk levels to the realisation of resolutive punctual interventions. 1 with the contribution of nicola colaninno for mapping. magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 83 introduction the increases in temperature and magnitude and frequency of heat waves due to climate change increase the endanger health and comfort of people in urban areas, especially on the most vulnerable population. since the cities are not evenly exposed to hazards, it gets very useful to identify hotspots of higher risk within an urban area. therefore, the heat risk territorial assessment based on the mapping of hazard, exposure and vulnerability is a fundamental tool for the development of effective strategies and contrast actions based on interventions on physical-morphological, socio-economic and organizational factors of a city (wang et al. 2016, bernatik et al. 2013, kleerekoper et al. 2012). these factors, unlike those used for the elaboration of emergency strategies and actions, have a predominantly structural nature and require longer intervention times to obtain a significant, but lasting, reduction in risk levels (klinke, a. and renn o., 2002; renn and klinke, 2013). therefore, from the planning point of view it is necessary to integrate the heat risk territorial analysis with the typical processing paths of urban planning tools (renn and klinke, 2013; georgi et al. 2012; birkmann, 2007). within this process of integration, the mapping of heat risk factors constitutes key steps in applied research to give methodological and applicative completeness and solidity to this tool starting from some operational steps such as the representation, evaluation and the weighting of risk factors. starting from consolidated and worldwide recognized procedures eu, 2010; ipcc, 2018 and 2022; c40 cities, 2018; jrc, 2021; iso 14091:2021; undrr, 2022), in recent years, this result has been much less difficult to achieve due to the greater availability of digital data, including those remotely detected with high spatial resolution (soil temperatures, vegetation shading, land uses, ...) which allow the use of models and produce sufficiently accurate maps for risk assessment (perge et al. 2014, bechtel et al. 2015, middel et al. 2022). this article is a contribution towards the development of effective methods of heat risk territorial assessment to support the development of risk reduction strategies integrated with urban planning. such assessments must be based on open, flexible and repeatable mapping systems, which is also an important requirement to support stakeholder participation and the adoption of co-design practices. the paper is divided into three parts. the first part describes the theoretical and applicative characteristics of a method of heat risk territorial assessment functional to the elaboration of plans, programs and strategies for the reduction of this risk. the second part is dedicated to a brief illustration of an application case, carried out in the context of an applied research funded by the italian ministry for climate transition (ap+a 2022), concerning the elaboration process of the summary maps of the heat magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 84 risk territorial assessment of the population of a municipality in the città metropolitana di milano. the third part reports the main theoretical and applicative problems encountered in the development and application of this method and indicates the probable future developments to be implemented. 1. a method of heat risk territorial assessment 1.1. assessment and methodological characters 1.1.1. theoretical references this method can be placed in the set of methods, not formally defined, which assume the following two principles as guidelines: 1. rigorous use of risk analysis criteria as defined by the main international players dealing with risks due to climate change (united nations, european union and ipcc); 2. adoption of a rigorous approach in the development of the evaluation method and in its application in planning processes, the steps of which must achieve a coherent succession in logic and content. the use of risk analysis criteria requires that the assessment process is based on the interaction of the three classic risk factors, of which we recall the characteristics that are assumed in this method (author, based on eu 2010 and ippc, 2018): • the hazard, which indicates an event or a phenomenon whose occurrence generates negative impacts (damages and losses) on the territorial system, understood here as a complex system which includes not only the physicalnatural elements, but also socio-economic and cultural ones, and whose dangerousness is a function of the probability that it will occur and of its intensity, frequency and spatial dimensions; • the exposure to hazard of the territorial system, which indicates the total value of people, goods, ecosystems, etc. which could suffer the negative effects of the hazard on their structures, functions and capacity to cope and adapt; • the vulnerability of the exposed territorial system, which indicates it, and its elements, propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected by a hazard and therefore to suffer losses and damage to their structures, functions and capacity to cope and adapt. vulnerability depends on socio-economic, environmental and institutional factors and the characteristics of the built environment, the uses of resources and the activities that take place there. in order to obtain a coherent and consistent succession of the various phases of elaboration of this method, it is necessary to clearly define and appropriately develop, magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 85 possibly sharing them with the stakeholders, the following evaluation steps: (papathoma-köhle et al. 2016b; roeser et al., 2012, renn and klinke, 2013; renn, 2008; basta, 2012; birkmann, 2007): • identification of the risk, understood as the identification of the context and basis of the risk assessment; • type of use of risk analysis, which can support plans, programs or projects or monitoring systems; • definition of risk criteria, to decide to what extent a risk is acceptable, tolerable or intolerable (eg number of deaths, number of medical interventions, material damage, financial losses); • the basis of the risk assessment, characterized by the type of hazard, territorial scale (regional, urban, neighbourhood, ...), elements at risk (people, ecosystems, buildings, ...), and the metric used to express the risk (papatomaköhle et al. 2016a); • identification, processing, mapping, measurement and evaluation of indicators sufficiently representative of the object of evaluation and consistent with the set of factors defined for risk analysis. to these two principles we can add the adoption of local climate zones (lczs) as functional and territorial units of hazard assessment. the “lcz system” was developed by stewart and oke over 10 years ago (stewart and oke, 2012) and has been adopted and developed in numerous applications in different countries around the world (bechtel et al. 2015, lelovics et al. 2016). in this process, the use of lczs serves both to identify the different areas of a territory that have a homogeneous character from the point of view of determining the intensity of heat, and to support, in the design and implementation phases of the urban plan, the intervention criteria. 1.1.2. the aim of this method the general aim of this method is to support plans, programs, strategies and projects to the reduction of the heat risk, especially in the urban areas. to reduce significantly the heat risk, the activation of a long process based on an in-depth knowledge of the causes and potential effects of the adverse phenomena in order to identify and implement the most effective strategies and actions to combat is required. it is therefore necessary to plan, program and project the most suitable interventions, from the urgent ones to those that can be carried out in subsequent phases, from those functional to reduce or eliminate the hazards to those aimed at adapting to the impacts of residual hazards. the aims of the heat risk territorial assessment can be grouped in three categories of support: magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 86 • to the construction of risk scenarios resulting from climate change, which generally refer to the pessimistic, optimistic and most probable conditions among those expected to occur in the future in the area; • to the development of strategies and the identification of actions and interventions useful for reducing risk levels based on the identification of the areas on which to intervene and on the assignment of intervention priorities; • to the monitoring of the actions carried out, with the evaluation of their effectiveness with respect to the project scenario. besides, the support to measure and evaluate the impacts over time of urban and territorial transformations on the heat risk levels, including the effects of the actions on the intensity of the urban heat island, fall into this category. in planning and strategic processes, the heat risk assessment is often revised and must be changed over time. therefore, all informative, cognitive and evaluative steps should always be updatable or editable and integrable even with new themes. this requires that all the elaborations can be retraced in case of redefinition of criteria, functions and / or transformation parameters or addition of further information. in this way, it is also possible to carry out more assessment paths based on different criteria and parameters, thus favouring the participation of stakeholders and citizens in the assessment and decision-making processes and improving the information on which decisions are made. the heat risk territorial assessment should consider, compatibly with the availability of data, the following impacts: • the climatic malaise that affects the inhabitants and workers of a place; • the triggering or worsening of diseases and increasing the probability of death in the most vulnerable and fragile people; • the degradation of urban greenery and the death of trees; • the increase in forest degradation and the likelihood of fire, resulting in the death of wild animals; • the climatic malaise of farm animals. water scarcity should not be considered since this phenomenon does not significantly affect the spatial factor as it is determined by the methods of water management and water infrastructures. therefore, the assessment of the effects of this impact must be carried out through water balances of the area. to assess the territorial heat risk is necessary to use a special map system functional to respond to the aims described in this and the previous section. 1.1.3. the maps system and its use in the planning processes to spatially represent the heat risk levels in order to support urban and territorial planning processes, it is not enough to draw up summary thematic maps for each risk magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 87 factor, but it is necessary to build a digital map system in which the various application steps are well structured (see figure 1). this system, based on the overlay mapping technique, must be structured with respect to the three risk factors indicated in the previous section, which are represented by as many thematic maps defined by us respectively map of danger levels, map of exposure levels, map of vulnerability levels. to these maps must be added the risk levels map, which is the final product of this map system. this system must also support the forecasting, design and evaluation process typical of planning, in which the maps of synthesis must have further versions in order to support the representation and the evaluation of the evolutionary and design scenarios of the heat risk and the relative monitoring. figure 1 structure of the digital map system for territorial risk assessment source: authors’ elaboration the hazard levels map is functional to identify the most critical areas of a territory and to know the factors that determine them, in order to identify the most effective places and interventions to reduce the hazard. the territorial distribution of heat hazard levels depends on meteorological factors that are influenced by the characteristics of urban settlements and rural and natural stands, such as air temperature, relative humidity, radiant heat and ventilation (lai, 2020). the phenomenon of heat waves, on the other hand, has no significant effects on the territorial distribution of the hazard, so it must be considered in the measurement or estimation of the previous meteorological factors. the exposure levels map represents the entity or density of one or more of the exposed elements of a territory to heat stress, which can be: inhabitants, workers and magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 88 city users; urban green areas and trees; farm animals and crops; natural habitats and wild animals. the vulnerability levels map considers the socio-economic, territorial, environmental and institutional factors that can influence the effects of heat stress on one or more of the exposed elements and which therefore influence the types and intensity of losses and damages (krellenberg et al., 2017; sera, 2019). these factors are the sensitivity to the hazard of the exposed elements, the ability of each of them to protect themselves, the vulnerability of the territorial system and its individual elements and the potential adaptation capacity of the system. the risk levels map is generated by overlapping the three previous maps and the risk levels are assigned based on the previously attributed hazard, exposure and vulnerability levels. these three maps constitute synthetic thematic maps, being obtained by the overlapping of elementary thematic maps, i.e. maps referring to single indicators, each of which is generated by the elaboration, in succession, of two types of elementary thematic maps: analysis thematic maps, which represent the territorial distribution of the measures or characteristics of the indicators considered, and the evaluation thematic maps, which represent the territorial distribution of the values attributed with respect to the measures previously obtained. the transition from measures to values2, see for example the attribution of the hazard levels to the temperature measures of the cells into which a territory is divided, and therefore from the thematic maps of analysis to those of evaluation, must carried out using criteria and transformation functions specific to each indicator. the same operation must be done for the generation of the summary thematic maps, which are obtained by superimposing two or more evaluation thematic maps, in order to obtain a representation of the territorial distribution of the summary values of the indicators considered. the risk levels map is finally obtained by overlaying the three previous summary maps using criteria and/or functions for transforming the related summary values into final summary values. to measure and evaluate the effects over time of urban and territorial transformations on the heat risk levels, the "baseline synthetic maps" must be drawn up, with which 2 by measurement we mean the direct or indirect comparison of a physical quantity with its unit of measurement in order to determine the extent of this quantity. by evaluation we mean the determination of the value of a physical or abstract quantity for the purpose of formulating a ranking, a judgment or a decision. the determination of the value is made by individuals, stakeholders or segments of the population. in determining the values of this type of maps, thresholds of hazard, vulnerability and risk based on available knowledge and experience are considered. weighting is the attribution of weights or levels of importance to the evaluation factors considered based on subjective criteria possibly oriented by the knowledge or measures of the phenomena considered. magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 89 the measures and values of the indicators at the beginning of the risk assessment process are represented. we will thus have the following maps: baseline map of hazard levels, baseline map of exposure levels, baseline map of vulnerability levels, baseline map of risk levels. the elaboration steps of the baseline maps also constitute the references for the elaboration of all kinds of synthetic maps. for the assessment of the risk scenarios, the hazard levels maps for each climate change scenario considered must be elaborated and then the corresponding risk levels maps must be elaborated using the baseline maps of exposure and vulnerability levels. for the assessment of the project scenarios, the set of synthetic maps (hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk) must be developed, estimating the effects of the actions and interventions envisaged. for monitoring, comparisons must be made between the set of baseline maps and the corresponding maps developed for the period being monitored, thus being able to measure the modifications of these levels with respect to the interventions carried out to mitigate the heat risk and the ordinary urban transformations. this operation also allows to evaluate the effectiveness of the various actions carried out and therefore to be able to identify any changes to the strategy or plan developed. 1.2. the heat risk territorial assessment for the population 1.2.1. the territorial assessment of heat hazard levels the physical-natural characteristics of a territory, and the human activities that are done inside, are the factors that most influence the microclimatic conditions of urban, rural and natural areas and are those factors that determine the formation of urban heat islands. these characters belong to the set of territorial factors that determine the levels of hazard, exposure and vulnerability and which are therefore the main objects of the heat risk territorial assessment to support the development of strategic and planning tools. to evaluate the structural factors that influence the heat hazard, lczs are used, which, however, represent relative and not absolute levels of that indicator, so that they can only be comparable within the same city or territory (geletic et al. 2016). in fact, the lczs that are physically equivalent but located in cities at different latitudes, as helsinki and nairobi, do not have the same hazard levels and therefore they must be considered differently. therefore, the hazard levels should be attributed to the different lczs on the basis of the specific parameters that have been measured or estimated. precisely because the lczs represent the structural factors of a territory and therefore magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 90 change slowly over time, they can be used as territorial units of the set of synthetic maps of the heat risk territorial assessment. the climatic parameters that have different trends on the territory and that can therefore be measured to attribute the hazard levels for heat-stress to the lczs can range from simple temperature to the combination of temperature and relative humidity, see humidex index, to more sophisticated parameters such as utci (universal thermal climate index) 3 . since the climatic parameters have different trends both during the single hot seasons and between the hot seasons of different years, the measures to be considered will be identified with respect to past climate scenarios or, when it is possible, the future ones. to measure the effects over time of urban and territorial transformations on climatic hazard and comfort, including interventions aimed at reducing the intensity of the urban heat island, it is necessary to develop the baseline map of (heat-stress) hazard levels, which it can constitute the base map on which to evaluate the effectiveness of planning and strategic tools. the following procedure for making this map also constitutes the procedure for elaborating the hazard maps for subsequent years: 1. identification and first delimitation of the lczs through the analysis of the physical-morphological characteristics of the territory based on elaboration of satellite imagery possibly integrated with land use maps; 2. definitive delimitation of the lczs through the overlap of a grid, whose dimensions should fall between 30x30 and 100x100 meters, in which the reference temperatures of a hot day or the average of the temperatures of several hot days obtained through the elaboration of satellite imagery (eldesoky et al., 2019). this overlap allows to verify the level of adherence of the lczs to the real temperature trend, reviewing the unsatisfactory perimeter of the lczs and refining the uncertain ones; 3. identification, based on the climatic parameter to be considered (temperature, humidex, utci), of the scenario deemed most significant with respect to the use of the hazard levels map to be made and attribution to the lczs of the hazard measurements thus obtained; 4. elaboration of the function of transforming the hazard measurements into hazard levels, which are assessed with respect to the impacts on human health (see point 1.2.2.); 3 in assessing the heat hazard, the pet (physiological equivalent temperature) index is not indicated here because it also considers the activities that people perform and the clothing they wear. since these two parameters are representative of the vulnerability of people and not of the heat waves hazard, as well as a theoretical inconsistency, its use could lead to an overestimation of these parameters. magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 91 5. drafting of the baseline map of hazard levels, which is used both to continue the assessment of the risk related to heat-stress, and to evaluate the temporal and spatial trends of the hazard. this map is generated by transforming the measures into hazard levels based on the transformation function elaborated in the previous step. 1.2.2. the assessment of the heat sensitivity levels of the population the effects of excess heat on health range from premature death to the lack of climatic comfort, through the reduction of physical capacities and the presence of symptoms that require the use of first aid. these effects become more relevant with the occurrence of heat waves and as a function of their intensity, lengths and frequencies. during a heat wave, the risk of mortality is a function of both the maximum daytime temperatures and the minimum night temperatures and relative humidity (d'ippoliti 2010, smargiassi 2009). in fact, the absence of nocturnal remission from high daytime temperatures reduces the recovery of the human body's thermoregulation mechanisms. furthermore, the effects of heat waves also depend on how they manifest themselves. when they occur at the beginning of the summer season, they have a greater impact than those of equal intensity that occur subsequently, this due to both a progressive adaptation of the population to climatic conditions, and a lower presence of very sensitive people due to previous deaths. the physiological and cultural adaptation of populations to heat is a protective factor. in tropical regions, characterized by permanently high and prolonged warm temperatures, the effects on the inhabitants only manifest themselves starting from temperatures significantly higher than those to which equivalent effects occur in temperate regions (hajat 2010). for example, the temperatures in which the minimum daily mortality is observed vary from 21°c to 24 °c among the north-continental cities, while among those in the mediterranean area they vary from 27°c to 33°c (gasparrini et al. 2015). finally, there is a synergistic effect between atmospheric pollutants and heat on the increase in mortality to be considered, especially due to the high concentrations of pm10, sulphur dioxide and ozone. if the exposure of inhabitants and workers is given by their density, their vulnerability to heat depends on numerous factors, the main ones are: age, health conditions, socioeconomic conditions, behaviour (stafoggia et al. 2005, wilhelmi and hayden 2010, basagaña et al. 2011). the most sensitive people are the elderly, children and infants, pregnant women, those who regularly take drugs, the chronically ill especially with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, diabetes and kidney failure and people with mental diseases or who use alcohol and drugs (kovats et al. 2008). furthermore, socioeconomic factors, such as poverty, isolation, poor knowledge of the local language and magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 92 limited access to the media, increase the conditions of fragility because they reduce risk awareness, limit access to emergency solutions, do not allow temporarily move to cooler areas or install air conditioners in their homes. since only demographic data are often available, as it is difficult and burdensome to collect georeferenced socio-economic data, and that the age of people is a good indicator of the population's sensitivity to heat, a map can be directly drawn up in which the densities of the inhabitants are distinct with respect to the age groups representative of the different levels of sensitivity to heat. this map can become the map of the population's sensitivity to heat through the development of a function that attributes a level of sensitivity equivalent to heat to the age classes of inhabitants and workers. furthermore, if there is not enough georeferenced data on the system vulnerability, the map of the sensitivity of the population could become the map of the vulnerability levels. 2. processing of heat risk maps for the population of trezzano sul naviglio 2.1. the methodological steps the municipality of trezzano sul naviglio has a population of over 20,000 inhabitants, an area of almost 11 sq km and is in the south-west quadrant of the milan metropolitan area (see figure 2). its urban structure is characterized in the centre by the rural village surrounded by areas of small villas and condominiums with a high share of private greenery and by the presence around it of large industrial and productive areas, including the vast commercial areas along one of the main radial roads to the city of milan. figure 2 location of the municipality of trezzano sul naviglio in the northern italy source: authors magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 93 the elaboration of heat stress risk maps of the productive and residential areas of trezzano is one of the first applications of this method. these maps are functional for identifying the most critical areas of the municipal territory in order to establish an order of priority for urban cooling interventions. the need to carry out these elaborations in a limited time and the reduced availability of the necessary data has led to a simplified application of this method, an application which we report here in order to clarify the elaborations to be carried out. in this regard, the data available were the following: • the data to identify the lczs, which constitute the territorial units of hazard levels; • the data of the average temperatures of each lcz, obtained through a geostatistical model that estimates the air temperature at about 2 meters above the ground starting from the data measured by the weather stations and thermal images derived from the earth (equipped with modis sensors) and landsat satellites at 10:30 and 21:30 solar hours on 4 august 2017. the day chosen is the hottest day recorded in that year by the main weather station in the area. since the times considered do not represent the hottest day time nor the coolest night-time, they are not representative of the absolute heat-stress hazard, but of the relative one between the different lczs. consequently, the map of heat risk levels is defined map of relative heat risk levels; • data on the number of workers and the number of residents by age referred to the census sections, which constitute the territorial unit used for the preparation of the vulnerability map. since the georeferenced data on the age, sick days and pathologies of workers, on the health and economic conditions of residents and on the adaptive capacity of the population and of public and private structures in the area are not available, for the assessment of vulnerability it was only possible to consider the sensitivity of the population. the processing of the map of relative heat risk levels was made by the following steps: • identification of lczs through a cluster analysis for the automatic classification of areas with similar type-morphological characteristics. four variables were considered: building height, sky view factor, albedo and vegetation. the latter was quantified on the basis of the normalized difference vegetation index, a vegetation indicator detected by satellite imagery; • definition of the criteria for attributing relative hazard levels to lczs and drafting of the map of relative heat hazard levels; • elaboration of the function for the attribution of the sensitivity values of exposed population and drafting of the map of heat vulnerability of exposed people levels; magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 94 • elaboration of the function for the attribution of heat risk levels based on the relative hazard levels and vulnerability levels of the population and drafting of the map of relative heat risk levels. to facilitate the interpretation of risk levels in identifying the intervention actions, the hazard and vulnerability levels have been limited to 5 for each factor. 2.2. map of relative heat hazard levels this map assumes the lczs as the reference territorial unit, to which the relative hazard levels are attributed on the basis of the temperatures estimated through satellite images. the day and night temperatures have different representativeness characters of the relative hazard. the diurnal ones, which were detected at an early morning time (10:30 solar time), are a representation of what could be the relative conditions of the different lczs in the hottest hours, while the night temperatures, measured shortly after sunset (solar time 21:30), do not return the conditions of greater hazard due to the night-time heat, which are instead represented by the minimum night temperatures, indicative of an overall nocturnal condition in which people have difficulty recovering the stress due to the daytime heat. therefore, the map of relative heat-stress hazard levels was obtained starting from the map of daytime heat hazard levels, on which the map of night-time heat hazard levels was overlayed. the daytime hazard levels were therefore replaced with the night-time hazard levels where these were higher. with this criterion, the worst relative conditions between day and night-time were represented. for the processing of the map of relative heat hazard levels the following steps were carried out: 1. calculation of the 5 relative hazard levels for daytime heat (h 10:30) of the lczs based on the proportional division of the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures estimated for all the lczs (see table 1 and figure 3); table 1 – formulas to calculate the relative hazard levels of the lczs levels formulas low from tmin to tmin + ((tmax tmin) / 5) mid-low from tmin + ((tmax tmin) /5) to tmin + (((tmax tmin) /5) *2) middle from tmin + (((tmax tmin) /5) *2) to tmin + (((tmax tmin) /5) *3) mid-high from tmin + (((tmax tmin) /5) *3) to tmin + (((tmax tmin) /5) *4) high from tmin + (((tmax tmin) /5) *4) to tmax where tmin minimum temperature of all the lczs tmax maximum temperature of all the lczs source: authors magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 95 2. calculation of the 5 relative hazard levels for night-time heat (h 21:30) of the lczs based on the proportional division of the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures estimated for all the lczs (see table 1 and figure 4); 3. identification of the differences between the day and night relative hazard levels by overlapping the map of daytime heat hazard levels and the map of night-time heat hazard levels (see figure 5); 4. processing of the map of relative heat hazard levels, obtained by replacing the daytime relative hazard level with the night-time relative hazard levels when these were higher (see figure 6). figure 3 picture of the map of daytime heat hazard levels source: authors magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 96 figure 4 picture of the map of night-time heat hazard levels source: authors magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 97 figure 5 picture of the map of the differences in the relative hazard levels between day and night source: authors magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 98 figure 6 picture of the map of relative heat hazard levels source: authors 2.3. maps of heat vulnerability of exposed people levels and relative heat risk levels in this application, it was possible to evaluate the vulnerability only with respect to sensitivity based on age classes. therefore, it was not necessary to elaborate the map of heat people exposure levels to directly develop the map of heat vulnerability of exposed people levels. in that last map, the equivalent sensitivity density of inhabitants and workers is taken as indicator. the inhabitants and workers sensitivity levels to heat were evaluated with respect to the effects of heat such as thermal distress, morbidity and mortality (aldighieri et al. 2022, ministero salute 2022, baccini et al. 2008). these effects mainly affect two categories of people: the elderly and children. the elderly, especially if they are chronically ill (cardiopathic, diabetic, hypertensive, etc.), are the people most at risk due to a greater sensitivity to heat, a lower stimulus of thirst and a reduced efficiency of thermoregulation. furthermore, they may have a lower capacity to defend themselves from the heat if they have a reduced mobility and live alone. children and, even more so, infants, due to their lower capacity to thermoregulate and the inability to express any discomfort related to environmental conditions, are more exposed to magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 99 the risk of excessive increase in body temperature and dehydration, with possible consequences harmful to the cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological systems. on the base of the indications of the studies listed above, the sensitivity of the inhabitants to heat was structured by the authors on 6 age groups. minors were divided into infants, from 0 to 2 years, children, from 3 to 12 years, and adolescents, from 13 to 18 years, while the elderly were divided into elderly, from 60 to 75 years, and very elderly, over 75 years old. to these 5 classes was added the class of adults, from 19 to 59 years old. since the most part of workers is in adulthood and in good health, not going to work in case of illness, and being present in the workplace for about 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, their exposure and, in this application, their vulnerability is lower than that of the adult class of residents. the function of transforming the inhabitants by age groups and workers into sensitivity values is shown in the following table. the sensitivity values were attributed by the authors using the pairwise comparison technique supported by a hierarchical ordering of the different classes of inhabitants and by interpreting the indications contained in the studies on the effects of heat on humans. those values can be attributed more rigorously when consolidated statistical surveys consistent with this type of evaluation will be available. table 2 transformation function of inhabitants by age group and of workers into sensitivity values people classes sensitivity value workers 0,1 inhabitants from 20 to 59 years 0,3 inhabitants from 15 to 19 years 0,4 inhabitants from 5 to 14 years 0,5 inhabitants under 5 years 0,6 inhabitants from 60 to 74 years 0,8 inhabitants over 74 years 1,0 source: authors the map of heat vulnerability of exposed people levels (see figure 7) was therefore produced by multiplying, for each census section, the number of workers and the number of inhabitants for the age groups indicated in table 2 by the values reported in it, obtaining in this way the partial sensitivity values. by adding these partial values in each census section and dividing them by the surface of these sections, the overall values of sensitivity to heat have been obtained (see table 3). magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 100 table 3 – formula to calculate the values of sensitivity of the census sections c = ((w *0,1) + σ (in * sn)) / a where c census section w number of workers i number of inhabitants of the nth class s number of sensitivity value of the nth class a area of census section in square meters source: authors those values were then classified with the same criteria (proportional attribution of levels based on the division into 5 parts of the difference between the maximum and minimum values found in the various census sections) and formulas used for the levels of hazard into 5 levels of heat vulnerability. figure 7 picture of the map of heat vulnerability of exposed people levels source: authors finally, the map of relative heat risk levels is obtained by overlaying the map of relative heat hazard levels, which adopts the lczs as a territorial unit, with the map of heat vulnerability of exposed people levels, which adopts as territorial units the census sections. therefore, this map consists of territorial units which are the polygons obtained by crossing the lczs with the census sections. magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 101 the risk levels, assigned to the new territorial units on the basis of the attribution of a slight prevalence to the hazard compared to the vulnerability (see table 4), made it possible to produce the map shown in figure 8. table 4 transformation function of relative hazard and vulnerability levels into heatstress relative risk levels relative hazard levels vulnerability levels low mid-low middle mid-high high low very low low mid-low mid-low middle mid-low low mid-low mid-low middle middle middle mid-low middle middle middle mid-high mid-high middle middle mid-high mid-high high high middle mid-high mid-high high very high source: authors figure 8 picture of the map of relative heat risk levels source: authors magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 102 3. problems and perspectives this method of heat risk territorial assessment, whose function is to support urban and territorial planning processes and whose experimentation is currently being carried out on two other territories in northern italy (ties of brescia and metropolitan city of milan), has still not been sufficiently developed in its application due to the delay with which the elaboration of the plans in which it will have to be integrated is being carried out. however, these experiments have brought to attention various theoreticalmethodological questions, which are also found in the assessment of other types of risk, to which we are trying to give ever more comprehensive answers. most of these issues can be referred to the need to produce a single final map of the set of impacts deriving from heat excess, a functional operation to represent, compare and/or communicate the partial and final results of a complex and articulated assessment and mapping. this path requires to arrive at attributing comparable values to the different types of exposure and vulnerability using tools such as digital maps, functions for transforming measures into values, weighting methods and mathematical models. in this regard, the structure of this method has the characteristics to allow to differentiate the assessments of the different types of exposure and vulnerability and to rigorously manage the production and use of the maps, keeping them separate or integrating them according to their function, which can range from the identification of intervention strategies and actions to their monitoring and evaluation of their effectiveness and efficiency in solving the problems faced. the partial experimentation of this method has not yet made it possible to verify its capacity to achieve a good level of transparency in the performance of the related processing, sharing it with stakeholders and citizens, and the use of maps in urban plans. therefore, the development of this method is moving in three directions. the first concerns the expansion of the experimentation of the specific heat stress assessment techniques, such as those relating to the types of impact (illnesses and premature deaths of people, thermal discomfort, tree die-off, ...), to the elements exposed (city users, trees, crops, ...), vulnerabilities (sanitary structures, tree species, ...), to the mapping techniques and evaluation criteria. the second concerns the development of techniques and assessments of other risks due to climate change to achieve the most comprehensive possible assessment and mapping method. in this regard, an important step concerns the integration of heat risk with flood risk, on which some applications have already been made, as they have the most impact on urban areas. the third concerns the experimentation of different ways of representing and communicating information to support both the planning processes and the coplanning activities to be carried out with stakeholders, professionals and public administrators. magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 103 references aldighieri, f., de’ donato, f., rossi, p., michelozzi, p. 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(2016). study on territorial risk assessment in beibu gulf of guangxi. iop conference series. earth and environmental science, 41(1). doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/41/1/012020 wilhelmi, o.v., hayden, m.h. (2010). connecting people and place: a new framework for reducing urban vulnerability to extreme heat. environmental research letters, 21411(5), 70-59. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/5/1/014021 https://www.epicentro.iss.it/caldo/pdf/case_caldo.pdf https://www.undrr.org/publication/technical-guidance-comprehensive-risk-assessment-and-planning-context-climate-change https://www.undrr.org/publication/technical-guidance-comprehensive-risk-assessment-and-planning-context-climate-change magoni, radaelli – a method of heat risk territorial assessment to support the urban planning ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xii, issue 1 2022 108 short author biography: marcello magoni the author has been working for about 40 years in the academic and professional fields of urban, landscape and environmental assessment and planning. he is responsible for climate change, risks and resilience laboratory of the department of architecture and urban studies (politecnico di milano). he has written about 100 articles in national, international and online journals and has written and edited some books. rachele radaelli the author is an architect at politecnico di milano, department of architecture and urban studies and a member of the climate change, risk and resilience laboratory. she carries out research and training activities in the fields of spatial planning, environmental and territorial assessment and climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. box 1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 giacomina di salvo issn: 2239­267x architect, phd in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di from a geological point of view italy is a young and dynamic country; this explains why almost all of its territory is characterised by seismic hazard, at different levels. not only that of hazard but other indicators determine the seismic risk: vulnerability (of structures, buildings and towns) and exposure (functions and numbers of occupants). the italian urban system shows a very high level of vulnerability, due to both its high urban density, a diffuse historic heritage and the weakness of prevention and safety goals in urban planning. as an example, the damages provoked by earthquakes in italy are statistically much greater compared with what happens in other seismic areas like california or japan; the earthquake which struck the two central italy regions of marche and umbria in 1997, caused the same level of damage as the californian earthquake of 1989, where the seismic event had been much more violent. a brief history of the main earthquakes in italy in the last fifty years underlines the lack of a useful and effective national legislative framework to address the problem. the point is that national policies have always been focused on emergencies and on reconstruction rather than on prevention, that the policy of reconstruction and reduction of seismic risk in italy a brief history of recent earthquakes ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 di salvo ­ box 1: reconstruction and reduction of seismic risk in italy is to say, following an event rather than trying to prevent its worst effects. as a matter of fact, each strong earthquake has brought the production of many laws for reconstruction, without creating a systematic framework of policies and tools for prevention. only with the national law 77/2009, originated after the tragic seismic event in the town of l'aquila, have some steps been taken in this direction. this act provides for a national plan for the mitigation of seismic risks and it should be implemented at regional and local level through specific tools directed to defining local levels of seismic hazard (geological micro zoning analysis) and to improve urban and territorial capability for emergency management. references http://www.protezionecivile.gov.it/jcms/it/emerg_it_sismico.wp nimis p. (2009), terre mobili: donzelli; di salvo g., giuffré m., pellegrino p., pizzo b., for inu working group: seismic risk and urban vulnerability, comparative and critical notes on recent italian legislations in the field of seismic risk (unpublished). main earthquakes in italy in 20th century and their consequences on the seismic risk policy ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 di salvo ­ box 1: reconstruction and reduction of seismic risk in italy main earthquakes in italy in 20th century and their consequences on the seismic risk policy ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 80 comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts. casestudy:haftchenar, iran vahid moshfeghi i n str u c to r , dep ar tm en t o f ar ch it ectu r e an d u r b an d esig n , i sl am ic azad un iv er si ty , qazv in , i r an . m o sh f eg h iv ah id @g m ai l.co m +9 8 9 1 2 5 1 1 2 3 9 0 . mohammadjavad mahdavinejad as so ci ated pr o f e sso r , de p ar tm en t o f ar ch i tec tu r e , tar b iat mo d ar e s un iv er s ity , teh r an , i r an nargesahmadpour ph d stu d en t , dep ar tm en t o f ar ch it ectu r e an d u r b an p lan n in g , ar t un iv er s ity o f teh r an , i r an . samirayousefian ph d stu d en t , dep ar tm en t o f ar t an d ar ch i tectu r e, tar b iat mo d ar e s un iv er si ty , teh r an , i r an . keywords: sense of place; expert base analysis; exposure-based analysis; decision making; decision taking. abstract city managers need to make the best decisions possible in order to achieve optimal patterns for developing cities, and for making such decisions managers require different groups of experts and consultants to help in choosing the best options in the specific field in question. in general, the views of policymakers are based on the comprehension and definition of the quality of urban space which in turn is based on two different approaches of experts-based and exposure-based. the questions that follow are the basis for this study: are there any similarities or differences between what experts mean by ’space’ and how users define it? how trustworthy are the results of the team of experts and their decisions? how can we improve experts ‘analysis of urban areas? the research method is qualitative. this is an applied research and the research strategy is abductive. the purpose of this study was to determine the differences between the points of view of experts and the laymen on the quality of urban space in the haft-chenar area. the data gathering method is structured observation and interviews. 450 questionnaires were completed through interviews. after analyzing the differences between the responses of the expert team and users of the urban space, as well as the initial response of the expert team and their final responses, it has been concluded by the authors that the evaluation of the quality of space should be based on a combination of expert opinions and those of the people. the combination of ideas will generally compensate for each other's shortcomings and provide a more accurate analysis of the qualities of urban space. as a result, utilizing participatory approaches in urban planning and design will improve the quality of location and more appropriate decisions can be made. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 81 introduction city managers need to make the best decisions possible in order to achieve optimal patterns for developing cities, and for making such decisions managers require the help of different groups of experts and consultants so as to be able to make the best decisions in the special fields in question(horowitz, 2017). considering the importance of decision making and due to the consequential effects of the experts’ decisions on the future of the city, a question arises and that is to what extent can these decisions be trusted, how correct are they and how much are they based on reality. the answer to this question must be sought by investigating the views of the different groups involved in urban affairs. people as users of space, experts as community decision makers, managers and urban development planners as legal, decision makers in city affairs have different point of views and understanding as to what space really is and the needs and shortcomings of urban space. this difference is due to the relative concept of space. according to the formal sociologic theory, social forms are not real structured entities. each social phenomenon includes different types of formal elements. they create the real basis, but they don’t come into existence in a practical way. in expressing the principle of forms, simmel believes that “the world is made of different things that the human being defines by forcing shape, creation and content. simmel made a distinction between shape and content, he believes that social shapes can have different contents and on the contrary, different contents can have different shapes (frisby, 2002; scaff, 2005; waizbort 2008; plummer, 2000). therefore, the implication of experts on shape doesn’t necessarily fit the content and in the analysis of the meaning of space, miscalculations may occur. participatory strategies (ellery & ellery, 2019) and place making (strydom, puren, & drewes, 2018) need to be taken into account to achieve the right analysis and decisions concerning urban space as a social phenomenon .the idea of place making stems from a phenomenological tradition in geography was ''place is space imbued with meaning'' (kalandides, 2018). it can be argued that each individual's experience defines their perception and meaning of space. the meaning may be quite different for different groups and individuals. the ways in which people make sense of space are different (kalandides, 2018). so, decision making differs among different groups, their needs and perceptions and their meanings must be taken into account. hence, this study intended to address the questions below: • are there any significant differences or similarities between the opinions of experts and the laymen in analyzing the quality of the urban space? • how reliable can the expert team's perceptions and consequently their decisions be? • how reliable can people's opinions be in analyzing the quality of urban spaces? moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 82 • how can the expert-based analytics of urban spaces be improved to achieve realistic plans? some theoretical considerations the concept of community participation is a fundamental discussion of concepts related to tranquility. the main idea behind localization is the changes that occur when community members participate. by engaging community members in public consultation processes related to public urban space planning and development, citizens play a more active and influential political role in revitalizing the environment (ellery & ellery, 2019). but the idea of partnership itself involves a lot of discussion on principles, forms, frameworks and actors (kalandides, 2018). citizen participation has been encouraged as one of the main ideas in urban development processes. the basis of the partnership is that “…those who are affected by a decision have the right to be involved in the decision-making process”. this subject has become more important as the citizen's demand for participation grows. the creation of new regulations and laws by international donor agencies had a double effect on speeding up this issue (mohammadi, norazizan, & nikkhah, 2018). generally speaking, the general approach is to enhance the level of participation and achieve maximum participation, participation of people in the local level of decision making, promote achievements and good governance (mohammadi et al., 2018). peter and jane ellery (2019) emphasized on the importance of participating in promoting a sense of place and place making. irvin and stansbury (2004) outlined the benefits of participating in the process and outcome of public projects: • education(learn from and inform both citizens and government representatives) • build mutual trust • improve the level of cooperation • gain legitimacy of decisions • avoid litigation costs • better policy and decisions on implementation. on the other hand, some studies have taken a critical look at the idea of participation. these studies have carefully assessed the process challenges, costs, and outputs of participatory processes and have examined the barriers to effective participation. what emerges from these studies illustrates the sharp difference between the theoretical foundations of participation and what we are faced with in practice and its scope. mohammadi et al. (2018) argued that the authorities are not really interested in public participation. he shows that the disagreement between the local government and the people about the extent of participation is due to their difference in perception of participation. besides, cultural factors hinder citizen participation in the planning process. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/dosearch?contribauthorstored=irvin%2c+ren%c3%a9e+a https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/dosearch?contribauthorstored=stansbury%2c+john moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 83 • lack of education about planning issues • lack of confidence in their ability to provoke change • lack of interest in participation • political issues • technical aspects of planning • equal representation of the public (gershman, 2013). irvin and stansbury (2004) have also looked at the disadvantages of participation. they believe that time, cost, pointless backfire and lose of decision making control are the most important disadvantages of participation. these studies challenge the utility and effectiveness of the maximization of partnership approach and the extent and intensity of people's participation in the planning process has become a theoretical challenge. quick and bryson (2016) discussed the desirable and workable levels of participation as an area of knowledge that needs further theoretical developments. table 1 presents some interpretations and inconsistencies inferred from the concept of partnership. reviewing the research background shows that: • the planning environment requires specific requirements that need to be identified. what groups and how to participate in the process of participation needs a thoughtful plan. • in any kind of partnership, conflict is inevitable. so choosing the best solution to achieve the optimal results and maximum consensus requires research. this is an important step and needs to be considered before starting a partnership. • participation is relative and adventitious; therefore, it requires background and training for both participants and professionals. • the wider the creativity, flexibility and range of participants, and the less the role of formal and political institutions and the direct influence of elites and experts, the greater the satisfaction in the results. • as the spectrum of participants grows, disagreements increase and consensus becomes more difficult, so the facilitator's role becomes more important. • as a presupposition one should expect: 1) there is a difference between the opinions of people (residents and users of space), 2) specialists and researchers, and 3) legal political and managerial institutions. the more interconnected these groups are, the better their results and achievements. table 1: research background on citizen participation and decision making contradictions in the concept of participation idea title authors year professionals have unrealistic, academic and idealistic goals that make them unable to see common and trivial problems. residents are responsible for planning and decision-making. citizen participation in the decision-making activities of formal social service agencies: an unreasonable goal? cohen 1976 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/dosearch?contribauthorstored=irvin%2c+ren%c3%a9e+a https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/dosearch?contribauthorstored=stansbury%2c+john moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 84 the academic knowledge of specialists should be shared with the public and ultimately concluded. -integrating the opinions of experts and public stakeholders -action researcher citizen participation and academic expertise: the unexplored promises of action research halachm 1980 in computation and judgment, people can be persuaded, but in times of uncertainty, inspiration and public acceptance are important . communicative action as a complement to technical rationality . citizen participation through communicative action: towards a new framework and synthesis khisty & leleurcitizen 1997 intellectuals' opinions and decision-making by professionals, even if they are realistic and in line with the needs of society, still neglect the needs of the deprived groups. -public benefit activities -pluralism -the difference principle towards cosmopolis: planning for multicultural cities sandercock 1998 the historical experience of planning shows that the interests, goals and values of people, planners and elites are inconsistent. -democracy -value -pluralism urban planning theory since 1945 taylor 1998 conflict and convergence of the views of social institutions in the context of collaborative planning. -institutionalism -communication planning -integrated, place-focused public policy institutionalist analysis, communicative planning, and shaping places healy 1999 those who know space have a better understanding of space than strangers. -local changes of living environment -applying research results in practice creating better cities with children and youth-a manual for participation driskell 2002 -it is almost impossible to reach an agreement that everyone is happy with. -the contradiction between planning and actual achievements in space. -dialogues -values -collaborative process planning with complexity: an introduction to collaborative rationality for public policy innes & booher 2010 -power of political influence and capital owners. -the conflict between the interests of the constituents, parties, power holders with respect to the real need of the people. -communication planning -public interest -the power of the local community citizen participation in urban planning and management: the case of iran, shiraz city, saadi community mohammadi 2010 -challenges between the knowledge of professionals and legal and informal institutions -professionals who simultaneously participate as professionals and as participants in social institutions are an important challenge in partnership. -balance of power in partnerships -the difference between professional and local knowledge -the importance of real partnership -training and empowerment of institutions, organizations and professionals remaking participation: challenges for community development practice eversole 2010 -the use of power and authority in participation process. the role of the local community as the main actor. challenges and advantages of nour 2011 moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 85 -the main challenge in the participation and decision making is the low level of social organizations. community participation as an approach for sustainable urban development in egypt -understanding space and designing it should be done by local communities and social organizations. -the official role of governmental and private agencies must be reduced. -participation -public interest people and planning report of the committee on public participation in planning (the skeffington committee report ( shapely 2014 the difference between formal and informal partnership levels. -active participation system -the difference between the nature and type of participation. power and influence in urban planning: community and property interests' participation in dublin's planning system pauline 2015 -inefficiency of poor and deprived classes in the process of participation. -decreasing elite power in decision making process. -understanding the true collective narrative. -social storytelling, community informatics and the art of public relations. beyond the rhetoric of participation: new challenges and prospects for inclusive urban regeneration ferilli 2015 experts judge the environment without regard to specific features, and the results of the assessments vary with people's mentality and understanding. -consensus in participatory processes. -planner as facilitator. planners’ role in accommodating citizen disagreement: the case of dutch urban planning özdemir & tasan-kok 2017 -by getting people involved, it becomes easier for the opposition to accept the plan. -creativity in decision making. -participation of different groups. managing community engagement: a process model for urban planning suvi & tero 2017 experts' interpretations differ from what people expect or expect from space. -participatory practices and their inherent conflicts. -participatory practices need to be defined according to the political context and planning environment . city politics and planning rabinovitz 2017 -to get useful feedback from non-specialists. -integrating citizens' ideas and desires into the urban planning process. citizen design science: a strategy for crowdcreative urban design johannes 2018 disagreements are not the same everywhere (different needs and wants of institutions, employees, businessmen and residents). locals, officials and professionals participation. institutional stakeholder participation in urban redevelopment in tehran erfani & roe 2020 source: authors moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 86 material and methods when choosing the sample size, firstly some deprived districts were randomly chosen in tehran. then to survey these districts, in regard to the objective of our research, the district which has a center with a specific application was chosen. out of all the primary observed samples, haft-chenar district was considered as a place meeting the requirements due to both quality and its intensity of space usage. the case study is boostan-etemad in haft-chenar which is presented in figure 1. haft-chenar is located in the south of tehran. economically speaking, this area is among the lower-middle class districts of tehran with a population of about 30299 people. this district is an old district of tehran which has a traditional mood in some ways. figure 1 the study area. source: authors methods of testing in the process of this research, at first, the experts′ team surveyed the area and they answered the questions based on their personal findings of the quality of space. in order to determine the sample size from an unknown population of the case study users, the score of quality of the urban space in the case study with its standard deviation was calculated for 30 primary samples. the score of quality of the urban space in the case study with its standard deviation was calculated as 0.52. the desired equation for calculating the sample size is as follows (suresh & chandrashekara, 2012): n = (zα/2)2 s2/d2 where n is the sample size, s is the standard deviation obtained from primary sampling, zα/2 is the z-score at 95% confidence interval and d is the margin of error. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 87 therefore, by putting the standard deviation in this equation, and choosing the d=0.05, the sample size will be 416. for data gathering, the same questionnaires were distributed among 450 individuals. sampling technique was based on random stratified sampling. we tried to select respondents who were fairly familiar with the district that was being studied. furthermore, the desired statistical society was classified into three parts. this separation was based on the age group in statistical society. then, each of the age groups were divided into two groups of men and women. as shown in table 2, the statistical society was divided into six groups. the questionnaires were completed during one week in january 2019 from 9 am to 7 pm. table 2: data description of addressees age groups 12-25 26-50 more than 50 total gender male female male female male female count 57 75 90 450 66 45 450 source: authors after filling in the questionnaires, the experts` team again answered the questions, based on their deeper understanding of space, through a deeper analysis of how the space could be experienced from an outsider’s point of view. in order to find the difference between expert′s analysis before and after the interviews with people in the case studies, one sample t-test with a 95% confidence interval was done. in general, one-sample t-test compares the mean of a single column of numbers against a hypothetical mean that you provide. the research process is displayed in figure 2. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 88 fig. 2 the research process source: authors analysis of data in this section, the questionnaire will be handed out to four major groups, and then the results will be presented in the framework of tables and diagrams. a 5-point likert scale is done to get people′s perception of place. in this method, a number of propositions are prepared, which showed the method of considering special events. here, the responder is being asked to express his agreement or disagreement with each subject based on 5-point likert scale. participants reviewed the subjects based on this spectrum. options are not numerically assigned, so as not to affect the judgment of the respondents. thus, after the questionnaires are returned, the spectrum will receive points from 1 to 5 (point 5 refers to totally agree, and point 1 refers to totally disagree). the sum of these points which is obtained from the participants shows their tendency. it should also be mentioned that the questions are designed based on the proposed criteria in project for public spaces (pps). literary writing form of the questions was changed to make it easier to understand. the method of asking the questions was changed in a way that positive answers show the increased quality of space and the negative ones show the low quality of space. considering the specifications of urban space in iran, and the culture and other conditions of the environment, the content of questions has been localized. hence, the index of reliability for the test is 0.724 which is considered as moderately reliable (nunnally, 1978). since, in analyzing the theoretical framework extraction criteria for quality measurement of location the initial score of experts locationlōˈkāsh initial visit by experts interview with space users calculate the average score of space users localization of pps questions the final score of experts moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 89 quantitative issues, the difference of approaches between experts and consumers of space has no relevance, in this research, only those questions which are related to the qualitative matters are asked. table 3 presents the questionnaire templates. table 3: sample form of research questionnaire questions a c c e ss a n d l in k a g e 1 is this space easily accessible? 2 is there a good connection between the space and the adjacent buildings, or is it surrounded by blank walls? do occupants of adjacent buildings use the space? 3 can we expect people to walk to their ultimate destinations? for example, do they have to use their cars to reach this urban space? 4 is this urban space suitable for use by those with special needs? (e.g. the blind, disabled people etc...) 5 is this area suitable with respect to integrated multimodal transport systems (like use of motorbikes, cars, taxis, and bicycles and so on)? c o m fo r t a n d im a g e 6 does the area give people a good feeling the first time they visit it? 7 are there both women and men? 8 is there enough space and urban seating facilities? do people have a choice as to where to sit? (e.g. sitting in the shade or sun) 9 is the area clean and without scattered rubbish? 10 does the area induce security? 11 do people take photos of the area? u se a n d a c tiv itie s 12 do people use this urban space regularly? (how many times a day / month)? 13 do a wide range of people use the area?(different genders and different ages) 14 do people usually come to this urban space individually or with family and friends? 15 do a variety of activities usually take place in this urban space? 16 is there any place in this urban space which is not being used? are there any hidden corners or any uncrowded spaces? 17 is there any person or organization responsible for monitoring this urban space? s o c ia b ility 18 would you choose this urban space for meeting or visiting friends? 19 do people know each other by name or by sight? how many people do you greet and how many of them do you know by sight? 20 do you bring your friends or family to see this urban space? are you proud of the haft-chenar museum? 21 do people visit this urban space because of their personal interest, or just because they have no other options? 22 are local groups involved in any activities in this urban space? 23 have you ever seen someone pick up rubbish from the ground? how much do people care about keeping the area clean? (derived from pps, 2015) in table 4 the expert team scores before and after the relative understanding of the urban space and people′s ideas are presented. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 90 table 4: results of scores from among the received questionnaires questions score of audit group in the first survey resulted average score by users of survey in the space score of audit group after interviewing residents a c c e ss a n d l in k a g e 1 2 3.62 3 2 2 3.12 2 3 2 3.52 2 4 1 2.56 1 5 3 2.80 2 c o m fo r t a n d im a g e 6 4 3.24 4 7 2 3.70 4 8 5 3.00 4 9 4 3.50 3 10 5 3.26 3 11 1 3.40 2 u se a n d a c tiv itie s 12 4 3.68 4 13 2 3.54 4 14 4 2.90 3 15 3 3.44 4 16 1 2.86 2 17 1 2.46 2 s o c ia b ility 18 5 3.30 4 19 5 3.76 4 20 4 3.16 3 21 5 3.18 4 22 1 1.96 1 23 1 3.46 2 source: authors results after proposing collected data, we will compare people′s ideas about quality of the studied area with those of the specialists, before and after the interview survey. access and linkage in terms of the first question, due to personal experience of the audit group, this question had a lower score. table 5 and figure 3 compare the experts and public opinions on the field of access and linkage. but at the end of study, by determining its varying boundary and signs and functions (such as haft-chenar museum) and also observing some of informative sign board, these criterions achieved higher scores. because of local knowledge and pre-existing ideas about the case study, people have also evaluated this criterion appropriately. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 91 in the second question, because of not seeing population density in the area, the audit group chose a lower score, in accordance with the drop in activity criteria and connection between the space and the adjacent buildings. because of the expectations of specific routines for certain hours in the day and different days, interviewees pointed out the ceremony which was held in the entrance. therefore, they devoted a higher score to the criteria, but importance of continuity of these activities taking place in the urban environment is related to the quality which in the final evaluation of the audit group does not achieve a good status. measuring pedestrian accessibility shows that the expert does not evaluate this quality as a proper one, due to a pathway which has heavy traffic in the rush hour. but because there is no way of comparing this environment with an optimum one, people are satisfied to some extent. once again and for the second time, audits, based on specific standards or criterion, do not agree with environmental safety regulations fully. that is why they ignore the opinions of the interviewees in spite of their relative satisfaction about the environment. according to the answers of the 4th question in table 5, most people agree that this area is inappropriate for people with disabilities and the elderly. but audits take into account the need of all potential users of space; and because of this there is less difference between the score of the audit group and others. due to the presence of sufficient taxis, the accessibility quality was assessed as appropriate. over time and after acquiring a deeper understanding of the location, low performance in services such as the lack of taxis in certain hours of the day and the low quality performance in bus services became apparent. hence, they discovered an inadequacy in terms of public transportation resources, for the second time. fig. 3. comparison between the understanding of users of space and experts on space about related context of area quality (access and linkage). source: authors moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 92 table 5: comparison between the understanding of users of space and experts about related context of area quality (access and linkage) source: authors comfort and image by assessing the initial feelings of individuals upon urban space, being in such an area and having memory association with that place, makes them feel better. on the other hand, the desirable initial sense of the expert team to the place does not change before and after the interview. table 6 and figure 4 compare the experts and public opinions on the field of comfort and vision. in terms of men and women sharing urban space, in the first survey, experts claim that men have a greater share in using urban space. but after interviewing the subjects, it has been determined that in the early hours of the morning, the area is only used by women. in the morning, some parts of the park are devoted to women selling household products, while in the evenings the same part of the park is used for illegal drug trading and becomes an unsafe area. also, because of devoting a distinct area for women to exercise, it is used more by women from morning till noon. furthermore, there is an area for children to play, where mothers bring their children to play at various times of the day. as a result, with respect to these criteria, concerning the changing nature of place over time and the ability to divide this urban space into various subdivisions with different functions causes the experts to make mistakes in their initial understanding of the area and all it entails which is reduced in the second test. regarding the quantity and quality of urban seating facilities, preliminary analysis has not been properly presented due to the lack of expert attention to the subjective partitioning of urban space. in addition, the changing numbers in the users of the urban space in a specific period is another factor for the low level of expert judgment in this area. the final score has been balanced by promoting deeper understanding of the area. for instance, according to experts, the shortage of shades and shelters for rainy and sunny days is quite evident. in assessing environmental behavior and cleanliness of the urban space, the experts considered it fairly clean at the first questioning. regarding the other possible health problems such as having mice especially in the warm seasons which people had to face 2 score of experts in the first survey 3.12 resulted average score by users of space 2 score of experts after interviewing with users of space 5 optimal score access and linkage moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 93 and pointed out in the interviews, it should be noted that their opinions changed and they rated it lower. in terms of security at first sight, the area appears pleasant and safe, but as time passes and with the presence of more experts, it can be seen that at particular times, some parts of the area change into urban space which is not safe. the changing nature of the area over time and low quality public realms are accounted as other effecting factors in this field. although due to unwritten contracts of social boundaries, residents and users of the area in the face of this phenomenon the area becomes less secure and people feel unsafe. regarding required standards, the audit group will evaluate differently with regards to this quality as opposed to initial assessing and even assessing of residents. indeed, it has to be said that there was no distinct difference between scoring by women and men in accordance with this standard. whilst most men did not feel there were any problems in this field and considered the space as a secure one, women approached this subject with more sensitivity and described it as an insecure space at some hours of the day. according to simmel incorrect understanding and judgments of experts is related to the differences between the types of phenomenon. in terms of quality of space security, the difference among people and experts is quite clear. regarding the 11th question, the team of experts devoted a lower score to this question. at first, they did not percept the phenomenon. unfortunately, even when researched further, this phenomenon was not observed correctly. according to the statements of space users and an average score of 3.04, as was seen the audit group still devoted a high score to this issue. table 6 and figure 4 compare the experts and public opinions on the subject of comfort and image. fig. 4 comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about related context of place quality (comfort and vision). source: authors moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 94 table 6: comparative comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about related context of place quality (comfort and vision). source: authors land use and activities regarding the 12th question, the bold presence of people in urban space has led experts to render the intensity of urban space usage as desirable. the close proximity of the scores of people and experts indicates the correct judgment of the experts. the initial evaluation of the expert team about the age diversity of individuals in the urban space earned few points since most people were old and retired. over time, experts observed people of other age groups such as children and adolescents joining the elderly people. therefore, the final score of the audit group increased compared to the initial score. in this field, the idea of sorokin social time is the first thing that came to mind. the idea is about the timeliness and periodic daily activities of urban spaces and proves the variability of location quality, especially in relation to various types of social activities. to answer the 14th question, the audit group observed different kinds of groups in the space in its initial understanding, so assumed it as a positive issue. then, it became clear that it was a superficial recognition. in various seasons, the way that users participate in the urban space varied and the use of space by groups and families, especially in summer, was more common. therefore, because of the expert′s limited time for evaluation, they were not able to make the right judgment. about the variety of activities in the park, at first time the experts didn’t observe much variety in activities and the activities were limited to walking, playing chess and talking. as time went by and with the presence of more experts in urban space, other types of activities such women buying and selling goods there, playground children′s games in the playground , families spending their leisure time there, especially in summer, rituals, holding ceremonies for moharram and the like could be seen.. as for the 16th question, with the initial contact of experts with the urban space, many unused areas were observed. therefore the scores were under mean point. people also expressed their dissatisfaction about the presence of hidden and unused corners which may be misused by specific groups of society such as addicts and criminals. the laymen had pointed out fewer numbers of these abandoned urban spaces less than really existed. 3.5 score of experts in the first survey 3.29 resulted average score by users of space 3.33 score of experts after interviewing with users of space 5 optimal score comfort and image moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 95 when the experts were first introduced to the area, there was no system of supervision. therefore, the lowest score is devoted to this question. the results of the evaluations showed that this urban area had a municipal supervisor that sometimes visited the area. and people had the chance to meet him. some others pointed out to the presence of municipality workers who protected the enclosure gardens. according to experts, this type of space monitoring was not enough. and they emphasized the necessity to monitor the urban spaces regularly. table 7 and figure 5 compare the experts and public opinions on the subject of use and activity. fig. 5. comparative comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about related context of place quality (use and activity). source: authors table 7: comparative comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about related context of place quality (use and activity). source: authors sociability to answer the 18th question, experts mostly focused on the formal dimension due to social texture of space, but because of their further understanding about space, they also took into account social dimensions of urban space and this led to the place to be 2.5 score of experts in the first survey 3.15 resulted average score by users of space 3.16 score of experts after interviewing with users of space 5 optimal score use and activities moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 96 less interesting for friends visiting the area. this is the reason for a difference in scores of the expert team before and after interviewing with users of space. about the formation of social relations between urban space users, and because of observing close communication with each other and also by playing chess together) and forming different groups, experts evaluated this component positively in the space. but they ignored quality and these types of relations. in some cases, the formation of social relations and presence of interacting face to face for some people is even disturbing and they find it inappropriate and they consider it a privacy breach. in assessing dependency rate of users towards the urban space, because of skeletal and functional dimensions of space such as presence of haft-chenar and wild life museum which has historical worth and its building was before utilized as a spinning factory, evaluate this quality desirable. but in fact, the impact of the museum on people's sense of place is less than expected. however, at the first observation, the expert cannot properly observe these aspects. about measuring peoples’ right of choice in using space, due to the presence of several similar spaces in the boundary and acceptance of studying boundary, between other available options, the experts had specified proper quality in this field, therefore has devoted the highest possible score to it. but according to the idea of space users, shortcomings in other parts such as compression of texture, small area of houses, inability to join in costly entertainment due to inappropriate economic environments and so on, played a key role in limiting the acceptance of this range. despite these problems the audit group devoted an appropriate score to this quality in the final scoring to answer the 23rd question, there was no significant difference between expert scoring and the score of people. therefore, in the final scoring, the initial score will be fixed. to answer the last question, the difference in scoring between the expert team and the users refers to the low level of peoples’ expectations about urban space cleanliness. although, in general, people don’t like to confess about their shortcomings in terms of cleanliness, they assess this quality as a proper one and this is while the observations of experts proved something else. table 8 and figure 6 compare the experts and public opinions on the subject of sociability. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 97 fig. 6. comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about related context of place quality (sociability). source: authors table 8: comparative comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about related context of place quality (sociability). source: authors finally, by comparing the obtained scores from the results of four main components of urban space quality, it was number three that shows the quality of the place. table 9 and figure 7 shows the overall scores of different phases of research project. 3.5 score of experts in the first survey 3.14 resulted average score by users of space 3 score of experts after interviewing with users of space 5 optimal score sociability moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 98 fig. 7. comparison between understanding of users of space and experts about place quality. source: authors table 9: comparative study between users of space and experts in assessment of place quality source: authors discussion according to this study, it is clear that there is a difference between peoples’ and experts' opinions. on the other hand an expert’s point of view also shows a significant difference between the first evaluation and the second evaluation. table 10 and figure 8 present the amount of score difference between the two groups of experts and individuals. table 10: subtraction and absolute subtraction between scores of expert group in the first survey and users of the space quality question subtraction between scores of expert group in the first survey and users of the space average of absolute subtractions access and linkage 1 -1.62 1.2 2 -1.12 3 -1.52 4 -1.56 5 0.2 2.91 score of experts in the first survey 3.04 resulted average score by users of space 2.79 score of experts after interviewing with users of space 5 optimal score total average moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 99 comfort and image 6 0.76 1.45 7 -1.7 8 2 9 0.5 10 1.74 11 -2.04 use and activities 12 0.32 1.12 13 -1.54 14 1.1 15 -0.44 16 -1.86 17 -1.46 sociability 18 1.7 1.5 19 1.24 20 0.84 21 1.82 22 -0.96 23 -2.46 source: authors fig. 8. comparison of space quality scores by space users and experts before and after the interview source: authors if we want to analyze the answers statistically, firstly, consider the absolute value difference between the score of the expert team's opinion and the average score of users' opinions of space, which equals 1.34. this difference in the likert spectrum means about 33% difference across the five levels, which is very significant. besides, the results of t-test showed that the p-value is statistically significant (p-value=0< 0.05) so h0 is rejected and a significant relationship is proved. in this measurement, if the score difference of the expert group before and after the interview with people, and also the analysis of the questionnaire results are closer to zero, experts’ comments are then more reliable. table 11 shows the mean absolute of the different comments of experts in the first and second stage. it is clear that expert’s comments for the set of “access” questions are more reliable than the set of “image” questions. it is a matter of the subjective and objective nature of the questions in each moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 100 part and also the difference in the quality ideals of urban space in the points of view of people and experts. table 11. the mean absolute of the difference comments of experts in the first and second stage quality the mean absolute of the difference comments of experts in the first and second stage access and linkage 0.40 comfort and image 1.17 use and activities 1.00 sociability 0.83 source: authors in eleven questions, the expert team scored higher than users of space, often in the areas of "comfort and image" and "sociability". the main reason for this difference is the inherent nature of these cases, which necessitates greater presence in urban space and deep understanding of space and even having a history of living in and frequent use of space. in twelve questions, the expert team scored less than space users. these have often been in the areas of "access and linkage" and "use and activities". in these two areas, the expert team often compares existing conditions to standard conditions and successful examples, while people are accustomed to existing conditions. the final score changed 21.7% in comparison to the initial assessment of the experts, which is a remarkable change. this illustrates the importance of interviewing with space users and public participation in assessing the quality of space. in six questions there was no remarkable change in the final score, in some of which the score of experts and people were close (questions 6 and 12), but in the case of questions 2, 3, 4 and 22 despite the difference between the expert and people assessment scores the final score of experts were not any different. the reason for this is due to the existence of certain standards, fixed principles and specific criteria upon which the experts evaluate. in 74% of the questions, either the opinion of the expert team has been modified or the final score has changed between the initial score of the expert team and the user space score. regarding tables 10 and 11 and the differences observed in scores, the following bullet points present and briefly discuss the causes of these differences. • the sense of space is influenced by peoples’ mental images and experiences. expert judgments are no exception. so the expert's specific and personal characteristics, such as their mental, physical state, and their specific teachings about evaluating the quality of the urban space will also influence their judgment. all of these factors will lead to different results from expert-driven perceptions and citizen interviews. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 101 • different consideration scales to available problems is effective from either expert or people in controversies which arise. because of their familiarity with space, people have a deeper and more detailed understanding of the issues. • changing location parameters over time will lead to different experiences with different qualities in a particular space. due to the limited time of expert presence in space, it does not have a comprehensive view of space. • different criteria for prioritizing location quality between expert and people will have different assessments. • there is a fundamental difference between peoples’ and experts' views. experts' judgment may be optimal. • while people rate space based on the degree of responsiveness to their minimum need or compared to other options at their disposal. • experts consider the needs of all users of urban space, as opposed to users who only respond to the needs and issues they face. in addition to the above, it seems that other factors such as gender and the number of space-harvesting experts can be useful in evaluation. for example, men's and women's perceptions of the security of a space will be different under equal conditions. of course, judging the accuracy of this issue requires special and specific scrutiny. conclusion urban planning and design requires a real understanding of the place. to this end, various methods have been proposed to achieve a true cognition of the quality of urban space. due to the fact that, urban spaces are infused with feeling, perception and memory, the space quality will not be easy to recognize. in this study, we tried to evaluate the differences, similarities and validity of expert-oriented and peoplecentered analyses. we are looking to find more effective decision making approach and understand how combining people and professionals' opinions increases the effectiveness of the results. the main considerations about optimum participation can be explained in four general categories. • evaluating the quality of a place is human-centered, qualitative and closely related to human characteristics. it makes perfect sense to have a variety of opinions on space quality regarding the importance of knowledge, emotion, perception, and memory. this confirms the need for polls from different people with different characteristics such as social-economical level. despite some similarities there are significant differences between experts and people's opinions about the quality of the place .these differences can be discussed from different aspects such as the method of space perception, considered standards, expectations of urban spaces, and so on. moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 102 • considering an expert as the sole decision-maker but not as a facilitator will lead to drawbacks in estimating spatial quality. due to the dynamic nature of activities over time, the existence of invisible spatial domains as well as the socioeconomic effect on quality of space, accurate understanding of space by the experts is impossible, especially in relation to subjective parameters such as comfort and mental image. on the other hand, in relation to topics such as access and linkage, use and activity that are quantitative and more standardizable, the expert's opinion can be prioritized. • people's opinion solely may not be reliable. residential background and having a sense of belonging makes an acceptable understanding of the hidden dimensions of space that brings people's view closer to reality. since their point of view is more based on daily experiences, needs and current expectations, it is either not comprehensive, or not all-encompassing in terms of professional criteria and standards. therefore, the lived experience of people and their perception of space must be oriented by experts in order to achieve optimal quality of space. • finally, to achieve a comprehensive vision, both people and expert’s comprehension must be taken into account. the experts' point of view can be used to formulate assumptions and orientation of studies, select parameters and determine indicators. ultimately this is the experience and perception of the residents who rejects or confirms assumptions or is used as a raw material in order to formulate new assumptions. ultimately, it seems, the optimal way is to evaluate the quality of the area based on a combination of experts' and people’s opinions. experts' opinions without the participation of the public and the use of public opinion without expert analysis have major shortcomings. combining peoples’ and experts’ opinions will provide a more accurate analysis of the qualities of place that can serve as the basis for decision making. as a result, utilizing the appropriate participatory methods in planning and designing urban spaces will improve the quality of urban space and enable more appropriate decisions. choosing the right participatory methods and the extent of people involvement depends on the nature of the research questions and more participation by people will not necessarily produce better results. references cohen, m.w. 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(2016). handbook in theories of public participation in governance, edited by jacob torbing and chris ansell, edward elgar press. rabinovitz, f. (2017). city politics and planning. london: routledge. sandercock, l. (1998). toward cosmopolis. new york: weily. scaff, l.a. (2005). the mind of the modernist. simmel on time. time & society. time soc. 14. 5-23. doi: 10.1177/0961463x05049947. shapely, p. (2014). people and planning report of the committee on public participation in planning (the skeffington committee report). london: routledge. strydom, w.,& puren, k.,& drewes, e. (2018). exploring theoretical trends in placemaking: towards new perspectives in spatial planning, journal of place management and development, 11(2), 165-180. suresh, k., & chandrashekara, s. (2012). sample size estimation and power analysis for clinical research studies. journal of human reproductive sciences, 5(1), 7–13. suvi, k.,& tero, r. (2017). managing community engagement: a process model for moshfeghi – comparison of expertbased and exposure-based analysis in historical districts ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 105 urban planning, european journal of operational research, doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2017.12.002 taylor, n. (1998). urban planning theory since 1945. london: sage publications. waizbort, l. (2008). simmel in brazil. dados. 50. 11-48. doi: 10.1590/s001152582007000100002. short author biography: vahid moshfeghi is instructor at islamic azad university of qazvin(qiau), department of architecture and urban design. his research interests include spatial planning, decision making, network analysis etc. mohammadjavad mahdavinejad is associate professor of department of architecture and the dean of hal (high-performance architecture laboratory) in tmu. his current researches focus on sci-tech modeling and analyzing for high-performance architecture and design. narges ahmadpour is phd student, faculty of architecture and urban planning, art university of tehran, iran. her research interests include environmental perception & cognition, sustainable urban design & planning , etc. samira yousefian is phd student, faculty of art and architecture, tarbiat modares university, tehran, iran. her research interests include public participation in planning, tourism, landscape analysis, etc. etc. she/he has published in: title of journals if appropriate. transferable development rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 enzo falco issn: 2239­267x legislation in the umbria region. research assistant via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy ­ enzo.falco@uniroma1.it dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma abstract the debate on the possibility of transfering the right to build, defined and intended as the development right, does not have a long tradition in italy. in fact, it is only since the mid 1990s, when perequazione (equalization) was introduced in practice, that there has been debate about transferability and example of implementation. at the moment, the notion and use of transferable and tradable development rights have passed de facto and become widespread among local authorities to achieve various objectives such as compensation for a loss, economic or planning incentives, distributive justice among landowners and between these and non­landowners. this paper will report on the experience of the umbria region in italy in the use of development rights as a bonus to encourage certain characteristics of both development and re­development proposals in regeneration schemes for historic centres. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 introduction during the 1950s and 1960s the debate on the need to transfer to the state the right to develop land was very intense. it was considered as necessary, in line with what was happening in the rest of europe, such as in england, (cullingworth & nadin, 2006), to separate the right to build from the property right as a way of capturing increases in the values of land. in italy the last attempt dates back to 1977 (act n. 10) when national legislation tied the value of undeveloped land to the agricultural value on which compensation should be based1. however, three years later the constitutional court, with the judgment n. 5 of 1980 (corte costituzionale, 1980), judged such a norm as unlawful, stating that the right to build is an intrinsic part of the property right and therefore must be compensated when land property or part of it is taken for public purposes. on the one hand, the debate on the possibility of transfering the right to build, defined and intended as the development right, does not have a long tradition. in fact, it is only since the mid 1990s, when the equalisation tool was introduced in practice, that there has been debate about transferability. in practice, the notion and use of transferable and tradable development rights have passed de facto and become widespread among local authorities. development rights are thus used to achieve objectives such as compensation for a loss, economic or planning incentives or distributive justice by granting landowners development rights proportionally to the size of their property but irrespective of the land use designated for their land parcels. therefore, development rights are used as a planning tool in order to achieve planning policy targets. however, according to karrer (2009) and sabbato (2010) it should not be possible within a development proposal to transfer development rights if receiving areas are not previously identified by either the development plan or action plans. if this is correct, it would mean that development rights exist but cannot be used as there is no receiving area available. this would lead to to the present day, see falco e. (2012), dealing with betterment value: different trends between italy and england. for further information on attempts at betterment value capture in italy from the mid 18th century1 falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 development rights “in the air” waiting for receiving areas to be identified, whilst there is the need to designate a precise land parcel that should accept the transfer of development rights. such a hypothetical situation of “development rights in the air” would give the opportunity for market speculation by developers who could possibly be able to buy great amounts of development rights and, therefore, influence the construction market (stanghellini, 2009). this paper will report on the italian experience in the use of development rights as a bonus to encourage certain characteristics of both development and re­development proposals in regeneration schemes for historic centres. this implementation procedure, considered in this way since it aims to facilitate the achievement of planning objectives, can be defined as a bonus in terms of development rights granted to developers whose actions contribute to the attainment of objectives of public interest. the paper will deal with the case of umbria region which has been one of the first regions to introduce legislation on historic centre regeneration through the bonus­ rights practice and will seek to highlight the issues, difficulties and problems that may arise in the use of such practice. what are drs in italy? recently, the concept of development rights as a bonus has been introduced in national legislation in italy by the annual financial act n. 244/2007. it states (article 1, subsections 259): falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres “so as to encourage the implementation of interventions aiming at the realisation of social housing, urban and housing regeneration schemes, improvement of settlements’ environmental quality, the local authority, within its planning instruments, can grant a bonus­increase in buildable volumes (...)” as can be seen from this quotation, development rights are intended as an incentive, or bonus as it will be referred to later, for qualitative characteristics of land development proposals. nowadays, transferable development rights are mainly used within three planning practices ­ equalisation, compensation and bonus­rights ­ by which a local planning ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 as can be seen from this quotation, development rights are intended as an incentive, or bonus as it will be referred to later, for qualitative characteristics of land development proposals. nowadays, transferable development rights are mainly used within three planning practices ­ equalisation, compensation and bonus­rights ­ by which a local planning authority (comune) grants development rights to landowners and implements its local plan2. at present, the use of such planning tools is rapidly increasing and they form part of the implementation policy adopted by many local planning authorities. their use varies in relation to, and depends on, the objectives to be achieved and the land uses designated to a given land parcel or site. purposes range from environmental protection and preservation of land and the protection and restoration of heritage and historic centres, the equal distribution of advantages among landowners and the redistribution of these benefits to the wider community through the capture of betterment value. bearing in mind that the bonus­rights practice, and therefore the power to grant extra development rights to developers and landowners, falls within the planning powers attributed to local authorities, legal issues may arise from its use. these concern the contributions asked from landowners and developers in terms of public facilities and the portion of the development area to be ceded to the public estate, the level of fiscal taxation on development value and the respect of the european union market competition principle and state aid regulations (bartolini, 2008; falco, 2010). in­kind contributions and taxation on landed property fall within the legal matters subject to the constitutional reserve on private property. as a consequence, private property can only be regulated by legislation at the national level rather than within regional acts and, even more so, not through planning acts. therefore, with regard to the first and second issues, a recent judgment of the lazio regional administrative court (tar lazio, 2010) on the rome local plan stated that in­kind contributions and tax measures cannot be defined a­ priori but should be the result of a negotiation process between local falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres urbanistica. the three practices are known respectively as perequazione, compensazione and premialità2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 planning authorities and developers (judgment n 1524/2010). italy’s tradition in historic city centre regeneration regeneration purposes pursued by local administrations through bonus­ rights techniques are in line with the very large cultural and historical heritage present in italy. italy’s historical heritage has spurred many initiatives and legislative measures in this field over the years. the long traditions in protection and conservation of heritage items date back to 1912 with the first protection and conservation acts (n. 364/1909 and n. 688/1912). moreover, an important protection mechanism which applied to the whole country was introduced through the act n. 1089 of 1939. on the basis of such a mechanism all heritage items that were listed by the then ministry of national education as worthy of protection formed the historical heritage of the whole nation. yet, with regard to the protection and restoration of historic town centres, importance is assumed by the gubbio charter (1960) and the venice charter (1964) where the notions of the historic centre as a whole and the opportunity to consider the whole setting as a heritage item were defined. in fact, with the world heritage list historic centres such as rome, florence and naples are among the many listed. as a direct consequence of this debate, in 1978 the act n. 457 was passed, concerning the restoration of existing housing stock from a single building to a whole setting, where particular emphasis in practice was placed on housing units in town centres. the umbria bonus­rights legislation and tools the umbria region was the first to introduce specific legislation to encourage planning interventions within historic centres of towns through the bonus­right practice. in fact, although previous jurisprudence on bonus development rights was already in force in umbria as well as in other regions, umbria issued a new act (n. 12/2008 norms for historic centres) with the precise objective of regulating planning interventions such as regeneration schemes, home refurbishment and renewal. the act is important since it introduces two new planning documents within falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 which bonus rights may be used to achieve objectives of regeneration and revitalisation of historic town centres. two innovative documents the two planning documents introduced by the act are the quadro strategico di valorizzazione (qsv) (improvement strategic framework) and the ambiti di rivitalizzazione prioritaria (arps) (priority regeneration areas). along with economic and fiscal incentives and planning measures intended to encourage such regeneration actions, the act provides the opportunity to use bonus development rights as a form of incentive within arps. the qsv is a document intended to identify the role the historic centre can play, its strengths and weaknesses, strategic actions and long term development policies and to define economic actions within sectors such as tourism, commerce, retail and services. it is a statutory planning document for municipalities either with a population of over ten thousand inhabitants or with a town centre larger than fourteen hectares. whilst arps are considered as an essential part of the qsv and are identified through an analysis process (swot methodology) which should lead to the definition of three objectives and three issues which should be coherent with those pre­ determined within the act n. 12/2008. the determination of arps is made possible through a set of indicators defined by the umbria region such as: functional, hygienic and technological inadequacy; partially or totally unused buildings; lack or obsolescence of network infrastructures, services and green spaces; loss of 25% or more of resident households over the last ten years; reduction of economic activities by one­third over the last ten years; social decline and public safety issues; hydrogeological and seismic risks. once priority regeneration areas have been identified on the basis of these indicators, and when at least three are met (regional act n. 12/2008), the implementation is carried out through action plans and programmes which should aim and demonstrate to reduce the conditions of decline within the identified arps. falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the role of tdr transferable bonus development rights then are granted to property owners only when regeneration and restoration works have been completed and may only be used outside the historic centre. the amount of bonus rights granted to the proponent is calculated by the ratio of the total cost of the intervention to the cost per square metre of council housing previously determined by the region and then reduced by 30%. this factor is then multiplied with a sum of coefficients (omitted for simplicity) which refer to several parameters such as: dimension of the historic centre, land use, private car parking spaces for residential settlements, size of development and housing market value. the formula would be as follows: sqm of btdrs = (tc/cch per sqm) x 0.70 where: ­ sqm of btdrs is square metres of bonus transferable development rights; ­ tc is total cost of planned interventions; ­ cch per sqm is cost per square metre of council housing. however, in order for private property owners to be granted transferable bonus rights, some conditions must be met. firstly, private owners must prepare a regeneration action plan, and the buildings involved must have a gross floor area (gfa) of at least 500 square metres for municipalities with historic centres smaller than 14 ha, and at least 1,000 square metres for municipalities with historic centres larger than 14 ha. as seen from the formula, what is interesting and at the same time presents a limit of such a mechanism is the fact that the market value of the amount of transferable development rights assigned to developers is reduced by 30%. this element coupled, with the provision of a share of at least 80% of the total cost which must be for conservation and regeneration works, as a necessary condition for being granted bonus development rights, can effectively limit private initiative. considering the very recent introduction of such mechanisms it has not been possible to collect thorough information on the planning activity of local falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 planning authorities. at the time of writing there are no fully approved qsv, perhaps highlighting some issues arising during the elaboration process. a typical example of a regeneration and protection scheme would see the local planning authority (comune) draw up a valorisation strategic framework through which priority regeneration areas would be identified. however, the regional act that introduced such mechanisms explicitly states that local planning authorities could possibly identify arps within the qsv meaning, by this expression, that determination of arps is a permissive rather than a statutory planning activity (art. 7, act n. 12/2008). nevertheless, the same time article 2 of the same regional act states that arps form part of the necessary contents of a qsv (regione umbria, 2009). therefore, those municipalities for which the qsv is a statutory document (municipalities with a population of over ten thousand or with an historic centre larger than 14 hectares in size) are somehow obliged to identify arps, whilst those municipalities with a population of under ten thousand can proceed, if they choose, to directly identify arps. conclusions: necessary conditions and possible downsides it becomes clear that at the stage of determining the eligibility of an intervention which is to be granted transferable development rights, a thorough cost­benefit evaluation must be carried out to verify if the above­ reported quantitative and economic conditions are met. yet, this becomes of fundamental importance to determine the advantages private owners may earn also in consideration of the fact that public grants are made available to support such regeneration schemes which involve residential, mobility, marketing, commercial and tourism actions. by now, some fifteen local authorities have been granted public funds to activate such measures. the cities to benefit from public grants are as follows: spoleto, bevagna, foligno, spello, terni, todi, narni, città di castello, gualdo tadino, orvieto, san giustino, corciano, nocera umbra, acquasparta, san gemini and massa martana. within the whole region, 23 are the communes obliged to draw up a qsv (regione umbria, 2012). falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 in conclusion, there is another important element worth mentioning which may impact on the efficacy of such schemes. it is the need for regeneration plans to conform to the objectives of the general planning document (piano regolatore generale) and, more importantly, with its zoning. it is straightforward to comprehend that if the general plan provides a different zoning for the areas involved within the arps and for the newly identified receiving areas where transferable development rights must be transferred, then the general plan might be put under review and that, as a result, the entire process may be lengthy and less successful. falco ­ transferable develoment rights in regeneration schemes for historic city centres mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 references bartolini, a. (2008), i diritti edificatori in funzione premiale. le c.d. premialità urbanistiche. "convegno nazionale dell’associazione italiana di diritto urbanistico, aidu, su i rapporti tra legislazione statale e legislazione regionale". verona, 10­11 october. cullingworth, j. b. and nadin, v. (2006), town and country planning in the uk. london: routledge. falco, e. (2012), dealing with betterment value: different trends between italy and england. phd thesis. available at: http://padis.uniroma1.it/handle/10805/1540. falco, e. (2010), implications of development rights granting procedures. "fourth international conference on planning, law, and property rights". international academic association on planning, law, and property rights. dortmund, 10­12 february. available at: http://www.plpr2010.tu­ dortmund.de/_downloads/plpr2010_paper_falco_e.pdf. karrer, f. (2009), la perequazione nel nuovo sistema di pianificazione strutturale ed operativa. conferenza su "perequazione e recupero", firenze 27 march. paper made available to the phd students in the department of urban and territorial plannig, diptu ­ sapienza, università di roma. regione umbria (2009), deliberazione della giunta regionale n. 1374 del 05/10/2009. regione umbria (2012), riqualificazione urbana e centri storici. quadro strategico di valorizzazione. available at: http://www.centriurbani.regione.umbria.it/mediacenter/fe/categoriamedia.aspx?idc=59 &explicit=si sabbato, g. (2010), la perequazione urbanistica. paper presented at convegno di studi organizzato dal consiglio dell ‘ordine degli awocati di salerno sul tema "attivita edilizia fra governo del territorio e tutela paesaggistica ed ambientale", 20 november 2009. stanghellini, s. (2009), il principio perequativo nel piano urbanistico. convegno fondazione astengo, "perequazione, compensazione, premialità e crediti edilizi. potenzialità, nodi critici, ruolo ed esperienze". roma, 24 june. mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 tar lazio (2010), sezione seconda­bis. sentenza del 4 febbraio 2010, n. 1524. edilizia e territorio, norme e commenti, 6, pp. 9­28. 1 ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience iacopo zetti as so ci ate p r o f e s so r , d ep ar tm en t o f ar ch i tec tu r e, un iv er sity o f flo r en ce via mich e li, 2 – 5 0 1 2 1 fi r en ze, ia co p o .zet ti @u n if i .it keywords: rational planning; spatial planning; participatory planning; spatial injustice, urban conflict abstract since 2005, several reforms in the spatial planning legal framework have taken place in italy and in some contexts, such as in tuscany, the joint action of a spatial planning act and a law on citizen participation has established a planning model which is open, collaborative and communicative. nevertheless, we can observe a re-emergence of a rational comprehensive attitude to spatial planning, useful for a strict top-down control, which limits the possibility to insert measures to rebalance power relations in a normative planning system. observing some practical experiences of spatial planning and citizen participation, the article tries to reflect on the different reasons that encourage planners and policy-makers to constantly revert to technical rationality as a supposed ethical guarantee or as a power management tool. in the conclusions it proposes some considerations regarding the connection between rationality, power and social control and concerning a possible regulatory side in a counter-hegemonic planning framework. introduction the unresolved relationship between a rational and procedural approach to spatial planning and a deliberative participative attitude has been frequently under observation by planning scholars. the shift from a rigid technocratic attitude to a collaborative and deliberative method has been advocated as one of the central conditions for the opening-up of a strongly centralized power management structure, where power is always held by traditional institutions (forester, 1989; healey, 1997; hillier, 2002; 2014), towards a planning framework directed to an open community and to the production of a city of citizenry (borja, 2003) based on a process of space commoning (stavrides, 2014). this shift has been seen as unavoidable by those who think it is essential to implement redistributive policies to obtain a counterhegemonic style of planning (albrechts, 2015), where direct participation of 2 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 inhabitants in the making of planning choices is a key element in rebalancing power relations (healey, 2003). this text takes advantage of a process to evaluate the enforcement of an innovative law regarding ‘rules on the promotion of participation in the formulation of regional and local policies’ approved in tuscany in 2007 (regional law no.69/07 then substituted by regional law no.46/13 ). the law is explicitly designed to open the decisions on public policies to wide and comprehensive citizen participation (lewanski, 2013; zetti, 2011; 2012) and the article uses the specific relationship between citizen participation and the decision-making process in significant spatial planning choices to reflect on the resistance of a technocratic attitude in spatial planning against a new planning system reformed according to a strategic (albrechts, 2013; albrechts and balducci, 2013; mäntysalo, kangasoja and kanninen, 2015) and deliberative framework (beaumont and nichols, 2008; silver, scott and kazepov, 2010). the tuscan context is particularly favourable to this discussion because the local system of spatial planning is formally shaped according to a very progressive and participative model and it has a long and legally-framed history. to theoretically assess the functionality of a rigid rational-comprehensive and deductive paradigm we take as a basis the criticism of ideas developed by edgar morin in his works on the method of human inquiry and especially in his work concerning the life of ideas (morin, 1991). this appears useful when we observe an experience of statutory planning where procedures are part of a supposed progressive model. we assume that collaborative processes require the levelling of power relations (healey, 2003, see also habermas 1971/2001) and we discuss how the normative approach to spatial planning contains a sort of antibody that guarantees the invariance of the cultural structure of governance and organization (morin, 1991) and produces a form of spatial and procedural injustice. finally the article reflects on a possible implicit contradiction between a radical alternative approach to planning that albrechts defines as ‘coproduction’ (albrechts, 2015) and a dominant organization of planning knowledge that is used by political power to keep strategic decisions under control outside the political debate. the re-emergence of a rational-comprehensive paradigm in planning different theoretical approaches in the history of planning the many shifts between different theoretical approaches have not eliminated the original idea that planners are public operators who work with a progressive attitude and with the final goal to produce and protect public goods, whatever this last expression might mean (alexander, 2017; faludi, 1996; 3 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 friedmann, 1987). their duty is to coordinate actions and to make a choice leading towards the goal of public interest and this ‘choice is always exercised with respect to a limited, approximate, simplified, “model” of the real situation’ (march and simon, 1958, 138, quoted in faludi, 1996, 71). this simplified model implies a dependence of planning on a formalized methodology and, apart from a few differences, a parallel between scientists and planners. throughout a relevant and pregnant phase of the planning discipline's development this correspondence has positioned planning in the domain of scientific knowledge (of exact sciences), where a rational attitude to the interpretation of reality is strictly needed. even considering the positive aspects of this phase in limiting the completely uncontrolled action of local interests, nevertheless, the rational-comprehensive attitude, becoming in time a model, was gradually subjected to an increasing number of criticisms, starting from different theoretical approaches and from the evidence of failure in planning practice and results. in a well-known debate the starting points of a real paradigm shift have been the many questions regarding the limits of rationality and the impossibility of an objective definition for the collective well-being (forester, 1989; healey, 1997; lindblom, 1959; simon, 1955). we can easily identify in this debate the impact of arrow's idea of the impossibility of stable collective preferences (the third fairness criterion arrow, 1951) and lindblom’s idea about the development of planning solutions in a situation of partial knowledge (lindblom, 1959). in particular arrow's impossibility theorem denies planners one of the main preconditions for their work: the possibility to identify the general interest univocally. at the same time, the growth in the awareness of the complexity of urban and territorial studies clearly has revealed the impossible mission of controlling all the technical, but even more the social, aspects of planning. those criticisms have led to several evolutions in planning models and in some cases also to re-framing legal and procedural practices in the control of spatial planning. the issue of a strategic attitude (healey et. al, 1997), direct involvement of citizens in the decision making processes and their empowerment (friedmann, 1992), the concept of coproduction (albrechts, 2013), and a radical approach (sandercock, 1998), are all proposals and experimentations devoted to the problem. on the contrary, in many cases rationality and the scientific method are repressive tools (kamete, 2009; yiftachel, 1998) and are subordinated to some form of unequal power, but their re-emergence can not be explained simply with the recurrent conflict for power in urban space and calls for an attempt to understand why and how spatial planning practice is so drawn to that attitude. 4 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 objective knowledge? according to morin objective knowledge, in general terms, concerns the specific properties of objects, is pertinent to facts, relational, contextual and can be predictive. but scientific objectivity, which needs to be distinguished from objective knowledge, has a different status: it depends not only on a strict and systematic control of data and of how the data verify the hypothesis, but on a relationship between scientific theory and factuality. in this sense scientific objectivity has had the need to produce its own praxis, memory and community (morin, 1991). objectivity does not mean the truth (morin, 1986) and in effect several objective scientific theories were false and mistaken, but implies a strict organization of a model of understanding or, better put, imply an explanation of reality based on formalisation (use of a language where symbols have a predefined meaning); reduction (partition of complex phenomena into smaller and simplified components) and disjunction (separation of different entities in a classification). these three pillars of scientific thinking derive from the classical logic born in ancient greece, but in the classical logic, which has an ontological character, the two main working instruments, i.e. deduction and induction, had an uninterrupted linkage and deduction was strongly based on a substantial consequence of the observation of reality linked with an universal premise (morin, 1991). in the modern era deduction has become the implementation of a calculation rule, the use of a general law in a peculiar case, something formal and computational. this implies the idea that a formalized language can coincide with reality and that a local reality, that is absolutely complex, can be precisely read through reduction and disjunction. in a certain sense, and thinking of the tools physical planning works with, this implies the idea that the map is the territory (as written in many reflections after a paper by alfred korzybski, 1933) and that complexity must be reduced to simple phenomena to be described trough sequential thinking. during the second half of the twentieth century, also in the field of exact science, the reductionist attitude toward complexity, that can be certainly defined as a paradigm (following the well known definition of paradigm by kuhn, 1962), was fractured precisely in the field of formalisation by the theorem of kurt gödel (1931) and in the idea of reduction by the work of rené thom (1968) and more generally by the study of ecosystems (morin, 1980). in the domain of planning, the already quoted criticisms and the work of incrementalists, progressive and radical planners, has produced a significant shift in the theory and in many practices. although the debate regarding the need of a new planning attitude did not lead to one single precise model we can assume that a consolidated set of theories have drastically criticized the technocratic approach. evidently, in this cultural context, its never ending reappearance cannot 5 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 simply be explained as a path dependence of the discipline on its past, but requires an explanation that can relate to three main points. first, the natural resistance of a system of ideas. according with morin, ideas always live in a system that can be explained using the model of cells and that, like cells, has an immunological system. new theories can modify some of the system's internal variables, but not its boundaries, not the nucleus which defines it. so an idea can change, but a system of ideas resists to criticism, tends to eliminate everything that can break its unity, is auto-centric and auto-dox (morin, 1991). second, procedures are perceived as a guarantee. in the planning choices the physicality of planning decisions implies that bodies, feelings and emotions participate in the opposition to some decision and this reveals how spatial planning is not simply a technique, but can be the subject of the linkage ‘between political/social control and spatial ordering’ at least from the time of ancient greece (mazza, 2009, 125) and how planners are actors of a political judgement. considering ‘that spatial control is functional to social control’ (mazza, 2009, 133) we can understand how planners are loaded by ethical commitments and consequently how practitioners need to legitimate themselves through some preconditions such as neutrality and a biasfree behaviour. technical and procedural rationality in planning practice are useful to planners because they give them the possibility to feel secure and to present themselves as ethical and disinterested defenders of the common good (lennon, 2014; lennon and fox-rogers, 2017). third, ‘experts sometimes appeal to the scientific method in order to mask tyranny’ (kamete, 2009, 89). oren yiftachel has devoted several studies to open the way for a deep analysis of what he has called the dark side of planning. he has reconceptualized ‘planning as an integral arm of the nation-state apparatus which tends to advance two parallel goals: economic growth and ethno-national identity’, where planning itself ‘provides an important mechanism of oppression and control’ (yiftachel, 1998, 395, see also flyvbjerg, 1996; 1998; harvey, 1973; marcuse, 1978; yiftachel, 2001). according with the interpretation of power relations developed by michel foucault and his followers, planning becomes an instrument to develop state control, primarily over minorities and more generally over society as a whole, excepting elites. an instrument to maintain the present social order (albrechts, 2015; beaumont and nicholls, 2008). from theory to practice: planning, conflict and technical rationality in action in the context described in this text the legal framework pays specific attention to set an aggregative planning system with a participative attitude, where conflict is 6 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 anticipated and reduced by a previous agreement over a shared concern, forcing the aggregative model towards a sort of not completely established, but adequate, agonistic model (mouffe, 2013). nevertheless, the participatory processes described below, connected with spatial planning decisions and conflicts, show how technical rationality can been used to narrow the participative arena inside boundaries that have made the collective decision scarcely relevant. spatial planning and participation, the context of the tuscan (legal) planning framework from the mid nineties, in italy, several regional governments have produced a series of normative acts regarding land use planning under the aegis of an old (1942) national law and some of them are strongly innovative. this re-framing of the planning system was a consequence of a strong criticism of the rationalcomprehensive style of planning that in italy had begun in the eighties, following the evident failure of many planning experiences and the international debate regarding the limits of rationality. in the emergent vision of the nineties the territory plays a contradictory role. on the one hand, it is the stage on which to implement concerted actions between political parties and powerful stakeholders, while on the other, it is the context where the physical spatiality of planning has a tangible output in the (re)distribution of social justice/injustice. citizen participation, in this framework, has evolved from information sharing in the rational-comprehensive planning model, to a tool for the definition of concerted action. in the present phase of experimentation (at least in the tuscan planning system), the participative activity in the development of spatial plans is compulsory (as established by an article of the planning act) and, according to regulation, must be wide and inclusive. we can not say this imply a precise model for citizen involvement in planning, but we can assume that the recent evolution of the tuscan planning system can, in some case, became a strategy for inserting a deliberative democracy practice in the previously established aggregative (bäcklund and mäntysalo, 2010) planning system (bortolotti and corsi, 2012; floridia, 2013; 2017; steiner, 2012). in fact the current tuscan planning act (regional law no. 65/14), is based on a planning model strongly framed around a strategic attitude, where local communities are called to participate in the building of a common vision of future scenarios and this can create the condition for a deliberative setting (lewanski, 2013; trettel, 2015). this spatial planning scenario must contain a formulation of the rights and duties of administrators, planners and inhabitants towards the territory, the landscape and towards future generations. a document that implies a collective agreement of the local community and that is the subject of a democratic choice (magnaghi, 2010; morisi and magnier, 2003). 7 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 how to rule citizens’ participation and what procedural and substantive instruments can planners advantageously use in the interaction with local communities, is again part of the official planning model because of the previously mentioned normative act concerning participation, which gives to various subjects several options to promote a participatory process, supported with public funding and assisted by an independent authority, the regional authority for participation (floridia, 2008; 2012). the ‘rules on the promotion of participation’ (regional law no.69/07) were experimented in a first pilot stage for five years and then slightly modified and partially reinforced (regional law no.46/13). in this framework the tuscan experience has frequently been under observation as an interesting opportunity to study the relationship between theoretical approaches to policies and concrete practices (bussu and bartels, 2014; carson and lewanski, 2008; floridia, 2008). at a more general level, the dialogue between representative and deliberative democracy (beaumont and nichols, 2008; silver, scott and kazepov, 2010) and the effectiveness of a deliberative democracy theory (steiner, 2012) have often been the centre of a significant debate. the case studies observed show the re-emergence of a rational-comprehensive attitude that needs to be analysed especially because it appears within a spatial planning system supposedly characterized by a balanced distribution of power. they propose at least three categories of questions about rational and procedural approach in spatial planning. questioning whether rationality is: • the never-ending procedural dimension of normative planning (mäntysalo, kangasoja and kanninen 2015; yiftachel, 1998)? • a peculiarity inherent in the spatial planning system sometimes fought by planners, sometimes used as a power relations management tool? • a tool to ‘facilitate elite domination and control of the four key societal resources: space, power, wealth and identity’ (yiftachel, 1998, 403)? notes on the method the case studies that are the basis of this work are part of a research activity conducted in order to evaluate the impact of the rl 69/07 (‘rules on the promotion of participation’) in planning policies (zetti, 2011; 2012). this evaluation started as an independent project of the author inside the regional institute for economic planning of tuscany (irpet), but its final stage was commissioned by the regional government as part of the official evaluation process of the impact of the law. the first step of the research implied the definition of a framework to catalogue seventy-two local planning processes, which at that moment meant the entire set of local processes concluded. the question at the centre was a spatial planning issues in 8 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 35% of cases, followed by local administration budget decisions in 23% of cases, environmental problems in 10% of cases, etc. and in all the participatory processes the conflictual and contested decisions were always related to spatial planning. evidently physicality and spatiality are two elements that dramatize planning and exclude the use of compensatory measures. in a second step of the research, the one specifically directed to investigate if and how the decisions taken or the proposals emerged during the participative activities have been implemented, the work was based on the analysis of official documents produced during the participatory processes, followed by analysis of the specific websites dedicated to the processes and by structured interviews with key actors selected to collect comments concerning problems, obstacles and opportunities, some time after the decisions, from a distant and possibly meditated point of view. a pyro-gasification plant, a water purifier and a new waterfront. technical rationality vs a shared decision-making process from the many local participatory projects analysed in the research, here we select three stories. the first two are described one in relation to the other and highlighting exactly how the political power can use technical rationality to justify predefined decisions or, at the opposite, to virtuously manage wicked problems (this expression is used with the exact same meaning as rittel and webber, 1973). the third shows how procedural rationality can strongly narrow down the path for a bottom-up and open decision-making process. industrial production and waste disposal. an experimental pyro-gasifier castelfranco di sotto is a small municipality in the north-west of tuscany where, in 2010, a private enterprise proposed building an innovative and experimental pyrogasifier, designed to burn the waste of the leather production process. castelfranco is at the centre of a relevant production area with more than 500 small and medium enterprises and where leather is the main engine of the local economy, but also the source of pollution. in the past the question was not on the forefront of the political agenda, but from the eighties onwards the search for solutions to maintain the production while safeguarding environment and health started to be discussed. in this context the private company waste recycling has proposed to build a pyro-gasifier of small dimension, sized to treat the waste of the company, as well as a small additional quantity (twelve thousand tonnes per year in total). probably to a greater extent than elsewhere, in tuscany the building of a waste treatment plant is frequently contested and this has happened in castelfranco too, 9 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 where a group of citizens, gathered in a committee, decided to oppose the proposal owing to concerns for their health. local politicians, especially of the opposition, took the opportunity to force the debate inside and outside the elected assemblies in order to gain some advantage, but an important role was played also by the division of the majority party (the democratic party) which was governing contemporarily region, province and municipality, but with different allies. in this context the regional authority for participation agreed to finance the participatory process requested by the municipality with the involvement of waste recycling and the provincial administration, which is one of the relevant public bodies providing the proper authorisation for this kind of industrial plant. the intentions of some of the players were clear. the municipality was interested in a mediatory process helping to make the decision regarding the building permission for the plant not against or ignoring citizens, but inside a deliberative process. waste recycling supported its proposal not only in the perspective of solving the problem of waste, but also trying to experiment an innovative technology to be, potentially, replicated and for those reasons even accepted to co-fund the participatory process. the provincial administration and the agencies for public health and for environment protection accepted to suspend the procedure for the required authorisations until the end of the participatory process and to take part in it. the local committee was proposing to solve the problem of waste through separation and composting and small rubbish dumps for the remaining fraction, with the purpose of avoiding the building of a new treatment plant (a position that changed during the process due to a deeper understanding of the problem). some players were absent during the process, but they have been at least as relevant as much as those present. above all the regional administration, which was openly in favour of the plant; representatives of industrial activities that never took position; trade unions, which supposedly would have to worry about safeguarding the production without damaging environment and public health. the process itself was very interesting, but not free from problems. the professional mediators that managed the activities proposed to organize it as a programme of negotiation using the consensus building method, but following the regional authority indications they had to reach an agreement in order to adopt the instrument of the citizens jury, probably not the more appropriate solution in an already conflictual context. a guarantee committee supervised the process. it was composed by fifteen people selected after self-nomination with only four representatives of the local institutions. considering the composition, more than a supervisor committee it was an arena for debate, with its members confronting themselves from strong ideological positions. the jury was composed of fifty persons selected thanks to a telephone survey (pillon and romano, 2013). the mediators provided a big set of 10 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 precise information regarding the plant, but also the question of waste treatment in general and the situation of the area in terms of waste production and disposal, then the guarantee committee and the jury had the possibility to discuss deeply the topic for three months. the activity of the mediators was mainly directed to demolish the initial mood of complete distrust between the players and to build a common ground at least in terms of shared information and problem definition. a the end of the whole debate the product submitted to the jury was a reasonable, well-defined planning document with a series of recommendations for the question of waste treatment in general, assuming for the first time that waste, also industrial waste, is a public problem and not simply a private issue. at the same time the final decision of the jury was to ask the municipal and provincial administrations not to allow the plant to be built, but the jury also presented a proposal regarding a method to take this kind of decision in a deliberative and more correct way. the municipal and provincial administrations accepted the deliberative decision-making process and did not give the required authorisation. a conflict was turned around through a critical but substantially shared decision, following a path that has implied for many of the participants a change with respect of the initial position and the fulfilment of some goals: the local committee has accepted to assume some collective responsibility for the problem of waste disposal, evolving from a preconditional opposition to a proposal for a methodology to individuate a shared solution; the municipal administration has avoided taking a decision alone, which would have deepened a conflict with the majority of the local community; the mediators dismantled the general distrust, paving the way for a future shared decision. unfortunately one of the missing actors, the regional administration, after the conclusion of the process itself reversed the decision concerning the building permit because, verifying the expected emission data of the gasification plant, the technical staff guaranteed the respect of pollutant concentration limits in the air. a process that was able to widen the limits of preconceived positions towards a willingness for a shared problem-setting was ultimately narrowed to the trivial question of pollutant concentration in the air. the missing participation of the regional decision-making level was perceived as a lack of consideration for the local participatory project and, in effect, not being present and not playing an active role was a precondition for subverting the decision. the technical competence over public health was the tool to manage the power to decide inside a correct planning procedure, yet this was done outside the participatory setting that the regional administration itself had established through its legal framework. apparently this decision relies on a question of efficiency, but in practice the result is very inefficient too and because the choice is a social challenge, the effect is conflict, frustration and distrust for the inhabitants, inefficiency for the public administration 11 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 and the private entrepreneurs (the whole affair has ended in court), and probably not even the best technical solution1. clean water and environmental protection. the location of a water purification plant not far from castelfranco, in ponte buggianese, in 2009 the local administration started a participatory process in order to decide the location of a big water purification plant and to plan a strategy for the reuse of the purified water, connected with the very delicate ecological equilibrium of the biggest internal wetland in italy. the first proposal was laying on the table of the local administration for a year, locked between the solution supported by the technical staff of the society managing the sewage system (directed to accomplish the general purification for the water in the valley) and by the environmentalist associations (aimed at guaranteeing the presence of water for the wetland also during the dry season), strongly opposed by the hunters associations (worried about the possibility of a reduction of the area where hunting is allowed) and some informal groups of residents (who claimed they would prefer not having a purification plant too close to their homes). on the institutional side the municipality was the administration more involved in a mediation effort, but in cooperation with the provincial and the regional administrations, the land reclamation and drainage authority and the regional agency for environmental protection. apparently the different players were sharing a common purpose: to manage waste water with a solution that guarantees the clean up and helps to keep under control the ecological equilibrium of the wetland, allowing also the compresence in the area of spaces for the protection of fauna and flora, spaces for hunting and for agriculture. nevertheless, the purification system and the management of the water that feeds the swamp was contested and the dispute concerning the location of the plant was a strongly controversial topic. a long history of distrust between local associations and between associations, citizens and institutions was the background that prevented any possible agreement and even the opening of a debate. the mediators called to manage the participatory process had to first rebuild a common ground and in this sense the role played by a guarantee committee was crucial. in the committee were involved representatives of the municipality; of the regional administration (the guarantor for citizens involvement in spatial planning processes, that is an official, but independent, authority); of the provincial administration; the experts and technicians of the administrative bodies controlling environmental questions and the drainage authority. in a second phase the representatives of the many different associations 1 it is not possible to evaluate the plant from this point of view because after it was built and only very briefly tested in 2013, it was never used and the builder has gone bankrupt recently. 12 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 and two citizens selected by the participants, not connected with any association, were included in the committee. the question of the location of the plant was at the center of: walks and activities to improve the knowledge of the area by the many people not used to visiting the wetlands; interviews with stakeholders; a series of face to face debates (comune di ponte buggianese 2010). all those activities, developed over nine months, made possible the building of a common ground for an open debate which began from opposed positions consolidated by time end ended with, firstly, an agreement concerning a series of principles and a method to identify the most suitable location for the plant, and finally three different proposals for the location and a shared solution for water regulation. what is more relevant is that the real added value of the process was not the best location for the plant, but the fact all the relevant stakeholders accepted to discuss the water purification and regulation issue together, and to share in the common concern (morisi and pillon, 2013). the benefit lay in the opportunity to make a decision, or better put, to build a proposal, not through one-toone negotiation, but inside a common game, by making sense together (forester, 1989). the central point of the method adopted has consisted in building a complex and interactive definition of the problem, rather than simply being concerned with the technical efficiency of the plant. even though some of the technicians and politicians involved have for a long time complained of a decision that is not the best in terms of water pumping and road network, it is clearly evident that, since even emotional bonds with the land (the presence of a site with a strong memory of a fascist massacre near one of the proposed locations) were introduced into the debate, it has been possible to shift from a struggle against the location, to the search for a good location. the physical concreteness of the planning decision was causing the debate to become dramatized and in this case the deliberative process, with the involvement of all the interested actors, was able to empower local stakeholders and push them to reach a common ground. during the process the planners discovered they did not fully comprehend the complexity of the problem, and the conflict deriving from a rational decision about the site was solved thanks to a trade-off between efficiency (efficiency of the solution) and reliability (reliability of the decision makers and of the participatory process). at the same time the hunters and environmentalist associations had to share the concern of the water regulation of the wetland; the public administration bodies had to force the usual procedures for public works and political decisions inside a deliberative setting 13 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 in the end, the solution was more effective because of a positive-sum game based on the empowerment of the players. not technical rationality, but the building of trust, reliability and collective sensitivity to the problem had been the key2. the harbour of marina di carrara. participatory planning as problem setting or as improvement of a ready-made decision marina di carrara is located in the north of the tuscan coast and hosts one of the most important harbours in the region where more then three million tons of goods per year were constantly traded in the past, but with some flexion in the period of the facts we are going to describe. already in 2006 the harbour management administration proposed a project for the renewal of the waterfront, including a reorganization of the accesses to the harbour, as well as new commercial facilities. in 2008, after some criticism and requests from the municipal administration, a second proposal for the waterfront was presented, with the purpose of reaching an agreement between the harbour managers and the city council. the decision was immediately strongly opposed by a substantial number of residents, many of which started organizing protests, drafting documents asking for different solutions and establishing an informal committee to follow the entire question. although the committee supported the idea that a new waterfront was possible and needed, it proposed containing land consumption; lowering environmental impact and designing the solution not as the premise for an enlargement of the touristic section of the harbour. when the opportunity offered by regional law regarding participation was discovered by the committee, they collected the signatures necessary to ask the regional authority for participation for the possibility, as well as the necessary funds, to organize an official local participatory process. the regional authority led a negotiation with the harbour managers (convincing them to participate, even if with no great enthusiasm), the municipality (which has the power to make the final decision concerning the project) and the committee, and subsequently funded the process, providing for it a well-established workflow. during the negotiation the committee had to submit to the request of the authority to substantially transform its role. first of all it had to became a legally recognized association in order to receive the regional funds, but even more importantly, it had to accept the idea that the process was to be managed by external experts and was not a sort of campaign against the local administration and the managers of the harbour, but a real mediation, coordinated by an independent and neutral moderator, and which represented the entire set of stakeholders. the municipality, at the same time, was a key actor since 2 the process itself was a success, even if the plant in the end was not built for reasons that are not connected with the location and the participatory process we describe here. 14 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 the beginning of the process because the authority had conditioned the financing also to its formal commitment to take into consideration the result of the process. not necessarily accepting it, but justifying any decisions taken in relation with the results. as said before, the committee had to accept several compromises with respect to its initial ideas. the most relevant is to open the whole process to the participation of a wide set of people, representing a statistic sample of the local population. this group carried out a series of workshops aimed to formulate a precise evaluation of the waterfront project, in other words it behaved as a sort of citizens jury. the process was also supported by a guarantee board, composed of the vice-mayor, the president of the harbour management body, two person belonging to the committee and four citizens, neutral concerning the debate, chosen together by the municipality and the committee. the activities, developed in five different meetings, were in part auditions of experts and representatives of the institutions involved, in part discussion in groups and in plenary, but also a workshop of participatory planning led by researchers from the department of architecture of the university of florence. the entire affair cannot be narrated in detail here (see garzella, 2011; givone and imbergamo, 2013), but we can positively underline that the participatory process itself was considered a good experience by many of the players. the most relevant result was the positive mood of collaboration during the entire process and, more particularly, the evolution of the vision of the inhabitants and especially of the local committee, from the opposition to some specific point of the project, to the development of a broad vision regarding the entire process of upgrading the waterfront. as in many successful participatory planning experiences the empowerment of the inhabitants coincides with the ability to develop a strategic vision for the planning activity they are involved in. the final document produced by the process was a set of guidelines for upgrading the waterfront containing ‘the most relevant values and problems of the area, identified in the phase of territorial survey […]; general broad-based recommendations [for the redevelopment project …]; at a more detailed level, the shared needs and some possible design solutions’ (garzella, 2011 p.87). unfortunately, despite the general sense of trust developed during the process, what has emerged from the interviews some time after the conclusion of the affair is a sense of dissatisfaction on the part of those who were involved, mainly on the side of the committee, but also in some of the participants on the side of the administration. the most visible reason is that in the end the mayor and the local council did not accept a relevant part of the proposals which emerged during the participatory workshops, thus not contradicting the law about participation per se, which consider the elected administrators as final decision makers, but, as a local official said in an interview, showing that ‘frequently also the more convinced politicians cool down 15 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 when they understand that citizens want to have a real weight’. in practice the city council accepted some of the very specific suggestions, but rejected the broad strategic vision proposed during the participatory process explaining (after the end of the process) that, from the point of view of the political majority, the waterfront project was not negotiable in general terms, but only in some of the details. the limits of the citizen's work were clearly established in the programme of the administration, even if they were not explicitly communicated during the meetings. the same logic of the official participatory process was against the opening-up of the real decision making activity because, officially, the planning activity is technically defined and strictly controlled in terms of procedure. the affair in question gives us the opportunity to reflect about the contradiction between the presumed constraint of maintaining the participatory process within a well-defined path by inserting variables in the official redesign of the harbour and the ability and need, emerging during the debate, to open up a broad strategic scenario, rather than insert small corrective measures into a ready-made plan. participatory processes, when organized around a significant spatial transformation, show precisely that citizens demand to discuss a general planning policy rather than technicalities and design details. an open and deep confrontation over a new territorial asset in marina di carrara gave non-practitioners the capacity to produce long-lasting strategic planning proposals instead of a technical adjustment of an unshared project, and planners know that adjustments are rarely decisive when facing wicked problems. overall, this affair shows that a positive-sum game, which gives the players the power to change the problem setting (forester, 2009), is precisely the setting where innovative solutions are produced. evidently this implies the management of power through trustworthiness and not through hierarchical relationships based on professional knowledge. conclusions. technical rationality, power and the normative side of change in the previous paragraphs some practical experiences of spatial planning with relevant phases of direct citizen participation have been described in order to analyse how in a planning setting, which is far beyond a strict rational-comprehensive approach, technical rationality re-emerges and how this happens the moment a planning option, developed through participation, is negated by a political body. the text also theorizes some of the reasons that bring back planners and decision makers to this seemingly obsolete approach. but the practical experiences reported, confronted with the planning framework and with the official, very progressive policy of spatial planning in tuscany, propose two more questions. the first regards 16 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 how technical rationality is connected with political power and if along this connection rationality became a tool for coercion. the second regards the relationship between the normative side of spatial planning and the possibility of a counter-hegemonic, radical, project for a redistribution of power (albrechts, 2015), where spatial justice implies inclusiveness in spatial planning decisions. the question about rationality and power is very old. according to luigi mazza, in ancient greece, ‘the tension between political reason and technical rationality that manifests itself in hippodamus is an opportunity to emphasize the subordination of the second to the first’ (mazza, 2009, 129). mazza argues that the grid designed by hippodamus of miletus is a form of planning because it implies the ‘(re)designing of citizenship’ using spatial ordering as an instrument of control and for that reason rationality is subordinate to political decision. we can easily recognize the same political/social project in the reported experiences but, paradoxically in reverse, since it is politics which appears subordinated to rational technical choices. in fact (for example in calstelfranco), after an open and participative approach to spatial planning, a relevant policy-maker uses technical rationality to reject a shared decision from the political arena, in which citizen participation and elected local governments were trying to play their positive sum game, based on a laboriously built sense of trust. in the planning stories reported the participatory processes were not even questioning power relations directly, they were simply part of a participative decision making setting because inserted in a mediated dialogical framework, established by acts and procedures, but evidently antibodies were activated by the fact that the problem setting was always reappearing in the requests of citizens limiting the possibility for one single player to control the outcome. the definition of a reality through a rationality is an instrument of power, useful for its conservation (flyvbjerg, 1996) and the forced convergence of interests and opinions toward the rational best solution implies a manipulation performed through refuge in a paradigm (this is what tells us the story of castelfranco). this tendency has two implications: for planners, who perceive this contradiction as an ethical problem, procedural rationality creates a sort of reassurance to escape arbitrariness and unjust outcomes; for policy-makers who work towards the convergence of a project of social control and maximization of land revenue, technical rationality is a very good instrument to reach this convergence. the combination of the two tendencies explains at least part of the resistance of a technical rational paradigm. the second question is raised in an article by louis albrechts while asking ‘how are the different types of knowledge […] relevant for a relational strategic planning’ and ‘whether strategic spatial planning practices are able to resist the hegemonic discourses of neoliberalism’ (albrechts, 2015, 512). in this vision traditional planning is functional to keep the present social order under control and rational 17 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 knowledge is unable to understand social tensions and locally based political will. albrechts theorizes that to transform spatial planning into a project capable of questioning hegemonic relationships, the practice of citizen participation must evolve into a real co-productive work in which co-production has a normative side. we certainly agree that co-production and a radical agenda are strongly needed to avoid planning being pushed into a dark arena and we assume that this could have been one of the possible outcomes of the participative decision making process endorsed by the tuscan planning system, nevertheless the experience regarding the tuscan experiment in participative spatial planning raises serious questions regarding the possibility of a normative side to co-production. in fact the re-emergence of a rational-comprehensive attitude towards planning choices by some stakeholders and policy-makers could have been expected, but the aggressiveness with which the participatory spatial planning model established by the same local legislative system was challenged is surprising. the aggregative and incrementalist framework that emerged from the tuscan planning laws, open to the experimentation of deliberative democracy, was seriously undermined by the outcome of several of the practical experiences. evidently inside a well-established system of administrative rules (as for example in the carrara case) it is very unlikely to find space to address the question of hegemony and maintenance of social/spatial order and, in effect, it is obviously pointless to question an established order inside a framework of rules controlled by this hegemonic power, especially if there are administrative procedures and property relations on the table (kirsten and shahadat, 2012). in conclusion, having argued that the resistance and re-emergence of the rationalcomprehensive technocratic approach is part of the nature of spatial planning and that the integration of an open and inclusive planning attitude in the normative framework is, at least, extraordinarily problematic, we need to imagine a future for spatial planning, if we do not believe in its end. from this point of view we can propose the possibility of a strategic logic where the problem setting is participative and participation is invested by real power to set the spatial planning agenda. a positive sum game played by as many actors as the subjects (single or collective) involved, multi-variable, open and not predetermined. then at the level of spatial implementation of planning policies we need an intuitionist logic and an incrementalist technique (téchne), in which rationality considers the problem of time and change (morin, 1991), and related to that, the question of contradiction and the positive option of collective learning. 18 zetti – power relationships, citizens participation and persistence of rational paradigm in spatial planning: the tuscan experience ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. xi, issue 1 2021 references albrechts, l. 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(1968). topologie et signification [topology and signification]. l'age de la science, 4. trettel, m. (2015). the politics of deliberative democracy. a comparative survey of the "law in action" of citizen participation. revista de derecho político 94 (sepdec): 85-114. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5944/rdp.94.2015.15738 yiftachel, o. (1998). planning and social control: exploring the dark side. journal of planning literature, vol.12 n.2 pp.395-406. yiftachel, o. (2001). introduction. in: yiftachel, o., little, j., hedgcock, d., et al. (eds) the power of planning: spaces of control and transformation, dordrecht and london: kluwer academic. 1–20. zetti, i. (2011). partecipazione, politiche pubbliche, territori. la l.r. 69/2007 [participation, public policies and territories. r.l. 69/07]. florence: irpet. retrieved from: http://det.irpet.it/storage/pubblicazioneallegato/307_studi_consiglio_6_2011-1.pdf (accessed 3 september 2020). zetti, i. (2012). la legge regionale sulla partecipazione ed i processi locali. l.r. 69/07, elementi per una valutazione [the regional law on participation and local processes. r.l. 69/97 elements for an evaluation]. florence: irpet. retrieved from: http://det.irpet.it/storage/pubblicazioneallegato/395_la%20legge%20regionale%206 9%20def.pdf (accessed 3 september 2020). short author biography: iacopo zetti is associate professor of urban and regional planning at the university of florence. his research activity covers several fields. some are: the participation of inhabitants in the urban project and in planning policies and the re-use and rehabilitation of marginal spaces and in-between areas. http://det.irpet.it/storage/pubblicazioneallegato/307_studi_consiglio_6_2011-1.pdf http://det.irpet.it/storage/pubblicazioneallegato/395_la%20legge%20regionale%2069%20def.pdf http://det.irpet.it/storage/pubblicazioneallegato/395_la%20legge%20regionale%2069%20def.pdf box 2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 42vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 piera pellegrino issn: 2239­267x architect, phd in town and regional planning dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma the strategic urban structure (sum) has been introduced within the law of umbria region 11/05 (art. 3) as a fundamental tool to reduce urban seismic risk through planning. its definition is provided by the guidelines with the same title (sum)1, addressed to technicians working within public administrations at the local level, as well as to planners and urban designers. the sum refers to the basic system of streets, open spaces, strategic functions and buildings whose contribution is fundamental for responding to the earthquake in the emergency phase and for the re­start of socio­economic and urban activities after a seismic event. the sum includes the basic components, none of which can be subtracted without compromising the functioning of the settlement. the sum can be considered as analytical and also as a planning tool. in fact, aiming at improving the “urban response” to the earthquake, it is grounded on the present condition of places, but it considers also planning forecasts, strategic urban structure (sum) concept, components, phases and references see references.1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 43vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pellegrino ­ box 2: strategic urban structure (sum) defining what is needed in terms of spaces and places, functions and routes, in order to increase its efficiency. from a planning point of view, the re­start of the city after a seismic event is as important as the ability to resist the earthquake in the emergency phase: for this reason, the sum is composed of strategic elements that can fulfil both purposes. it also highlights the criticalities that must be solved to ensure a better functioning of a town in case of a seismic event and therefore it is useful for defining public actions, and priority actions. it is important to clarify that the sum does not only include the contents of a civil protection plan, but it contains all the elements that are necessary for the functioning of the city both in the emergency and post­emergency phases. defining the sum the definition of the sum is addressed to the reduction of seismic risk and consists of three steps that correspond to three basic planning stages: 1. mobility and accessibility (the main transport and communications network, the main connections between strategic functions, etc.); identifying urban structure through analysis of the urban functioning and identification of its strategic components for the response to an earthquake. this includes both the present elements and those foreseen by planning tools. the main systemic components of the urban structure are: the sum also includes buildings and places that contribute to the representation of economic, social and identity values. their loss may affect the functioning of the city, and particularly the post­ seismic restart. 2. assessing criticalities through the identification and evaluation of potential problems and weaknesses of strategic components of the sum. the evaluation consists, first of all, in a qualitative • • • • safe open spaces; main technological networks. strategic buildings (administrative institutions, health facilities, police, fire department, etc); ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 44vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 assessment. further in­depth assessments can be conducted according to different levels of detail which are needed, and according to the knowledge and resources available. the evaluation regards the main following critical issues: 3. definition of the actions needed to reduce criticalities and to increase the functionality of the sum. these actions should be consistent with planning needs, and also consistent and integrated with the operational needs of civil protection. specifically interventions concern: improving the functionality of the sum could mean providing the redundancy of some of its elements. there are two main reasons why the sum must be characterized by redundancy, both related to forms of uncertainty. the first is uncertainty about possible concatenations or side­effects provoked by the seismic event, and to the multiple situations which could occur; the second is uncertainty about the behaviour of the urban settlement (which is also related to human behaviour). pellegrino ­ box 2: strategic urban structure (sum) structural damage;• • • • absence or lack of safe spaces; local seismic hazard conditions; absence or lack of safe routes, considering in particular situations of overcrowding; • • • amplification of the seismic effects, in particular when the damage of a single element leads to a systemic loss of functionality; general systemic weakness. potential problems with communications; reduction of the weaknesses of the systems;• • • improvement of the urban structure with the definition of alternatives, or with the creation of elements of redundancy; definition of new planning goals more consistent with environmental risk reduction imperatives. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 45vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references regione umbria – dptu, dipartimento di pianificazione territoriale e urbanistica, sapienza università di roma: f. fazzio, m. olivieri, r. parotto, b. pizzo (2009), linee guida per la definizione della struttura urbana minima all’interno del prg – parte strutturale. law 11/05 (art. 3) of umbria region rules of local government: municipal planning. table 1 ­ the phases and related products for the definition of the sum pellegrino ­ box 2: strategic urban structure (sum) box 3 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 margherita giuffré issn: 2239­267x architect, phd in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di italian historic centers ­ mostly composed of grouping of buildings of different dimensions and shapes ­ showed a marked weakness in most recent earthquakes, firstly in the l’aquila area in 2009 and also in the emilia area in 2012. from analyzing the effects of earthquakes occurred at the end of the last century, and in particular in umbria and in marche regions in 1997, the difficulties of a vision focused on a single buiding emerges ­ when operating on historical building fabrics – regarding the damages description, the safety controls and the intervention they needed. this box examines some versions of the national anti­seismic technical regulations, starting from 1996, with the explicit purpose of highlighting how attention moves from the single building to its surrounding, until focus is given to groupings of buildings ­ the “aggregate edilizi” ­ making this central to the rules that regulate post­seismic reconstruction. until 2003, the technical regulations requiring the analysis of buildings affected by seismic occurrences in order to define improvement interventions and mitigation of seismic vulnerability referred only to single buildings. the analysis of historical buildings a brief survey on technical regulations and their effects on urban planning ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 giuffrè ­ box 3: analysis of hisotircal buildings following the san giuliano earthquake in 2002 this regulation was reviewed and, especially in relation to the problem of historic buildings, an profound change was introduced with important implications for urban planning. in fact, the ordinance of the cabinet’s president (opcm 3274/03) introduces issues concerning the wider building fabric and the characteristics of the urban and historic contexts. these were subsequently modified in the 2008 revision. since 1998, following the earthquake in umbria and marche regions, the law 61 on reconstruction had already introduced the concept of “unitary intervention” within the "piani di recupero" (recovery programs), a planning tool addressed to mitigate vulnerability, while restoring the built environment. the use of this instrument enabled targeted interventions for improving seismic safety and for reducing the seismic vulnerability of historic buildings. at the same time, this significantly contributed to the preservation and recovery of buildings of historical­monumental interest, through complex recovery interventions carried out through unitary projects involving both public and private agencies, which pay attention also to public spaces, paths, escape routes. considering the anti­seismic normative as an evolving matter both from a technical and an administrative point of view, it is rather clear that it is the "aggregato edilizio" which represents the reference unit, thereby addressing it during the post­seismic recovery studies. this operation should cause analysis and interventions as well as the planning and management of historic settlements that could be read as a form of prevention within the ordinary town planning activity. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 giuffrè ­ box 3: analysis of hisotircal buildings ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 130 institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome edoardo altavilla gr an s as so s cien ce i n s ti t u te vi ale fr an c es co cr i sp i, 7 6 7 1 0 0 l’ aq u ila , i ta ly . enzo falco as si st an t pr o f es so r , di c am, un iv er sit à d eg l i s tu d i d i tr en to vi sit in g res ear ch er , dep ar tm en t ur b an i sm , t u d e lf t . barbara pizzo re sear ch pr o f e s so r , dep a r tm en t plan n in g , de sig n an d ar ch i tect u r al tech n o lo g y , s ap ien z a un iv er s it à d i ro m a . keywords: metro c; megaprojects; governance; heterarchy; legge obiettivo abstract a strategic infrastructure project in rome, italy, and namely the metro c line, is presented here for scrutinising how institutional frameworks and governance arrangements shape megaproject implementation. on the one side, we look at legal endowments and institutional reforms related to a still incomplete territorial rescaling; on the other side, at routines and practices among actors in project management. more precisely, we develop these two fundamental acceptations of the institutional, reconstructing the management of the project and the path of italian downscaling reform still underway (that has implications for the governance of projects too). both these realms altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 131 have been affected by the advent of the legge obiettivo, the special law that for fifteen years has been governing strategic projects in italy – metro c included. via a review of regulatory measures, relevant theoretical constructs in the fields of governance and project studies, and with the help of a number of interviews conducted in 2016 and 2017, we delve into the main reasons that explain the metro c implementation failure as to cost overrun and delivery delays, and found the primary causes of these latter in the fragmented public client role that cannot guarantee the project’s governability. introduction despite their employment as an object of study in the broad field of organisational studies, projects of any nature are seldom studied in reference to the institutional framework determined both by the placespecific socio-cultural roots and the variety of polities in which they can be embedded. the institutional side of project organising is understood in many ways. the categorisation that we refer to in order to focus this paper is the one offered by levitt & scott (2017) in their contribution to the oxford handbook of megaprojects management (2017): in a nutshell, institutions can be studied either as legal-administrative frameworks or as normative and cultural-cognitive frameworks. the first macrocategory refers to the value of formal regulative arrangements set up at a given polity to ‘manage political and economic behaviour’ (ibidem, p. 101); the second concentrates on the tacit and shared system of internalised values and sedimented moral codes that enables a certain community to work and cooperate according to a similar view of the world. most scholars agree that project failures depend to a large extent on a poor understanding of a polity’s institutional roots and social milieu as well as on a superficial approach to coalition dynamics offered by the altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 132 law (e.g. the control of the contractor’s activity by the client) (see miller & lessard, 2001; flyvbjerg, 2014; levitt & scott, 2017). in italy, and particularly in the object of investigation in this paper, the question of government rescaling adds complexity to the typical project governance puzzle (flyvbjerg, 2005, 2014; priemus et al., 2008), with its unclear implementation that created the basis for a fragile stance of the public client in the dialectic with the private contractor. a turnkey contracting firm should be able, on its part, to take on the construction’s risk and financial sustainability on its own. infrastructural projects, therefore, represent ecosystems to research the institutional side of the management of projects, especially when participants’ and stakeholders’ roles are reformed as they have been in italy following law 443/2001 – known as legge obiettivo1. the aim of this article is to offer evidence regarding the effects of the institutional reorganisation implemented through the legge obiettivo until 2016 on the implementation of the metro c project in italy’s capital city, rome. the effects could be summarised in a “disjointed” role of the project’s client and a poor understanding of project management re-institutionalisation. this article is organised as follows: section 1 frames the case in the scientific debate about rescaling, intergovernmental relations, and the most suitable contributions that explain the late institutional strand of project studies. in the second section, the paper describes the methodology employed to research the case study. the consulted interviewees are listed and the logic of inquiry outlined together with a summary of the main questions which guided the semi-structured interviews and their outcomes. 1 law 443/2001 governed strategic infrastructure construction from 2002 to 2016 when it was formally abrogated by the approval of the new code for public contracts. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 133 subsequently, section 3 explores briefly the recent italian legislative path to institutional devolution that brought to the creation of downscaled governments. after this report, the main features of the legge obiettivo are outlined for the reader to appreciate the impact of this law on the institutional reorganisation. in section 4, the case study of metro c is discussed in order to highlight the reasons why the project has suffered a slow, costly and opaque implementation and show the relevance of this project for the issues framed in the literature review. via the analysis of the legal framework and with the help of seven interviews with various key informants and stakeholders, we show that the metro c project featured a heterarchical form of project governance. also, in a poorly understanding of the ‘project ecology’ notion, the contractor emerges as a concentrator of functions able to blend government and management roles. although heterarchy is generally believed to be incremental to performance in project management, the main outcome that it produced in this project’s execution was hardly a smart way to govern (project) complexity escaping – for instance – “scalar traps”, as optimistically foretold by ansell (2000). nor was it a way to unleash the knowledge and learning potential within the project, as envisaged by the project ecology concept (grabher & ibert, 2012). the main outcome, on the contrary, was the neutralisation of the public actor’s control function into scalar pulverisations. the neglect of the available (and suitable) metropolitan scale comes as a corollary of all this. the paper concludes with some final remarks. mega projects as a matter of institutions this paper is organised around a large engineering project’s (lep) case study. the purpose of the work is to highlight how the institutional setting – namely the administrative-regulative apparatus that is altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 134 deployed in order to govern the implementation of a project – has conditioned this particular project’s outcome and influenced heavily the actors’ behaviour. in order to do that, we refer particularly to the regulative acceptations that the concept of institutions plays in the literature (levitt & scott, 2017; scott et al. 2011). we reckon scalar government of projects as totally pertaining to the above acceptation of institutions. therefore, for this work we choose to consider those aspects of the large literature on political rescaling that point at aspects of actors’ interactions and governance arrangements. in particular, the concern here is on the (more or less explicit) conflicts on which scale is the more appropriate to govern a particular issue (in this case, an important public infrastructural project). this implies a redefinition of the governance composition and interactions (brenner, 1999, 2001; swyngedouw, 1997). actors and stakeholders exercising their functions in a certain administrative and regulative environment are embedded in a system that encourages compliance with formal rules; this system shapes their behaviour and the relational routines among each other. this is particularly true for economic inter-firm and intra-firm relations, as well as between firms and the state (williamson, 1985). institutions can be seen as legal devices that – according to given resources and objectives – give order and meaning to individual and collective behaviour (north, 1990). according to this conceptualisation, public contracting laws and territorial government reforms belong by all means to the institutional realm. downscaling processes, for example, determine change in the specific weight each polity actor enjoys in a governance scheme. such redistribution, however, is likely to not neglect the state actor: states keep on being present in the governance arrangements and mix with local civil societies. chris ansell called this type of relations «the networked polity», to signify the intertwined action in certain policy altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 135 undertakings that features the non-hierarchical exchange between «non-state organisations, public agencies, and the macro-structural organisation of the state» (2000, p. 309). this non-hierarchical attribute refers to the relational exchange between the components of the network: they can work either horizontally or vertically but with no particular chain of command. this process might intersect other processes that interest city governance like new public management: as the public apparatus develops in a less monolithic entity, the private actor might take its role in key functions such as the delivery and planning of services (lane, 2000). the division of labour determined by both rescaling (between different geographical scales) and public-private dynamics – in turn induced by new management organisation of the public – produces what we could call ‘actors’ equalisation’, or heterarchy. coming to projects in particular, it has been eminently argued that solid, well-structured and coherent legal frameworks, regulations and practices (i.e. institutions) are sine qua non requirements for leps to take place effectively and efficiently (miller & lessard, 2001). more specifically, empirical research on leps suggests that sound, reliable and agreed institutions help shape less intricate contracts in order to (1) withstand and respond to economic and political turbulence, (2) limit the temptation for opportunistic behaviour, (3) build a better legitimacy for projects as they can be adequately discussed beforehand with communities, and (4) dealing with foreseeable risk in due time (see also miller & hobbs, 2005). sound institutions are substantiated primarily in indisputable constraints for actors’ behaviour, consistent and complementary roles according to such constraints. these requirements, it has been argued, are primarily achieved with the hierarchical order of contractual agreements between clients and contractors, and between contractors and suppliers (stinchcombe & heimer, 1985). altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 136 nonetheless, the latest insights on the success factors in project organising put a high premium on non-hierarchical relations among actors in complex project governance because flexible systems of this sort are believed to ultimately facilitate knowledge production and codification, and strengthen trust relationships among actors (grabher & ibert, 2012). such complexity, as it has been observed in a study published by grabher (2002a), features increasingly non-hierarchical array of relationships, and has been famously termed “project ecology”. as gernot grabher argues (ibidem), it is worth acknowledging that, inside this complexity of relations, interplay of geographical layers is also at work. significantly, in this complex environment it is hard to identify a particular chain of command – and governmental actors representing multiple scales of government are no exception. one of the collateral (and overlooked) effects that can emerge from this geographical layers’ intersection is the fragmentation of the public actor in the urban policy agenda, a condition that has been observed, in italy, in the implementation of urban public policies (see allulli & tortorella, 2013; d'albergo, 2010). complex systems – like leps organisations – characterised by fragmentation and heterarchy can develop severe limits in project management, specifically in delivering the project on time and on budget. in this view – as far as leps are concerned – governance issues are analysed mostly to explore how legal and regulatory institutions and project management influence one another (michaud & lessard, 2001). so far, however, the scientific literature has delivered little account of fragmentation in leps-based networks embedded in (and influenced by) territorial government reform. the aim of this paper is to cover this gap by using a lep case study to explore how legislative and regulatory entropy contributed crucially to the institutional fragmentation in altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 137 project implementation that led to weaken the management and control power of the (public) client. as mentioned, metro c in rome has been constructed until 2016 according to the legge obiettivo, a regulatory framework that after a decade or so of progressive government downscaling formally brings back the state actor into the game. the same law, from an organisational point of view, reforms the management of projects by placing greater responsibility and power in the private contractor’s role. case study methodology in order to investigate the current institutional practices and policies that are shaped and affected by institutional reorganisation, we have decided to employ the case study method (yin, 2009). by focusing on a specific relevant case of a transport infrastructure project (currently the biggest infrastructure project in italy), in one of the most important metropolitan areas in italy, rome, we are able to identify the impact that the reorganisation of powers and functions related to the domain of leps have on the role of different government actors and the private contractor within project implementation. the study aims to build new understanding on how practices materialise in the new institutional environment embedded in both the italian patchy institutional reform and the legge obiettivo attributions that are somehow related to that reform. to conduct the case study research, we needed to have a clear picture of the administrative changes produced by law (discussed in section 3) that over the years have reformed government functions and powers at different levels. we also started our study by conducting desk research on relevant projects and regulatory documents (e.g. master plan for the city of rome, project planning document, project modifications dossiers and the like) that allowed us to identify fundamental aspects of altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 138 the metro c project such as actor roles, route (related to urban spatial development), funding allocation, timing, and key decisions. these elements were preliminary to the main analysis phase, which allowed us to gain insights into the actors’ roles and practices. for this purpose, we used the semi-structured interview technique (longhurst, 2003) with relevant informants who could provide important and first-hand information for a better understanding of the case. we used the purposive sampling technique (guest et al., 2006; oliver & jupp, 2006) to identify key informants (bernard, 2017) and asked them on occasion to recommend others we could not approach or identify in the first place (i.e. snowball selection) who were able to improve our understanding in relation to the research question (e.g. the mayor of neighbouring municipality monte compatri and especially the experts involved as advisers of the municipality). in total, 7 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted between january 2016 and january 2017. we stopped with the interviews when we received no further names for the collection of relevant data and information. the interviewees selected are the following: • andrea sciotti (roma metropolitane 2 – ‘responsible for the procedure’3 in the metro c project); • antonio tamburrino (consultant engineer for rome’s former mayor gianni alemanno – mobility policy); • marco de carolis (mayor of the municipality of monte compatri); • giulio fioravanti (architect, consultant of the municipality of rome with mayors francesco rutelli and walter veltroni); 2 public contracting agency for the metro c project. 3 the r.u.p. – a public role in the italian administrative system. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 139 • adriano la regina (head of the archaeological superintendence of rome); • maurizio canto (roma metropolitane; member of the technical evaluating committee of metro c’s tender); • walter tocci (municipality of rome, former deputy mayor and responsible for public mobility). the number of interviews (7) is totally consistent with similar research on single projects (see research methodology applied in the research by imec (international program in the management of engineering and construction) – miller & lessard, 2001; miller & hobbs, 2005). the above face-to-face interviews lasted approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour and a half. each interview was taped and successively transcribed word for word in order to avoid any misinterpretation and minimise personal biases in the analysis. table 1 below summarises the main questions that guided the semi-structured interviews in relation to the main aspects under investigation. table 2 below provides a very concise summary of the outcomes and intentions for each interview. table 1 – summary of interview questions interviewee main questions asked walter tocci 1. can you describe the debate internal to the administration back then when the legge obiettivo was about to be employed for metro c? 2. what were the pros and cons of the turnkey project approach in that case? 3. what were the main differences between the early project draft prepared by the municipality and the current one prepared by the contractor? adriano la regina 1. what does it mean for an archaeological conservation body to take advantage of such a major campaign of excavations (like the metro c works)? altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 140 2. would you say that the archaeological superintendence has been exploited in that case, for instance using the “meticulousness” of its operators for prolonging the works more than necessary? 3. in your opinion, were all the (archaeologicaldiscovery related) changes issued by the contractor during the project actually unexpected, as claimed? andrea sciotti 1. what is the rationale of turnkey type of contract in the field of public works? 2. in your opinion, to what extent is metro c’s cost overrun due to archaeological-related modifications? 3. can you briefly describe the evaluation process when a modification request is issued by the contractor? antonio tamburrino 1. what is your opinion on the impacts the metro c project might have on the city of rome? 2. what were the project options (also regarding city mobility as a whole) examined by the municipality when you were working as adviser? 3. what were the main changes in the approach between the centre-left and centre-right city administration on the project? 4. according to your experience [tamburrino worked abroad in the past, authors’ note], are there cultural determinants that might explain the different performance worldwide of turnkey contracting? giulio fioravanti 1. you worked on the early version of the project (drafted completely by the municipality), can you briefly point out the main differences and technical implications for the metro c project when the legge obiettivo was chosen for its implementation? altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 141 2. according to your experience, is there an optimal institutional organisation for projects to be effectively and efficiently carried out – e.g. roles that fit better the private or the public sector? marco de carolis 1. what were the main issues discussed in the conferenza dei servizi for the metro c? 2. did you – as a neighbouring municipality have an appropriate weight in the table, or did you feel somehow left out? maurizio canto 1. as a member of the evaluation committee of roma metropolitane on this project’s entrustment, how would you judge the average level (in technological and innovative terms especially) of the firms that bid for the metro c work? 2. the terms defined by the municipality for the metro c demanded great attention by the firm for the timely and in-budget delivery of the work; do you think these two types of requests (economic and technical) were well balanced? source: authors. table 2 – very brief summary of interview responses interviewee outcomes and intentions for each interview walter tocci public sector point of view. mr tocci provided a partisan but informed interpretation of the project’s governance. this interview helped to clarify the political rationality that stood at the basis of the legge obiettivo adoption. also – as former council member appointed with mobility policy responsibilities – mr tocci was the one of the main contributors to the snowball selection of the other interviewees. adriano la regina the archaeological conservation point of view. as a very important rationality in italian policy making altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 142 altogether, historical tutorship has had a prominent role on the metro c project as it involved intensive excavation in rome underground. mr la regina’s interview was valuable to the appreciation of the technical and archaeological issues at stake, as well as a testimony of the dialogue between the public sector’s and the private contractor’s logics. andrea sciotti the contracting agency point of view. the agency roma metropolitane is the operative agency of rome’s municipality on public transit projects. the interview focused on the institutional rationale of the legge obiettivo, the changing nature of contractors under this new regulation, and the relationships between roma metropolitane and metro c s.c.p.a. (the project’s contractor). antonio tamburrino embodying the logic of technical expertise, mr tamburrino helped reconstructing the various engineering and mobility policy options that have been time after time on the decision makers’ table. he counselled for a political coalition (centre-right) that came later (2008-2013). giulio fioravanti embodying the logic of technical expertise, somewhat mr tamburrino’s counterpart as fioravanti was a technical consultant of mr tocci in the centre-left city administration. fioravanti drafted first the metro c project and had a crucial role in rethinking some technical aspects after the legge obiettivo was adopted. he also contributed to shape the idea of a changing role for contractors under the legge obiettivo, particularly by discerning between moral and legal values involved. marco de carolis the bordering municipality point of view. the interview with mr de carolis helped to appreciate the confusion in the metro c governance especially by attending (and giving testimony) on the projectrelated conferenze dei servizi (the italian interinstitutional table of negotiation). it also helped clarifying the lack of an actual ‘metropolitan’ perspective in the governance of metropolitan line. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 143 maurizio canto member of the contracting agency’s evaluation committee. mr canto took part to the committee that decided to entrust the work for the metro c to the current contractor. the interview with him was sought to understand more deeply the desired technical (as well as the economic) capacity of contractors in important infrastructural projects of this sort. source: authors. administrative reforms: a rough path to rescaling this section deals with the administrative reforms that have had an impact on the organizational and polity aspects at the local level and touches upon the financial-related measures that determine funding for metro c. in general, on the basis of the subsidiarity principle (colombo, 2004), the trend of administrative reforms has been one of everincreasing devolution of government functions to the sub-national levels of government (see fig. 1) (maltoni, 2002; clarich, 2012). this became especially clear in the late 1990s with the bassanini laws and early 2000s with the constitutional reform. local public transport was then identified as administrative competence of both local and provincial governments for which collaboration would be expected if the service and circumstances require it. città metropolitane (metropolitan cities) were first introduced as a new tier of local government in 2001, and inherited the same boundaries and functions of the old provinces in 2014. this was confirmed for the city of rome in 2014 (‘del rio act’ and statute of the metropolitan city of rome) until the metropolitan level of government (città metropolitana di roma capitale) was established (1 january 2015). however, a financial decree in 2012 denied the importance of the soon to be formed metropolitan level of government. specifically, it provided altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 144 that for decisions on infrastructure investment an ad-hoc agreement was to be signed between the city of rome and the regional and national institutions, denying, in such a way, the importance of the metropolitan level of government and therefore the inclusion of the municipalities that are part of it in matters concerning the metropolitan scale. the projects and investments resulting from the agreement were thus included in the national investment plan under law 443/2001 (known as legge obiettivo). legge obiettivo assumes great relevance and importance for our discussion since it provided special legislation for large infrastructure projects and national financial resources earmarked over the years through special laws and decrees. figure 1 rescaling: relevant acts and laws in italy (1997-2014) source: authors. the rationale and operation of the legge obiettivo altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 145 the regulatory framework that governed the construction and implementation of strategic megaprojects from 2002 to 20164 has been introduced, in italy, by law no. 443/2001 (publicly known as legge obiettivo) and it changed profoundly the institutional setting of megaprojects’ implementation in the country. this law was voted after a decade of profound discontent in the italian construction sector, due to the supposed punitive treatment the sector was suffering after the bribery scandal of tangentopoli was uncovered5. the legge obiettivo was, in this sense, a way to unleash the private potential to innovate, relieve the financial burden for public administrations for megaprojects’ construction, and consequently guarantee quick and efficient project implementation. the legge obiettivo reformed the previous legal framework about public works’ contracting, regarding especially: a) the rules to comply to for the entrustment of contractors; b) the responsibility for preliminary, final and executive plans; c) the tasks of both the local authorities and the contractor (i.e. procurement rules); d) the provision of environmental impact analysis (eia) and strategic environmental assessment (sea); e) the control over the actual work in progress (construction site’s management). 4 the legge obiettivo has been overcome by the new code for public contracts in 2016 (d. lgs. 50/2016), but the legislation on the matter of public works and projects is constantly being revisited, adjusted, and integrated with new regulations. 5 the framework law applied until the legge obiettivo was adopted (the so called legge merloni – l. 109/1985) was constructed to establish a sound public control on public works. private construction firms, under this regime, were no more than mere executors of public projects. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 146 the legge obiettivo introduced in italy the figure of the main contractor (or ‘general’ contractor) adopted from the anglo-american systems; along with this figure came the practice of turnkey contracts6 for large infrastructure projects. this law configured a totalising regime for public infrastructure works, even though it could only apply to those projects that held national strategic importance. such a status was bestowed by the national ministry for transport. a project that could enjoy this preferential status had to be included in a dedicated multiyear plan – the strategic infrastructures programme (pis). the decision to insert a public infrastructure in the pis could be either a national initiative or indirectly sponsored by the local authority in which the infrastructure is located. when the ministry of transport makes the decision official, the project gets three levels of joint funding (from the state, the region and the municipality – the national state normally bears the major share of the funding). in the specific case of metro c, the decision to demand the insertion of the project in the framework of the legge obiettivo was taken by the then mayor walter veltroni. according to the interviewee water tocci: «that was a wrong decision – by all means dictated by reasons of distension between the city government and the national government from veltroni’s side (silvio berlusconi’s centre-right coalition, authors’ note). nevertheless, the preparation of the legge obiettivo itself was a huge lobby endeavour performed by those big engineering companies that had been left aside in the post-tangentopoli period (the 6 turnkey projects are peculiar types of public procurements: a turnkey project is not only executed by the private contractor, but also planned and possibly fully subcontracted by it. it represents a fundamental turning point for both public administrations and private sector actors. the former are reduced in their control and planning roles, the latter are subject to higher profile competition that now involves issues of management and supply chain organisation. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 147 italian bribery scandal uncovered in 1993, authors’ note). for them, an environment that is less bound to public prescriptions was more suitable. the legge obiettivo, as we now know, substantially hollows out the public capacity to keep control on public works it puts to tender.» different roles for the contractor and the municipality the legge obiettivo defines different roles for the contractor and the government involved. once the authorisation from the ministry is received, the municipality, in this case, has responsibility to design the tender terms, the awarding criteria, and the typology of the auction (i.e. how many firms to be admitted to the tender, the required characteristics and the like). from the moment when the tender is won onwards, the contractor has full operative responsibility over the work’s delivery. most importantly – for the sake of this paper – the contractor finds a further institutional reference in the ministry for transport, possibly bypassing the local scale if needed. for instance, veto power and negative advice about the project’s modifications (often causing remarkable cost overruns), are unclearly determined: one level of government could be easily bypassed by the contractor by turning to the other (through the act of changing the type of the modification request issued, e.g. an archaeological discovery). the tasks related to the project’s implementation are allocated as follows. the main contractor: • has full responsibility on the planning of the project7; 7 even though it is just optional, the general contractor can be appointed with tasks covering all three levels of planning: preliminary, final and executive. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 148 • finances the work in advance; • appoints the construction manager 8 and controls the construction site; • takes on the construction risk management; • has the power to subcontract the whole work 9 according to private contracts. the municipality, instead: • is appointed with ‘high surveillance’ tasks over the work in progress10; • chooses the private contractor through a private call for bids; • approves small-range modifications11; • bears a minor share on the project’s funding; • receives the management of the work, when executed and put in operation. a special mention has to be done to the role of the construction manager – that with the legge obiettivo is fulfilled by the contractor itself. in public contracts, this role – that more than other legal instruments 8 once (with the previous law: 109/1994) an emanation of the municipality. 9 according to the rules, a further tier of subcontracting is possible; for this third level, contracting firms are not easily accountable in the public records and this is one of the aspects that make corruption an actual possibility in italian megaprojects. 10 note that this task fatally overlaps with the ones of the construction manager (as said, appointed by the contractor). as a senior executive of the contracting agency roma metropolitane says: «taking over even occasional surveillance functions in the construction site means incurring in new costs for the public administration and further delays». 11 however, the decisive say on the approval of the modifications is held by the technical unit (struttura tecnica di missione) inside the ministry. the contractor can appeal to the national ministry for rejected modifications. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 149 assures the consistency of the project’s implementation with financial and technical constraints – is typically a direct expression of the (public) client, as a key planning and control prerogative. this role – if fulfilled by the private contractor – makes it possible to have full latitude to decide whether, for instance, an archaeological occurrence is worth a normal modification or a special one (variante sostanziale12). this latter is called in during the construction of a public work when an unexpected event determines a significant budget increase: it is a key element of the project’s cost overrun. the metro c project line c (fig. 213) – the third line of rome’s subway – originates in the municipality of monte compatri, in the metropolitan area of rome. the project’s primary scope was to link the spatially and socially marginal south-eastern quadrant of the city with the historical centre of rome. the project, in its full extent, was also meant to take the line further north-west, making it the longest subway line in italy. by intersecting the other two subway lines (a and b) in two points (stations of colosseum and san giovanni), the completion of the new line is expected to increase dramatically the network effect of rome’s public mobility as a whole (see comune di roma, 1995). the line is 25,6 kilometres long, for a total of 30 stations. 30% of the route constitutes over-ground rail whereas the remaining 70% is dug 12 note that, at the national level, a recent report on the legge obiettivo implementation from the anticorruption authority estimated the occurrence of modifications to be around 70% of all the works present in the pis. in 183 out of 263 cases (measured in work’s parcels) the modifications increased the budget. 13 dotted segments are still under construction. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 150 underground with about 2,4 million cubic metres of excavations done to date (late 2018). the metro c project is fractioned into 5,000 sub-contracts involving over 2,000 companies and suppliers. all in all, more than 10,000 workers are employed in the entire supply chain. figure 1 – the metro c route source: authors. the project organisation, as governed through the legge obiettivo mechanism, showed a number of severe inefficiencies for technical and moral reasons. line c was originally scheduled to open (in its full extent) in 2011 at an estimated cost (2.5 billion euros) that was less than half of what is now believed to be on the hand-in day (approximately 6 billion euros). a significant share of the cost’s increase is to be attributed to the many modifications issued for unexpected archaeological occurrences. if such estimations are confirmed, the project will be completed over ten years behind schedule and nearly three times over budget (italian court altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 151 of audit, 2011). such huge cost and time overruns are currently object of a number of judicial inquiries investigating on allegations of corruption of public officials and treasury offense (tab. 3). table 3 – poor performance of the metro c project implementation delays cost overrun modifications judicial enquiries supposed to be entirely completed in 2011. in terms of budget spent, only 57% is completed to date (late 2018). the ‘fundamental section’ (through the historical centre) has been completed only by 5%. 2006: 2,5 billion euros (award of the tender) 2016: 3,8 billion euros to date 52% of cost overrun, with the most technically difficult part still to be undertaken. if the original cost (1.9 billion euros) of the line is considered (approved in 2001 by the cipe14 deliberation no. 121), the cost overrun to date would be over 97%. the italian court of audit in 2011 forecasted the budget to exceed 45 modifications on the project’s plan so far since 2006, 20% of which are for archaeological reasons. 33 out of 45 modifications increased the budget. modifications to the project for archaeological discoveries alone account for over 320 million euros in cost overrun. 2015 by the italian anticorruption authority (anac). 2011 by the italian court of audit (treasury offense). public prosecutor’s office of rome. 14 comitato interministeriale per la programmazione economica (interministerial committee for economic planning). altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 152 6 billion euros when the project will be fully completed. source: authors the metro c case analysis urban transit projects are ideal cases for researching the institutional face of government. their huge costs determine frequently mixed finance allocations (altshuler & luberoff, 2003; ponti, et al. 2015; weiner, 1999). also, large engineering projects bear systematic risk management for which exclusive public sector control appears to be increasingly inefficient (miller & lessard 2001; flyvbjerg et al. 2003). all these aspects reveal crucial parts of the institutional context of a given territorial unit. the metro c project has been examined here – on the one hand – because we believe it is particularly revealing about how multi-level governance could be significant for project failure. in fact, state governmental levels, archaeological tutorship body 15 , and the contractor firm fulfilled unclear and overlapping functions in the metro c project implementation. 15 also, the superintendence for archaeological and cultural heritage is fragmented between a national and a local actor. this division creates overlapping jurisdictions as to the property of a new archaeological discovery because it is not clear which body of the two is primarily responsible for its tutorship. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 153 the legge obiettivo acts in this context as an institution itself, able to influence the norms, relations and the routines in megaprojects’ organisation. institutional fragmentation in the networked polity of metro c’s implementation this case study of a project implementation finds reflections in both governance and organisational bodies of literature. firstly, the concept of ‘networked polity’ (ansell, 2000) expresses that policy undertakings have become increasingly intergovernmental relational environments, the fundamental actors of which are acting following an equal level of sovereignty and in which the institutions of the central state is back into actual function, sharing quotas of control function with other public actors and with the private contractor. the case of the metro c is suitable for this concept’s demonstration for a number of reasons. first of all, the incoherent gait that the institutional reforms have been keeping in italy to date as to polity definition (devolution of legislative powers): the national state, that had been put aside in the management of big projects in the early 1990s, came back with the approval of the legge obiettivo. this passage was instrumental to a formal recentralisation of power, but with the private actor actually driving the governance of projects16. the municipality, appointed with tasks of surveillance and modifications’ approval can be (and has actually been) overcome by the private executor by issuing different types of project modifications, while its traditional tasks of control over construction sites are 16 in rome, also, it has been observed that political coordination stalemates have often been resolved by the more or less explicit juxtaposition of the national state in the governance (d’albergo et al. 2018). altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 154 cancelled because the construction manager is now internal to the firm. the main contractor is in fact on the same level of the project client. although the notion of ‘networked polity’ is conceived as a consequence of multi-scalar administrative empowerment, that in turn is believed to have an overall beneficial effect on democratisation and effectiveness of public policy action (kassim & le galès, 2010; morgan, 2004), the case of metro c is a demonstration of how in absence of a clear chain of command, with great dispersion of powers and in fluid jurisdictions, efficiency is dramatically reduced. an unclear chain of command has determined the delays and cost overrun stemming from the broader manoeuvre margin enjoyed by the private actor. another instrument for conflating institutional public action could have been the activation of the metropolitan scale by proceeding with giving content to the legislative framework already in place (see previous sections). the failure of this approach is well pictured in the interview with the mayor of monte compatri, the municipality in which the metro c ends. «no request for an inter-municipal cooperation was ever advanced to my municipality to manage the critical aspects of this infrastructure; we (the municipality of monte compatri, authors’ note) were formally taken in only because in the territory of monte compatri is the segment of the old railway line to be renovated in order to get the early state funding. the conferenze di servizi (the italian inter-institutional table of negotiation, authors’ note) were totally useless as they were crowded with a number of governmental and civil society actors, more or less insignificant.» altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 155 also the responsible for the procedure17, mr andrea sciotti, in his interview highlights the conflicts that systematically emerge when the role of the project client is played incoherently: «‘high surveillance’ tasks retained by the municipality overlap with the command that the contractor has over the work’s construction sites – through the figure of the construction manager. note that controlling the everyday functioning of construction sites is key for the fair evaluation of the modification issued when, for instance, an archaeological discovery occurs. that was once a prerogative of the municipality […]. under these circumstances, […] the actual control role is the one that is physically present on the site – the construction manager. » to this ambiguous role game adds the national institutional level that exert the same functions of approval of project modifications. both the municipality (through the contracting agency) and the national ministry are formally involved in the evaluation and approval of the modifications. this exemplifies the fragmentation of public control competences amongst institutional levels; a situation in which the public actor is substantially expelled from the process of realisation of public infrastructures (bortoli, 2011) by diluting it into a leadership-free organisation, while conferring a prominent sovereignty over project management to the main contractor. 17 the responsible for the procedure is a public juridical figure in italy – in this case an employee of in-house company roma metropolitane. the responsibility for the procedure has been introduced in 1990 law 241/1990 and it guarantees the transparency of the administrative procedure. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 156 not surprisingly, the judicial inquiry of the italian anti-corruption authority (anac, 2015) on the metro c project denounced that many modifications were illegitimately paid to the contractor by the public sector, and we would advance the explanation that a publicly paid modification (which is illegitimate in principle in a turnkey type of entrustment) is correctly evaluated when a single body is accountable for it. in any other circumstance, the likelihood of benefit exchange between politics and economy are highly increased. the metro c project ecology a second characteristic that the metro c project displayed is the prominent importance acquired by the relational network of the private contractor. the law enables the firm to implement projects arbitrarily as to the choice and management of suppliers and sub-contractors. also, the resort to private contracting makes possible for the firm to prevent these relations from being accountable by the public client. therefore, the project ecology that emerges is characterised by a plenipotentiary contractor that bears no obligation to the client (see fig. 3), triggering a potentially opportunistic domino effect: a typical principal-agent organisational problem (stiglitz, 1989) in which the project responsibility decreases as the actual involvement in it increases. as it stood in the metro c facts, the two key aspects that provoked a reshaping of the institutional relations between actors are: ● the insertion in the system of a new sovereignty (that of the main contractor) that with its new attributions as to the management of the work creates an unprecedented imbalance between public and private; altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 157 ● not having taken into account that the new regime (the legge obiettivo) would have conflicted with existing sectorial norms (notably construction site regulations and subcontracting regulations). therefore, the public side of the governance is fragmented and virtually unaware of what is going on at the other hand of the supply chain, where the financial allocations are actually administered. figure 2 – concentrated management vs. fragmented governance source: authors. without going into the deepest detail of the project ecology concept, we argue that the public client figure sketched after the introduction of the legge obiettivo was severely undermined, and the contractor benefitted from the ensuing heterarchy of institutional roles (hedlund, 1986; hedlund & rolander, 1990). without a leading player able to impose budget constraints and ensure coordination, control tasks were remixed and doubled between the altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 158 contractor and different governmental scales so that these latter could not ensure the planned delivery of the project. however, clear leadership-followership relations implied by a hierarchical institutional architecture (stinchcombe & heimer, 1985) are instead re-produced between the main contractor and the subcontractors to which the work has been entrusted. in this way, the city-based firm could exploit its own system of relations, creating a project ecology in which it is the only actor responsible for performance without bearing the ultimate burden of funding. former deputy mayor walter tocci admitted in an interview that the rationale behind the adoption of the legge obiettivo as a new regulatory tool might be understood as a way to reach out to the local entrepreneurial community in the sector while keeping the discretion to resort to national contacts (in the ministry for transport and ancillary bodies) when needed. therefore, the ‘scalar interpenetration’ together with the legge obiettivo turned the relational environment of the project into a new and discretionary project ecology legitimising and securing the contractor’s own system of contacts. on the one hand, the main contractor was able to entertain administrative relations with the national governmental level. on the other hand, the contractor was able to do the same at the municipal level (through the municipality’s contracting agency), often for similar matters, according to its convenience. the overall effect of this mechanism was that the contractor could (1) inflate cost overrun virtually indefinitely, (2) abuse the resort to project modifications for any kind of construction contingency, and (3) extend deadlines accordingly (see table 2). this circumstance is well exemplified by the dialectic between contractor and archaeologists in case of an archaeological discovery during the work. citing the then head of archaeological superintendence, adriano la regina: altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 159 «as far as i know, [metro c] has been an example of opportunistic use of the proverbial zeal of archaeologists by the contractor. the only institutional figure an archaeologist could refer to in a construction site was the site manager that had no pressure for making an archaeological inspection as quick and effective as possible.» although a significant part of the newest literature on project studies (see for instance brady & davies, 2014; davies & mackenzie, 2014; grabher & thiel, 2014) puts a premium on more heterarchical institutional organisation in complex projects, it seems that, in the metro c case, this has only weakened the smooth and accountable progression of project delivery, with no significant impact on the innovative and cognitive potential of project environments. the idea that complex projects cannot be confined to silos – either scalar or relational – subsumed in the project ecology notion gains credibility only as a precondition for incentivising innovation (with the ultimate outcome of having the costs and time scheduled monitored). this is certainly the case for advanced projects embedded in fairly ‘advanced’ political-economic systems. the eloquent title by gernot grabher (2002b) – cool projects, boring institutions – refers to the need for cognitive capital in projects to be able to transcend scale. nevertheless, one should also consider the possibility that this kind of re-institutionalisation might produce some sort of willful negligence, as pinto (2018) addressed it, in projects that are embedded in poorly goaloriented polities. in the words of an important transport policy consultant (mr giulio fioravanti) for the municipality of rome in those days: «turnkey projects are run in lots of places all around the world – of course they are not bad in themselves. nonetheless, it seems to me that in the end their failure or success is largely determined by the quality of the “performers”. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 160 the problem, here, were the actors». a hypothetical metropolitan governance for the project would have possibly ensured a stronger public leadership that would have affected both governance and project management of metro c, possibly without resorting to a turnkey contracting system. on the other hand, even in the case of a turnkey project, many problems stemming from a fragmented project client could have been avoided by a supra-municipal government able to coalesce public tasks and competences. the effects of the fragmented institutions are here summarised: ● the functions and roles of the public client have been pulverised among the various bodies representing the national and the city level. ● these two levels are, furthermore, somehow discretionary interlocutors for the private contractor that simultaneously covers project management functions and supervise construction sites. ● the institution of the main contractor in the italian legal system – with its new attributions for the management of the supply chain – provoked a legislative void as to the relations with 1st and 2nd tier sub-contractors: these are regulated to private contracting and substantially accountable to the main contractor only. ● the administrative level that would have enabled integrated public control functions (the metropolitan government) have been deliberately avoided. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 161 conclusions and final remarks this paper tried to spot the critical points that determined the failure of a large engineering project (lep) – metro c in rome –in terms of governmental coordination and public-private relationship. the paper described the complex (and contradictory, in places) legal framework in which the management of the metro c project in rome was embedded, and the ensuing weak institutional environment. specifically, the focus of this paper was to outline the phenomenology of institutional fragmentation determined by the adoption of the legge obiettivo in a lep’s concrete implementation. the case study showed that, in the concomitant presence of (i) a hollowed-out (public) client, (ii) a patched regulatory-legal framework, and (iii) a plenipotentiary contractor, large engineering projects are doomed to miss their budget and schedule targets. this is because project responsibility is dissolved among too many players. moreover, the metro c case suggests that multi-level governance on the one hand and the managerial centrality of the contractor on the other (both generally considered positive approaches as to respectively policy implementation and project management) can be counterproductive, creating the bases for opportunism and poor performance. the differences in the propensity for innovation in polities are also a variable to be seriously considered. there is extensive evidence that shows how turnkey projects proved beneficial in project organising all over the world. through greater responsibility, flexibility and freedom, contractors feel more motivated to contrive creative and innovative paths for achieving project goals in conditions of complexity and uncertainty. for this to happen, though, the responsibility of project needs to be formally and clearly undertaken by a single institutional body. in case of public infrastructure, for instance, projects need to avoid ambiguities as to project sponsorship. altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 162 such precondition enables the project client to establish a flexible yet still demanding relationship with contractors and limit the occurrence of opportunism and free riding. references allulli, m., & tortorella, w. 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(2009). case study research: design and methods. london singapore: sage altavilla, falco & pizzo – institutional fragmentation in megaprojects: lessons from the metro c project in rome ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 168 short author biography: edoardo altavilla: the author holds a phd in urban studies at the gran sasso science institute in l’aquila, italy. this paper is part of his phd thesis research. enzo falco is currently assistant professor at the department of civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering, university of trento. barbara pizzo, phd, is research professor of urban planning and policies at sapienza università di roma. glossary1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 127vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 issn: 2239­267x architects, phd in urbanl planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell'architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma giacomina di salvo within a different approach. in this specific case, they reflect the point of view of urban planning. some of the following definitions have a rather different meaning in a different disciplinary fields, or1 seismic risk is the result of interaction between the earthquake and the main characteristics of the community which is exposed to the event. it is defined as the set of possible effects that an earthquake can produce in a specific area, in relation to its intensity and its probability of occurrence. the determination of risk is linked to three main factors: seismic hazard it expresses the probability that, in a given time interval, an area is affected by earthquakes that can produce damage. it depends on: the type of earthquake, the distance from the epicentre, and geological properties of the place. it does not depend on structural features of buildings and other constructions. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 128vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 di salvo ­ glossary urban resilience it is defined as the “capability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from significant multi­hazard threats with minimum damage to public safety and health, the economy, and security"2 of a given urban area. most discussion of urban resilience is focused currently on three distinct threats: climate change, natural disasters and terrorism. redundancy it is a word borrowed from engineering language, where it means the duplication of critical components or functions of a system (as in case of safety systems) with the intention of increasing its reliability. in urban planning, in order to improve earthquake protection, it means the duplication of some strategic components (such as alternative pathways, safe open spaces, or strategic buildings) to assure an efficient functioning of the urban system even in the case when some components collapse after a catastrophic event. vulnerability it assesses the possibility that a city or some of its buildings will suffer damage or changes after an earthquake. it measures the loss (or the reduction) of efficiency of an urban system and its remaining capacity to carry out and ensure the functions developed in 'normal' conditions. for a building, the vulnerability depends on the materials, its construction characteristics and the state of maintenance, and expresses their resistance to earthquakes. at urban scale it depends also on morphological and typological features (urban structure, settlement pattern, building types, etc.). exposure it measures the importance of an object (a building or an urban settlement) exposed to the risk in relation, for example, to its function. it could be defined by quantifying how many people a building (or a city) generally hosts, as related to its function (housing, commerce, public or collective facilities, culture and entertainment, etc). cfr. wikipedia2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 129vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references http://www.protezionecivile.gov.it/minisite/index.php?dir_pk=249&cms_pk=14839 http://www.rete.toscana.it/sett/pta/sismica/01informazione/info/rischio_sismico/index.h tm wilbanks t. (2007), "the research component of the community and regional resilience initiative (carri)". presentation at the natural hazards centre, university of colorado­boulder coaffee j. (2008), "risk, resilience, and environmentally sustainable cities", in energy policy, vol. 36 (12). di salvo ­ glossary susan radstrom pp. 90­113 world changing, climate changing, urban changing. equalisation and compensation mechanisms in the new rome urban development plan pp. 4­32 paolo scattoni and enzo falco why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 lorenzo casini historical centres: changing definitions roberta lazzarotti romano fistola table of contents pp. 33­45 pp. 46­72 pp. 73­89 a place­sustaining framework for local urban identity: an introduction and history of cittaslow issn: 2239­267x the products of research on spatial planningand urban development. bruno zanon pp. 29­50 tables of contents ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 issn: 2239­267x processes of urban and rural development:a comparative analysis of europe and china. andrea raffaele neri pp. 51­77 is there need for strategic environmental assessmentto improve the quality of planning decisions? alessandro rinaldi pp. 102­120 a new dimension in urban planning: the big dataas a source for shared indicators of discomfort. paolo scattoni, roberta lazzarotti, marco lombardi,andrea raffaele neri, roberto turi, jesus a. zambrano verratti pp. 78­101 an indicator­based approach to measuringregeneration of historic cities. alessia ferretti pp. 121­156 technology for democracy in smart city planning. paolo de pascali pp. 3­28 ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 1 neighborhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona. raquel colacios as si st an t p r o f e sso r , uic barcelona school of ar chitecture c/ i m m acu l ad a 2 2 0 8 0 1 7 bar c elo n a , r co lac io s @u ic .es carmen mendoza-arroyo as so ci ate p r o f e s so r , uic barcelona school of architecture c/ i m m acu l ad a 2 2 0 8 0 1 7 bar c elo n a, c m en d o za @u i c.es isabelle anguelovski i c rea re se ar ch pr o f es s o r , universitat autonoma de barcelona pa sse ig llu ís co m p an y s 2 3 0 8 0 1 0 bar ce lo n a , i sab elle. an g u elo v sk i @u ab .c a t keywords: place attachment, urban reconstruction, community involvement, neighborhood, social housing. abstract while recent scholarship on place attachment has focused on the social construction of the peopleplace relationship, few studies to date have examined the role that (1) processes for neighborhood reconstruction and designing public space and (2) the configuration of the public space itself play in generating community identity and place attachment. this paper attempts to contribute to this debate by analyzing through an innovative mixed-methods approach the extent to which both neighborhood reconstruction together with the physical characteristics of newly built open space and the procedural dimension of its design influence the creation of feelings of identity and attachment in historically marginalized mass housing neighborhoods. through the analysis of the level and nature of citizen participation in the reconstruction of sant cosme, a mass social housing estate in the periphery of barcelona, we argue that when a reconstruction process does not further build identity beyond the home space and marginalizes civic participation, it eliminates opportunities to develop the self-esteem needed to create a more empowered and pro-active community, and it produces social separation and segregation within the neighborhood itself. second, when the design process marginalizes civic participation and disregards everyday experiences, socially constructed places, places of significance, mixed uses and social mixity, and the community needs and visions regarding memory and shared history, it creates disconnected public spaces from the residents’ imagery and expected uses. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 2 introduction the polígonos1 built in spain under the dictatorship of francisco franco have historically been a clear case of territorial stigmatization associated with the country’s industrialization and residential migration from rural spain to larger cities. these speculative housing developments were built in isolation from the city with no services or facilities, and lacked quality construction and design. their urban and architectural limitations along with the social profile of these neighborhoods, mainly low-income migrant families from galicia or andalucia, led to acute socio-spatial segregation. while several urban regeneration and social programs2 developed over the past twenty years have attempted to address existing social conflict and marginalization, polígonos are still perceived by many as low-income urban ghettos in or around spanish cities. however, despite this socio-spatial isolation, previous research has shown that many lowincome residents from historically segregated neighborhoods rely on their neighborhood for social networks and self-help (wacquant, 2008; anguelovski, 2013). many have developed a strong sense of community through the daily interactions and connections they have formed in their neighborhoods (anguelovski, 2013; gilbert, 2011; mendoza-arroyo, 2013; dovey, 2010). beyond a sense of community, in some cases, existing urban degradations and social stigma have actually played a role in establishing a positive bond of attachment (august, 2014; gotham & brumley, 2002). literature on place attachment argues that residents can construct a meaningful attachment to place by cultivating spatially defined social networks and holding them as a repository of shared memories and events (august, 2014; cochrun, 1994; corcoran, 2002). while scholarship on place attachment has a long tradition of studying how both everyday experiences and historical events shape identity and attachment (hummon, 1992; irazábal, 2008; manzo, 2014) the level of community engagement and the role of the design process as part of neighborhood rebuilding have been given less attention, especially when considering the people-place relationship. more attention also needs to be given to public space design characteristics and qualities in lower-income neighborhoods and the ways in which they (re)shape social processes, including community identity and place attachment. in this context, it is especially relevant for scholars to focus on neighborhood regeneration within stigmatized mass public housing developments -and on public space in particular -since (1) public space is generally lacking in quality in spanish mass housing complexes of the 60’s for low income 1 polígonos is the spanish name to define a specific form of urban development built during the 60s and 70s in spain. privately owned and developed, the massive low-quality social housing developments were isolated from urban centers and lacking in basic services. 2 one of the most common social programs in catalunya is the “pla de desenvolupament comunitari” (community development plan) which, as described by the catalan government, applies a transversal approach. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 3 populations, as is the case of barcelona (bohigas, 1986; ferrer, 1996; busquets, 2004; hernandez, 2010), and, on the other hand, (2) place attachment can play a positive role in the construction of a collective identity that challenges stigma and can trigger political or social activism (anguelovski, 2013; wacquant, slater, & borges pereira, 2014). in this paper, we ask: to what extent do community reconstruction processes within stigmatized peri-urban mass housing complexes promote both community identity and place attachment? we find that depending on the level and nature of community participation in the reconstruction process, the identity and place attachment is enhanced or not. in the next section, we review existing scholarship at the intersection of territorial stigmatization and reconstruction, public space, and place attachment. after introducing our research design and case study – the reconstruction of the mass housing complex of sant cosme in the periphery of barcelona – we present our findings and discuss their theoretical relevance. in addition to theoretical contributions, our paper proposes new analysis methods to the field by combining qualitative research with urban design analysis tools. territorial stigmatization, place attachment, and public space studies on territorial stigmatization traditionally analyze how the configuration of space— including mass-produced public housing—impacts the daily lives and movements of residents in denigrated districts (wacquant, slater, & borges pereira, 2014; corcoran, 2002). in many cities across the global north, certain neighborhoods which have been cut off from urban centers have become pockets of self-inflicted and self-perpetuating destitution. these districts, viewed as no-go areas, have acquired informal names that reflect those socio-spatial conditions, for example, banlieue-guetto in france, problemquartier in germany, and krottenwijk in the netherlands (slater & anderson, 2012; wacquant, slater, & borges pereira, 2014). such a definition aptly describes that of polígonos in spain, neighborhoods where incidents of deviance or violence are still routinely sensationalized (morán, 2010; wacquant et al., 2014) and seen as evidence of social disintegration. they are seen as places of isolation, disorganization and danger (slater & anderson, 2012; morán, 2010). nonetheless, research in urban sociology reveals that, despite living in poor physical conditions and suffering from social stigma, residents of historically marginalized neighborhoods can value them as an anchor of networks of friendship and self-help. they are communal places defined by shared emotions, joint meanings and a common history where residents can construct a meaningful attachment to place through their use of space and the cultivation of spatially defined social networks (corcoran, 2002; gotham & brumley, 2002). studies have also demonstrated that there is a social component in the attachment to place, the one of being close to relatives or friends, living close to one’s social network is a force that determines where to live (dahl & sorenson, 2010). therefore, place attachment and the construction of an identity play a role in challenging stigma (anguelovski, 2013; august, 2014; gotham & colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 4 brumley, 2002; wacquant, slater, & borges pereira, 2014) through the development of social processes that build a common history and a collective memory. these socially constructed spaces “become a rallying point for building a network of “significant sites” (mendoza-arroyo, 2013). place attachment has also been shown to provide a sense of security and protects memory against the passage of time and against processes of neighborhood disinvestment and abandonment (anuelovski, 2013). yet, place attachment has received little consideration as a resource for renovation and revitalization of public housing communities, and has been underestimated as a potential motor in revitalizing declining suburban neighborhoods (brown, perkins & brown, 2003; tester et al., 2011) on the other hand, studies on place attachment have mostly considered place as a social environment, measuring the level of attachment by the existence of social relationships in places, this is the social dimension of place attachment (hidalgo & hernández, 2001). this social relation relates to the emotional relationship that develops between the inhabitants of a community and their physical environment. it is a social construction, a product of shared behavioral and socio-cultural processes in space (lewicka, 2011). thus, here a concrete space becomes a place by the meanings, significance and emotions that people accumulate in it over time, by their multiple experiences in that physical environment and locale (nogué, 2010; valera & pol, 1994; vidal & pol, 2005), and by their level of social interactions in that space. in contrast, other studies consider that place attachment cannot be understood without taking into account the physical dimension of a locale (hidalgo & hernández, 2001; manzo, 2014). here, the physical dimension can be identified and measured through 1) a qualitative analysis to obtain citizen information of people’s perceptions of communal places, and places of shared meanings and social significance, together and 2) the analysis of the built environment, its conditions, and its ability to promote – or not – the use of space and thus promote place attachment. identifying the conditions and elements within the built environment (francis, giles-corti, wood, & knuiman, 2012) that strengthen place attachment is thus an important scholarly task. the type and size of housing together with building upkeep and personalization have been shown to play a role in place attachment (lewicka, 2010). open public spaces, such as squares or plazas, can also foster place attachment by facilitating chance encounters between neighbors through the social and cultural activities that occur there (talen, 2000). third places are a generic designation for a great variety of public spaces that host the regular, voluntary, informal and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work (oldenburg, 1989). oldenburg’s definition emphasizes public access rather than public ownership or management, referring to spaces where communities develop networks of human relationships and which can become cultural symbols (cooper, 2007; corcoran, 2002). since interactions in public space are a key factor for the development of a sense of place, designing public spaces with a clear social purpose or community involvement in mind will likely contribute to nurturing a network of stronger human relationships. people will reinforce their identity as members of a community by experiencing and using public spaces and by colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 5 strengthening their sense of community through regular social interactions (cooper, 2007). here, the memories anchored in a specific space serve as social reinforcement (anguelovski, 2013). both the quantity and the quality of social interactions are thus important in forming a shared emotional connection within a neighborhood (cochrun, 1994), and must be thus fostered for place attachment to occur. while existing urban sociology and planning scholarship provides evidence on the characteristics of a good urban space, sociologists generally consider the physical dimension of space as a container of social processes rather than an independent object of study (lewicka, 2011). yet the physical environment is also a social product, where the distinction between the physical and social environment disappears. if the environment becomes not only a stage of interaction but also, as stokols describes, an element of interaction (stokols, 1990; valera & pol, 1994), participatory practices in public space design can serve as a channel for transferring community identity into the physical environment, thus creating an attachment to place. yet, to date, little empirical research has examined the process of neighborhood reconstruction and public space design in mass housing complexes and assessed the extent to which the content and process of community reconstruction both through physical upgrading and public space design are able to promote – or not – community identity and place attachment. methods for this study, we selected the case of sant cosme, a neighborhood of el prat de llobregat, a suburb of barcelona, for two main reasons: 1) sant cosme underwent a total reconstruction process from 1979 to 2003, including housing reconstruction and public space design, 2) the neighborhood represents a standard typology of low income housing developments in spain that are both socially vulnerable and spatially segregated. in addition, this choice responds to the lack of research on peri-urban polígonos and the reconstruction many of them underwent, especially related to public space. therefore, with the aim of elaborating the complete history and analysis of the reconstruction process of sant cosme, and placing the emphasis on citizen involvement in the reconstruction, we used an innovative mixed-method approach, combining (a) traditional qualitative approaches, (b) participatory and survey tools within an urban design studio, and (c) a comprehensive urban design analysis of the local housing and public space configuration. we conducted 20 in-depth interviews in 2016, which included interviews with members of the municipal government (it is the same party that has governed since 1979), members of neighborhood organizations, neighborhood leaders and activists, and neighbors of sant cosme. the interviews not only addressed the history of the reconstruction process and community participation, but also included questions that helped us examine the feelings of identity and place attachment to the neighborhood as well as emotional ties with the existing public spaces. with this in mind, the questions asked were focused on the process of reconstruction, the places colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 6 of positive and / or negative significance, places with special significance, and places that are used the most, and places that are used the least. (see annex 1 for a summary of the results of the interviews). in parallel, with the objective of assessing the degree of use and interactions in the public space, we conducted observations of 5 different public spaces in diverse sectors of the neighborhood at various times and days. during these observations, we recorded and mapped how and when people used the various public spaces of the neighborhood and measured the level of social interactions in each of them, a factor that has been proven to promote place attachment (cooper, 2007; cochrun, 1994). additionally, two of the authors of this article were organizers and course instructors for a university workshop studio in sant cosme during the month of december 2016, titled “sociospatial workshop. fostering place attachment in sant cosme’s public spaces”. the workshop benefited from the collaboration of the local administration of el prat; the office of the “pla d’acció comunitari”; the local organizations ‘gats’ and ‘dones savies’; ‘the fundació esplai’ and individual citizens from sant cosme. the objective of the workshop was to analyze the use and significance of public space in sant cosme, and propose new directions for enhancing its use and spatial quality. for this paper, this studio helped us observe in depth and analyze how, and to what degree, the physical characteristics of the open space influences its use and consequently generated social interactions – and ultimately place attachment. during the workshop, a questionnaire answered by 120 neighbors was elaborated, through which we were able to contrast the use that the neighbors give to the public space and their perception of the neighborhood. the questions intended to examine: a) whether residents in sant cosme use the public space of their neighborhood, b) which are the most used spaces, and c) residents’ degree of satisfaction towards them. we used process tracing and thematic analysis techniques to analyze our data and examine the following: 1) the extent to which citizen participation in the decision-making process of reconstruction influenced the development of community identity among long-term neighbors and 2) how the resulting built environment configuration promotes (or not) its use and social interactions and, in turn, place attachment. in the following section, we delve into the case study background and history of sant cosme, paying particular attention to the different phases of the neighborhood reconstruction. ‘poligonos' in spain, a case of speculative social housing development the construction of poligonos in spain between the 1940s and 1960s represented a form of speculative development (costa & bonal, 1981). these developments were comprised of small, poorly built, low-cost homes. in the 1960s, as the private sector led the public housing market colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 7 and the real-estate sector at large, construction became a profitable business (costa & bonal, 1981). the construction practice for the polígonos had specific common characteristics: 1) the land selected for the construction was far from urban centers; 2) the process to acquire cheap land occurred through forced expropriations of rural land that was subsequently re-zoned for urban development; and 3) developers did not abide by usual processes of quality control, often forgoing building licenses, municipal permits, or approval from the architects ‘association (costa & bonal, 1981), further contributing to the poor quality of these neighborhoods. indeed, this lack of care and consideration was one of the poligonos’ greatest weaknesses (ferrer, 1996). housing was generally reduced to a limited and sectorial view of mass provision in the design or implementation of such estates (ferrer, 1996; sainz gutierrez, 2011). as a result, the polígonos built on deregulated vacant land presented inadequate building proportions and had no urban landmarks (busquets, 2004). these urban and architectural limitations, along with the social configuration of these neighborhoods—mainly low-income migrant families—caused a significant degree of socio-spatial segregation and marginalization that has affected their inhabitants to date. with barcelona’s growing status as an industrial hub during much of the twentieth century, the population of the region of el baix llobregat—where el prat del llobregat is located— multiplied by 18 between 1830 and 1970 (burbano, 2013). located in el prat itself, the neighborhood of sant cosme lies on the southwestern border of the city of barcelona with a population of 7.070 inhabitants, which is equivalent to more than 17% of the total population of el prat. sant cosme holds statistics of a vulnerable neighborhood related to its residents, such as a high unemployment rate of 19,75% with respect to the 14,2 of spain, and a very high youth unemployment rate of 18,59% with respect to the 12,31 of spain (moran, 2010). these social characteristics, as we will see, are a result of a long history of social marginalization. sant cosme, the creation and reconstruction of a marginalized neighborhood when the initial construction of sant cosme began in 1964, it was mainly built to relocate families from the shantytown of montjuic in barcelona, who had migrated to barcelona and were working families originally coming from regions of southern spain (from now on group 1). eight years later, new dwellings were added in the neighborhood of sant cosme, most of them were squatted by roma families (from now on group 2). sant cosme was built with low quality materials and houses whose conditions deteriorated quickly (gracia & clarés, 1987). in addition, the lack of connection of the neighborhood with the center of the el prat, the lack of services and facilities together with the lower-income composition of the neighborhood created an image of a social ghetto that has been associated to sant cosme since its creation. furthermore, the two construction phases, together with the different socio-cultural composition of the neighborhood (residents coming from working-class families versus roma families), created two different groups within sant cosme, and later marked the reconstruction process. in colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 8 1970, the poor state of the houses led group 1 neighbors, to start a mobilization to demand housing and neighborhood improvements which lasted eight years from 1970 until 1978, when the reconstruction of the neighborhood was approved by the government. during the following 14 years, the reconstruction of group 1 houses was completed. the legalization of the sant cosme neighborhood association in 1972, which served as channel for residents’ demands, was a key resource in the mobilization as its members acted as the voice of the residents. those associations played a fundamental role in the democratization of spain as their organizing went often beyond demanding improvements in neighborhood living conditions (vilà, 2016; anguelovski, 2014; bonet i marti, j. 2012). as the neighborhood reconstruction unfolded, group 1 residents articulated specific housing demands and became active participants in decision-making processes linked to the reconstruction of their houses. in contrast with the organization of group 1 residents, active until the 1990s, group 2 residents in sant cosme remained disconnected from the reconstruction process and did not mobilize to advocate for the improvement of their part of the neighborhood. as a result, in 1993 the public administration decided to take control and lead this other reconstruction process. in spain, many local administrations took a more active role in neighborhood transformation after the return of democracy in 1978 and often articulated urban interventions around “peris” urban plans (special plans for internal reform) and the “institutionalization of the participation” (bonet i martí, 2012), which approved regulations to manage participation at a municipal level. those regulations implied a top-down participation model for the period during which group 2 homes were rebuilt. this very different reconstruction strategy triggered, on the one hand, a strong feeling of identity among group 1 residents but increased, on the other hand, the already existing duality between group 1 and 2, which in turn helps to explain their different feelings of belonging and sense of ownership over the reconstruction. in the next section, we examine in greater depth the role played by the reconstruction process and the resulting design on community identity and place attachment. we use quotes selectively to illustrate our findings results community identity and place attachment in mass housing reconstruction processes our analysis reveals a clear link between the nature and level of citizen participation and the creation of positive feelings of attachment towards the neighborhood. the type of community participation in the housing reconstruction and physical upgrades in sant cosme created strong feeling of community identity and pride among a large group of residents. in contrast, the latter reconstruction of the more marginalized sector and the design of the neighborhood public spaces, in which community participation was weak or inexistent, didn’t create positive feelings among neighbors. in addition, the new spatial configuration with poor aesthetic and programmatic assets colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 9 failed to encourage the use of public space and to generate mixed social interaction, common memory, social meaning, and in turn place attachment. identity and duality: the outcomes of two opposed reconstruction and design processes the design of the group 1 blocks of dwellings took place through a self-organized participative process, with neighbors organizing themselves in groups and through assemblies in which they decided the internal design of their home. residents even built a pilot house to make it easier for the families to decide on final design. during that process, residents also selected a team of architects who based their final housing design on the proposals of the neighbors. here, the chronology of the neighborhood reconstruction in sant cosme can be directly related to decision making processes. civic participation increased in barcelona and beyond until 1978, before losing strength with the arrival of the democracy. however, as the right to political association was legalized, politic parties abandoned citizen’s movements as they considered there was a legal framework where citizens were represented (bonet i martí, 2012), leading to a participation losing its strength and becoming more consultative. figure 1 below displays the relationship between stages of reconstruction and civic participation in sant cosme. figure 1 chronology of the reconstruction of sant cosme source: authors the shared history of struggle and the solidarity forged during the process of reconstruction of group 1’s dwellings created a strong sense of community identity and pride among long-term community members. residents consider many of their neighbors as extended family, as the following selected quotes from residents exemplify: colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 10 “i am from sant cosme, i feel proud of it, proud of what we accomplished thanks to our solidarity and collaboration.” “it was a time of a great solidarity and support, we were like a big family, i still know the majority of the people living in the neighborhood.” “i am very identified with the neighborhood because it has prospered” this feeling of identity and the fact that neighbors are considered as extended family is one of the factors that contribute to create an attachment to the neighborhood, as argued by mesch and manor (1998) the higher number of close friends living nearby, the higher the attachment to the neighborhood. as residents coalesced around a common housing project, their socio-spatial proximity and common planning work also contributed to building community identity. this sense of pride and shared emotions towards their neighborhood is particularly tangible in the community group dones savies, or “wise women,” a group of 15 elderly women from the community’s earliest years and who still meet regularly today to discuss neighborhood concerns. there are also smaller manifestations of this sense of identity, for instance, in 2016, many residents complained that the new, and sole, metro station of sant cosme, connecting the city of barcelona to the airport, was named “parc nou” (new park in catalan) rather than “sant cosme.” neighbors felt stigmatized and ignored, as juan, a neighbor expressed: “(…) parc nou metro station? why didn’t they call it sant cosme? they had a chance to reduce stigma. people still perceive sant cosme as a problematic place and actions like these don’t help to improve its image.” symbolic top-down decisions from public authorities reinvigorate a sense of identity and can trigger new mobilization building on existing relationships between neighbors. yet, despite the fact that the reconstruction process of sant cosme built a strong community identity that has lasted to this day, it was focused on housing improvements, and most specifically, improvements of the most engaged group of residents, group 1. once the housing reconstruction was achieved, individual needs and visions prevailed over further community interests and other broader political engagements, limiting the possibility of long-term and comprehensive neighborhood redevelopment. the process ended up with residents withdrawing into themselves and their houses soon after their houses were rebuilt, rather than opening them up to organize proactively around future neighborhood demands. as alejandro, a member of the neighborhood association recalls: “when everyone had their new house, the struggle was over and all of us got what we had been fighting for.” the housing reconstruction was perceived as a long-time mission accomplished for residents on an individual level. emilia a neighbor and member of the group dones savies also recalls: colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 11 “each of us had a problem to solve and that was to fix our living conditions. we each fought for our own home.” this limited vision of the participatory process left no collective interest to be mobilized around public space, with residents seeing no reason for continuing their community organization and mobilization beyond their homes. in addition, from 1993 to 2003, the public administration took the lead in rebuilding group 2 resident’s houses, as civic engagement had died down in the neighborhood and group 2 residents felt disconnected from their neighbors and never organized to demand physical upgrades to their homes. during those ten years, the administration failed to include the knowledge and voice of community members in the process. this phase of the reconstruction process followed the formal parameters of the urban regeneration plans of the metropolitan area of barcelona, where citizen participation shifted from non-formal activism role to taking place within the implementation of formal participation frameworks (bonet i martí, 2012; mendoza-arroyo & vall-casas, 2014). as this top-down planning strategy unfolded, the municipality exacerbated divisions and tensions among residents and reinforced existing stereotypes, by spatially dividing group 2 from group 1 residents. the clearest example of this segregation is the last set of blocks built for group 2 residents (see fig 2 below). built from 2000 to 2003 and located at the edge of the neighborhood and surrounded by large public buildings, these blocks clearly separate and isolate group 2 from the rest of the neighborhood. these groups of blocks are known in the neighborhood as 7ª fase, (7th phase), and they have become a visible label of stigma. during the 7th phase reconstruction (2000-2003), the municipality of el prat intentionally designed the physical configuration of the neighborhood to control and further marginalize the most vulnerable and conflictive sector of the population. a member of the public administration who worked on the reconstruction process confirms this imposed and built-in spatial segregation: “the 7th phase was spatially segregated intentionally, because the public administration chose to designate that area for those who had ties to the mafia.” “at an urban level it is like a ‘fence’ that creates a ghetto, it is like this and inhabitants there feel it like this” as the reconstruction unfolded, spatial segregation translated into social isolation and control. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 12 figure 1 chronology of the reconstruction of sant cosme. source: authors this intensified division translated into feelings of “detachment,” social separation, and self differentiation among residents from group 1. those feelings clearly manifested when we asked residents about the places in their neighborhood they liked the least: all the places they named were located in areas constructed during the 7th phase. further, some of the residents’ comments revealed existing internal stigma and lack of connection towards the 7th phase: “people there are bad although i have never been there and don’t know anyone there”. other residents talk about a “rotten sector” when referring to the 7th phase. in sum, the contrasting experiences of sant cosme’s reconstruction process produced mixed outcomes among group 1 residents: while the sense of community identity expressed by many group 1 residents was built and became stronger over time thanks to the participatory design of their homes and centered around the areas inhabited by this group of residents, their connection to the rest of neighborhood became weaker and socio-spatial segregation exacerbated through the reconstruction of the 7th phase for group 2 residents. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 13 isolation and lack of social interaction in the design and organization of community common spaces in sant cosme, not only did the public administration fail to achieve a cohesive and integrated neighborhood in the reconstruction of group 2 houses, it also exacerbated isolation, segregation and social separation through the lack of the open space participatory design, through the system of physical surveillance it instituted, and through the very low density of the neighborhood in general. the absence of resident participation in the design of public space and of its functions along with the low appropriation of this space over time have created empty and mostly desolate open spaces which residents use as spaces to pass through rather than places to stay, or develop active use, socio-ethnic mixing, or commercial activity. during the design process, local planners neglected to dedicate more attention to more comprehensive neighborhood revitalization and to include residents in this process. this absence of community voices in the design process failed to bring residents together outside their homes and promote new types of social interactions. there was no common interest developed for open and outdoor spaces, and thus no real “need” or “obligation” for residents to communicate, exchange views, and build new ties. in addition, out of all the public buildings or programs existing in the neighborhood—a police station, courthouse, health center and administrative office—none are the types of cultural or sports public facilities that could encourage more interaction and participation. those public offices do not constitute a source of regular social contact between residents for social, cultural, and other recreational activities. residents only resort to them in case of emergency, health issues, or special need or obligation. the formal and top-down presence of the public administration is also exemplified by paternalistic programs, such as the programa de support a les escales “program for the support of communities of owners,” aimed at preventing street conflicts between groups” and which the municipality sees as an “all-seeing eye whose purpose is to prevent conflict” (interview municipal staff officer). in that sense, the public administration has maintained a constant supervision and surveillance of public spaces, and of the activities taking place in them, as residents and municipal technicians expressed, rather than a coproduction and co-design of the space, thus preventing residents from developing new more informal and spontaneous interactions and uses. carmen, a 20-year employee of the municipal office sums up these patterns: “it is a highly supervised district, and it is 100% publicly owned. this goes beyond the housing; people always expect handouts.” as the public administration worked to prevent conflicts between residents from group 1 and group 2, the emergence of citizen-led place-making activities that could transform public space and its use and would reflect residents’ needs and visions did not take place. further, from a design standpoint, to this date sant cosme’s street design and content do not promote social interactions in public spaces or place attachment. oversized streets used mainly for parking span from 12 to 20 meters wide, negatively affecting pedestrian connectivity and colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 14 accessibility. residents walk or drive through them but do not frequently stop to engage in small talk with neighbors or organize a social activity (see figure 3 and 4 below). our analysis here reveals that the level of use and social interactions in public spaces (i.e., neighborhood streets, and squares) are very low and those spaces are mostly empty of people and activity (see fig. 5 below). figure 3 image of av riu llobregat source: authors colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 15 figure 4 image of riu xuquer street source: authors colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 16 figure 5 chart summarizing the measurement of the level of social interactions and activity in the representative public spaces of sant cosme. the numbers refer to the maximum number of people observed in the different times the observation and mapping was done. source: authors. in addition, the neighborhood also lacks third places, that is places engaging street life and favoring encounters between residents. ground floors are mostly residential and, of the commercial spaces that do exist, many of them have recently closed – some of it due to the financial and economic crisis, others because people retired, in addition to the big shopping malls that in recent years appeared in the borders of the neighborhood today, the scarce commercial activity is concentrated on one of the neighborhoods’ wider streets (the avinguda riu llobregat), (see figure 6). in sant cosme, low density combined with limited ground floor activities evidences a neighborhood mostly dedicated to residential use rather than mixed use, and resulted into residents underusing existing public spaces. today, when people leave their house, they mostly use their neighborhood as a point of passage on their way to work or to shopping rather than a destination or a place for social interaction among groups. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 17 figure 6 ground floor uses. grey for housing, red for commercial and orange for public facilities. source: authors coupled with this configuration, the absence of other types of businesses and economic activities limit the presence of people in the neighborhood to only those living there and further reduces opportunities for increased pedestrian activity. being used to top-down neighborhood interventions outside their homes, residents consider that the local administration should be the actor in charge of creating new economic schemes to promote commercial activity. even public officials confirm this role assigned to the local administration, as sergio, a member of the municipal government, highlights: “there are no people in the open space because it is a very low-density neighborhood. people from el prat don’t come here either, because there is nothing to do here. we [the public administration] should start to think about economic incentives to attract more street-level activity.” without an active role played by municipal authorities to reconfigure local economic development, sant cosme residents do not seem incentivized to jumpstart or create new business and economic endeavors in which public and open space use could eventually be integrated. furthermore, as mentioned above, for place attachment to occur, the built environment must offer places of collective memory and social meaning. in sant cosme, because participation colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 18 did not inform the configuration of public space, planners and designers never identified or contributed to building focal places of memory. today, the neighborhood lacks public places of collective meaning where residents can build memories, strengthen their collective identity, and develop emotional ties. to the question, what are the spaces of sant cosme that have a special meaning for you? 90% of respondents answered "none"; the same answer was obtained to the question of what are the spaces of sant cosme that have a positive meaning for you? while respondents valued the availability of public space in a positive way, they did not identify specific places. as juan explains: “the physical change of the neighborhood has been huge; there is no element that reminds us of what was there before. so i can’t think of any places that are special or memorable.” or as maria a neighbor says: “i don’t have any place with special meaning.” more specifically, the five main squares in sant cosme never attracted much activity and many events, and in turn opportunities for social memory and meaning. while public squares can be very positive in their role as meeting spaces (talen, 2000) or as places for communitystrengthening and place attachment-related activities (anguelovski, 2013), sant cosme’s squares are characterized by a lack of activity along their perimeters (see figure 7 and 8 below). in addition, even though two of the squares have playgrounds for children, the other squares are scantily equipped with basic urban furniture (benches, trees and lighting) and host no ground floor activities. as a result, the surveys we conducted about residents’ preferences for public spaces reveal the preference of the inhabitants of sant cosme for spaces outside the neighborhood. only 33% of surveyed residents take their children to play in public spaces of sant cosme. in sum, while public space is abundant in sant cosme, it lacks an ability to produce collective meaning, memory, identity, and, in turn, place attachment. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 19 figure 7 image of the barri d’orcasitas square source: authors colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 20 figure 8 image of the remodelació square source: authors lastly, the low permeability of the interior of the housing blocks (see figure 9 below) do not promote recreation and social meaning. our analysis reveals that the large but highly inaccessible interior of the blocks have a very limited visual and physical connection to the surrounding streets. the access (see figure 10) via a small entrance makes these interior spaces seem private when walking by them. this low connectivity with the rest of the public space system deters further social interactions and renders these interior spaces underused. no regular social event and activity that could be built on the residents’ shared – recent and less recent – history and past is being organized. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 21 figure 9 interior of a typical block of sant cosme source: authors colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 22 figure 10 entrance to the interior of the blocks source: author discussion and concluding remarks: the failure of producing place attachment despite strong community identity many recent studies in environmental psychology and urban sociology have examined the construction of community identity and place attachment by analyzing the relationship between place and people. they have demonstrated the importance of social interactions and human relationships in space to develop a sense of place (cooper, 2007; corcoran, 2002; francis et al., 2012; lewicka, 2011). yet, to date, little attention has been paid, using both qualitative research and urban design analysis tools, to how the process of neighborhood reconstruction and public space improvement in socially marginalized neighborhoods, along with public space design and its physical characteristics, can influence (or not) the creation of interactions, networks, and memory and, consequently, the formation of place attachment. to this end, in this paper we have examined how the level and type of community participation in the neighborhood’s reconstruction process along with the use and configuration of public spaces in the polígono of sant cosme have shaped and influenced the construction of feelings of identity and place attachment among residents. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 23 as shown through the case of sant cosme’s reconstruction, the phases during which community participation was more pronounced produced a strong feeling of community identity and pride that still remains today among a large group of residents from a specific part of the neighborhood. in contrast, the reconstruction of the more marginalized sector and the design of the neighborhood public and open spaces, in which community participation was weak or inexistent, did not generate positive feelings among neighbors, and only exacerbated division through spatial segregation and increased resident dependency on the public administration. here the public administration failed to achieve an integrated neighborhood due to the lack of participation of its residents, resulting in greater dependency, community surveillance, and reinforced stereotypes, and an increasingly divided community. the case of sant cosme also demonstrates how a spatial configuration lacking in certain aesthetic and programmatic assets fails to promote public space use and is thus unable to generate mixed social interaction, common memory, social meaning, and in turn place attachment among residents. because the local configuration of public space does not allow for social interaction and community activity, residents have not been able to use plazas, streets, or other open spaces as tools for community building and later community organization and engagement. those findings have two clear implications for the creation of attachment to place in territorially marginalized neighborhoods, such as peri-urban mass housing complexes. first, when neighborhood revitalization and upgrading does not further build identity beyond the home space and marginalizes further civic participation, it seems to eliminate opportunities to develop the self-worth and self-esteem needed to create a more empowered and pro-active community (thwaites, mathers, simkings, 2013), and it produces isolation, social separation, and segregation within the neighborhood itself. second, when the design process for public spaces marginalizes civic participation and disregards everyday experiences, socially constructed places, places of significance, mixed uses and social mixity, and the needs and visions of the community regarding memory and shared history and meaning, it creates public spaces that are disconnected from the residents’ imagery and use. as a result, such a reconstruction process like in sant cosme, while strengthening community identity among a portion of involved residents, fails to create place attachment among residents and greater opportunities for community participation. in sum, in sant cosme, neither (a) the neighborhood reconstruction and public space design process nor (b), the public space design itself, generated feelings of attachment towards the open spaces nor the neighborhood itself. in fact, they constrained the development of people-place relations. this experience reveals the importance of developing public spaces through participation processes that can help nurture the network of human relationships capable of transforming these spaces into culturally symbolic places and creating new community memory and identity. therefore, a specific focus on participatory public space design and on a configuration of public space promoting social interactions, reinforcing community identity, and encouraging socio-spatial interaction and memory building could help foster place attachment. here, planners can and should facilitate participatory processes in the reconstruction of colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 24 marginalized neighborhoods, especially their public spaces, and promoting an attractive, dense, and mixed-use urban configuration. our belief is that conscious participation, together with active public spaces, can empower community residents, conjure a sense of pride, help citizens 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(2016). from residents to citizens: the emergence of neighborhood movements in spain. in n. gallent, d. ciaffi (eds), community action and planning. contexts, drivers and outcomes (pp. 59-78). university of bristol: policy press. wacquant, l. (2008). urban outcasts: a comparative sociology of advanced marginality. cambridge: polity press. wacquant, l., slater, t., & borges pereira, v. (2014). territorial stigmatization in action. environment and planning a, 46(6), 1-9. colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 28 annex 1 summary of the interview results. his tory and urban change s us e of the ne ighborhood s pace s place attachme nt community involve me nt ide ntity strong duality among the reconstructed part of the neighborhood and the non reconstructed under used public space. public services but non of the kind that generate activity around them (court, police, health center...) those from sector 1 p.a. towards their house, they are the activists that went from the shack to the appartment. involvement only when is lead by authorities, not community led. people that came initially feel their identity is linked to sant cosme sector 1 was a citizen led process, while sector 2 was an administration led process no activities in the interior space of the blocks, no activities allowed sector 2 are disconnected as the reconstruction was given to them. new generations don't have this strong sense of identity towards sant cosme fragmentation of phase 7, spatially segregated parc nou is the only used space, many people from the rest of el prat use it only neighbors from sant cosme use the space, no people from el prat. very low density neighborhood, feels there is no people in the street. public buildings don't promote activity and socialization (court, police station, health center) when we first move to sant cosme comming from the shack this was amazing specially likes and uses parc nou in some years we started to see the deficiences of the blocks the promenade to the beach is what she likes the most #4 woman | neighbor | 58 years old the administration thought as we came from the shacks we would be happy with anything they gave to us she buys and uses spaces out of sant cosme, but she likes parc nou she doesn't feel attached to any place in the neighborhood besides her house there was a lot of community action in the first period of reconstruction, when that was accomplished involvement and action dissapeared she feels sant cosme is her place because she had to fight for it and overcome stigma when she first arrived in the 72 the bad conditions were evident people were united to claim and work for a better neighborhood when people had what they were claiming the fight was over we were very organized to claim for the betterment of the houses neighbors built a pilot house to take decisions #7 woman | neighbor | 67 years old the neighborhood was in very bad conditions, neighbors organized themselves to get a decent neighborhood what she most likes is the promenade to the beach, she does her daily activities between sant cosme and el prat she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to new generations need to be organized. no interest in the neighborhood among the young people she feels very proud of being from sant cosme #8 woman | neighbor | 72 years old the neighborhood was in very bad conditions, neighbors organized themselves to get a decent neighborhood the place that she likes the most is parc nou she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to she is member of the group "dones savies", a group of old women who meet to discuss issues of the neighborhood, but is not relevant in the decision making processes of the neighborhood she feels her identity is strong towards sant cosme #9 woman | neighbor | 75 years old the neighborhood was in very bad conditions, neighbors organized themselves to get a decent neighborhood she argues that many commerces have closed during the last years because people tend to shop outside sant cosme, she likes the parc nou she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to she is member of the group "dones savies", a group of old women who meet to discuss issues of the neighborhood, but is not relevant in the decision making processes of the neighborhood her identity is linked to sant cosme #10 woman | neighbor | 73 years old the neighborhood was in very bad conditions, neighbors organized themselves to get a decent neighborhood not much use of the public spaces of the neighborhood, she sometimes goes to "plaza de las aguas" but she mainly goes to the center of el prat she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to she is member of the group "dones savies", a group of old women who meet to discuss issues of the neighborhood, but is not relevant in the decision making processes of the neighborhood she feels very much identified with sant cosme and less with el prat, she says i am from sant cosme she proudly says i'm from sant cosme, the stigma has to end woman | neighbor | 59 years old #6 woman | neighbor | 68 years old #5 she mentions "plaza de las aguas" as a place she likes she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to when people had when they were fighting for (their houses) community action disappeared el prat was a very small town, and suddenly a new neighborhood was built, it was a huge challenge he doesn't feel people are very involved nowadays in community actions. it has become a very much subsidized neighborhood, so people are now used to receive. people from sant cosme feel proud of their neighborhood because is a product of their effort and activism action woman | neighbor | 62 years old #3 she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to we were very much involved with the reconstruction process, when that was over the involvement in neighborhood issues dissapeared she feels his identity is linked to sant cosme, because of the involvement in the reconstruction process woman | social worker from the municipality of el prat de llobregat | works in sant cosme, doesn't live in sant cosme #1 #2 man | public administration of el prat de llobregat | doesn't live in sant cosme not involved in community groups, expects public administration to always lead activities she feels attached to her house, but no attachment to any public space no activity in the public space, commerce is out of the neighborhood "i am from sant cosme and my identity is linked to this neighborhood" colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 29 his tory and urban change s us e of the ne ighborhood s pace s place attachme nt community involve me nt ide ntity #11 woman | neighbor | 57 years old when everyone had his/her house the interest in common problems or issues of the neighborhood dissapeared she uses mainly spaces outside the neighborhood, she likes parc nou and the promenade to the beach to walk on the weekends she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to no involvement in community actions or groups, regrets that young people is neither involved she feels her identity is linked to sant cosme #12 woman | neighbor | 58 years old we had to fight not only for the houses but for public services like the school or public transport space is not very much used, there is very little commerce she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to not involved in community groups she feels very proud of being from sant cosme #13 woman | neighbor | 74 years old nowadays it seems a clean and nice neighborhood but there are coexistence problems she values the quality of the public space in sant cosme, wide sidewalks and availability of squares but regrets that there is no activity so there is not much people in the streets, and sometimes there are places in where people use the space in bad ways she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to she is member of the group "dones savies", a group of old women who meet to discuss issues of the neighborhood, but is not relevant in the decision making processes of the neighborhood she feels his identity is linked to sant cosme, because of the involvement in the reconstruction process remarks how the changes were firstly led by neighbors and for second phase there was no community involvement it was a housing based reconstruction #15 man | member of a civic association | 36 years old neighborhood has changed a lot, but the involvement of the people has dissapeared he reflects on the way people use public space, and preciselly because of the lack of use, his organisation tries to organise activities that happen in the outside space when possible member of gats, an association to promote civic actions for the neighborhood, founders of the group are not from sant cosme #16 man | social worker of the public administration | 38 years old we take care of coexistence problems. no activities or spaces to promote exchange and communication he reflects on the way people use public space but specially on the spaces around and inside the blocks, what would be considered a common space, the way it is used by diferent sectors of the population living in the same block creates conflicts and tensions social worker, not involved in civic groups from the neighborhood #17 man | neighbor | 32 years old people think a lot on how neighbors were united but it is not anymore, we can't live in the past, the situation now is that the neighborhood has problems and people don't do anything he regrets on the huge lack of cultural programs in the neighborhood, he reflects on the situation in the present which is that there are no cultural activities in the neighborhood at all he doesn't have any significant space where to feel attached to not involved in community groups he doesn't feel his identity is linked to sant cosme #18 man | neighbor | 45 years old very different now as it was in the first years. first union, then disconnection and now disinterest he states that "avenida 11 de septiembre" the avenue that divides sant cosme from el prat is acting as a frontier or barrier basically for the people from outside sant cosme to go into the neighborhood. he also reflects on the lack of commerce he has a significant feeling with an area he used to play in his childhood, the area around the church, right now it has changed so much that is not recognizable anymore leader of a community group of the neighborhood, he is involved in community activities from sant cosme but also from el prat. very active he feels his identity is very much linked to sant cosme, he is proud of being from the neighborhood. but regrets there is a lot of stigmatization still. #19 man | neighbor, co-president of the neighbors association | 47 years old he recalls very much on the years of fight and action, highlighting the great force of people in the reconstruction of the neighborhood (nostalgia) the neighborhood had much more activity in the past years, when the reconstruction was in process. right now very few activity he remembers when in his childhood he used to play and hang out around the former block in which he used to live, with the reconstruction these spaces disappeared so there is no place he feels as significant neighborhood association identity very much linked to sant cosme #20 woman | neighbor, co-president of the neighbors association | 43 years old reconstruction of sector 1 was exemplar, we could even decide who we wanted our neighbors to be. that got lost with the reconstruction of sector 2 from the neighborhood associaiton there are not activities organized in order to promote the use of public space, they dedicate more efforts to help neighbors with daily problems (elevators in this moment) she feels attached to her house and recalls that significance spaces have disappeared with the reconstruction neighborhood association identity very much linked to sant cosme woman | neighbor | 63 years old #14 outside the school you see people in the times when kids go out. she likes parc nou she doesn't have a significant place where she feels attachted to not involved in community groups she feels her identity is from both, sant cosme and el prat colacios, mendoza, anguelovski – neighbourhood reconstruction, community identity, and place attachment: mixed experiences from the mass social housing complex of sant cosme, barcelona ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. x, issue 1 2020 30 short author biography: raquel colacios is assistant professor at the universitat internacional de catalunya school of architecture. her research interests are centered on the role of design to foster spatial justice through new forms of governance, innovative forms of space production and innovative analytical processes to identify existing potentials for socio/spatial transformation. carmen mendoza-arroyo is associate professor at the universitat internacional de catalunya school of architecture. her research interests include: urban regeneration, reconstruction and resilience in the field of emergency architecture, and urban integration strategies for displaced populations and refugees. she has published in: cosust: journal current opinion in environmental sustainability; japr, and landscape research. isabelle anguelovski is icrea research professor at the universitat autonoma de barcelona-institute for environmental science and technology. her research interests are centered on planning for sustainable, healthy, and equitable cities. she has published in journals such as nature climate change; cities; city; and progress in human geography transparency in planning: a new viewpoint ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 130vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 paolo scattoni issn: 2239­267x associate professor via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy ­ paolo.scattoni@uniroma1.it dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma the next issue of ijpp will consider a specific methodology for “planning without planners”; i.e. locally built plans through planning processes of active participation. a specific goal of the issue relates to a set of techniques that originate from the same research line that our research group has set up over time. a radically new perspective for community planning is envisaged subject to three main conditions. the first is that techniques should have greatly reduced or possibly null costs. little has been written on the costs of planning, which in some cases have bee enormous. in this regard, the most striking italian case concerns the master plan for rome (scattoni, 2004). exceptional situations aside, even less expensive “official” plans have costs that a local community cannot afford. a minimum set of no­cost planning tools will be therefore presented. a second condition is that of planning tools that should be used by the community itself without the help by the planners. in this respect, the proposal goes beyond advocacy planning (davidoff, 1965) which implies an expert "at the service" of grassroots groups who wish to build their own plans. the proposal is for the identification of simple methods and ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 131vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 scattoni ­ trasparency in planning techniques to be locally managed and requiring the expert only for specific performance tips and technical know­how. the third prerequisite is that of time management skills in these processes. if the purpose of the process is to influence decision­making it is essential that it be made traceable over time to provide information to local the local community in order to relate effectively with the “governments” responsible for official plans affecting the specific community. empirical research (scattoni, falco, 2012) shows quite clearly that in a particular italian context opacity of decision­making in planning is due to mechanisms of local politics. the "hidden factor" is precisely that of a local political system that takes advantage in mediating in a confidential manner with stakeholders. the proposed approach of “planning without planners” would have an important role to eliminate such a negative practice. transparency remains the only option. from this point of view and the tools made available by internet can play a role of primary importance. despite its pervasiveness web 2.0 is a relatively new factor in planning. it has started to be a mass phenomenon only from the early 2000s. on the other hand there are urban plans that have started the process in those years and have not yet been concluded. this is to emphasize that the tools of planning have not yet been able to experience the full potential that the web can offer them. the approach presented implies that a myriad of strategic frameworks built from the bottom is then used to influnce “official” planning. such strategy would have no chance to develop in a sporadic and not continuous environment without the help of the net. references davidoff p. (1965), "advocacy and pluralism in planning", in journal of the american institute of planners, 31(4), pp. 331­338. scattoni p. (2004), l'urbanistica dell'italia contemporanea, roma, newton&compton. scattoni p. and falco e. (2012), "the hidden factor in planning and local politics in italy: the case of tuscany", in town planning review, 83 (1), pp. 47­67. environmental risk prevention, post­seismic interventions and the reconstruction of the public space as a planning challenge. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice ivol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 barbara pizzo issn: 2239­267x an introduction. phd ­ researcher and senior lecturer in town and regional planning barbara.pizzo@uniroma1.it dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma valter fabietti professor of town and regional planning valter.fabietti@fastwebnet.it dipartimento di architettura ­ università degli studi g. d’annunzio chieti ­ pescara this issue of the italian journal of planning practices tackles the topic of ‘natural’ risks, focusing particularly on seismic risk, and on policies and actions addressed to prevention1. there are two main reasons for considering environmental risk as a primary issue in italy. the first is because the geomorphology of the country and the physical and spatial configuration of its territory cause a particular risk the ‘first biennial on the public space’ which was held in rome on 12­14 may 2011. the proceedings have been published in urbanistica informazioni 239­240 this work represents a further outcome of the seminar on urban risk and the public space within1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice iivol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 exposure; in fact, it is among countries with higher seismic and hydro­ geological risk levels in europe). the second reason is related to spatial transformation processes, and to the urban development of the country in particular, which happened mostly without considering these risks. the combination of these two conditions leads italy, unfortunately, to be well­ known for its weak capacity to govern territorial changes, and for its almost constant recourse to emergency policies. even if we cannot talk yet about an actual concern for territory in the national political agenda2, a new trend is emerging, more sensitive to environmental urban risks. it is in fact the question of environmental risk which is the driving force of what can be defined as a cultural change. from an in­depth analysis of recent practices of re­construction after catastrophes, a different approach to our heritage and built environment is emerging at regional level particularly, despite the continuing conflictual relationship between conservation and development. there are important regional differentiations with respect to the efficacy and the efficiency of actions, but in general we can observe an increasing attention for the topic of risk prevention and conservation of the built environment starting from the huge patrimony of historical town centres and fabrics. this change is sustained by a disciplinary development in the related fields of planning, law, architecture, engineering, and environmental science, and by an increase in multidisciplinary approaches, in both theory and practice. this development is rooted in a long history of ‘natural’ disasters, which is accompanied by a similarly long history of national­level laws related to emergency and post­emergency interventions. part of this story is synthesized in the box 1: the policy of reconstruction and of reduction of seismic risk in italy: a brief history of recent earthquakes (di salvo). from this story, and more specifically from a direct involvement of the authors in some field experiences related to recent seismic events, derive most of the issues presented in the following papers. these issues are introduced here under four main themes. implemented mainly through landscape conservation policies, addressed to historical, archeological and cultural values (as stated through the law 42/2004, “codice dei beni culturali”). regarding territories considered in their complexities, the few existing protection policies are2 pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice iiivol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 the first issue is the relationship between ordinary and extra­ordinary or emergency interventions. the way of approaching the topic of urban risk was mostly an ex­post intervention on the effects of natural disasters, often limited to a one­by­one restoration of damage, instead of being addressed to the reconstruction of the fundamental urban conditions which permit to a town to re­start living. the importance of these conditions are at the core of the first contributions by pizzo, di salvo, giuffré and pellegrino. a comparison, also in terms of costs, between the advantages that have been actually reached through emergency policies and actions, and those that could be reached through the ordinary policies addressed to prevention, determined the need to seriously consider new approaches for dealing with catastrophes. a long­term perspective allows the opportunity to grade and prioritize interventions addressed to risk mitigation and the protection of urban settlements from an earthquake, not only as emergencies. the position has been clearly stated: “by its nature, urban planning is long term. master plans have to encompass decades of expected growth, and it is evident that earthquake protection is necessarily a long­term process” (coburn and spence, 2002). this change toward a longer­term perspective is difficult to be actually achieved, since the political­administrative system has been not able to support continuity of political or technical decisions addressed to prevention. the second question is the role of knowledge. knowledge related to territory is a fundamental instrument of prevention, not just for technicians and decision­makers, but also for the general public. a multidisciplinary and multi­scale approach is needed both for the analyses and for the construction and implementation of prevention policies. miccadei’s contribution examines this role, and the relationship between sectoral studies, such as seismic micro­zoning and planning, based on evidence from the recent earthquake of abruzzo region. there is a preliminary study conducted by the civil protection service aimed at treating this relationship systematically, but its capacity to actually affect planning decisions is still limited3. regioni e delle province autonome ­ dipartimento della protezione civile. gruppo di lavoro ms, 2008. indirizzi e criteri per la microzonazione sismica: conferenza delle3 pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice ivvol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 other sectors of primary importance within this field of practice are those related to the built environment and to building techniques, particularly those concerned with historical or traditional origins. the problems of heritage restoration, and particularly of that part of the heritage which is not listed as a monument, is the topic of the paper by andreani and carocci. their contribution is also addressed to clarifying a particular problem related to this non­monumental patrimony, which has to do also with a scale problem: that of the ‘minimal unit of intervention’. in a planning perspective, the ‘minimal unit’ of intervention often is not the single building but rather the ‘building aggregates’, a complex of buildings with structural coherence, which is a common case in ancient settlements. this question is presented also in box 3: the analysis of building aggregate: a brief survey on technical regulations and their possible effects on urban planning (giuffré). knowledge is important for the general public, in particular if it brings a deeper understanding of the environmental processes related to risks (e.g. the phases of an event, its potential side­effects, etc.), and to a more conscious behaviour, not just in case of an emergency. this question leads to a specific way of looking at participation, which considers its fundamental role in constructing a common or shared knowledge. actual experiences related to environmental risk prevention, emergency and post­emergency, particularly those including civil society as an active and primary agency, are rather rare in italy, and not fully developed. this is why we are presenting an international case­study as a good practice, that of new orleans and the implementation of its post­hurricane re­construction policy (see branciaroli’s article). the role of local communities and their capacity for self­ organization became more central to public attention, starting from the case of l’aquila after the earthquake of 2009, where spontaneous committees of inhabitants and civil society movements entered the scene of the post­seismic debate about reconstruction4. knowledge needs time; it has to be built up gradually, it is not possible to process is very different from other cases that we experienced, for example in the friuli earthquake of 1976, since in the case of abruzzo public mobilization assumed mostly the form of a protest. we have to say that this last experience of public participation and involvement in the reconstruction4 pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice vvol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 obtain all information together, and certainly not during an emergency. knowledge and information cost, and many public administrations, particularly the smaller ones, often cannot pay for it. so it is essential to make a wise use of what is already available, to articulate the questions that need investigation and to organize these, distinguishing basic knowledge and information from that which could be deepened later. in a recent work promoted by the ‘consiglio superiore dei lavori pubblici’ (the high office of the ministry of public work), this issue has been thematized. knowledge has been articulated into fields and types, and then sub­articulated into different levels of detail which can be reached according to needs and to available resources (human and financial) of a public administration. the third issue is related to the forms which intervention assume. in recent seismic events (l’aquila and the abruzzo region in 2009 and in the emilia romagna region in 2012), we can see that the state is developing a re­ centralization process, assuming a growing role in defining and managing interventions, also through the national civil protection service. in this, we see a sort of inconsistency in public policy at national level5. firstly, because it is happening in contrast to claims of policy devolution. secondly because the state is attributing an increasing role and power to the civil protection service, which acts mostly in the emergency phase and with an emergency perspective, while asserting the need to shift policies and resources towards prevention. a similar reflection and a similar inconsistency can be derived by comparing the public discourse on the necessity of prevention from environmental risks, and actual reconstruction practices, which in most cases failed to became an occasion for promoting prevention. moreover, there is a lack of relationship between the civil protection plans and planning instruments (urban plans, specifically). the strategic urban structure – sum (struttura urbana minima in italian), is summarised in box 2 by abruzzo region, and that of emilia romagna region, in terms of the emergency and post­ emergency national policy. in fact, while in the first case, the re­centralization process reached its higher level, in the second case, the post­seismic policy at national level stated a new form of cooperation among the different institutions and public administrations involved (e.g. regarding the planning decision about where temporary housing would be settled, which could not be turned into a building area). to be more precise, a certain difference must be highlighted between the case of l’aquila and5 pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice vivol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pellegrino and is discussed in the paper by b. pizzo et al., can play this role of ‘merging’ civil protection imperatives with planning goals, related to prevention and also to the maintenance of basic urban conditions in case of a natural disaster. in fact, a good functioning of the sum, which is defined through a structural approach to the physical and functional characteristics, can assure a good response to a catastrophic event for the whole settlement, both during the emergency and the re­start of urban activities. case studies show the complexities which are related to seismic prevention and the related possible problems of the sum, solvable through alternatives, and specifically through redundancy. the relationship between the definition of the sum and the possible solution of its problems in order to improve the overall resilience of the town is briefly described in the case­study boxes, edited by m.s. benigni, f. de girolamo, and a. de rosa). planning tools which were introduced for the post­seismic reconstruction after the emilia romagna earthquake, are considered as being in between the more ‘traditional’ plans (which means regulatory, in the italian planning tradition), and a more strategic approach, in that they are addressed to socio­economic development, and this new orientation resulted from recent deliberations at national level6. this could mean that the state aims at using the occasion, given by the need for reconstructing the physical environment of a town, for re­thinking its economic and functional structure and for promoting redevelopment. at the same time, these tools must be consistent with the existing planning discipline and instruments. this generates a ‘double expectation’, and more generally, ambiguity and potential conflicts in the planning system. sviluppo’ – see art. 10, comma 11), it is stated that territories (towns), struck by the earthquake should propose a strategic re­development plan whose aim is to assure the socio­ economic re­start together with the rehabilitation of the settlement. the governance of this process foresees a formal agreement among the city council, the delegates of the ministry of economy, and the province. the emilia romagna region is preparing its own law responding to what is established at national level. (see: progetto di legge regionale ‘norme per la ricostruzione nei territori interessati dal sisma del 20 e 29 maggio 2012’, http://www.ediltecnico.it/12289/emilia­romagna­pronta­per­la­legge­per­la­ricostruzione­ dopo­il­sisma/, and also: http://www.ediltecnico.it/12495/piano­di­ricostruzione­post­sisma­ emilia­romagna). in the law 83/2012, concerning the socio­economic development of the country (namely, ‘decreto6 pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice viivol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 the fourth question is that of the role of industrial buildings and productive districts in the reconstruction. a particular sensitivity for this problem emerged after the earthquake in emilia romagna region in 2012 which struck a very important industrial district. the article by m. scamporrino is devoted to this case, which can be interpreted as the evidence of the progressive and experience­based understanding of the seismic event, seen as a phenomenon with complex effects and implications. the case of emilia romagna region highlights the loss of functionality as a twofold problem: on one side, there is the physical damage of warehouses and sheds which need to be restored, and the direct economic loss, meaning the suspension of production; on the other side there is the indirect economic damage, meaning that those who are not able to maintain their commitments, lose their position and role in the market. there is no evidence about the chance to re­establish somehow the previous market organization, after the rapid change ‘imposed’ by the event. these four sets of issues have a common ground, which is that of the (re)construction of public space after ‘natural’ catastrophes. it is precisely these spaces which, in our view, should be a top­priority in the public agenda dedicated to environmental risks prevention and to post­emergency reconstruction, where it plays a fundamental and strategic role. this is physical space, but also relational space and functional space. it is the place where identity is constructed and re­constructed, developing collaborative capacity (also and particularly in case of an emergency), where social and community bonds are re­built. this space is constructed also through the deep and diffuse knowledge of the ‘life environment’, which has to be considered as a primary form of risk prevention. it is also the space of material production of goods and services, whose reconstruction should become an occasion for the local community to re­think their socio­spatial and socio­economic organization. this change of perspective should be pursued despite the ‘politics of fear’, fed by the constant recourse to emergency policies (which lead to an almost constant ‘state of emergency’), which weakens democratic deliberation and create the attitude of “hold on to what we have” (swyngedouw, 2007, 2011), and despite on­going processes which tend to the de­politization of nature, taking environmental questions out of the public arena. pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice viiivol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo­fabietti ­ an introduction. references coburn a., spence r. (2002), earthquake protection: john wiley & sons ltd. swyngedouw e. (2007), “impossible ‘sustainability’ and the post­political condition”, in krueger r., gibbs d. (eds.), the sustainable development paradox: guilford press. swyngedouw e. (2011), “trouble with nature: ecology as the new opium for the masses”, in hillier j., healey p. (eds.), the ashgate research companion to planning theory: conceptual challenges for spatial planning: ashgate. 0001.jpg towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 carmela mariano issn: 2239­267x stuttgart and rome: two models in comparison university researcher in urban planning carmela.mariano@uniroma1.it department of design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ "la sapienza" university of rome abstract the process of “metropolisation” that has characterized the development of urbanization in contemporary cities over the last few decades, is being subjected to a transformation process oriented towards “regionalization” dynamics, where metropolitan regions become the engines of economic development and competitiveness on an international scale. the objective of a comparison between the experience of the stuttgart region and that of metropolitan rome, the largest municipality in europe, is to contrast an example of an efficient, democratic and dynamic regional government with the difficulties in administering a territory as complex as rome, in an institutional and political framework that does not tend to foster chances of constituting new government models at a supra­municipal scale. the traditional model of metropolitan organization of the most important urban agglomerations, over the last few decades, has changed remarkably. relationships between the central city and the neighbouring municipalities mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 have been profoundly modified. commuting from the home to the workplace is no longer mainly registered towards the municipal capital, but there is a balance between the two directions with an increase in overall commuter flows within the entire metropolitan area. new social and economic dynamics, related to territorial metropolisation processes (indovina, 2005) and the decentralization of functions of metropolitan rank, have determined a new configuration of the metropolitan areas. this has led to larger territories, namely the metropolitan regions. these are economically inter­dependent, compared to the city, and include the surrounding non­urbanized territory whose principal market and financial centre is the metropolitan city itself. moreover, a growing number of residences located outside the city are accompanied by the relocation of business activities over the whole territory. this generates new forms of widespread polarity and a new balance between residential areas and business hubs over the entire territory. this territorial model is therefore a new type of metropolisation model, a definite metropolisation­regionalization model (camagni, 2003). these new settlement dynamics are recognised in the meta­city1 definition, a term used by the urban sociologist guido martinotti to describe a new entity that has overcome (meta) the traditional physical makeup of the «first­ generation metropolis» ­ typical of the 20th century with its core and its rings; a metropolis in which the physical extent of the agglomerate no longer coincides with institutional boundaries and where new dynamics, which accompany the transformation processes of the contemporary city, produce an array of cross­cutting conflicts: the daily conflict between different categories of citizens – inhabitants, city users, commuters, metropolitan businessmen (nuvolati, 2002); the institutional conflict between governing bodies of the large municipalities and the neighbouring ones, between comuni and municipalities, between the central government and the regions. these conflicting aspects are in need of greater democracy, new government editions odile jacob, 1995. in this context, martinotti has redefined the term using a different meaning, in metropoli del xxi secolo – sconfinamenti e reti, round table of the css (italian board for social sciences) commission for city governance at the turin book fair, 13 may 2010. the term “metapolis” is to be attributed to f. ascher in metapolis ou l’avenir des villes, paris,1 mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 measures and an integrated approach to urban complexities (prigogine, 1997). ensuring the territorial efficiency of the metropolitan system therefore becomes an objective for the government and for territorial politics. subsequently these may establish the most suitable programming forms and tools for the smooth functioning of a complex system, for the proper administration of the territory and its competitiveness on an international scale; for overcoming common resistance to the hypothesis of a common strategy, shared between the central municipality and the neighbouring ones; and finally for ensuring participation of an array of public and private bodies involved in decision­making processes for the future of the city. research into models of metropolitan government, in the european sphere, outlines some theoretical reference models corresponding to situations in which the metropolitan government problem has been dealt with using strict and strong institutional solutions, creating levels of government by direct election (theoretical metropolitan reform model). but although the problem has been faced at the institutional level with unconvincing results, some independent experiments are underway envisaging cooperation and coordination networks between municipalities, various levels of government agencies and private subjects (theoretical public­choice model). and ultimately there are situations in which the two components at the government level, namely the authoritative model and the voluntary component (theoretical neo­regionalism model) co­exist. neo­regionalism fosters cooperation agreements towards the consolidation of public and private stakeholder networks intervening in the field of public policies (heinelt, kubler, 2005). the european context provides a vast and articulated array of alternative forms in the field of metropolitan government models. there are some well­ known examples, such as the greater london authority, planungsverband in frankfurt, grand lyon and even the metropolitan area of amsterdam or the french scenario envisaging the inter­municipal cooperation of the epci (etablissement public coopération intercomunale); this reference framework allows the identification of strong points and weak points compared to the effectiveness of one or other theoretical reference model that has been put forward (mariano, 2011). mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 in the areas that chose a government of an enlarged area, inspired by the theoretical metropolitan reform model (as in the case of the greater london authority and the verband region stuttgart), there are some evident factors determining government success: in fact, responsibility of a sole government level settles the conflicts between different administrative levels and local associations by the elimination of the fragmentation of government levels involved in decisions. studies also indicate that agglomerations with forms of metropolitan government inspired by the first theoretical model are the richest from the economic standpoint since common municipal efforts flow into a unique synergy for the benefit of the metropolitan area (rosemann, 2005). but, at the same time, metropolitan governments are cumbersome institutions for the political burden they exercise and for their tendency to encounter hostilities and mistrust on behalf of governments with provincial or regional status; nor are they well­received by local governments located “below”. on the other hand, when resorting to soft institutional forms, often inter­ municipal and non­elective, of the theoretical public­choice model, as in the case of french inter­municipality, one risks giving local issues too much space, being paralysed by vetoes and preventing the attainment of a global vision if not sustained by strong direction. similarly, reference to the neo­regionalism theory and therefore resorting to governance (le galès, 1998) as opposed to government, does pose some risks, for example in the case of the planungsverband in frankfurt. in fact, governance may be the formalization of consensus­building procedures regarding strategic decisions and projects; but it can only function when the promoting public agencies are able to govern, being strong and authoritative, with an incontrovertible role in the control and supervision of different stages that ensure the effectiveness of the process. three success factors can be distinguished on the basis of these considerations, which strengthen the metropolisation process at the regional level. this paper will then compare two experiences, which are profoundly different in their outcomes: the metropolitan government in stuttgart and the one in rome, to ultimately evaluate their reciprocal effectiveness. the three success factors are: capacity for building the metropolitan identity. one of the main objectives of government should be the construction of a metropolitan 1. mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 identity, a common and participated vision of the future of the territory, with the aim of fostering a path towards the constitution of the metropolitan area. one of the strong points of a metropolitan government must be that of outlining a vision for the wider area, as an internally cohesive and structured territory. this territory will be surrounded by the support and common purpose of all those participating in the development of the entire area through participation, discussion and listening processes. therefore local and urban communities are considered active subjects and their participation becomes a core element, not only towards legitimizing the fairness of choices as much as for their contribution towards the construction of scenarios that will guide the choices; capacity for promoting competitiveness. metropolitan areas represent territorial realities that most contribute to the economic growth and increase of the gross domestic product. this is due to the fact that population density, human capital and infrastructure indicators are higher in these areas. in this setting of growing globalization and european integration, the perception of widespread consensus, the winning picture of a form of politics able to blend development, culture, social cohesion and economic promotion together is the key to success of government policies aimed at the competitiveness of the territorial system and towards the attraction of investment capital. these policy programmes are an opportunity for setting up more or less open stakeholder coalitions, assuming the form of a “public­private partnerships that are legitimized in terms of flexible capacities and public actions” (le galès, 2006). these converge into the production of public actions oriented towards international competitiveness for the cities where policies for the promotion and representation of these areas have become essential; 2. guaranteeing the principles of democracy and effectiveness. the lack of communication that exists between the daily life and problems of citizens and those who are summoned to solve them, that is the political and technical­administrative bodies, increases the gap between the governed city and the experienced city. the problem involving the need for democratic representation, whatever the 3. mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 institutional forms that might be defined for governing these large areas, gives rise to the question involving the correct balance between forms of democratic representation and the capacity and timeliness of decision­making, involving factors of organization, procedures, flexibility; between the necessity for leadership and the capacity for maximum consensus. for these reasons, the direct election of members of the institutions of metropolitan government constitutes a strong point for its legitimacy and for social consensus. efficiency, competitiveness and democracy: the verband region stuttgart model in germany, in accordance with its approach to competitiveness and its re­ launching at an international level, the term “metropolitan region” defines a high­density agglomeration of more than one million inhabitants. these areas experience specific development dynamics in terms of economic criteria, such as value­added, economic power and income, having a prominent international position and commitments. there are substantially two cooperation models at the regional level that have been adopted in german metropolitan areas: ”functional units” (zweckverbände), describes a type of cooperation created to solve specific problems, such as the case of the regionalen planungsverband münchen (munich’s regional planning association). the drawbacks of this model derive from the fragmentation and weakening of the regional level due to the large number of associations comprising a variety of authorities covering different areas according to specific objectives. moreover, this approach does not guarantee transparency in decision­making and only provides for indirect democratic control. 1. regional associations are considered as the ideal form of intra­ regional cooperation in the länder. regional associations may have direct democratic legitimacy, for instance the verband region stuttgart has its own regional parliament. when the government level covers all the sectors of regional competence, as in the case of the hannover region, then we can speak of regional authorities. 2. mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 in contrast to other urban sprawls of average dimensions, the city of stuttgart is surrounded by a ring of wealthy cities with a total of 590,112 inhabitants – approximately the same as the number of citizens living in the capital. due to the polycentric structure of this territory, urban­suburban conflicts have always been very evident. an association for regional planning (association region middle­neckar) was set up in 1974 for these reasons. but it soon revealed its inadequacy for problem­solving because of the dominant interest of local authorities rather than any common interests in developing the “greater stuttgart”. figure 1 – the verband region stuttgart in the land of baden wurttemberg figure 2 – administrative division of the verband region stuttgart the economic slump registered in the 1990s and the establishment of the european integration process fostered a series of public discussions. these discussions (walter rogg, 2004) concluded that network fragmentation was the problem causing the negative economic trend, later formulating the hypothesis that the solution could envisage identifying one single institute for regional representation. the new constitution of the federal state in 1992 and the regional political reform allowed the baden­wurttemberg region to adopt a law aimed at strengthening cooperation within the region. on 7 february 1994, the baden­wurttemberg regional parliament issued the “act governing the establishment of the verband region stuttgart” that constitutes the vrs and delegates legislative authority to it. verband region stuttgart follows the regional associations cooperation model and its organizational structure makes reference to the so­called forms of top­down government, with a highly centralized institutional authority, mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 22vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 organized into hierarchies, inspired by the theoretical metropolitan reform model. according to this model, the fragmentation of authority in the metropolitan area must be dealt with through government consolidation, through a metropolitan authority, with extensive competence and autonomy. at the same time, the regional association seems to possess characteristics of the bottom­up model in which authority is democratically legitimized through direct election of the regional assembly; so there are traces of the theoretical public­choice model. the vrs organisation also uses of a network of public and private2 agencies that revolve around the association while promoting regional development, after the theoretical neo­regionalism model, fostering the establishment of cooperation agreements that consolidate stakeholder networks participating in the drafting of policies (steinacher, 2004). this institutional structure appears to recognise the three success factors desirable for metropolitan government. the principle of democracy is guaranteed by direct elections, according to the system of proportional representation. these take place every five years, electing 93 members of the association that will constitute the regional assembly, chaired by the honorary president and by the director. another strength of this government model lies in the capacity of the central institution in outlining a vision of the verband region stuttgart. the task of the stuttgart region forum is not only to heighten the profile of the region and maximize cooperation, but also and especially to support social activities and reform regional powers. sport region stuttgart (1996) is a regional voluntary association of local authorities, sports clubs and sports groups. it supports the region by organizing and coordinating sports events of regional relevance or by supporting ideas and projects in the field of sports. for the most part it is funded by the vrs. moreover, the vrs is also a member of kulturregion stuttgart and the regional women’s association called frauenratschlag (1995) whose objective is to sustain and promote specific activities and interests of women in regional policies. jugendregion stuttgart gives voice to the activities and contributions of young adults in the political and public sphere. its role is to establish the foundations and develop the apprenticeship of young leaders who might contribute to regional politics. dialogforum der kirchen is constituted by institutions and individuals from the rottenburg­stuttgart diocese and from the wurttemberg church of the protestant state. ihk region stuttgart (chamber of commerce and industries of the stuttgart region) and handwerkskammer region stuttgart (chamber of arts and trades) offer their technical support to small and medium­sized enterprises having to acquire know­how in the trade sector that is volatile according to circumstances and political imperatives. a series of stakeholders and partners revolve around the regional assembly, who cooperate with2 mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 23vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the region that is appropriately communicated and strongly shared by the population. it is important to involve the citizens, who play a decision­ making role for the policies to be adopted and this, together with the directly elected institutions, means that policies have more meaning for the population, through their direct participation. this sets off a series of self­ controlling mechanisms that generate more trust and virtuous civic behaviour (decrease in tax evasion, etc.) by being accessible and intelligible both for citizens and for the local governments. these are the basic premises for the acceptance and support of metropolitan government systems. figure 3 – the structure of government in the stuttgart region today the stuttgart region is one of the richest and most competitive territories within the lander buden­wuttemberg and also in europe. it has 30% of the entire region’s gdp and a very low unemployment rate. the industrial plants in the region, whose international fame is based upon manufacturing in the fields of automobiles, software, communication means and biotechnology, are especially characterized by high­technology and their great impact in the export sector. in the field of development, the vrs region has established wirtschaftsforderung region stuttgart gmbh (wrs), a corporation for economic development in the stuttgart region, that has been created to coordinate all the activities that might contribute towards the implementation of the region’s cooperation and development at an international level. it is the mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 24vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 central meeting­point for investors and companies in the city of stuttgart and the neighbouring municipalities. it assists companies in scouting for favourable business locations, production facilities and offices; it also offers information regarding economic benefits offered by the region. wrs carries out these activities in close collaboration with experts on the economic development of its 179 municipalities and 5 districts. it supports local economic development, offers its assistance to companies and works in close touch with a broad range of public and private institutions. thanks to the establishment of policies for economic and social promotion, verband regione stuttgart has successfully set up a vision for the stuttgart region and has sparked sharing and growth processes towards metropolitan identity. this is a fundamental prerequisite for consensus and even agencies of metropolitan government have contributed towards steering strategic­ programmatic policies aimed at strengthening and promoting the local economy. in fact, the fields of action of the verband region stuttgart include regional territorial planning with particular attention towards the balance between protection of environmental areas and parks and new urban development; planning public transportation and regional infrastructures; promoting business, tourism, culture and sports through conferences, sports and cultural events of regional relevance; organizing trade fairs at a regional level; sustainability of the vitality and living conditions in cities and towns; and economic competitiveness. verband region stuttgart regional policies demonstrate that government reform not only depends upon particular spatial conditions connected to the historical tradition of cooperation and to the problems of each specific region, but also upon the consideration of shared objectives capable of overcoming the conflicts of the stakeholders involved and steering sustainable development into the metropolitan area. verband region stuttgart is a good example of “regional government”, coordinated by a strong central institution but with a role as mediator and providing effective leadership in the networks between public and private agencies, who may be less formally organized, who work at the promotion of regional development. according to scholars, this institutional framework makes the stuttgart mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 25vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 model one of the most interesting and effective ones (benz, lefevre, walter­ rogg). this is also in consideration of the fact that it is the result of a top­ down political reform at the state level and of bottom­up cooperation that was initially voluntary and then became institutionalized. balance between settlements and the economy of the rome municipality and its “metropolitan area” in italy the debate on metropolisation­regionalization processes, although evident in some territorial situations, for instance in the milan urban region, conflicts with the extremely fragmented reality of the country. there are in fact more than 8000 municipalities, most with a strong local identity. these local identities actually represent a hindrance to the construction of any metropolitan identity and attempts made towards creating new levels of intermediate local government. the strong power of the local systems and the traditional autonomy of the municipality that characterizes the italian constitutional system are, together with the hostile position of the regions, some of the principal obstacles for the establishment of “metropolitan cities” as envisaged by legislators in 1990 through law no. 142/90. the dimensions of the rome municipality, with 129,000 ha and a population in excess of 3 millions, has certainly played a role in defining the relationship of rome with its hinterlands; it also possesses a rooted a “pro­ roman” vision and political culture that has always seemed like a constraint in establishing new territorial dynamics. the development of rome over the last two decades has in fact taken place through a binding process with neighbouring municipalities, along some of the historical communication routes that have constituted the roads along which continuity with nearby municipalities has been established; initially there was simply a continuity in houses but subsequently these axes also became locations for mixed functions and activities. this gave rise to a true urban sprawl with its own specific features: namely radial development, being star­shaped, with broad empty spaces that separate the various radial axes. the urban shape of a vast area that constitutes the negative of a great environmental system, which wedges into the heart of the capital. so the current situation is a metropolitan system which is the result of mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 26vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 spontaneous settlements determined by the absence in the metropolitan area of hubs around which new mixed industrial­residential areas could grow, ultimately giving rise to a totally disorganized spatial area, even without that hierarchical model defined by classic metropolitan form of a core and rings. in an attempt to redesign the classic metropolitan model, the strategy of “new centralities” has been affirmed and represents a cornerstone of the development plan for rome approved in 2008. considering the key of “territorial transformation” (marcelloni, 2003), centralities have been conceived to correct the anomaly of a metropolitan system, where suburban centres do not exist, in an attempt to rebalance the metropolitan area. the objective was to relocate some functions of excellence from the central hub, decongesting it and actually strengthening the many peripheral locations. the presence of new centralities in the roman suburbs was and still is an indispensable choice if one does not wish the outskirts of rome to be “skipped” by new location logic that is more and more metropolitan, with the consequence of some areas remaining as suburbs forever. figure 4 – metropolitan strategy of the city plan of rome mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 27vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 but today the situation regarding the implementation of “new centralities” seems disappointing. the projects in progress are those already planned before the approval of the prg general development plan (bufalotta, eur castellaccio), whereas the processes set off for the new centralities (romanina, acilia­madonnetta, pietralata, torre spaccata) have been stalled (in some cases the schemi di assetto preliminare, preliminary planning schemes, have been pending evaluation in municipal offices for years); in those cases where the procedure seems to be running smoothly, the plans that have been presented possess an evident distortion of the concept of centrality. while the objective of promoting territorial competitiveness of the suburban areas is established with the localization of urban functions of excellence, ongoing projects witness a progressive loss of these functions to the benefit of the residential ones. these produce, as a result, a further reduction in the infrastructural and economic conditions in these areas. one must add to this the decision, forced upon the prg because of administrative boundaries, to single out as many as 18 centralities, all within the municipal perimeter, which does not support the process of metropolisation that spontaneously tends to invest in the territories of the province. therefore the metropolisation model for the rome area presently requires reconsideration of the polycentric model at a supra­municipal level to solve structural and social issues that can no longer be solved within the rome municipality3. the provincial territory is a vast one, therefore the necessity is for a network that pivots upon centralities within the municipal perimeter, with an appropriate selection in terms of feasibility and sustainability, and on other new centralities within the municipalities belonging to the second ring, some of which are already identified by the piano territoriale provinciale generale. thereby are identified the strategic development hubs even in terms of productivity and reduction in the consumption of land cover, with the objective of blocking spontaneous trends still present in the peripheralization process and systematically strengthening the metropolisation process in the area. metropolitana” (part 2 of the strategic plan for the province of rome. reorganizing the territory of the metropolitan capital) asse 2 del progetto strategico della provincia di roma ­ “riorganizzare il territorio della capitale3 mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 28vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 a new territorial and social­economic model which, within the vision of the future metropolitan city, should include the broader metropolitan area made up of 121 municipalities belonging to the province in addition to 19 municipalities belonging to the municipality of rome. but the activities of the metropolitan area of rome are intertwined with those relative to its role as capital of the italian state and consequently with the eventual recognition of a specific legal status, which could result in different planning and functions for the metropolitan area. it is worthwhile recalling that law no. 142/90 was proclaimed during a period of uncertainty regarding regional problems and during a lull in the debate regarding the overall future of the city of rome, while awaiting the passing of the law regarding “roma capitale”, that was definitely approved in december 1990. red tape regarding the drafting of coordination territorial plans, which had begun approximately ten years earlier, had been lagging in the absence of a regional framework of reference. metropolitana” (part 2 of the strategic plan for the province of rome. reorganizing the territory of the metropolitan capital) asse 2 del progetto strategico della provincia di roma ­ “riorganizzare il territorio della capitale3 figure 5 – territorial effects of the piano territoriale provinciale generale mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 29vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 in fact, the activation of all the previously described procedures has not led to concrete results towards the definition of a metropolitan city to date. in 2009, the law “government mandate on fiscal federalism” outlined the possible institutional destiny of the province of rome which, within this legislation, has the chance to take part in the setting up of a new body, namely città metropolitana di roma capitale. in addition to the traditionally attributed functions, these will include the planning of the territory in general and that of the infrastructure networks, setting up coordinated administration systems for public services, promotion and coordination of economic and social development (art. 23 law 42/09). in this sense, it is obvious that politics were running behind in conceiving government tools to be used for the metropolisation process. in fact, even the second legislative decree (hereinafter law no. 42/2009 and legislative decree no. 156/2010) for conferring new powers to roma capitale in the field of transportation, construction, commerce and city planning demonstrates all of its limitations. this is due to the fact that, once again, it remains within the confines of rome instead of establishing the needed ente metropolitano (metropolitan authority) that has been postponed to a time yet to be determined. political and territorial limitations considerations regarding the fate of “metropolitan capital”4 on one hand have to deal with the opposing policies between a possibility to open up the provincial dimension and the will to continue thinking of the metropolitan dimension as enclosed within the municipal perimeter and, on the other hand, an extremely fragmented and articulated territorial situation. the 121 municipalities that make up the provincial dimension indicate a strong local identity that has become deeply­rooted over the course of decades, a lack of vision of the whole and a sceptical attitude towards the hypothesis of a supra­municipal level of government. as already underlined in the introduction, the subject of metropolitan identity is a fundamental prerequisite towards the success of the metropolitan city. on the contrary, the individual municipalities that make up the province in progetto strategico della provincia di roma, 2010.4 mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 30vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the rome territory sometimes possess dimensions and populations that are so small, some of only 200 inhabitants, that it is difficult to imagine a shared regional vision that is internally cohesive and structured, that maximizes resources and creates the conditions for well­balanced development between the different urban and territorial systems. the lack of institutional and democratic recognition of the government level, which in any case is opposed by many, has in fact compelled political action within the single administrative perimeters. this consequently makes unlikely the success of any initiative aimed at promoting development and competitiveness in the territory, as for instance in the case of centrality. but in the territory belonging to the province of rome there are many forms of inter­municipal cooperation, (“municipal unions” law 267/2000) that seem to be implemented in particular by those municipalities with rather low populations and resources in terms of quite strategic and complex territories where the administration and provision of services is a considerable burden to the municipal funds. within this perspective, resorting to associationism is an obvious choice for administrations, in order to continue in guaranteeing the production of public goods at a local level. therefore inter­municipal cooperation (fiorillo, robotti, 2006) assumes the form of internal dynamics that is somewhat contrary to the process of metropolisation characterizing metropolitan areas where local authorities are traditionally very strong and do not normally lend themselves to surrendering parts or all of their prerogatives. concrete actions that have the task of building up relationships needed by the metropolitan dimension (metropolitan identity) can be located in this context, thereby creating conditions, from below, for the construction of the metropolitan city, beyond the one that will be identified as the most suitable form of metropolitan government. in this sense it may contribute, in a significant manner, to the path towards the construction of the “metropolitan capital” with the inclination on behalf of municipalities to become associates (in an autonomous form) proposing strategies, policies and interventions, giving life to a form of self­government from below (theoretical public­choice model). the potential of these “unioni dei comuni” (union of municipalities) is still progetto strategico della provincia di roma, 2010.4 mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 31vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 an open issue; time is needed to accumulate experiences and reach a steady organization of this form of cooperation and its use for governing the process of rationalization and reorganization of services, functions and frameworks of the local bodies. but setting off from these premises, one can reasonably affirm that today the municipalities are equipped with an innovative tool. this may be used to start upon a path which will certainly be a complex one, that contains more stimulating perspectives, and which could foster concrete answers to the issues raised by ongoing new dynamics in the metropolitan areas. progetto strategico della provincia di roma, 2010.4 mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 32vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 references ascher, f. (1995), metapolis ou l'avenir des villes, paris, éditions odile jacob. bartaletti, f. (2009), le aree metropolitane in italia e nel mondo. il quadro teorico e i riflessi territoriali, bollati boringhieri. benz, a. (2001), "from associations of local governments to regional governance in urban regions", in german journal of urban studies, vol. 40, n.2. benz, a. (2003), "regional governance mit organisatorischem kern, das beispiel der region stuttgart", in informationen zur raumentwicklung, vol. 8/9. brenner, n. (2003), “metropolitan institutional reform and the rescaling of state space in contemporary western europe”, in european urban and regional studies, 10, 4, pp. 297­325. camagni, r. (2003), città, governance urbana e politiche urbane europee, disp 152. de martino, u. (2008), edited by, il governo delle aree metropolitane, officina edizioni. fiorillo, f. and robotti, l. (2006), edited by, l’unione di comuni. teoria economica ed esperienze concrete, francoangeli. heinelt, h. and kubler, d. (2005), metropolitan governance, democracy and the dynamics of place, oxon, ed. rutledge. keating, m. (1997), "size, efficiency, and democracy: consolidation, fragmentation and public choice", in stoker g. and wolman h. (eds.), theories of urban politics. london: sage, pp. 117­134. keating, m. (1998), the new regionalism in western europe: territorial restructuring and political change. cheltenham: edward elgar. lefevre, c. (1998), metropolitan government and governance in western countries: a critical review, joint editors and blackwell publishers ltd. le gales, p. (2006), le città europee. società urbane, globalizzazione, governo locale, il mulino, bologna. marcelloni, m. (2003), pensare la città contemporanea, laterza. mariano ­ towards metropolitan regionalism ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 33vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 marcelloni, m.(2005), edited by, questioni della città contemporanea, francoangeli. martinotti, g. (1999), edited by, la dimensione metropolitana, il mulino prismi bologna. mariano, c. (2009), “la città contemporanea: i motivi di una ricerca”, in urbanistica informazioni, 23, gennaio­febbraio 2009, pp. 11­13. mariano, c. (2011), governare la dimensione metropolitana. democrazia ed efficienza nei processi di governo dell’area vasta, francoangeli. nuvolati, g. (2002), popolazioni in movimento, città in trasformazione. abitanti, pendolari, city users, uomini d'affari e flâneurs, il mulino. prigogine, i. (1997), la fine delle certezze, bollati boringhieri. (ed. or. la fin des certitudes, odile jacob, 1996). steinacher, b. (2004), europische metropolregion stuttgart, verband region stuttgart. steinacher, b. and geiser, c. (1997), "interkommunales handeln in der region stuttgart", in der stdtetag heft, 4. walter rogg, m. (2004), political and structural reforms in the metropolitan area of stuttgart. paper presented at the inrs­ucs (institut national de la recherche scientifique – urbanisation, culture et société) conference on metropolitan governance in montréal (canada), 7­8 october. urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 caterina f. carocci issn: 2239­267x architect, phd, assistant professor c.carocci@unict.it università di catania abstract this paper focuses on describing the contents of reconstruction plans for the historical centres of villa sant'angelo and fossa as urban projects. in spite of the specificity of the two cases presented ­ different from each other in terms of starting condition, the level and extent of damage and the intrinsic qualities of the urban fabric ­ it emphasizes the methodology defined and used for the formation of management tools for post earthquake reconstruction. the plan decisions derive from in­depth analysis and research carried out on both these centres aimed at defining intervention categories and guidelines for reconstruction and for preserving the local francesco andreani architect, phd in architectural and urban design francesco.andreani10@tin.it approaches and methods for post­earthquake recontruction plans. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 characteristics of buildings with measures and solutions integrated with the history of the damaged cities. based on the identification of the main characteristics of the local built environment, the plans for villa sant'angelo and fossa define projects where transformations and even different types of development are possible; these are derived, in any case, from that same built identity continuing its themes. 1. pre­earthquake condition and state of damage1 like most historical towns in the aterno valley, villa sant'angelo and fossa were in a state of large scale abandonment, before the earthquake of 2009, due to the attraction of the region’s capital city as a place of residence offering living standards different from those characterizing housing in historical centres. this situation of population decrease in both cases did not cause emotional detachment as was evidenced by the continuation of several activities which saw the participation of a large number of people. in fossa, the reduced number of residents in the historic centre has probably allowed the preservation of the integrity of the built environment that still characterizes the city centre and its surroundings. in villa sant'angelo ­ where alterations due to recent interventions are widespread ­ a rebirth of the economy had begun just before the earthquake, related to the attraction of the historic centre and the quality of the surrounding environment and partly to seasonal tourism in nearby mountain districts (figures 1­2). adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building earthquake carries out by collaboration among the municipalities and the university of catania. the working group, coordinated by c. carocci, is composed by c. circo, m. costa, l.a. scuderi, c. mangiameli, a. scudero. a. dal bo', a. caiello, m. giuffrè, s. giuffrida, m.r. vitale. urban design consultant is f. andreani. the experience on reconstruction plan of villa sant'angelo and fossa historical centres hit by 20091 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 2.1 seismis damage in villa sant'angelo the severe damage caused by the earthquake of 6 april 2009 was concentrated in the central areas where collapses involved large parts of built­up area, resulting in a situation of heavy loss of large parts of the building fabric. systematic documentation of the damage and a virtual reconstruction of the urban fabric in its pre­earthquake condition have been carried out ­ from the immediate aftermath of the earthquake with the idea of verifying the possibility of rebuilding the centre while confirming its urban form and its construction history. figure 1 – villa sant'angelo, aerial view of the historic centre after the earthquake adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 2 – fossa, view of the historic centre from the valley ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 3 – villa sant'angelo, damage condition maps with this aim, a plan to clear away rubble, based on the possibility of preserving what had not been destroyed by the natural event, was set up as the first operational tool at the end of 2009 (carocci 2011a). the investigations carried out during the preparation of this plan and more detailed analyses of some sample blocks have permitted the creation of an exhaustive and systematic database of information on damage conditions defined at the level of building blocks (carocci et al. 2010). (figures 3­4). figure 4 – villa sant'angelo, volumetric view of a block's damage condition ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 5 – fossa, damage condition maps 2.2 seismic damage in fossa despite the fact that the historical centre in fossa was affected less severely than in other neighbouring towns ­ probably due to compactness of the bedrock on which it is built and to the quality of the construction technique characterizing its buildings ­ the damage was spread to most of the urban fabric and a landslide originating from the side of mount circolo ­ overlooking the town – has made the whole historical centre inaccessible. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 6 – fossa, urban and architectural analyses unlike villa sant’angelo, here collapses were sporadic and limited to few buildings, but the crack patterns and damage mechanisms activated by the action of the earthquake are widely scattered in the urban fabric and have lead to a damage condition that necessarily requires coordinated and integrated action. that picture must be considered against the backdrop of the importance of the centre in terms of historical and environmental built heritage and architectural features with buildings of considerable importance (e.g. the fortified castle, the church and square of santa maria assunta and the peripheral church of santa maria ad cryptas) (figures 5­6). 3. knowledge for the project the survey phase, preliminary to the preparation of the plan – in spite of the different character affecting the two historic centres object of the planning (concerning the level and extent of the seismic damage, configuration of urban fabric and state of conservation and utilization) – was carried out in pursuit of a detailed knowledge of the built­up area, obtained through investigations performed at different scales and, in particular, aimed at obtaining information about the built­up heritage and public and private open spaces (carocci 2011b). preliminarily observations were conducted on blocks of the urban fabric with the aim of identifying those most appropriate for the execution of in­ depth analysis and to define the scale of the units for the intervention plan. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building 3.1 the built­up property in the phase preliminary to the preparation of the plan a series of thematic surveys were carried out for all of the two centres; firstly attention was directed to the definition and identification of architectural units, as sub­ units of the blocks that, as indicated by the reconstruction law, constitute the basis for the design of the reconstruction project. this first analytical investigation allowed subsequent analysis on the basis of a single system of reference that connects the survey phase to that of plan preparation. the collection of data concerning buildings' height and on­site observations were associated with the analysis of building types and their combinations in the urban fabric, documenting configurations, features, and highlighting incongruous alterations. in the case of villa sant'angelo, with reference to collapsed areas, the size and shape of the buildings had to be hypothesized where there was a lack of documentation of their condition prior to the earthquake (photographic images and maps). the collected data about the buildings' use and location of the principal houses was also the subject of specific investigation, supported by information collected through the acquisition of statements by the owners. at the scale of the elements composing the building, the structural arrangement and groupings were observed, emphasizing positive features and weaknesses of local construction techniques (figure 7). figure 7 – villa sant'angelo, masonry works analysis ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 8 – fossa, building types and buildings' construction analysis 3.2 public and private open spaces the analysis of open spaces and their relationship with the buildings, both in their public form (squares and streets) and in the semi­private and private expression (alleyways and inner courtyards) was carried out with the same systematic approach dedicated to buildings, through a survey of their layouts and their characteristic patterns, determined by the natural constraints and the urban nodes constituted by squares and particular buildings. also the study devoted to un­built areas underlines the quality and character of the centres and allows us to recognize the particular spatial dimensions that will be confirmed and preserved in their consolidated configuration, or the architecture and exterior finish were analysed with a focus on the state of the façades. in the case of fossa, a systematic analysis of the local construction lexicon has allowed the identification of phases of evolution of the centre and its seismic history through examination and mapping of anti­seismic devices and pre­ modern repair interventions (spurs, scarp walls, chains and hoops) (figure 8). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building in some cases changed, in the plan. through the redesign of characteristic elements, such as slopes, tiers and ramps, the general arrangement of the public space was identified with its materials, structural patterns and its condition of preservation or damage. since public spaces accommodate network services of public utility, they are likely to be affected by large­scale interventions relating to the provision or re­supply of those network services. this situation on the one hand allows us to suggest their re­design while, on the other, stressing the need for an effective documentation of the established character of those spaces. all these analyses highlighted strengths and weaknesses – some of which were inherent in the urban form and others that introduced by the earthquake ­ which are the basis for design of the plan. 3.3 project­aimed analysis: aggregates and architectural units the systematic examination of the built environment allowed the achievement of two operational results of great interest to the plan. first is the division of the urban fabric into sub­areas (this is a procedure explicitly required by the law) derived specifically from the actual state of the built­up area as interpreted following the comparison between information collected at different scales of analysis (from urban analyses, to those concerning blocks' layout, construction techniques and damage) (figure 9). the second result is the definition of architectural units, resulting from direct and systematic observation of the buildings of villa sant'angelo and fossa by highlighting the unity of external façades and the subsequent identification on the base of land register maps and on­site surveys. the division of the built­up areas into architectural units, defined as sub­ parts of the blocks, allowed the elaboration of both analisys maps (which illustrate the present damaged condition) and design maps of the reconstuction plan using the same basic unit. in that way the architectural units define a common ground that binds analysis to project and plan and provide greater specificity in the assignment of categories of intervention on the built­up. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 9 – villa sant'angelo, aggregates’ identification and definition criteria 4. plan choices even though from an early stage of plan preparation the community of villa sant'angelo and fossa wished to reconstruct their centres as they were, preserving their own identity and even if analysis work was deep and extensive, accurate and comprehensive, the design phase of the plan was not at all obvious and predictable but was full of new observations and unexpected implications. perhaps the first step in design that allowed the formulation of predictions about the reconstruction was to recognize a match between the identity of a building and its material form as masonry work. this first identity was expressed in the plan by establishing the corrsipondence of structural units (as defined by law) with architectural units, the latter instead defined by the reconstruction plan on the basis of typological and material studies2. it is opinion of the authors of this paper that the definition of structural unit as defined in the italian2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building the decision to make the equivalence between structural unit and architectural unit helped to preserve – in a structural reading marked by the block’s dimension ­ the size of the units and that of the whole formed by these units. the unit defined by the architectural unit is recognized as a significant record (masonry, material, structural and typological) which determined the face of the city before the earthquake. the choice to put the unit at the core of the plan aims to reaffirm its role in the new face of the city in continuity with its history. 4.1 villa sant'angelo the desire to preserve the still recognizable character and values of the urban landscape and the historical built­up area is the central priority in the planning choices and it directs the plan’s objectives, aimed at the redevelopment and the improvement of living quality and safety of the built heritage. the main criterion behind villa sant'angelo plan is, therefore, the preservation of the identity of the historic urban fabric and by doing so to promote the preservation of routes and urban spaces that characterize the established urban structure. this criterion has been observed in relation to damage conditions and the possibility to identify surviving built­up portions that will be preserved and will provide a starting point for the reconstruction and consolidation of the urban fabric (carocci et al. 2012) (figure 10). 4.1.1 interventions on existing buildings the reconstruction plan promotes the preservation, redevelopment and re­use of surviving parts and elements, through instructions about modes of intervention and operations for the preservation of structures and decorative elements. technical norms for constructions (decreto del ministero delle infrastrutture e dei trasporti del 14/01/2008) does not suffice to describe the historical, typological and architectural characters of the urban fabric; it is for that reason that, working on the plans of fossa and villa sant'angelo, the definition of architectural unit was formulated as the result of the in­depth analysis of the urban centers. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building figure 10 – villa sant'angelo, urban plan one among the many instructions for operational contents defines that surviving portions and elements will, as a rule, be preserved, restored and strengthened in order to form the starting point for the reconstruction and consolidation of the urban fabric. in accordance with the conditions resulting from earthquake damage, the categories of intervention in the reconstruction plan ­ strengthening, completion and reconstruction ­ have been assigned to each one of the architectural units. categories of intervention, with regard to both urban planning and construction, were tailored on the present damage condition in order to establish the value of reconstruction in terms of quality, location and urban image of each building. it should be noted that consolidation and completion are categories also defined at level of built structures, emphasizing the presence of important primary elements – such as stone vaults for ground floors and basements ­ and establishing the repair and/or the reconstruction with masonry techniques for the restoration and completion of the pre­existing building. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building one among the many instructions for operational contents defines that surviving portions and elements will, as a rule, be preserved, restored and strengthened in order to form the starting point for the reconstruction and consolidation of the urban fabric. in accordance with the conditions resulting from earthquake damage, the categories of intervention in the reconstruction plan ­ strengthening, completion and reconstruction ­ have been assigned to each one of the architectural units. categories of intervention, with regard to both urban planning and construction, were tailored on the present damage condition in order to establish the value of reconstruction in terms of quality, location and urban image of each building. it should be noted that consolidation and completion are categories also defined at level of built structures, emphasizing the presence of important primary elements – such as stone vaults for ground floors and basements ­ and establishing the repair and/or the reconstruction with masonry techniques for the restoration and completion of the pre­existing building. 4.1.2 interventions on public spaces besides the definition of architectural units, other general characteristics have influenced the reconstruction of villa sant'angelo, resulting from the reading of the route alignments and from a realistic and effective forecast of inevitable transformations that will be produced by the reconstruction. layouts as described in the plan were divided into “obligatory” and "predominant" introducing a distinction between those determining the obligatory permanence of the pre­existing urban arrangement and those on which relative changes are possible, whose partially different reconstruction will not affect the historical urban form. choices expressed in the plan are aimed at reducing removal interventions and minimize demolition without reconstruction; when present, are closely related to necessary upgrade and redesign of public routes and spaces and should be seen within a logic of urban restoration aimed at the reintroduction of small open spaces (nowadays obstructed by the addition of recent buildings) carefully calibrated on the existing urban fabric. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building the creation of new small squares – which derive from the collapsed buildings and are comparable, in position and size, to open areas and courtyards of the ancient urban fabric – is regarded as a reconfiguration of the original urban fabric which defined the form of the town of villa sant'angelo. the urban plan defines ­ under the category of "reconstruction" assigned in any case only to few architectural units ­ the redefinition of some open spaces located inside the blocks and that were already present before recent obstructions. furthermore, the plan specifies a series of actions aimed at the reorganization of the system of routes, public spaces and strategic buildings for the prevention of seismic risk. specifically, connections between different areas and access to different parts of the settlement are taken into account in the definition of a system of escape routes and first emergency measures. 4.1.3 the cores of building replacement if the main focus of the plan was the reconstruction of the traditional and historical identity, recognizing its uniqueness as a tool allows us to address several issues of renewal in response to those "urban" topics that every city shows and which are, everywhere, the matter of the art of the city. these issues might be: a long­designed road but never realized; the solution of a peculiar accessibility problem; the definition of a public space unresolved for long time. following the demands of the local community, the plan for villa sant'angelo has introduced a replacement intervention on a block in the city's central square; the specific block was affected by severe damage and it was decided to introduce a new public building in order to renew civic social life in the newly rebuilt city. a series of new units for uses such as office and retail, in line with the standards of businesses in the neighbourhood, is to be developed as part of a new complex rebuilt within the original layout and sized to the pre­existing ones. 4.2 fossa at the core of the choices in the reconstruction plan of fossa are its urban ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building landscape and the preservation of character and value of its historical buildings, which in this specific case are intact, recognizable, and can be effectively used as a tool to start a new era for the city centre. with the establishment of repair and seismic improvement building sites covering the whole of the damaged urban fabric, the reconstruction plan assumes total responsibility for the preservation of urban history and architecture in fossa and, for this reason, the provisions of the plan are aimed at the possibility of improving living standards in the historical centre while identifying transformations compatible with the identity of the town as part of the natural environment. 4.2.1 interventions on existing buildings although the damage characterizing the historical village of fossa does not require operations of total reconstruction, buildings in the urban fabric will be subject to detailed and specific work of reconstruction. in that context, it is unthinkable that the extensive work of consolidation on architectural units might occur without an improvement in housing conditions and that the large investment of resources managed by the reconstruction plan will not lead to a renewal of quality of residential units that have remained (from the volumetric point of view) substantially intact. for that reason the plan rules and suggests forms of building transformations compatible with the observed historical types, paying attention to the identity of the urban fabric. the two basic intervention categories for fossa, “restoration” and “recovery”, allow at different degrees, a rational modification of the primary structural elements with respect to the actual conditions, in accordance with the level of present damage and therefore of relative consolidation. introducing the possibility of rethinking residential units ­ allowing, for example, both horizontal and vertical mergers of volumes ­ the plan aims to an urban rebirth through possible housing redevelopment linked with the newly found appeal of the historical centre (figure 11). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building 4.2.2 the cores of urban renewal as an opportunity to rethink public spaces the predominantly conservative core of the reconstruction plan of fossa is accompanied by strategies aimed at the improvement of the town that figure 11 – fossa, urban plan ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building translate, in practice, into the identification of a few “cores of urban renewal”, for which it defines the restoration and redevelopment of public spaces, the improvement of access routes and safe areas and a new provision of public services or facilities of public interest. in these areas, combining built areas and open spaces of significant interest, the plan defines the possibility of introducing new public uses and improvement operations of access roads, such as new parking and services. among these areas the plan includes the fortified castle and the magnificent piazza belvedere for which some transformations are defined (figure 12). 5. some remarks following these short descriptions of the work carried out on the reconstruction plans of villa sant'angelo and fossa some concluding remarks may be attempted. the in­depth work of study and research of the material identity is in the tradition of the better italian school of urban analysis, in particular with the analysis of evolutionary processes of the urban fabric pioneered by gianfranco caniggia (d'amato guerrieri­strappa 2003) and the experiments conducted by antonino giuffrè (giuffrè 2010)on the behaviour of masonry fabric and their construction and structural qualities (caniggia 1979, 2006 and giuffrè 1989). the road taken by this research following the work of those masters and suggests two new themes for the analysis of the urban fabric and urban space. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building the first is to take into account the role assumed, in the definition of the urban identity, by issues and qualities that often escape the definition of typological unit, by ideas and rules that we can refer to as the matter of the “art of the city”3. in city­forming, together with the concept of “house” historically stated and the typological process, another well­defined idea was at work; it possessed rules and clearly established geometric qualities and directed the formation of the peculiarities of the urban fabric. the idea of practicing a principle of conformity not only on architectural units but also on the urban whole, which derives from the study of the city in the renaissance, has been introduced in these reconstruction plans through norms regarding the respect of obligatory and predominant alignments and through the suggestion of the relevant nodes constituting the historical identity of the urban arrangement. the second topic that can be found in the reconstruction plans of villa sant'angelo and fossa is that, in the process of analysis of typological aspects, the prevalence of a theme has to be identified in order to isolate a feature more capable than others of preserving the identity of form and architecture. that theme is the structural identity, or construction identity to use a more general and non­sectorial term. the identity of an urban fabric can be preserved recognizing, first and foremost, its primary construction qualities; by employing masonry techniques it is possible to establish and rediscover, even in a reconstruction process, those elements constituting a town’s identity (masonry walls, vaulted floors, wooden roofs and architectural elements) and which ­ also nowadays ­ the use of masonry construction systems allows us to realize. the reconstruction plans drawn up by this school are far from a frozen vision of urban history, which identifies architectural images and restates them in different construction systems, resulting in the poor quality of buildings common to many post­earthquake reconstruction scenarios and to that regulate the process of construction of public spaces, an institutional function that, throughout history, has always been part of any civic set of rules. see: e. re, maestri di strada, archive of the r. società romana di storia patria, vol xliii, roma 1920; m. tafuri, ricerca del rinascimento, torino 1992. the “art of the city” may be defined as the whole of the rules and formal and geometric strategies3 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 adreani, carocci ­ urban fabric, construction types and the art of city­building many ‘context­aware’ buildings constructed inside many a historical centre (andreani 2005). by deciding to maintain the integrity of the existing masonry construction system, the plans of villa sant'angelo and fossa define living architectural units, where transformations and even different types of distribution are possible, and derived, in any case, from that same construction identity from which they derive and bear the traces. in conclusion, even in the case of total reconstruction or with the introduction of staircases, elevators and new facilities, but preserving the identity of the primary elements, even ­ in short ­ meeting the ever­changing requirements of urban life, it is possible to preserve character and identity of places and the important legacy that history hands down to us. acknowledgment authors gratefully acknowledge the municipalities of villa sant’angelo and fossa and particularly their mayors, pierluigi biondi and antonio gentile. moreover they thank all working group participants and arch. salvatore pappalardo. this work has been partially carried out under the research program prin (italian national interest research program) 2008 and the program of under the research program of dipartimento di protezione civile/ consorzio reluis (2009­2012), research line 1. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references andreani f. (2011), quaderni dell’arte della città, vol 1­2, edizioni nuova cultura, roma. andreani f. (2005), l’architettura sbagliata, didattica del fare bene in architettura, gangemi, roma 2005. caniggia g. (1979), strutture dello spazio antropico, alinea, firenze. caniggia g. (2006), ragionamenti di tipologia. operatività della tipologia processuale in architettura, alinea, firenze. caniggia g., maffei g.l. (2001), architectural composition and building typology. interpreting basic building. alinea, firenze. carocci c.f., cattari s., circo c., indelicato d., tocci c. (2010), a methodology for approaching the reconstruction of historical centres heavily damaged by 2009 l’aquila earthquake. advanced materials research, vol. 133/134, 2010, pp.1113­1118. doi 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.133­134.1113. carocci c.f. (2011a), "centri minori e danneggiamento sismico. rimozione delle macerie e analisi degli aggregati murari storici a villa sant’angelo (aq)", in centroni a., filetici m.g (a cura di), progetti d’eccellenza per il restauro italiano, gangemi editore, roma, pp. 129­136. carocci c.f. (2011b), "small centres damaged by 2009 l’aquila earthquake: on site analyses of historical masonry aggregates", in bull earthquake engineering. doi 10.1007/s10518­011­9284­0, ©springer science+business media b.v. 2011. carocci c.f., circo c., costa m., giuffrida s., scuderi l., vitale m.r. (2012), "a reconstruction plan for villa sant'angelo and tussillo (aq); preliminary analysis", in jerzy jasienko (ed.), structural analysis of historical constructions, proceedings of viii international conference sahc, vol. 2, pp.1405­1413. d'amato guerrieri c., strappa g. (2006), gianfranco caniggia. dalla lettura di como all'interpretazione tipologica della città, mario adda editore, bari. giuffrè a. (2010), leggendo il libro delle antiche architetture. aspetti statici del restauro. saggi 1985­1997, (carocci c.f., tocci c. a cura di), gangemi, roma. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 giuffrè a. (1989), monumenti e terremoti. aspetti statici del restauro, bonsignori, roma. ntc 2008, decreto del ministero delle infrastrutture e dei trasporti del 14/01/2008, norme tecniche per le costruzioni. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards public spaces in new orleans post­katrina. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 paola branciaroli issn: 2239­267x phd in architecture and urban planning paola.branciaroli@gmail.com università g. d’annunzio chieti­pescara abstract the article, that represents the outcome of an integration among a study of recent literature and an on­site enquiry realized at the end of the 2010 at the university of new orleans and at the tulane university, reviews the plans and actions for the reconstruction of new orleans after hurricane katrina. the aim is to demonstrate that, though the natural disaster has inflicted tension to city fabric, these projects, analyzing the economic and social contexts, have constituted an opportunity to provide a spread of urban quality and community aggregation, both eliminating present inequities and strengthening the cultural identity and the relationships with the public spaces of everyday life. plans and projects as instruments for urban and social revitalization. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 introduction hurricane katrina, the third strongest hurricane that reached the coasts of the united states, formed on 23 august 2005, hit the gulf of mexico between 29 and 31 of the same month covering an area of about 240,000 square kilometers and producing the worst economic disaster in the history of the nation. the hardest stricken area and flooded for 80%, due to the failure of the levees of the mississippi river, was new orleans, the most european city of the united states, with an ancient history and vernacular culture and with artistic and organizational expressions important for community development, but also with a distressing social divide, accentuated by the disaster. this situation, in fact, was not generated only by the absence of risk prevention or shortcomings of civil protection, but mainly by the discrimination of low­income populations, not addressed by urban planning. to demonstrate this, the slums, made up mainly of black families, had been built below sea level and were submerged by water. the american myth of equity, among races and social classes, collapses, exploding in front of the eyes of all, in the events of new orleans.1 the debate on the reconstruction of the city has indicated the possible recovery methods characterized by two related but distinct tensions: speed and reflection2 or the assessments of professionals and residents about programme priorities. these tensions, accompanied by an unexpected lack of confidence of inhabitants in the government and in the technicians and by the absence of a single organization able to guide the planning process, have slowed the development of an overall revival strategy. within the climate of extreme uncertainty and dissatisfaction, the design of public space has been the instrument to critically interpret the physical and social context and the opportunity to eliminate vulnerabilities and inequities, simultaneously providing a spread of urban quality and community aggregation. the article branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina crp, cornell university, 2006.1 olshansky, 2006.2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 will review and interpret public space proposals set out within the plans for reconstruction and experiments conducted in single devastated areas, to demonstrate their key role in both urban and neighborhood scale. 1. reconstruction plans for regeneration of the area defining the agenda for regeneration, the various plans for reconstruction that followed the hurricane up to now have been the result of compromise, albeit in different modes and measures, between the will of local government and the needs of the community which, despite being largely delocalized, was informed through websites and involved by means of surveys and meetings. already analyzed at the territorial level3, they will be here closely examined with respect to the public space project. the bring new orleans back (bnob) plan has provided, just a month after the tragic event, the first overarching framework for the city rebuilding and was elaborated by the bnob commission that divided its work among several committees focused on city planning, infrastructure, culture, education, health and social services, economic development and government effectiveness. among them, led by a bnobc member and supported by volunteers, the city planning committee was regarded as the most important one and further divided into six subcommittees on land use, housing, infrastructure, historic preservation, sustainability and urban design. it aimed to form a socially equitable, environmentally safe and economically advanced community. the purpose was not the reconstruction of the original situation, characterized by persistent poverty for a third of the african­american population, and that would have risked the depopulation of the city, but a more vibrant vision able to create better life expectancy and to ensure desirable neighborhoods. these were to be enriched with parks and open spaces, public facilities and services and had to be planned with their citizens and connected to the region, preserving their heritage of culture, landscape and architecture, thus attracting returning inhabitants and new citizens. an ecological infrastructures system favoured people movements and the space for meeting and socializing, integrating green branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina wagner, 2006; nelson et al., 2007; olshansky et al., 2008.3 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 areas chosen with citizens’ agreement. moreover, if new roads had to be constructed or the damaged ones repaired, they were to be complemented with neutral grounds, large green zones that during the day would be used as the right­of­way for transit and at night they would have become public spaces for activities (fig.1). branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 1 – bring new orleans back plan _vision unfortunately, after several months of activities, since the bnobc had not funding source, it effectively came to a halt. a few months after the previous plan, the mayor c. ray nagin, the city council and the city planning commission promoted the new orleans neighborhoods rebuilding plan or lambert plan to meet the recovery needs of the individual flooded neighborhoods with the objective of bringing them back to the condition ex ante the hurricane, ensuring rebuilding of infrastructure and business and reopening of school facilities. the project was managed by lambert and sheila danzey’s firm, shedo, which dispatched seven neighborhood planning consultants to 49 flooded neighborhoods in 10 of the city’s districts. among them, the district five4 plan is representative of the revitalization process, with the participation of a strong community and the new orleans university components because of it includes the neighborhoods of city park, country club gardens, lakeshore, lake vista,4 lakeview, lakewood e parkview. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 2 – new orleans neighborhoods rebuilding plan or lambert plan _ project of a neighborhood public space the campus location nearby. it had to follow urban plan and organization of the existing neighborhoods, retaining their individual uniqueness and historic qualities, but enhancing their residential, commercial and civic areas and the infrastructure system, providing attractive opportunities and community centers. moreover it had to implement beautiful parks and squares not only to address the damage caused by the hurricane, but also to turn them into the community assets that these public spaces were or could become, so advocating social reconstruction too (fig.2). indeed several factors shoved that this district would have been repopulated at an increasingly faster rate as time progressed: the community faith and the continuous commitment of the residents; pre­hurricane indicators of home ownership, income distribution and property values that provided a clear indication of the place attractiveness; homeowners’ economic assistance programmes5 that would have been a catalyst for private reconstruction; the district geographical position linked to the city’s traditional urban grid and the major expressway access routes serving the region. louisiana’s recovery authority road home program and fema’s increased cost of construction5 financial grants program for mitigation. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 3 – unified new orleans plan _ project of a collective space between neighborhoods anyway, even if this plan gave a highly valuable contribution at the neighborhood level and helped to empower residents in the rebuilding effort, by early november 2006, it ended because lambert and the city council did not agree to subsume it under the unified new orleans plan (unop). this latter, always established by mayor c. ray nagin, the city council and the city planning commission, recognized the goals of the lambert plan, but provided a more comprehensive parishwide plan: it aimed to foreshadow a safer city with greater economic opportunities and a higher quality of life through the provision of accessible collective spaces, green areas and pedestrian zones, to transform neighborhood parks and playgrounds into public amenities, both to provide recreational facilities for the residents and to revitalize the surrounding community, and to preserve the culture and the historical architecture, with a view to a possible increase in local tourism (fig.3). twenty­two months after katrina, this plan was approved but not adopted. finally, on august 2010, the city council, after extensive public participation and the unanimous approval of the city planning commission, officially adopted the plan for the 21st century: new orleans 2030, the masterplan, based on the previous plans. it recognizes new orleans’ many identities and aims to carry the city into the future, providing vibrant neighborhoods and lively commercial districts able to facilitate socialization, ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 4 – plan for the 21st century: new orleans 2030 _ project of a public space used as a farmer's market designed by integrating public spaces, parks and historic streets with creativity traditions. it proposes areas and tree­lined streets to promote not only walking but also animated farmers markets, arts festivals and performance venues with spin­offs for other parts of the country (fig.4). much still remains to be done and many improvements are needed for about four or five years, but this planning phase has been fundamental to lay the foundation for new opportunities, making new orleans a leading world city and a sustainable community building an exciting future for all its residents, all the while continuing to preserve and nurture the physical and cultural legacy of the past. 2. projects in disaster areas for the community revival in parallel with the reconstruction plans, the implementation of individual projects in the areas most affected by hurricane highlights the role of collective spaces both as places shared by the different ethnic, cultural and religious background communities, and as temporary and extemporary spaces for art and performance activities. in this perspective, participatory design methods were explored, together with the activation of applied courses, which provided opportunities for faculty, students and architects to ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina approach the reconstruction problems and participate in the life of the city. over fifty projects for the redevelopment of public and private spaces within areas struck by hurricane katrina were completed by the tulane city center (tcc), a not­for­profit organization inside the tulane school of architecture conceived in the 2004 but officially come into being during the tumultuous months after the hurricane when the importance of social engagement became ever more pressing. under the leadership of the former director scott bernhard6, associate director dan etheridge and senior program coordinator emilie taylor, the tcc has seen tremendous growth with its involvement in community outreach under kenneth schwartz, new dean of the school of architecture. these projects, that ranged in scale from small mobile neighborhood communication devices to urban scale planning processes, aimed to transform abandoned spaces into interconnected social and ecological places where people could meet, discuss and share experiences, (re)building neighbourly relations and restoring an urban way of life lost due to the disaster. along with their primary collaborator the tulane/xavier center for bioenvironmental research, the tcc enjoyed a broad range of partnerships with numerous off­campus community­based organizations and each of them created occasions for faculty and students to engage real issues in the society. these projects did not only implement the physical infrastructure but created also the economic infrastructure and the social and cultural relationships throughout the city. this kind of engagement of the architecture to work with non­traditional and unknown clients, has allowed them to not compete with the profession and to broaden the relevance and value of actions relating to spatial organization. among the realized projects, the viet village cooperative urban farm, winner of the professional award of the american society of landscape architects in 2008, is particularly significant. it was carried out in the vietnamese neighborhood village de l'est in agreement with the mary queen of vietnam community development corporation which restores urban farms and agricultural markets destroyed by the floodwaters of hurricane katrina. the community gardens were their main economic and he was the director until 2012 while now the director is maurice cox.6 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 5 – tulane city center, viet village cooperative urban farm _ render cultural activity since the migration of the vietnamese population in the 1970’s. they produced typical food not readily available in the region and were used by the growers to feed their families and gave birth to informal agricultural markets to sell the surplus production. the project intends therefore to recover a fundamental ethnic aspect of their lifestyle formalizing activities in a single site in order to maximize the productivity and create welcoming public spaces for residents, able to encourage the involvement of children, parents and grandparents in the same activities and allowing traditional practices of their culture to be passed on. the construction of a central meeting place for the largest vietnamese community in the gulf coast and of areas for sports represents the intention for the farm to act as a social centre, so that it has become the focal point for the reconstruction of new orleans east and for local tourism (fig.5). developed in the hollygrove neighborhood with the participation of the carrollton hollygrove community development corporation and the new orleans food and farm network two more projects have been built after the hurricane had destroyed most of the crop and dispersed the population. hollygrove greenline transforms the great infrastructural corridor that divides the neighborhood, unused since the beginning of the century and by then inaccessible, into an attractive and productive public space for social activities and urban farming, redeveloping the site as a livable community. in ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 6 – tulane city center, hollygrove greenline _ render the design process, residents and neighborhood organizations were actively involved as beneficiaries of the project, helping to guarantee the final result. a survey within an information pamphlet and a community engagement map established the needs of the people regarding the use of that space, in order to arrive at a shared drawing (fig.6). hollygrove growers market and farm stimulates the local economy by providing locally grown, affordable fresh produce and green jobs certification programmes in urban agriculture. it promotes healthy lifestyles and contributes significantly to the neighborhood revitalization as a catalyst for future citywide innovations. it implements the existing infrastructures and services using ecological equipment including a rainwater collection system, solar panels and green roofs. a pavilion in front of this space is an example of environmental, economic and social conscious architecture: it uses either natural or recycled materials, minimizes construction waste and filters rainwater to irrigate the training gardens; it is run by faculty members and students of the tulane school of architecture with simple construction techniques and cost effective materials; it offers a shaded and multifunctional place, made inviting to residents via an arbor connected with the road (fig.7). mobile modular units facilitate communication amongst the neighborhood inhabitants by creating flexible areas used as work, storage and teaching spaces. the project, built in phases, reached a great success as the frequent meetings between the tulane city center, activist societies, future store operators and partners developed an understanding of the needs of the neighbourhood, meeting the emerging demands. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 7 – tulane city center, hollygrove growers market and farm _ arbor connected with the road | photo of the author another important realized example is the hope haven campus that, partnered with catholic charities archdioceses, aims to reactivate the campus itself, integrating three programmes. a care centre provides temporary shelter for homeless people by helping them to reintegrate in society. a restaurant serves as a social entrepreneurship business model by offering job skills for at risk youth, while an urban farm develops a sustainable biodiversity farming model to promote initiatives to produce and purchase local products. they act as a collaborative platform for community activities (herb farm, market, seating, learning ­ teaching) as they are in continuous interaction with visitors, workers and people involved in the structure (fig.8). figure 8 – tulane city center, hope haven campus _ photomontage ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina quite different is the project sprout, a pilot project that, partnered with the new orleans food and farm network and the new orleans redevelopment authority limitless vistas, consist in a strategy for productive stabilization that transforms many marginal properties devastated by the flooding into nodes of urban and social redevelopment. bio­energy gardens, taking advantage of the sunflowers that remediate soil, produce bio­fuel, provide green­collar job training and create public meeting spaces (fig.9). figure 9 – tulane city center, project sprout _ bio­energy gardens the abandoned contentious border zones7 is, on the contrary, a simple proposal but represent for the concordia architects8 the opportunity to transform the areas devastated by the hurricane and located at a critical intersection of historically and culturally rich communities in socially dynamic and physically accessible to everybody urban spaces (fig.10). the project reshapes the borderland with ruptures and undulations so obtaining underground spaces in which it is possible to develop border food programs that include markets, urban agriculture forms, culinary learning center and informal activities supervision. the markets provide a sociopolitical infrastructure that attracts residents and eliminates social barriers, transforming contested sites into border­node hybrids, where a diverse yet high quality culture of food becomes a shared value (fig.11). areas close to the train tracks, the highway and industrial parks.7 community centered planning + design.8 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina figure 10 – concordia architects, abandoned contentious border zone turned into a dynamic socially space in which ruffins kermit performs _ photomontage urban agriculture promotes ecologically integrated communities and healthy lifestyles, creating spaces where people can grow their products and participate in the site design. the learning culinary centre offers classes related to planting, harvesting and preparing food. spatial flexibility helps support a wide range of events, from theoretical teaching activities to practical demonstrations during the gastronomic events. a shaded area will be used in the carnival season by means of festivals and jazz funeral promenade9 encouraging interaction and social equality. in the past, the construction of the u.s. interstate 10 in 1965 had destroyed the famous second line10 known for processions and funeral parades. the afro­american community, trying to reclaim the thoroughfare for the zulu parades and other festivities, had protested weaving brightly colored strings they combine the traditional funeral procession with the parades of wind instruments bands.9 brass bands traditional parade. the main line is made up of the city circle members. the second line10 simply follows the band to listen to music. figure 11 – concordia architects, abandoned contentious border zone used as a market _ photomontage ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina conclusions seven years after hurricane katrina, more than the 80 percent of the residents is back home and new orleans, thanks to the good quality of reconstruction, within a few years has attracted investment and new residents, moving from a traditional economy, mostly based on agriculture, to be one of the reference centers for the american society. indeed some relevant conclusions can be drawn from these experiences. the reconstruction plans have shown how important the design of safe public spaces is for the urban, social and economic regeneration process. parks, open spaces, recreational activities and public services are, as well as in europe, the necessary conditions for the recovery of neighborhoods and key components for life in the community. the projects carried out by the tulane city center and by the concordia architects have then focused on the need for flexible and relational spaces that combine land use with the expressions of the community to become fulcrums of urban and social renaissance. used by residents to create occasions of public life and by artists to set up workshops and laboratories, the appointed areas has found the maximum strength in the specific figure 12 – zulu parade over the u.s. interstate 10 _ photomontage over the highway (fig.12). the underutilized border, reactivated through these progressive rebuilding strategies, could become the backbone of the city creating a public space integrated with the coexistence of different ethnic cultures. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 branciaroli ­ public spaces in new orleans post­katrina characteristics of the ethnic groups, in the recovery of traditions and in the search for ecologically integrated models, with benefits in the long term and throughout the territory. at the end of this collection of experiences after hurricane katrina, it is possible to see how the tension suffered by the city fabric has been sublimated into organizational and propulsive opportunities for all the phenomena of economic development and social aggregation to ensure the strengthening of cultural identity. in this perspective architectural landmarks, such as the superdome11, has played a central role. used as a shelter after the hurricane and restored in time to start the fall season of football, it allowed recovering social continuity, enhancing aesthetic creativity and ensuring progress. new orleans stadium.11 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references bergeron a. 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(2010), the trouble with city planning. what new orleans can teach us. new haven: yale university press. kates r.w. et al (2007), "reconstruction of new orleans after hurricane katrina: a research perspective", in cityscape 9­3. lawrence v. and campanella t. (2005), the resilient city. how modern cities recover from disaster. oxford: oxford university press. murdock j. (2007), "bingler wants citizens to power the planning and rebuilding effort", in architectural record195­6. nelson m., ehrenfeucht r. and laska s. (2007), "planning, plans, and people: professional expertise, local knowledge, and governmental action in post­hurricane katrina new orleans", in cityscape 9­3. olshansky r.b. et al (2008)," planning for the rebuilding of new orleans", in journal of the american planning association, 74­3. olshansky r.b. and chang s. (2009), "shaken, shrinking, hot, impoverished and informal: emerging research agendas in planning"; in progress in planning, 72. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 olshansky r.b. and johnson l. (2010), clear as mud: planning for the rebuilding of new orleans. chicago/washington: american planning association press. rowley k. (2008), the role of community rebuilding plans in the hurrican recovery. gulf gov reports, public affairs research council of louisiana. samuels l.c. (2009), "infrastructural optimism", in places, 21­1. steinberg p.e. and shields r. (2008), what is a city?: rethinking the urban after hurricane katrina. athens, georgia: university of georgia press. wagner j., frish m. and fields b. (2008), "building local capacity: planning for local culture and neighborhood recovery in new orleans", in cityscape 10­3. on line references community centered planning + design www.concordia.com disaster recovery resources www.disasterrecoveryresources.net duany plater ­ zyberk & company www.dpz.com en vision studio www.envision­studio.org goody clancy www.goodyclancy.com new orleans neighborhood rebuilding plan www.nolanrp.com neighborhoods partnership network www.npnnola.com new orleans plan database www.nolaplans.com new orleans under reconstruction: the crisis of planning www.project­neworleans.org/conference.html miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards and related risks. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 enrico miccadei, tommaso piacentini issn: 2239­267x laboratory of tectonic geomorphology and gis miccadei@unich.it – tpiacentini@unich.it dipartimento di ingegneria e geologia ingeo ­ università degli studi g. d'annunzio chieti ­ pescara abstract human activities, especially over the last two centuries, have had a huge impact on the environment and the landscape. mankind is able to control and induce landscape changes but is subject to natural processes and hazards due to severe and extreme events (particularly earthquakes but also landslides and flooding) and related risks. risks are the result of hazards, exposed elements and vulnerability and they are consequently not only an expression of the natural environment, but also related to human interaction with nature. risks need to be addressed regularly by means of a high level of knowledge in order to provide most up­to­date information for any decision which needs to be taken by any party involved. a high level of knowledge concerning natural hazards and related risks stems from the geological and geomorphological history and from the historical records of the natural processes and grows with multi­scale, multi­temporal and multidisciplinary studies and investigations, which include land management, economic and social issues. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 a strong effort has to be made in this way to improve risk assessment and the enforcement of existing laws and ­ if necessary ­ new laws, really stem from recent disasters. this will help to achieve improved and effective land management, based on an interdisciplinary approach in which expert geologists and land managers will play a role, because of the importance of natural processes in inducing risks. introduction human activities, especially over the last two centuries, have had a huge impact on the environment and the landscape due to industrialization and land­use changes, which lead to climate change, deforestation, desertification, land degradation, and air and water pollution1. these impacts are strongly linked to the occurrence of natural disasters and to related geological and geomorphological hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, mudflows, landslides, snow avalanches, soil erosion, but also subsidence, volcanic eruptions and other phenomena2. the whole of italy, and particularly the central apennines, are geologically recent and active and are affected by most natural hazards (seismic, volcanic, landslides, floods, soil and coastal erosion). concerning seismic risks, recent earthquakes (friuli, 1976; irpina, 1980; umbria­marche, 1997; san giuliano di puglia, 2002; l’aquila, 2009, emilia, 2012) show that the damages due to side­effects could in some cases exceed the economic and social losses directly connected to the seismic shaking. flooding induced by heavy rainfall, as well as landslides, has affected several areas of italy from south to north in the last decades and particularly over the last ten years as a direct effect of geomorphological processes (i.e. vayont, 1963; florence, 1966; valtellina, 1987; crotone, 1996; soverato, 2000; abruzzo coastal and hilly area, 2003, miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards history as the emergence of a new “global geological agent” able to induce morphogenetic processes unknown in previous eras, and named the present one as the anthropozoic era, now anthropocene. the abbot stoppani in the 19th century already defined the ‘debut’ of humankind in geological1 alcántara­ayala & goudie, 2010.2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 2007, 2011, 2012; messina, 2009; maierato, 2010; liguria, 2011; etc.). scientists come from all over the world willing to exchange views and tackle the problems of a geologically evolving landscape. our peninsula started being studied several centuries ago, when geology, and particularly geomorphology and quaternary geology, were considered pioneering sciences studied and taught by scientists who strongly believed in knowledge as the basis for human development and civilization. recent studies have focused on different issues: defining the age of rocks and their formation; understanding slope, fluvial, lacustrine and marsh systems and their evolution and interaction in time (at time scales from seconds and minutes to thousands or millions of years); understanding the interaction of marine and continental processes; basically understanding the interaction between the processes that developed under the earth surface and those taking place over it, whose balance defines the landscape and its evolution. natural severe events which occurred in the last 5 or 10 years in italy and induced disasters (fig. 1 shows some cases in the abruzzo region) will provide data for several scientific publications, but all these studies must become the subject of environmental and geological education and must be understood and acknowledged by governmental bodies and lawmakers. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards figure 1 – natural severe events that affected the abruzzo region in the last 5 years: a) soil erosion and landslides (northern abruzzo, 2007); b) earthquake (l’aquila, 2009); c) flood (northern abruzzo, 2011). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 scientists and social scientists study risks on a statistical and/or historical basis, analyzing chronicles and cases and performing direct observations of recent severe natural events. the knowledge of hazards and risks grows by analyzing every new event and its direct and indirect effects, opening up new perspectives and interpretations. the work undertaken by geologists and geomorphologists includes not only the understanding, but also the mapping and modelling of the earth’s surface processes, and many of these processes directly affect human activities and societies. in addition, they are now increasingly related to the extent of societal problem­solving, which can be expressed through vulnerability analyses, along with hazard and risk assessment3. it is now completely clear – and perhaps it was from the beginning – that most natural disasters are actually severe or extreme natural processes which become “disasters” because of human activities and unsustainable land management (i.e. urban areas, industrial areas, roads and other infrastructures built on river valleys, coastal plains, seismic areas, without correct planning). a disaster occurs when an anthropic system experiences a natural event and is not able to withstand and absorb the energy produced by the event without damages and losses. this paper aims to outline and highlight how the knowledge of natural processes and their interaction with human activities provides the most effective tools and methods to prevent natural risks and ensure a safer human environment. this can only be achieved through complete multidisciplinary, multi­scale and multi­temporal studies based on geological and geomorphological investigation and mapping, but also by integrating engineering, architectural, economic and social issues. in this perspective, boundaries between professional and academic disciplines should be effectively overcome, as they hinder the knowledge process or even prevent the search for causes, effects, impacts, vulnerability and other issues connected with natural disasters4. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards alcántara­ayala & goudie, 2010.3 alcántara­ayala, 2002; crozier & glade, 2010.4 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 fundamentals in the broad non­technical sense ‘hazards’ are defined as those processes and situations, actions or non­actions that have the potential to bring about damage, loss or other adverse effects to those attributes valued by mankind. thus, in common usage, the term ‘hazard’ has two different meanings: first, the physical process or activity that is potentially damaging and second, the threatening state or condition, indicated by likelihood of occurrence. the concept of ‘risk’ can thus be seen as having two components: the likelihood of something adverse happening and the consequences if it happens5. the risks due to natural processes depend on the relationship between the natural state of the earth system (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere) and the ability of the socio­economic system to adapt to the earth system. risk (r) is calculated by multiplying the three factors, natural hazard (h), elements at risk (e) and vulnerability (v): r = h x e x v6 (fig. 2). miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards figure 2 – conceptual relationship between hazard, elements at risk, vulnerability and risk (alexander, 2002). natural hazards are natural events that can cause loss of life or damage to property. a severe or extreme event is any event affecting a geosystem that remarkably differs from the average values measured for the phenomenon concerned (e.g. seismic shaking, rainfall, wind, river discharge, sea waves, bell, 1999; crozier & glade, 2005.5 alexander, 2002.6 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 etc.). vulnerability is defined as the inability of an element or system to maintain its structure and pattern of behaviour in the presence of a geomorphologic hazard; it is given in a scale from 0 (no loss) to 1 (total loss). this means that the level of a disaster is due to the level of damages and losses to the anthropic system that is affected by a severe/extreme natural event being not able to sustain its energy. this definition shows that geologic and geomorphologic hazards are only a problem when they interfere with anthropic systems. risk can increase due to an increase of the hazard (change in the geologic and geomorphologic systems) or due to an increase of the vulnerability and/or value of the exposed elements (change in the socio­economic environment and or land use). in this context, value not only implies economic value but can also include intrinsic, scientific, sentimental or ecological values. parameters reflecting the sensitivity of the geosystem (natural hazard) and the social system (vulnerability and element at risk) can be identified and extracted from accessible databases and from multi­scale, multi­temporal and multidisciplinary studies7. however, investigation of natural hazards and risks is a diverse and complex undertaking and may include geotechnical and engineering assessments, geomorphological and geographical analysis, political and management perspectives, as well as economic and social considerations8. it also includes susceptibility zoning which refers to the likelihood of a process occurring in an area on the basis of local terrain conditions; it is the degree to which an area can be affected by future natural events; for instance, an estimate of ‘where’ landslides are likely to occur. more generally, susceptibility consists of the assessment of what has happened in the past, and hazard evaluation consists in the prediction of what will happen in the future9. in italy these issues, and particularly geology and geomorphology for the prevention of natural risks, starting from law no. 183/89, are only partially included in existing laws: miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards alexander, 2002; fabietti, 2002; crozier & glade, 2005; glade & crozier, 2005; lupia palmieri & parotto, 2008. 7 crozier & glade, 2005.8 soeters & westen, 1996; guzzetti et alii, 2006; fell et alii, 2008; rossi et alii, 2010.9 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 a. environmental and land protection ­ landslides (law no.267/98; pai, iffi), flooding (psda), water resources and waste management and reclamation (pta; italian legislative decree no.152/2006), recently included in the eu flood directive 2007/60/ce an in the italian environment code; general land management (prg; italian legislative decree no. 42/2004); seismicity (recent mzs guidelines and ntc 2008 and updates); b. c. public works and buildings referable to italian presidential decree no. 207/2010, implementation of the public contract code (italian presidential decree no.163/06) and building technical rules (italian ministerial decree dd.14 january 2008). d. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards however, there is an important need, at technical and legislative levels for a new law on land management which should update, integrate, and harmonize the studies and investigations required for the understanding of natural hazards and risks defining the significant geological areas, starting from drainage basin as the main terrain units. since extreme natural events are connected to processes at variable space and time scales, it is not possible to analyze a single site concerning hazards and risks, but it is necessary to analyze the whole significant area including underground, surface and above­the­ground features. case studies in the following cases (fig. 3) we highlight three basic aspects of the knowledge process concerning hazards and risks (particularly seismic, but also landslides and flooding) which should contribute to prevention strategies since they are based on methodologies that take into account the main rules of natural processes and their space­time distribution: a) multiscalarity; b) multitemporality; c) multidisciplinarity. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards seismic micro­zonal mapping in the l’aquila area space scale and multiscalarity analyzing and mapping natural processes and related hazards depends on their magnitude, scale of investigation and mapping criteria. a certain area may be mapped at different scales with different results according to the detail of investigation. some processes should be investigated on a regional scale (smaller than 1:50.000), such as seismic hazard or flooding; some processes should be analyzed at an intermediate scale (1:50.000 to 1:10.000), such as landslide inventories; others, finally, require a detailed scale (larger than 1:10.000), such as landslide evolution, soil erosion, seismic site amplification. in this perspective, we maintain the basic rule that the resulting map cannot be at a scale higher than that applied in the investigation stage. the assessment of seismic hazard is composed of a systems of investigation at different levels, from regional scale to intermediate to local scale10: figure 3 – location map (a) and main physiographic domains of the abruzzo region (b). red boxes locate the case studies discussed in this work. 1) l’aquila area; 2) pineto hilly coastal area; 3) tortoreto hilly coastal area. see also gruppo di lavoro ms–aq (2010), pizzo and fabietti (2013) in this volume.10 ingv, 2004.11 ­ seismic hazard map of italy11 ­ national scale <1:250.000 (mapping the ground peak acceleration expected on a 50­yr time span on rigid bedrock) (fig. 4); ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards figure 4 – seismic hazard map of (a) italy, (b) abruzzo region and (c) l’aquila area (c) (from ingv, 2004), in terms of ground peak acceleration with 10% excess probability in 50 years, referred to rigid bedrock (vs30>800 m/s). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ispra, 2013b.12 gruppo di lavoro ms–aq (2010) and updates.13 ­ geological maps of italy12 ­ intermediate scale 1:50.000­1:100.000 (mapping geological features of surface deposits and bedrock) (fig. 5, 6). ­ seismic micro­zonal maps13 ­ local municipality or site scale>1:5.000 (mapping geological and geomorphological features particularly focusing on superficial deposits and site amplification effects due to stratigraphy or morphology) (fig. 7). figure 5 – extract from foglio 139 “l’aquila” of the geological map of italy 1:100.000 scale (sgi, 1955) in which three units are mapped. the red box mark the l’aquila east area. figure 6 – extract from foglio 359 l’aquila of the geological map of italy 1:50.000 scale (progetto carg, apat, 2006) in which four lithological units are mapped. red box mark l’aquila east area. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards figure 7 – geological and geomorphological map 1:2.000 scale for the seismic microzonation of the l’aquila area (miccadei & piacentini, 2010, gruppo di lavoro ms­aq, 2010) in which eight different lithological units are mapped. this system results as a synthesis of data obtained from in­situ tests, detailed surveys, hystorical data of the damages, etc., incorporating investigations at different scales, from national to regional to local, but also multitemporal, from the analysis of quaternary tectonics and paleoseismicity (hundreds of thousands of years) to the study of historical earthquakes (thousands of years) to the instrumental record of seismicity (decades). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards the scale ranges of the different study levels have a strong impact on the results in terms of hazard assessment particularly concerning the local and site investigations for a seismic micro­zonal mapping that has to be based on geological and geomorphological field surveys at scale <1:5.000 carried on according to specific and consistent methods14 and not simply on pre­existing maps. in the following example, the geological and geomorphological mapping resulting from the micro­zonal studies in the l’aquila area after the april 2009 earthquake, particularly in the eastern part of l’aquila, are compared with previous geological mapping carried out at different times and with seismic hazard maps, in order to outline scale and mapping methods for seismic hazard and micro­zonal investigations. the national hazard map (fig. 4; ingv, 2004) provides the expected ground peak acceleration for the whole italian territory. however, moving from national, to regional and local scale (fig. 4b,c) the map obviously provides rough data. moreover, the ground acceleration data is only referred to rigid bedrock and do not account for surface cover and soft deposits, on which most of the urban and industrial areas are built. these data come only from geological and geomorphological maps at the appropriate scale. on the extract from foglio 139 “l’aquila” of the geological map of italy 1:100,000 scale (fig. 515) three lithological units are mapped in the l’aquila eastern area; on the extract from foglio 359 “l’aquila” of the geological map of italy 1:50,000 scale, obtained several years later applying a modern approach (fig. 616), four lithological units are mapped. after the l’aquila earthquake, in the geological and geomorphological map 1:2,000 scale for the seismic micro­zoning of the l’aquila area (fig. 717), eight different lithological units are mapped. the detailed mapping (1:2,000 scale) allowed for the definition of the thickness and geometry of superficial continental de­posits and their relationship with the bedrock, thus contributing to determining the seismic behaviour of the area gruppo di lavoro ms–aq (2010) and updates.14 sgi, 1955.15 progetto carg, apat, 2006.16 gruppo di lavoro ms­aq, 2010; miccadei & piacentini, 2010.17 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards and possible site amplification effects. this case outlines the role of the scale in mapping geology and landforms for seismic and, more in general, natural hazard assessment. every type of hazard has its own suitable scale of investigation and mapping. flooding and mass movements induced by heavy rainfall in the last decade in the abruzzo region time scale and multitemporality natural processes induce progressive changes in landscape and landforms. these changes occur within different time scales and frequency depending on the type of process: from a few seconds in the event of an earthquake (that may, however, have recurrence times of hundreds or thousands of years), to a few hours or days in the event of a flood (with recurrence times from decades to hundreds of years), to hours or days or months in the event of a landslide (with recurrence times from years to decades), etc. heavy rainfall is one of the most important causes triggering landslides, particularly in mediterranean areas which are characterised by moderate to low annual precipitations and, occasionally, by a high precipitation intensity. in this case, we compare the landforms triggered by heavy rainfall (daily rainfall ~ 200 mm ) in three case studies from the abruzzo region in central italy which occurred in the last decade18: miccadei et alii, 2012; piacentini et alii, 2012; rainfall data from servizio idrografico e mareografico, regione abruzzo 18 1. on 6­7 october 2007 (hilly ­ coastal teramo area), on 1­2 march 2011 (hilly ­ coastal teramo and pescara area), on 5 and 13­14 september 2012 (hilly ­ coastal teramo and pescara area). 2. 3. these events have triggered different types of geomorphological instability: landslides, soil erosion and flooding. each event was characterised by very high rainfall intensity (up to>40 mm/h and >200 mm/d; fig. 8) that, according to the time series data correspond to a recurrence time of at least 100­200 years. in fact, in the same places of the hilly and coastal teramo and pescara area two events took place in 2 years! ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards the geomorphological effects of heavy rainfall were analysed through field surveys or an analysis of aerial photos taken 1­3 days after the event, mapping the distribution of landslides, soil erosion or flooding (fig. 9,10,1119). histograms and maps outline that the distribution of geomorphological effects, in the same area or in similar geological contexts, is related to rainfall intensity but also to land use and the seasonal state of the agricultural land. the first and third events occurred in september or october on widely ploughed, clayey hills that were affected by heavy soil erosion (gully, rill, sheet) and mud flows, as well as by flooding. the second event occurred in march on land covered with crops on the same clayey topographic data provided from cartographic office of regione abruzzo (http://www.regione.abruzzo.it/xcartografia/). 19 figure 8 – the hourly and cumulative rainfall occurring during the heavy rainfall events: a) on 7 october 2007 at the nereto (te) station; b) on 2 march 2011 at the nereto (te) station; c) on 2 march 2011 at the pineto (te) station; d) on 6 and 13­14 october 2012 at the giulianova (te) station. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards these simple considerations20 outline how the temporal scale of a process such as heavy rainfall and related geomorphological effects has to be taken into great account, from a hourly temporal scale (rainfall distribution) to a seasonal one (land use and agricultural yard management cycle), all the way to a decadal­century one (recurrence time of heavy rainfall events). hills. as a result the hills were affected by heavy flooding and slight soil erosion or landslides. figure 9 – percentage and surface distribution of the geomorphological instabilities triggered by the 2007 heavy rainfall event in the tortoreto hilly and coastal area between the lower t. vibrata valley and lower f. salinello valley. figure 10 – percentage and surface distribution of landforms triggered by the 2011 heavy rainfall event: a) the pineto coastal and hilly area; b) the lower f. salinello valley and the hilly and coastal slopes of the tortoreto area. for more details, see miccadei et alii, 2012 and piacentini et alii, 2012.20 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards only knowledge and understanding of these temporal scales (meteorological­ climatic analysis) and their interrelation with the geological and geomorphological features (multi­temporal survey and mapping) of the affected landscape allow the analysis of the geomorphological effects and the hazards due to heavy rainfalls. landslide and flooding hazard assessment in the northern abruzzo region multidisciplinary approach the third case outlines the basic role of multidisciplinary studies in the knowledge process for the prevention of natural hazards. the landscape, its evolution at different spatial and time scales, and the hazards connected to the natural processes acting on it, are related to different underground, figure 11 – geomorphological effects of heavy rainfalls iin the abruzzo region (from miccadei et alii 2012): a) 7­8 october 2007 tortoreto area; b) 1­2 march 2011 salinello river; c) 1­2 march 2011 silvi­pineto area; d) 13­14 september 2012 silvi­pineto area. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ground and above­ground features. only multidisciplinary studies allow for a full understanding of the landscape’s underground features (geology and tectonics, superficial deposits type and thickness, bedrock lithology), ground features (geomorphology, land use and land use change, particularly urban areas), and above­ground ones (climate, meteorology), as well as for the understanding of natural processes (heavy rainfall, landslides, earthquakes, etc.) and related effects and hazards (soil erosion, mass movement, surface fault and shaking, etc.). the overlay of hazards and land use, vulnerability and exposure led to the definition of risk distribution. in this case, the methodological scheme of a study carried out in the northern abruzzo region (coastal hills and plain) after heavy damage following heavy rainfalls (7 october 2007) is presented. the study shows the overlay of different methods of investigations (fig. 12) based on a robust bibliographic and cartographic study and including orography, hydrography, hydrology, geology, photogeology, geomorphology, land use change, geognostic investigations, which allow the identification of critical drainage sites along main and secondary streams and an estimate of sediment volume transport from the main and secondary basins to the coastal plain. conclusions: open problems mankind is able to control and induce landscape changes but is subject to natural processes, hazards due to extreme events and related risks. risks are the result of hazards, exposed elements and vulnerability, and they are consequently not only an expression of the natural environment, but also related to human interaction with nature. therefore risks need to be addressed regularly by means of a high level of knowledge in order to provide the most up­to­date information for any decision which needs to be taken by any party involved. a high level of knowledge concerning natural hazards and related risks stems from the geological and geomorphological history and from the historical records of the natural processes, and grows with complete multi­ scale, multi temporal and multidisciplinary studies and investigations, which include land management, economic and social issues – with approaches appropriate to the scale (fig. 13). causes, correlations and interactions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards figure 12 – possible scheme of methods of investigations for a multidisciplinary approach to the study of landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rainfalls. the scheme includes multitemporal investigations and multi scale investigations, from 1:25,000 for general preliminary analysis, to 1:5,000 for main investigations, to 1:1,000 or more for detail analysis of critical sites. between the factors determining risks can be identified and analysed. however, knowledge does not mean the ability to forecast natural severe events. in most cases this is not possible or it is possible only by applying a statistical approach, while it is possible to prevent or mitigate the effects of natural events by defining their damaging power and possible recurrence time, understanding their magnitude and frequency: we know they will happen and where they will happen, although not exactly when. and knowledge also means evaluating the exposed elements and their ability to withstand a certain expected event without damages or losses: without any disasters occurring. this approach helps to indicate future trends resulting ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards figure 13 – relationship between spatial/temporal and complexity of models, defining different type of approaches for analysis of landslides and related hazard and risk, suitable also for natural risks in general (from glade and crozier, 2005b). this approach helps to indicate future trends resulting from human landscape changes21. the results support risk management and serve as a tool to optimise future strategies for damage reduction. in conclusion, the most effective studies on risks are focused on “prevention”, rather than on “forecasting”, setting up actions capable of reducing losses. these types of studies are crucial to defining future scenarios ­ which sustainable land planning and management should be based on ­ by taking into account the specific future uses of different areas and contributing to the identification of proper sites for quarries, dumps and purification plants, or proper areas for industry, urban expansion, thereby generally supporting the process of creating an urban plan. the dynamics and processes controlling the geological and landscape evolution of planet earth are well known and scientists make continuous efforts for their study. natural disasters have always provided new data, more effective intervention models, and land management plans more respectful of the environment. consequently, improving our ability to face natural severe and extreme events without being subject to disasters is both advisable and necessary. therefore, the crux is that prevention stems from the community’s awareness that natural hazards exist, can be quantified and mapped. in this view, scientists, professionals and technicians working on landscape management have the duty of knowledge transfer, since this is grozier & glade, 2005.21 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards needed, particularly by the civil society. understanding natural processes is part of a people’s environmental sensitivity and culture, which are not innate but requires a slow and progressive process, starting from children’s education. the civilization level of a people can, indeed, also be assessed by its awareness of hazards and risks and its ability to set up actions and policies aimed at the protection of property and goods from natural disasters. only in this way, according to the 2007­2009 “international year of planet earth” decalogue (whose first article is “reduce natural and anthropic risks for the society”) can a true knowledge and enforcement of existing laws and ­ if necessary ­ new laws really stem from recent disasters. this will help to achieve a proper and effective land management, based on an interdisciplinary approach in which expert geologists and land managers will play a role, in the light of the importance of natural processes in inducing risks. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references alcántara ayala i. (2002), "geomorphology, natural hazards, vulnerability and prevention of natural disasters in devloping countries", in geomorphology 47, pp. 107­24. alcántara ayala i. and goudie a.s. (2010), geomorphological hazards and disaster prevention. cambridge university press. alexander d.e. (2002), principles of emergency planning and management. new york, oxford university press. apat (2006), foglio geologico 359 l’aquila. progetto carg,carta geologica d’italia, scala 1:50.000 bell f.g. (1999), geological hazards ­ their assessment, avoidance and mitigation. london, new york, e & fn spon. boncio p. et al. (2010), "macroarea 3 (l’aquila est, paganica, bazzano, s. gregorio)", in gruppo di lavoro ms–aq (2010), microzonazione sismica per la ricostruzione dell’area aquilana. volume 2 parte iii. regione abruzzo – dipartimento della protezione civile, pp. 87­146. l’aquila, 3 vol. e cd­rom. crozier m. and glade t. (2005), "landslide hazard and risk: issues, concepts, and approach", in glade t., anderson m. & m. crozier (eds), landslide hazard and risk. wiley, chichester, pp. 1­40. crozier m. and glade t. (2010), "hazard assessment for risk analysis and risk management", in alcántara ayala i. and goudie a.s. (2010), geomorphological hazards and disaster prevention. cambridge university press, pp. 221­232. fabietti v. (ed.) (2002), linee guida per la prevenzione del rischio sismico, inu edizioni. fell r., corominas j., bonnard c., cascini l., leroi e. and savage w.z. (2008), "guidelines for landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning for land­use planning", in enginnering geology 102, pp. 99­111. glade t. and crozier m. (2005), "a review of scale dependency in landslide hazard and risk analysis", in glade t., anderson m. & crozier m. (eds), landslide hazard and risk. wiley, chichester, pp. 75­138. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 22vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 glade t. and crozier m. (2005b), "landslide hazard and risk ­ concluding comment and perspectives", in glade t., anderson m. & crozier m. (eds), landslide hazard and risk. wiley, chichester, pp. 767­774. gruppo di lavoro ms–aq (2010), microzonazione sismica per la ricostruzione dell’area aquilana. volume 2 parte iii. regione abruzzo – dipartimento della protezione civile. l’aquila, 3 vol. e cd­rom. guzzetti f., reichenbach p., ardizzone f., cardinali m. and galli m. (2006), "estimating the quality of landslide susceptibility models", in geomorphology 81, pp. 166–184. ingv (istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia) (2004), mappa di pericolosità sismica del territorio nazionale. ordinanza pcm del 28 aprile 2006 n.3519, all.1b. ispra (istituto superiore per la protezione e la ricerca ambientale) (2013a), ithaca ­ catalogo delle faglie capaci. available at: http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/progetti/ithaca­catalogo­delle­faglie­ capaci. ispra (istituto superiore per la protezione e la ricerca ambientale) (2013b), carte geologiche e geotematiche. available at: http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/cartografia/carte­geologiche­e­ geotematiche. lavecchia g., boncio p., brozzetti f., de nardis r., pace b. and visini f. (2006), studio della pericolosità sismica della regione abruzzo. regione abruzzo e università g. d’annunzio di chieti rapporto interno, geosislab – dipartimento di scienze della terra, università di chieti 2006. lupia palmieri e. and parotto m. (2008), il globo terrestre e la sua evoluzione. zanichelli. miccadei e. and piacentini t. (2010), "carta geologica e geomorfologica dell’area di l’aquila est", in scala 1:2.000 macroarea 3, in gruppo di lavoro ms–aq (2010) microzonazione sismica per la ricostruzione dell’area aquilana. volume 2 parte iii. regione abruzzo – dipartimento della protezione civile, cd­rom. miccadei e., piacentini t., daverio f. and di michele r. (2012), "geomorphological instability triggered by heavy rainfall: examples in the abruzzi region (central italy)", in miccadei e. and piacentini t. (eds), environmental and applied geomorphology, intech, rijeka, croatia, pp. 45­62. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 23vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 piacentini t., daverio f., di michele r., esposito g., mancinelli v., marsala v. and miccadei e. (2012), slope instabilities triggered by heavy rainfall: geomorphological studies of coastal slopes in the abruzzi region (central italy). 7th european congress on regional geoscientific cartography and information systems, bologna 12­15 june 2012. pizzo b. and fabietti v. (2013), "environmental risk prevention, post­seismic interventions and the reconstruction of the public space as a planning challenge: an introduction", in italian journal of planning (this issue). rossi m., guzzetti f., reichenbach p., mondini a. and peruccacci s. (2010), "optimal landslide susceptibility zonation based on multiple forecasts", in geomorphology 114, pp. 129–142. sgi (servizio geologico d’italia) (1955), foglio geologico 139 l’aquila. carta geologica d’italia, scala 1:100.000 soeters r. and van westen c.j. (1996), "slope instability recognition, analysis, and zonation", in turner a.k. and schuster r.l. (eds.), landslides: investigation and mitigation. washington d.c., national academey press, 247:129­77. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards industrial production and temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 matteo scamporrino issn: 2239­267x phd candidate in urban and regional plannig matteo.scamporrino@unifi.it dipartimento di urbanistica e pianificazione del territorio ­ università di firenze abstract the earthquake that on the 20th of may hit emilia has not been one of the most disastrous in modern italian history, but it has highlighted the problem of preservation of industrial activities during a reconstruction process. in addition, precisely this system, characterized by great vitality and productivity but also by large seismic vulnerability, was the most affected. through an analysis of the damages suffered by the industrial facilities, not so much as single buildings but precisely as a system, we want to highlight the challenges imposed by the earthquake: on the one hand, the urgent need to provide for delocalizations and temporary structures to avoid a stop in production in the short­term, and on the other, the re­ design and anti­seismic re­planning of productive areas. a proposal was put forward to create temporary zones adjacent to the ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 introduction this paper takes into consideration the area called "piana emiliana”, hit by a series of strong earthquakes from the 20th of may 2012, and focuses on the relationship between the resurgence of productive activities and the use of temporary solutions. this text presents part of a study carried out by the working group "seismic vulnerability and urban planning" of inu (national institute of urban planning), which includes a document with the comments to the l. decree 74/20124, in the four months following the first destructive earthquake. the first part is an analysis derived from interviews, documents and reports about the main issues which characterised this specific case we had to deal with. the second part takes into account some specific proposals about the relationship between production and temporary solutions. the challenges addressed are twofold: on the one hand, the need to re­start producing in those sectors that were seriously damaged by the earthquakes and, on the other hand, the need to prevent the relocation of economic activities outside the damaged zone in the transition to reconstruction. in this case, as in previous reconstruction processes in italy, actors might not be able to understand how important it is to regulate and plan temporary spaces especially in the medium to long term perspective. in addition, the experts of urban planning and local administrations might see temporariness as an external practice or solution. they might connect this concept to scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake damaged areas, on which temporary structures should be installed. the latter would allow to limit relocations of medium­long range, which are negative for the territory, and at the same time it would allow the flexibility necessary to re­organize the supply chains. however, in italy, the management of temporary solutions is seen as a practice too much linked to the emergency and too little to the reconstruction process. the first measures put into place by both the state and the regions, however, do not seem to show a true understanding of the importance of management and regulations of temporary solutions in the medium­ long term. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 emergency shelters and civil defence, rather than to a socio­economic development of the territory. in italy, there is neither a national law, nor a real debate on the subject of temporary solutions. however, both in italy and abroad, similar experiences have been made and perhaps they can prevent us from considering these temporary zones as simple "parking areas" where people just wait for things to go back to a post­reconstruction “normality”. yet, temporariness needs to be considered not only as a short­term measure determined by the contingency of the disaster, but as a potential opportunity to help the transition from emergency to "normality". we must not forget that the decisions we take in the early stages of a reconstruction process have consequences in the medium and long term and mark the future of the territory. the “race” to reconstruction cannot sacrifice the regenerative capacity of the zone struck by the earthquake. to start a proper reconstruction, administrators and politicians need to re­imagine the territory in a shared and balanced way, and to include local communities and local actors, in this case, entrepreneurs, trade associations and unions. and in order to do so, the various local actors need both the help of local experts and resources, and time and opportunities to re­plan their territory. during this process of transition, the socio­economic system must be preserved. this is why management and project­making of temporariness are fundamental. consequently, this proposal should be seen as mostly focused on a regenerative approach in the medium and long­term perspective, rather than as an emergency response to a shock. features of the affected area and type of damage the area affected by the earthquake has the shape of a peculiar quadrilateral, enclosed by highways on three sides, the a1 on the southern border, the a13 on the eastern and the a22 on the western, and by the river po on the northern border. at its vertexes, we find the cities of mantova, ferrara, bologna, modena and reggio emilia. within the quadrilateral, the most affected area, there are three major systems: industrial, rural and urban. scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 the industrial productive system in the area is vital. it is among the most important ones in italy and not only in the agro­industrial sector, but also in the medical, mechanical, manufacturing and ceramic sector. the rural system is historically organised in “cascine a corte”, small settlements connected as a network and spreading throughout the pianura padana. in recent years, this system has gone through many changes, since not only has it started a process of mechanisation and extensive cultivation, but it has involved more and more farming, thus changing from a pure agricultural system to agribusiness. the urban settlement system is characterised by both small to medium sized scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake figure 1 – diagram of the quadrilateral hit by earthquake with its main features. highlights the relationship between heritage and production. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 villages, often located very close to productive areas, and scattered houses. together with the old cascinas, the latter create an urban sprawl1, a “widespread city” intertwined with the other two systems in a way that is often chaotic. it is therefore impossible to deal with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the productive system without taking into account the other two systems and the “sprawl phenomenon”. the earthquake, or rather the seismic swarm, hit an area characterized by a strong urban / rural / industrial mix, in which functions, flows and different structures are so interwoven that they almost merge into each other. the damages, however, did not affect the three systems homogeneously, as the industrial system was the most affected. with regard to the rural system, the structures used for production, agro­food processing and animal shelters were damaged the most, whereas rural houses, with the exception of those already in a state of neglect and decay, were only partially hit. within the urban settlement system, functional structures such as schools, public administration offices and historical buildings like churches, theaters and museums were hit the most. private houses, and thus the housing system, suffered definitely less in comparison. if we consider the official data released by the region emilia­romagna2 related to the inspections carried out in august 2012, we notice that the productive sector had the highest number of unsafe structures. 23% of houses were declared unsafe compared to 52% of productive structures. if we consider the partial unavailability, we have a percentage of 25% compared to 23% of private houses. this is a truly unique aspect in the history of italian reconstructions. indeed, never were the damages in industrial system higher than in the housing system. during the previous earthquake, in abruzzo, no disaggregated data based on the function of the structures were collected, a direct comparison is therefore not possible. nevertheless, we can observe that in abruzzo both sheds and productive structures resisted much more than dwellings. this is confirmed by many case studies about the use of productive facilities for other scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake territoriale­regionale ptr emilia romagna http://territorio.regione.emilia­romagna.it/programmazione­territoriale/piano­1 agibilita http://www.regione.emilia­romagna.it/notizie/2012/agosto/terremoto­oltre­39000­sopralluoghi­di­2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 functions: the university was temporarily relocated in a productive structure only a few months after the earthquake; shopping centers with structures similar to those of industrial buildings were immediately declared safe and became new meeting places; many ex­productive structures were immediately allocated for both logistics and storage of activities related to relief and reconstruction. it was immediately clear that the housing system was the most affected, since more than 70,000 people were initially displaced and almost other 25,000 in the three years following the earthquake. temporally, abruzzo and emilia are very similar, but they seem to be at the polar opposites with regard to both the sectors and the types of structures affected. actually, they are two sides of the same coin: the lack of a central idea adressing reconstruction in italy. abruzzo and emilia face the same problem: the need of a reconciliation of the local socio­economic development with the rebuilding process. on its side, emilia has positive socio­economic trends and a solid and innovative political and planning milieu. for this reason, the reconstruction process must not only take into account the needs and issues related to the earthquake, but also the way which emilia­romagna3 chose to take in relation to the reorganization of the ecologically equipped productive areas (apea) together with the european community with the fund “por fesr 2007­ 2013”. the provinces of reggio­emilia4, modena5 and bologna6 incorporated standards and guidelines for the design of apea in their provincial plans. the province of ferrara7 did that just before the earthquake. the reconstruction can then become an opportunity not only to reorganize, but also to renovate productive districts. avoiding to consider this or providing a simple reproduction of the plans created before the earthquake would surely have a negative impact in the medium to long­term environmental and socio­economic development. but, if wrong strategic choices and policies weakened production, through scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake attrezzate (apea) at the internet site: http://atlante.ervet.it/apa/main_login_page.php atlante aree produttive attrezzate, programma regionale aree ecologicamente3 http://www.provincia.re.it/page.asp?idcategoria=701&idsezione=204674 http://www.economia.provincia.modena.it/page.asp?idcategoria=228&idsezione=45015 http://www.provincia.bologna.it/imprese/engine/raservepg.php/p/2519113605046 http://www.provincia.fe.it/sito?doc=6dcc208196f70fccc1257824004ed99b7 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 an inefficient reconstruction, the socio­economic issues related to reconstruction which afflict abruzzo might occur anyway, even if at the moment they seem so distant. the recovery of industrial activities between temporariness and delocalizations. administrators and politicians, in parallel with the reconstruction of the historical and functional public heritage, identified an immediate goal: the preservation of substantially damaged industrial facilities. consequently, immediately after the earthquake, trade associations and entrepreneurs themselves requested both a certain flexibility in the reconstruction process, in order to attract and encourage investments to preserve their productive systems, and the possibility to install temporary structures to enable a continuity of production. short­term issues are linked to the presence of a continuous seismic activity which hinders the continuity of production. the goal is an immediate recovery in productivity. straight after the first shock of the 20th of may –magnitude 5.8 – people realized that the productive system had suffered the most and, indeed, five of the seven victims were workers from industrial warehouses. local companies decided to re­start producing immediately, in order to avoid losing job orders and to fulfil their commitments. a break within production would have been tantamount to an exit from the dynamic and competitive global market, where many of these enterprises were on top, and thus to benefiting national and international competitors. nine days after the first big shock, there was another one of 5.8 magnitude. since production had re­started in many facilities, but without the necessary safety measures and without any risk assessment, many buildings which had resisted the first shake were severely damaged. twelve of the twenty victims of the second shock were working in buildings that had withstood the first one. at this point, it was clear that a recovery of production within the original structures would be very difficult. not only collapsed or severely­ damaged productive facilities were obviously unsafe, but also those buildings, slightly damaged, that had been built before 2003 *(year in which scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 the anti­seismic law was conformed) thus making nearly 75% of the structures unsafe. from 'ingv8, enea (paolini, 2012) and the historical studies of guodoboni (2012), it is possible to notice that, historically, the earthquakes affecting the area have always been followed by long and strong* earthquake swarms. the ongoing aftershocks of medium intensity which followed the earthquake of the 20th of may confirm this trend. companies had mainly two choices: relocate out of the area affected by the earthquake or provide light and safer temporary structures while waiting for an assessment of viability and the potential reconstruction of the original buildings. obviously, public administrators, associations and local politicians had every interest in avoiding a relocation of local companies, because they guarantee workplaces to the population still living in the territory (the housing system suffered few damages) and they represent the driving force for a socio­economic recovery. all efforts had to focus on preserving production within the affected area. the issue was mainly how to do things rather than what to do. the dl 74/2012 of the 6th of june, after less than a month from the first shake, article 3 and paragraph 1, provides financial help for both damages and potential relocations. according to the same article, paragraph 11, the mayors, after a consultation with both the civil defence and the regions, can choose the areas to be occupied for relocation. faster procedures for the release of certifications and simplified bureaucratic procedures were put into place and the time required for the release of the environmental impact assessment was reduced by half. any acquisition of soil was to be made through emergency occupation ­ presidential decree no. 327 2001 tu in the field of expropriation for public use – even though the decree does not clarify whether this was intended before the expropriation. according to paragraph 12, municipalities could provide a possible further increase of 20% of the usable surface during the reconstruction of the structure. the goal of this legislative decree was to discourage the relocation of companies by giving flexible criteria for the localization of temporary structures. the decree also gives companies the chance, in perspective, to scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake in­pianura­padana­emiliana.html istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia. http://terremoti.ingv.it/it/ultimi­eventi/842­terremoti­8 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 expand their surface. the future use of temporary structures is not specified. although they are built with the funds destined to reconstruction, in most cases these structures are still private property, therefore some owners could expect land rights. this is precisely what is happening in abruzzo, where owners of damaged houses were given the opportunity to build temporary shelters within their own property, while waiting for the reconstruction of their houses. these temporary structures had a concession of 36 months, at the end of which the municipality decided to grant the owners an extension of one year. this nurtured their hope to see their land rights recongnized, although in a speculative perspective. context and scenario are certainly different in the two cases. in emilia, already affected by the problem of urban sprawl, this issue could alter the complex territorial structure and make things worse. the decree chose a certain flexibility to encourage companies to stay. however, this decree was not accompanied by a comprehensive legislation, nor by guidelines for the planning and programming of temporary areas. it actually left companies and municipalities a lot of discretion, possibly too much. therefore, many companies decided to relocate their production in tensile structures within their properties or in areas nearby their previous lots. others moved into available structures within the affected area, others chose to relocate the production out of the crater, while leaving the administrative headquarter inside it. the law recognizes the need to provide temporary solutions for production. however, the legislative decree 74/2012 sees this need as more connected to an emergency rather than to a stage of reconstruction, even if this is just another very delicate passage of a post­disaster process. a possible way: the temporary zone in emilia, emergency measures are already in place. camps and temporary structures for production have already been set up. the aim of this analysis is to propose a stage of reconstruction based on temporariness. the goal is to keep the productive system within the emergency zone and to make it compatible with the potential exposure to scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 more seismic activity. temporary zones must be immediately available and should not require too much initial planning, since it could take too long. if we consider the characteristics of the settlements in piana emiliana, we could think of using a buffer, either around the industrial production area or around company buildings. this would allow the installation of temporary industrial facilities. a buffer creates a "sector" that includes both the previous and the new, temporary, productive areas. temporary buffers can be considered as a way to reduce the costs of urbanization and to favour the re­inclusion of damaged companies in their original industrial areas. the creation of sectors, thanks to the buffer, allows the prevention of temporary sprawls that might worsen the problem of urban sprawl already existing in the territory. companies could also share structures more easily, since they would be able to relocate freely, even if temporarily, within the sectors. undamaged and damaged companies could therefore work at the same time within the sector, in a more compatible way, thus avoiding the imbalances that new off­site locations or tax­free zones would create. very often, local companies do not own the buildings they were using before the earthquake. in this case, the company is in disadvantage and may consider relocation. in such cases, temporary sectors want to be a deterrent to "migration", since they provide the opportunity to continue producing in the area of origin, using facilities at zero cost, and potentially benefiting from subsidies and tax relief. the main advantages of this proposal are: scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake • it is compatible with year­long seismic swarm, since the structures are temporary and earthquake resistant. it allows an immediate return to production through temporary regulation. it avoids unplanned and informal solutions that could be detrimental to the urban setting of emilia. it keeps the manufacturing districts as flexible entities, thanks to the possibility of expansion or contraction and to the internal and external flexibility of the sector, which are based on needs such as sharing facilities with similar or compatible companies. • • it provides the reconstructive planning with a real, clear and dynamic frame about production, thanks to the monitoring of the sectors. it also allows a re­planning of the production within the area, • ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 in order to create temporary zones, it is important to identify an appropriate way to manage land use. expropriation is definitely to be avoided since it is definitive and very expensive. moreover, while reconstructive processes are scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake • being "stem"9, temporary zones allow productive rearrangements and territorial reorganizations in a more flexible and dynamic way. in the long term, the use of land is reduced, assuming that the areas used for temporary production will be used again as before the earthquake. the temporary zones are to be considered as an extraordinary element for the strategic planning of large areas in need of reconstruction. • • not according to the scenario prior to the earthquake, radically changed, and not according to projections and estimates, as was done before. indeed, the latter, in the case of post­earthquake scenarios, have often proved distorted and have led to missed opportunities in the field of socio­economic development (irpinia is the best example of this). as they wish within the local production system, without predetermined variables and specific production functions. the use of the word "stem" should be understood in the sense of creating areas ready to re­develop9 figure 2 – example of application of temporary zones in cavezzo, a settlement hard hit by the earthquake. highlights buffers around industrial damaged areas. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 extremely dynamic, expropriation is inherently static. in case of emergency, lands are often bought on the ground of "a temporary occupation for the utmost urgency". however, in case of a temporary reconstruction, this utmost urgency is not applicable. the relationship between reconstruction and productive network should not be spoiled by contingency and emergency, but by a shared goal: a return to normality and a collaboration to create a plan for reconstruction. this is why there is an attempt to evaluate, experimentally, an instrument called servitù10. the definition according to the civil code of servitù prediale (art. 1027 cc) is:“servitù prediale consists of a tax imposed to a fund in order to use another fund which belongs to a different owner”. this legal instrument is the only ordinary one regulating the temporary use of a lot for public benefit not included in the tu on expropriation, presidential decree 327/2001. it may seem a stretch, but the goal is to make a distinction between temporary and emergency measures, especially expropriation. a system based on temporariness created using the servitù would connect the occupation of a lot to a regenerative process, reducing the risk of an excessive prolongation of the occupation. the servitù is temporary by definition and cannot be converted into a definitive acquisition, since it is connected to public benefit and more specifically to the reason why it was created: rebuild. the cost is well below the cost of an expropriation and of an emergency occupation. and, since public money is spent on reconstruction, saving is a priority. this method can be provided for public benefit within the temporary zone and can be required by both the public and the private sector. the servitù is now used for specific works, such as power lines or aqueducts, and, more commonly, for passages to and from a dominant holding. in our case, it is necessary to consider the damaged industrial area as a site of public interest and the dominant holding, even if privately owned, together with the buffer of temporary zone, as an area functional to repairing. scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake make limited use of the property owned by another person, usually referring to a right of access. in english, this legal term is translatable by “easement” which refers to the right of a landowner to10 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 another missed opportunity to draw up a strategy for a socio­ economic recovery in the transition to reconstruction through temporary solutions. the document presented by inu in july 2012, which includes this study, presented two proposals as first point: the relocation of productive activities nearby previous industrial sites (temporary zones) and the use of the servitù. with the law 122/2012, the government actually followed the ld 74/2012 and chose to avoid a definition of tools and criteria for relocations and temporary de­localisations. it also left discretion to individuals and local administrations, therefore leaving the current planning as point of reference. according to this law, the regions, body of territorial government, are responsible for potential plans for reconstruction. therefore, the law 122/2012 has not allowed any step forward in the management of temporary solutions so far, it simply lets regional laws prevail. this is logical if we consider that local territories are administered by the regions in the medium term. however, it is not, if we think that no indications or guidelines are provided and that it would be appropriate to outline some, by using previous experiences combined with the excellent skills of specialized structures and higher institutions. the regions know both context and places, but it is the government that must understand the post­earthquake scenario properly and must suggest an idea­guide. in italy, unfortunately, there is no national idea­guide providing practices and strategies, and it is contingency, if not improvisation, that rules (nimis, 2009). the region emilia romagna, with lr. 16/2012, should have given precise details about the rules to follow to draw up a plan for reconstruction and to plan the interventions and the management of funds, and even details of temporary solutions, from regulations to management, including the decisions about time and way to remove them. article 4, paragraph 14, rightly extends the maximum of 90­day period of those works whose goal is to meet objective emergency and temporary needs. the limit is postponed until these needs are met, and “anyway no later than the date in which the properties destined to production, repaired, scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 restored or reconstructed, are available again". according to the same article (art. 4), temporary productive structures will have to be removed permanently, but the owner is given the opportunity to acquire a final permit for his/her temporary structures, only if established by the reconstruction plans. article 4 does not solve the problem, since many owners still potentially expect to obtain a permit for their temporary structures. in order to define the use of soil, this law once again proposes both expropriation (art. 14) and temporary employment for the utmost urgency. these solutions are temporary and definitely not flexible. they are more related to the need to create new spaces to cope with an emergency, rather than to an assessment of the effects of these occupations in the medium to long term. once again, the region has given priority to temporary solutions implemented in private lots, that cannot be controlled directly, and to rigid temporary solutions such as expropriation, leaving the post­reconstruction fate of expropriated areas unclear. this does not seem to be a very good choice, and neither is the decision to allow relocations if there is a perspective plan in force, but which is not working at the moment of the earthquake. in fact, a dynamic scenario, radically changed during the transition, may not automatically make pre­earthquake predictions appropriate. the risk is that the reconstruction of productive structures will be completed, while in the meantime companies are relocating elsewhere, thus producing negative effects especially in the medium to long term perspective. in case of food or ceramic companies this risk is low, since the quality and the unique characteristics of the product make it inconvenient to relocate, but it could be very high in case of mechanical or medical companies. both the crisis and globalization, even before the earthquake, made it particularly convenient to relocate abroad and, once tax incentives and subsidies related to reconstruction are reduced, a temporary or definitive “migration" of companies could be a reality. today, six months after the earthquake, it is impossible to assess whether any of these trends is real, we need to see what happens in the next few months. however, it is possible to conclude that, even in a region which is the best example of good governance, with positive socio­economic trends, which did not suffer excessive damages, we failed to put into place a reconstruction process based on strategies, practices and innovative or scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 regenerative actions that might take into account the period of transition before a future settlement. in the end it is incomprehensible as it sought immediately to bind the reconstruction of the industrial areas to the principles of apea. certainly the ordinary planning contains them, but reaffirm the criteria of rationalization and sustainability of these areas in the laws of reconstruction, would be very useful also in consideration of the phenomenon of sprawl and the need to "rationalize" the emilan territory. reconstruction, once again, was seen as a "black hole" from which we had to get out quickly and informally, not as a useful process, functional to an improvement of the area. the temporariness and the transition are still conceived as contingencies to standardize and regulate as little as possible in expectation of a return to the “ordinary” government of the territory and planning. scamporrino ­ industrial production adn temporary development after the emilian earthquake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references earthquakes and emergency anzalone m. (2008), l’urbanistica dell’emergenza: alinea. campo g. (2000), città e territorio a rischio: gangemi. castelli v., bernardini f., camass r., caracciolo c., ercolani e. et al. (2012), “looking for missing earthquake traces in the ferrara­modena plain: an update on historical seismicity”, in annals of geophysic, vol. 55. cremonini i. (1994), rischio sismico e pianificazione nei centri storici: inu­ alinea edizioni. crespellani t. (2009), “la resistibile ascesa della protezione civile”, in democrazia e diritto, vol. 1. de paoli r. (2010), rischio sismico e centri urbani. verso nuove di pianificazione del territorio e di recupero dei centri urbani: franco angeli. druidi m. (2012), “sisma emilia­romagna: interviste e dichiarazioni del presidente maurizio marchesini ­ agosto 2012” confindustria emilia­romagna. available at: http://www.confind.emr.it/ fabietti v. (2001), linee guida per la riduzione urbanistica del rischio sismico. il recupero dei centri storici di rosarno e melicucco: inu edizioni. fera g. (1991), la città antisismica: gangemi. fera g. (1998), “prevenzione del rischio sismico e protezione civile", in urbanistica 110 ­ dossier. fernandez m.a. (1996), ciudades en riesgo: la red. frisch g. j. (2009), l’aquila. non si uccide così anche una città?: clean edizioni. iuffrida g. (1992), territorio e città nell’italia fascista: laterza. johnson c. (2007), “strategic planning for post­disaster temporary housing”, in disasters, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 435­458. marcenaro r. (2011), mobile city: franco angeli. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 monaco a., monaco r. (2005), urbanistica e rischio sismico: esselibri. niccolin p. (1983), dopo il terremoto: quaderni di lotus, electa. segnalini o., (2001), “rischio e pianificazione urbanistica”, in urbanistica 117 dossier. puliafito a. (2009), protezione civile s.p.a.:aliberti. reconstructions barberi f. (ed.) (2007), dall’emergenza alla ricostruzione, raccolta 1997­2007. dieci anni dal sisma. oltre la calamità: sviluppo e innovazione: quattro emme. cannarozzo t. (1996), “la ricostruzione del belice: il difficile dialogo tra luogo e progetto”, in archivio di studi urbani e regionali 55/1996. comitatus aquilanus (2009), l’aquila. non si uccide così una città: clean. guidoboni e., valensise g. (2011), il peso economico e sociale dei disastri sismici in italia negli ultimi 150 anni: istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia. nimis p. (2009 ), terre mobili: donzelli. nigro g., sartorio f. (eds.) (2002), ricostruire la complessità. i pir e la ricostruzione in umbria:alinea. paolini s., martini g. et al. (2012), “the may 2012 seismic sequence in pianura padana emiliana: hazard, historical seismicity and preliminary analysis of accelerometric records”, enea site (www.enea.it) energia ambiente e innovazione n. 4­5 luglio­ottobre 2012 parte ii. ventura s. (2010), “i ragazzi dell’ufficio di piano. la ricostruzione urbanistica in irpinia. i frutti di demetra”, in bollettino di storia ambientale, 22. reconstructions (international cases) abhas k. (2010), safer homes, stronger communities: the international bank for reconstruction and development. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 alexander d. (2004), planning for post­disaster recostruction: grif.umontreal.ca augé m. (2004), rovine e macerie: bollati boringhieri boeni t., jigyasuii r. (2005), “cultural consideration for post disaster reconstruction and post­tsunami challenges", undp conference. calame j. (2005), post­war reconstruction: concerns, models and approaches: macro center working papers. choay f. (2008), del destino della città: alinea. edgington dw. (2009), recostructing kobe: university of british columbia press. hass j.e., kates r.w., bowden m.j. (eds.) (1977), recostruction following disaster: mit press. klein n. (2006), shock economy: bur. kates w., colten c.e., laska s., leatherman s.p. (2006), reconstruction of new orleans after hurricane katrina: a research perspective: pnas. nakabayashi, i. (2007) “preparedness for recovery and reconstruction from the next tokyo earthquake”, in earthquake, pp. 1­6. otero r.c., martz r.z. (2005), the impacts of natural disasters on developing economies: implications for the international development and disaster community. miccadei, piacentini ­ the role of knowledge in the prevention of natural hazards a new dimension in urban planning: the big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 100 paolo scattoni issn: 2239­267x associate professor dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy – paolo.scattoni@uniroma1.it roberta lazzarotti master act lecturer dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma marco lombardi ma student sapienza università di roma andrea raffaele neri lecturer in urban planning and management ethiopian institute of technology, mekelle university, department of architecture and urban planning roberto turi research fellow italia lavoro jesus a. zambrano verratti msc student dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 101 1. introduction this article will consider the potentials for the use of big data in urban planning in italy looking at the measurement of social deprivation, disadvantage and discomfort from data derived mainly from social media. in this paper for big data we intend large unstructured data set derived from internet space that cannot be processed through traditional methods. the work presented here is the further development of a research conducted for a contest on “producing official statistics with big data” launched jointly by google and istat (italian national institute of statistics ­ istituto nazionale di statistica) in december 20131. therefore main references for the proposal presented in this paper are to the two promoting institutions; anyway the same proposal is valid for any official statistics agency collaborating with any big data provider. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort abstract the web has been used for years as a means of expression for the local communities in highlighting their problems, needs and hopes, often in the form of organized group discussions and fora. the enormous amount of information currently available, big data, is already used for business purposes in the private sector, but has never been truly available to decision makers who operate in urban planning and would represent an invaluable help for those communities that undertake the path of self­construction of their community strategic frameworks. this paper elaborates methodological and operational proposals to identify sequences of words and common occurrences in sets of documents that would help understanding the problems of the communities on a geographically­ located basis, creating the search engine “social debate” and devising new indicators for indices of disadvantage. such tool could drastically change the perspective of public participation and planning practice and improve the quality of local public policies and decision making processes. in: http://www.istat.it/en/archive/107117 (last retrieved: 16/09/2014).1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 102 while the phenomenon of big data has found several interesting applications in the private sectors in the last few years it is still almost absent from central and local governments. in particular urban and environmental planning seem to be unaffected. the istat­google contest itself is a sign of interest for the use of big data in government (giovannini, 2014). as far as planning is concerned the paper looks at big data analysis as a tool to verify the relevance of the problems taken into consideration within a participatory planning process. the growth of the information in the world wide web is impressive (cosenza, 2012). the data produced in the web in 2010 were 800 exabyte (billions of megabytes) and in 2011 1.8 zettabyte (trillions of gigabytes). in the last few years a specific economic activity (market research) based on the use of big data has been developed. it is generally accepted that big data will change drastically the economy and the ways of production (mayer­schönberger and cukier, 2013). our research proposition is that spatially distributed data, measuring the subjective perception of the social “discomfort” can be very beneficial for a specific planning practice where the local community itself has set up a community strategic framework (csf), that is a planning tool built according the rules of the strategic choice approach (friend, jessop; 1969) and maintained independently from local governments, but to be taken into consideration when urban plans and projects are required. for such a purpose techniques of “data mining” and “text mining” (see par 2.3) will be taken into consideration and be compared and the most appropriate forms of output for use in planning will be considered. there are two possible outputs. on one side a set of possible fixed indicators of the perceived discomfort might be produced at regular times, at different scales (national, regional, municipal and local. there is then the possibility for ad hoc exploration using existing tools or even better using a specific search engine for the social debate data to be produced by one of the main www database owners (e.g. google). the paper is structured as follows. section 2 will present a background to the state of the art on the deprivation analysis and how it has been used in italian planning. in the same section, the nature and potential of textual analysis are presented, in particular the textual analysis of social media is vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 103 seen as the key factor for providing information on perceived social deprivation. section 3 outlines a proposal for a search engine on the social debate, including the possibility to produce official statistics derived from big data; this could have a huge impact on urban planning. the new perspective is that local communities in italy, as well as in most representative democracies, could have the ability to produce their own planning tools (e.g. a community strategic framework) cheaply and effectively. such tools then could be used to be related to plans, programmes and projects proposed by local governments with better awareness and consequently the whole planning process would be more effective. the final proposed strategy is organised in three different steps. the first step considers the possibility of spatially referenced data derived from social media. the second step implies the development of a search engine specialized in social media contents, in order to detect word patterns related to specific geographic area problems. the third step concerns the setting up of an observatory of urban discomfort where a set of predetermined indicators are continuously monitored at different spatial levels (census areas, municipalities, regions, etc). 2. background 2.1 measuring deprivation: the state of the art the debate on how to enhance the process of assessing the deprivation of a community, a city, a region or a nation as a whole is not new. in many countries the traditional measures solely based on quantitative data, have been questioned in the last decades, giving way to alternative indices that have been developed and implemented with positive social and political effects on the countries involved. even in a country such as italy, which lagged behind in the international debate and practice on the subject, a number of interesting local experiments have been developed, but have had difficulty in reaching the social and the political debates, not having been sponsored by the decision makers or effectively used as decision­making tools (e.g. the index of deprivation for geographical analysis of inequalities vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 104 in mortality, or index cadum, 1999; the index of deprivation, or index caranci, 2008; material indices of deprivation, social deprivation and disadvantaged areas of the sardinia region, 2006; indices of deprivation and disadvantaged areas of the abruzzo region, 2001; the index of multiple deprivation of the savona province, 2005; the index of deprivation for the city of genoa (ivaldi and busi, 2004). in 2013 istat, with the collaboration of the consiglio nazionale dell’economia (cnel, 2012), published its measure of equitable and sustainable well­being, (the bes: benessere equo e sostenibile), an ambitious and highly comprehensive index of well­being aiming to summarise and expand the huge amount of data available concerning the degree of well­being (and conversely deprivation) of communities. the well­being of the country is described by means of 12 domains (health, education and training, employment and time for well­being, financial well­being, social relationships, politics and institutions, security, subjective well­being, landscape and cultural heritage, environment, research and innovation, services quality), investigated by means of 134 indicators. however bes has important limitations of scale, describing well­ being in italy only at the regional level even though, as demonstrated by the british indices and policies based on them, the most appropriate scale for assessing it should be that of the neighbourhood, easily identifiable by census output areas (neri, 2012). the traditional method of data acquisition for intrinsically unquantifiable information such as the degree of well­being or deprivation puts in place the difficult, uncertain and costly practice of assuming that certain quantifiable data have a positive relationship with the well­being of a community (for example, that a greater income, combined with a low incidence of admissions to hospitals and a high level of education necessarily leads to greater well­ being). this operation does not provide certainty about the results, but was implemented in british countries at the census scale unit, giving rise to the implementation of indices of multiple deprivation, which represented an important tool available to decision makers in the local government processes, for example with regard to the distribution of funds by public bodies. our proposal is based on the following consideration: in a country where access to the internet is now virtually guaranteed to the entire population, in vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 105 addition to traditional methods of data acquisition, istat, with the support of google, may obtain a important amount of information of a qualitative nature, not sufficiently included at this point in time. in other words, different types of behaviour existing within communities, representative of the perceptions, expectations and fears of the population, have been not sufficiently or promptly identified and studied by traditional statistical means, but they can now be understood and mapped thanks to the relevance and quantity of data available from the internet. therefore, the potential to use the information arising from finding and grouping sequences of words that connect documents available on the web becomes vitally important for the production of modern indices of deprivation. decision makers in urban planning would have the opportunity to take advantage of tools that existed in the private sector for years, allowing companies to retrieve strategic information on customers and competitors. in the near future, in addition to being able to use census data and traditional indices of deprivation based on census data to identify patterns of socio­ economic deprivation at a local scale will thus exist rankings of local­based 'hot topics' concerning the discussions on the web in specific geographical areas. this innovative element would guarantee that the identification of qualitative data which are derived not from hypothetical assumptions (for example that high­income areas have less problems than low­income ones), but from a comprehensive analysis of people’s actual perception of well­ being or deprivation. the following section analyses the means by which this analysis would be conducted. 2.2 index of deprivation instead of the traditional quantitative approach, the research team proposes to use the approach named “textual statistics”, which combines both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. as a first step, it will use the specific search engine "google social debate" to find a large amount of information related to the issue of crime, or some form of social discomfort. the texts found into the comments posted on blogs will be classified by some key words (like “diffusion type” or “date” or “geo­referencing”). the aim is to obtain a corpus of data that will be analysed through a lexicon metric approach (bolasco, 1999). the hypothesis being tested is that vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 106 qualitative material found on several blogs posted by people living in different places means that the texts are “geo­referenced”, which means that the use of a large amount of textual data allows analysis to deal with a completely new connection between territory and needs in order to define priorities for action. then, as a second step, the researchers move forward with the creation of a "deprivation index", combining the keywords that determine a scale of seriousness of the problems. how to build indexes in the case of big data (mayer­schönberger, cukier, 2013), we proceed in the following way: it makes the analysis of portions of the text as phrases ("lack of respect",...), in case multiple expressions of actions that address the crime ("make a pickpocketing", "have robbed a bank", "drug trafficking") or individual words ("steal", "sell", "criminal",...); second, we proceed to extract the positive and negative mood from messages (technically these documents) and analysed by making a classification of documents according to a polarity positive, negative or mixed, to calculate the polarity of the semantic associates of the motor (high, medium, low). finally, the process of automatic analysis of portions of the text is in two main linguistic resources: the sentiment lexicon (feldman, 2013) which is lexicons coverage level of single words and multi­word units enriched with information about their positive or negative valence and emotion that transmit and syntactic rules, for the semantic composition of the expressions of sentiment. 2.3 textual statistics. knowledge discovery in databases – kdd for the construction of a deprivation perception index, there are several steps to be considered. firstly a choice of sources must be made. secondly the documents have to be filtered through a set of analyses according to the nature of the considered data. finally an appropriate analysis of the occurrences will produce an index. the sources of big data that will affect our deprivation perception index mostly are those contained in the so­ called "human­sourced information" (rayson et al, 2000) and then everything that relates to the concept of "social media", such as facebook, blogs and fora. the information derived from sets of specific analysis of big data is known as "knowledge discovery and data mining ­ kdd" (fayyad, piatetsky­shapiro, vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 107 smyth, 1996), which is reflected in both computer science and statistics. so the construction of an index of perception, as previously described, it is now possible through the combined use of different strategies that take the name of "information mining". in recent years, the inexhaustible scientific development in the field of computer science has seen the great development of two different methods of unstructured data storages and collections: structured and unstructured. such differences in the methods and forms of data storage have produced a significant crossroads in information mining, giving rise to two methods of analysis clearly distinguished: "data mining" and "text mining". the latter is the method that will be used for the construction of indicators of perception of discomfort. text mining (nisbet, elder iv, miner, 2009) has as its goal the pursuit of knowledge from large collections of documents and then from textual sources. this practice allows the identification of sequences of words that are common occurrences and characterize a set of documents, enabling the group to identify principal matters of debate. this type of approach is therefore particularly useful when you want to analyse the contents of a collection of documents, even if they come from heterogeneous sources. this technique also allows the identification of groups of subjects. it thus allows the creation of structured archives where the information can continue to be treated by iterative cycles of analysis and with textual approaches appropriate to the level of knowledge required. 2.4 the potential role of indicators of perceived discomfort in urban planning in which way can a general index of perception of discomfort in general and a set of indicators of such perception obtained from the web have an impact on planning? the literature does not provide relevant information on this. a quite isolated contribution has tried to open up the debate, revealing the potential of the deployment of big data for territorial policies (roccasalva, 2012). in the first half of the past century the traditional approach of a survey as the basis for the construction of planning tools has gradually evolved from being tools for the management of physical transformations of the built environment into complex tools for the management of a growing multiplicity of variables, from environmental to those of local development. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 108 in this paper we discuss the potential of big data for planning that looks at perceptions of current problems and treats them in a strategic dimension this interacts with a multiplicity of stakeholders. it will then reference the approach of strategic choice as originally outlined by friend and jessop (1969) and its subsequent theoretical (faludi, 1989) and practical (friend and hickling, 2005) developments. in italian planning practice a relevant implementation of the approach can be found in the grosseto structure plan (scattoni, 2007). thus has emerged a planning practice that begins with identifying and understanding the problems it faces in a dimension of the "here and now" of shrinking time spans, giving rise to a dimension of continuity. in this dimension, in practice the analysis activity commensurate with the problems turned out to be more costly for the development of ad hoc surveys and at the same time less and less effective. most often the recognition of the critical issues to be addressed through planning is delayed with respect to their first occurrence, that is exactly when public action would be most likely to have the desired effects. from this point of view the diagnosis that emerges from both the practice of politics and that of the current processes of public administration are most often partial and incomplete. therefore in such a context the availability of a stream of data coming from what we call "social debate" would give rise to a profound transformation of current practices . indeed, this information flow would provide not only an important support for the interpretative analysis of an area and its problems, but also to the construction of participatory processes. it will help in active involvement of local communities that now permeate every level of planning by allowing the focus of the discussion on the areas “hottest topics” and pre­identify the prevailing stakeholders' positions in the debate itself. 2.5 big data for community planning and the community strategic framework in this section the potential of big data for community planning will be discussed. in a research work still in progress a reversal of present processes of land use planning and management has been suggested. no longer would there citizen participation in the formation of planning tools but rather there is the self­ construction by the citizens, of a community strategic framework (csf): this is a general framework in which the public can recognize and vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 109 document the problems, needs and aspirations that a local community shares. it is also assumed that such a framework a system which is 'homebuilt' by the local community and in which the role of technical support has to remain complementary, avoiding invasions and overlapping roles. in addition, the community strategic framework must always be changed and updated in relation to the requirements as these mature over time. finally, the csf must be organized in a form that allows the possibility of being commented on and discussed to facilitate its updating. the reversal of the planner­community relationship is obvious: planning must necessarily confront the perceived problems at the local level in the context set by the local community, rather than on themes offered by the “expert knowledge" of planners. it is a process that not only covers land use planning, but a varied range of tools, including most of the projects and policies derived from european funding, for which the activation of processes of participation is an essential element. for the construction of the csf open source software was developed that facilitates the setting up of the framework in a self­managed activity, costing practically nothing. the csf is formed and managed over time through forms of participation which are now widely used and well known like local agenda 21, public meetings, etc. among available tools there is also a software to record the evolution of the csf over time so as to ensure its traceability and be accessible on the web (scattoni, tomassoni, 2007). in such a context, access to data on perceived discomfort becomes a fundamental element of importance, above all, to see if and how the problems identified by a limited number of citizens are perceived by a much wider audience, represented by local users of the network. in other words it is assumed that the strategic choice approach as originally conceived (friend, jessop, 1969) and later developed by openshaw and whitehead (openshaw, whitehead; 1985) can be built independently by local communities without planners and validated by big data analysis. the assumption has not been tested yet through empirical work. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 110 3. three steps for big data in planning the operational perspectives of big data for planning in general and the community strategic framework in particular can be approached in three different steps. the first step is activating text mining and data mining techniques already available and usable. for this purpose, a simple application is presented below. it provides origin/destination data based on the flows obtained from twitter. the second step assumes the construction of a search engine oriented to social debate; this would be similar to specialized search engines in other sectors (e.g. scholar for academic publications). such search engine would allow the exploration of databases from a variety of social media. finally, the third step involves the ability to create a set of indicators of social problems collected by a certified body with a spatially detailed reference (e.g. census areas). 3.1 spatially distributed data there is an incredible amount of data obtainable from the internet, nevertheless access to this information is not always granted. one example of simple access to a database with very few limitations is twitter. a previous work developed the possible usage of “data mining” techniques, specifically on twitter data, for the making of origin/destination maps with no cost and little effort (zambrano verratti, 2014). this research focused only on “quantitative data”, especially on the spatial coordinates associated with each message posted on twitter. in this exercise the potential of the developed technique relies on the spatially distributed data that is implicit in the origin/destination maps produced. the problem of the “data mining” approach is the wide variety of databases from which to obtain information not only from twitter, but from the vast world wide web as a whole. in fact it is extremely difficult to use information derived from so many sources and make it easily readable for both decision makers and for the population at large in a particular geographical context. for such a purpose it would be necessary to spend a considerable amount of time and efforts to compare data from heterogeneous sources, not to mention the great amount of time and resources that would be required to carry out the mining process vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 111 multiple times or even continuously. the hypothesis to overcome these limits is to create a unified database that filters information from many sources and centralises it in a tool that should be as easy to use as a search engine. due to the fact that this was a research was carried out for a contest that included google among its organizers, the proposal is based on a google search engine. 3.2 unified and easy to use database. based on the specialized search engine called google scholar, a new engine called google social debate was proposed that would be focused on human generated data (miller, 2014) obtained from the following social media categories (kaplan and haenlein, 2010): 1. collaborative projects (e.g. wikipedia) 2. blogs and microblogs (e.g. blogspot, twitter) 3. content communities (e.g. youtube, flickr) 4. social networking sites (e.g. facebook) 5. virtual game worlds (e.g. world of warcraft) 6. virtual social worlds (e.g. second life) in order to connect some of these databases google has already made an experiment with the “google search, plus your world” (2012) and its predecessor “google social search” (2009) with the search option “include my circles”, which is now an official part of “google plus”. nowadays with google dashboard there are already many databases linked which are google property. but also other services (e.g. facebook) can be directly connected to the google account, which grants access to external databases at least partially. so gradually a unified and easy to access database is widely possible if proper permissions are granted. over the last few years, the support of open data from public administrations has increased notably. once again, many datasets and databases have little or no linkage. the proposed google social debate could include specifically this information in its search engine in order to make open data more reliable. image 1 is a photomontage made to graphically illustrate what has been proposed until now. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 112 google social debate would use text mining techniques (as previously described) in order to “measure” words written by users and calculate indicators of discomfort related to pre­established categories. even if there is no reference to take from google scholar for spatially distributed data, the “metrics” used on this platform (and other academic databases) give a hint on how the resulting indicators could be expressed. in order to achieve accurate geographical representation at local level the google location service could be used, which cross references publicly broadcast wi­fi data from wireless access points, as well as gps and cell tower data, in order to determine the position of a user. as far as privacy is concern, the crucial issue is the protection of personal data. the big data collectors should guarantee that the provided data remain anonymous in order to avoid the identification of a specific user. the connection between privacy and spatially distributed data, as well as the law frame in europe2, has been addressed in the research made with cell­phone data from telecom (calabrese, colonna, lovisolo, parata, ratti; 2010). analogous argumentation could be used for the development of the search engine hypothesized. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort figure 1 – photomontage representing the possible interface proposed for google social debate. directive 2002/58/ec of the european parliament and of the council of 12 july 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (directive on privacy and electronic communications). 2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 113 the relation between the words written by anonymous users (processed with the techniques described in paragraph 2.3) and their specific upload location would allow the calculation of the perceived urban discomfort index directly associated with a community. the resulting measurement would be not only geographically accurate but also constantly updated, given the non­ stop production of data which can be collected. image 2 shows the proposed interface for the resulting indicators, specifically for the italian context, located at different scales: neighbourhood, zone (municipio), municipality (comune), province, region and nation. alternative graphic representations on maps would highly improve the legibility of the information, and the scale could be much more detailed (e.g. census areas). vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort figure 2 – proposed interface (photomontage) for the “metrics” of google social debate. it is important to clarify that “google social debate” is not a place of interaction between users, but a search engine that links to the sites where social debate is already happening. the user of this search engine will be able to have a wide view of the issues that interests him by introducing a simple query, so the participation in the discussion will be made after the redirection made by the search engine. in such context the continuous monitoring of ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 114 keywords recurrence can play an essential role for the csf updating. 3.3. big data and official statistics: an observatory of urban discomfort the information deriving from possibilities of interrogating social media can be helpfully utilized, among others by istat, the national institute of statistics, either in ongoing activities or in the istat bes project, which can usefully draw data and indicators from the proposed search engine; in fact, bes represents already a dataset on equitable and sustainable wellness, using 'new' sources. a system detecting the perception of deprivation permits the extrapolation of useful indications for all bes thematic fields, but particularly for social relationships, safety, environment and quality of public services. it seems important to realise that this system could offer the possibility of organizing the information: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort at spatial level, for example extrapolating and mapping data relating to urban areas, particularly relevant for the definition of ad hoc policies; ­ and for specific periods: while being aware of the changes in data bases and definitions over time, it is possible to compare the relevant phenomena at different points of time. ­ immigrants and new citizens is another field of statistics that can be considered proper to the research potentialities of a social media interrogation system, especially considering the relationship between integration and life quality in settlements. urban quality, particularly of public spaces, mobility and transport, equipment accessibility, participation in building policies and decision making are all topics variously recognized as key factors of integration in society and in towns. the possibility of measuring multidimensional social discomfort can represent a valuable tool for diagnosis and intervention. it is possible to imagine a new activity field that can be informed by a regular measure of the online debate on the urban condition: this could be an observatory on urban discomfort, which could enable researchers and planners to monitor one of the key topics on scientific, cultural and politic themes. the observatory could open a new front not only in terms of data manipulation and indicator building, but mainly in the interpretation and accumulation of observations, thanks to the realization of a regular ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 115 reporting activity. finally, the observatory could work also as a tool for measuring the impact of sectoral policies, an in itinere and ex post evaluation through the perceptions and opinions of local communities, which, crucially, have been expressed in a spontaneous and un­filtered way. because of all previously said, it should be properly created and managed by official research institutions (istat, universities, sectoral research centres, …). 4. conclusions the paper has focused on the way a general index of perception of discomfort in general and a set of indicators of such perception obtained from the web can have an impact on urban planning. techniques of “data mining” and “text mining” have been used for years in the private sector to investigate the big data for the purposes of classifying the internet users for business purposes. contrarily the public sector largely ignores the potential of such tools, which would be easily used with little if none expense for the improvement and upgrade of the indices of deprivation or the measures of well­being (bes) already in place or proposed, which are based on processing traditional quantitative census data. identifying methodological sequences of words that are common occurrences and characterizing sets of documents would lead to a better understanding of the problems of the communities on a geographically­located basis, since facebook, twitter or fora discussions are informally, but timely used to express concerns of public relevance. this would lead to ranking the different forms of perceived discomfort into structured information for improving the local public policies and decision making for urban planning. the paper has discussed the advantages of a proposed search engine able to focus on the “social debate” that could be of great importance both for improving the planning practice in the public administration and enabling the community to independently build its own tools like the community strategic framework. therefore in such a context a low cost flow of data coming from the web thanks to the search engine “social debate” could drastically change the perspective of public participation and planning practice. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 116 references agenzia sanitaria regionale abruzzo (2011), l’epidemiologia geografica comunale ­ territoriale: ambiente, qualità della vita, salute e sanità federale. available at: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort htp://sanitab.regione.abruzzo.it/osservatorio/l'epidemiologia%20territoriale %20d'abruzzo.pdf [24 april 2014]. bolasco s. (1999), l’analisi multidimensionale dei dati, roma, carocci. cadum e. et al (1999), "deprivazione e mortalità: un indice di deprivazione per l’analisi delle disuguaglianze su base geografica", in epidemiologia e prevenzione, 23, pp. 175­87. calabrese f., colonna m., lovisolo p., parata d. and ratti c. (2011), “real­time urban monitoring using cell phones: a case study in rome”, in intelligent transportation systems, ieee transactions on, 12(1), pp. 141­151. caranci n. et al (2008), "verso un indice di deprivazione a livello aggregato da utilizzare su scala nazionale: giustificazione e composizione dell’indice 2001", convegno aie metodi e strumenti per la misura delle disuguaglianze, roma 15­16 maggio 2008. consiglio nazionale per l’economia e il lavoro (cnel) e istituto nazionale di statistica (istat) (2012), the bes project. available at: misure del benessere, http://www.misuredelbenessere.it/ [24 april 2014]. cosenza v. (2012), la società dei dati [kindle version]. milano, mi: 40k. available at: amazon.it. faludi a. (1987), a decision­centred view of environmental planning, oxford, pergamon. fayyad u., piatetsky­shapiro g. and smyth p. (1996), "from data mining to discovery in databases", in ai magazine, 17(3). feldman r. (2013), techniques and applications for sentiment analysis. communications of the acm 56(4):82­89. friend j., jessop n. (1969), local government and strategic choice, london, tavistock. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 117 friend j., hickling a. (2005), planning under pressure: the strategic choice approach, abingdon, routledge. giovannini e. (2014), scegliere il futuro. conoscenza e politica al tempo dei big data, bologna, il mulino. ivaldi e., busi a. (2004), an index of geographical deprivation for geographical areas. available at: diem unige,http://www.diem.unige.it/23.pdf [24 april 2014]. kaplan a. m., haenlein m. (2010), "users of the world, unite! the challenges and opportunities of social media", in business horizons, 53(1), pp. 59­68. lillini r. et al (2005), "costruzione di un indice di deprivazione socio­economica per la provincia di savona, istituto nazionale di ricerca sul cancro". available at: ambiente liguria, vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort http://www.ambienteinliguria.it/eco3/dts_generale/20080805/4_stato%2 0di%20salute%20e%20deprivazione%20in%20provincia%20di%20savona.p df [24 april 2014]. mayer­shomberger v., cukier k., (2013), big data: a revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think, boston, houghton mifflin. miller p. (2014), applying big data analytics to human­generated data. report from gigaom research. available at: http://research.gigaom.com/report/applying­big­data­analytics­ to­human­generated­data/ [24 july 2014]. minerba l. e vacca d. (2006), gli indici di deprivazione per l’analisi delle disuguaglianze tra i comuni della sardegna, istituto nazionale di statistica. neri a. r. (2012), the importance of indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration, in italian journal of planning practice, issn: 2239/267x. nisbet r., elder iv j., miner g. (2009), handbook of statistical analysis and data mining applications, elsevier inc., amsterdam. openshaw s., whitehead p. (1985), "a monte carlo simulation approach to solving multicriteria optimisation problems related to planmaking, evaluation, and monitoring in local planning", in environment and planning b: planning and design, 12(3), pp. 321­334. rayson p., emmet l., garside r. and sawyer p. (2000), the revere ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 118 project: experiments with the application of probabilistic nlp to systems engineering, lancaster university, p. 3. roccasalva g. (2012), "how big data might induce learning with interactive visualization tools", in territorio italia, agenzia del territorio, pp. 22, issn: 2240­7707. scattoni p. (2007), "il piano strutturale di grosseto e la memoria della pianificazione", in urbanistica, 133, pp.63­82. scattoni p. e tomassoni g. (2007), "un sistema informativo per i processi decisionali della pianificazione", in urbanistica, 133, pp. 68. zambrano verratti j. a. (2014), "mapping urban flows of buenos aires, mar del plata and caracas through twitter location data", in urbanistica pvs on­line, 2 (1). forthcoming: http://urbanistica­pvs.arc.uniroma1.it/index.php/pvs­rivista. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 scattoni et al. ­ big data as a source for shared indicators of discomfort technology for democracy in smart city planning ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3 paolo de pascali issn: 2239­267x associate professor via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy – paolo.depascali@uniroma1.it dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma abstract in recent history the relationship between technology and urban planning has been variously taken into account (and possibly also undervalued), but lately it has come into focus with the maturation of the concept of the smart city. building on an analysis of documents dealing with the issue and current experiences, this paper tries to determine which opportunity factors the new technologies are offering for the improvement of urban planning. in particular it considers how these technologies are being integrated into the processes of participatory planning thus supporting the development of direct democracy. the resulting complex framework suggests four main fields of application where the new technologies can contribute to addressing contents and governance of the plan for an urban organisation that enhances virtuous behaviours and steers the town’s residents towards adopting them. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning 1. the evolution of technology support in participative urban planning within the present general framework of advanced technologies supporting social participation in urban planning, two main fields or macro­areas of application stand out, characterised by the different factors and timeframes taken into consideration for changing the urban organisation. the first one covers the instrumentation aiming to help participation in the decisional process and implementation of the urban plan. it is a field of relatively old origin rich in elaborations and applications. though articulated in various ways internally, it essentially includes the software tools (planning support system, pss; decision support system, dss; simulation model, sm; public participation geographical information system, ppgis; etc.) for following formalised procedures to implement wide community­ based decision paths as well as the diverse more or less complex systems of participation via the web (weblogs, thematic fora, webgis, web meetings, e­learning, etc.) including the latest social networking systems1. from the study of this macro­area another field deserving attention and investigation has emerged. linked to and derived from the former, it concerns the advancement of technology applications toward the growth of participatory democracy in urban planning through a further widening of the functions described above as pertaining to the first field. obviously this step forward appears dialectically connected to the changes intervening in the physical and social context of the urban model. thus the first field includes tools to assist decision­making processes and to widen stakeholder participation. certainly what this instrumentation now needs is to be translated into widespread and, in particular, effective use. however it appears by this time as a set of established methodologies having high potential for application but narrow space for evolution. the second field covers instead a matter at present far less structured in terms of technologies and application systems and refers to physical and consultation and public participation”, ocde publishing 2001, the technologic tools in support of participatory urban planning can be classified into five categories: tools for information, education/training, dialogue, consultation (voting), and decision making support. structuring further what is shown in the ocde study “citizens as partners, information,1 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning socioeconomic forms of urban organisation notably different from the current ones. the reference for the first field is the urban environment as things stand now, considered from the perspective of transition towns by plans basically dealing with more or less complete phases and processes of change from the town of today to one that is eco­efficient in terms of governance and resource use. here further research is helpful in order to compare and evaluate the different procedures and tools and to direct pervasive applications. the second field open to research looks instead further ahead toward visions of future towns grouped under the still not very explanatory label “smart city”, which is of late increasingly drawing the attention of public institutions, private organisations, and individuals. the idea of the smart city was born from the powerful push of advanced technology manufacturers and installers who saw in the proposal of a future town an efficient marketing tool for business development2. it is only recently that, beside the early strictly technological characterisation of such an idea (given by computers, networks, power plants, energy distribution nets and consumption applications, and so on and their management, regulation, and control systems), more comprehensive patterns are emerging, foreshadowing new socioeconomic and physically functional models of the town linked, first and foremost, to new cultural and behavioural models of a general nature embodying the use of said advanced technologies within a systemic and synergic set. the relational dynamics within this complex system include and promote the pursuit of new settlement models acting in turn as a process­pushing factor. on the basis of these systemic aspects we can individuate a few attributes characterising specific technologies or groups of technologies capable of providing support in directing the urban plan towards specific settlement models. these technologies are featuring as: (ict) sectors, soon joined by those of energy technology concerning in particular the efficient use and renewable sources of energy. the idea of the smart city first came from the information and telecommunication technology2 ­ pervasive, that is, most widely diffused (“distributed”) and employed also at the individual level; ­ embedded, being built into components of current use and thus, with regards to fruition of the town by its inhabitants, embodied in vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning the last paragraph in this paper provides descriptions of a few applications presenting the above attributes whose potential opens new horizons to the use of technology for developing participative democracy in urban planning. the dialectics of the settlement model as the driver and product of new systemic urban sets now taking shape in the notion of the smart city is thus signalling the onset of congruent guidelines for aligning the town planning project to it. 2. behavioural urban planning of the smart city scant consideration is being given to the urban plan by the now fairly extensive literature on smart cities. this is particularly true for the documents – and initiatives – of the european union, a fact that unfortunately may depend on the traditional, and in some respects taken for granted, lack of knowledge (due to disesteem, undervaluation, or unawareness) of the urban planning discipline or at least because the latter is drawing very little interest at european community level3. the above circumstance may also be linked to structural characters of the concept itself of the smart city, which, be it right or wrong, could be deemed not very congruent with the traditional principles of urban planning. going over numerous documents directly or indirectly related to the idea of smart cities (a selection of the main documents consulted is provided in the reference list), it is possible to extract a few general connotations, or framework programmes of the eu. even the last fp (vii framework programme) denies it recognition in its work programme and identity as a research area capable of generating significant results for the advancement of knowledge and knowledge applications. also, no specific actions on urban planning are foreseen in the programme of the eu initiative on smart cities (http://setis.ec.europa.eu/about­setis/technology­roadmap/european­ initiative­on­smart.cities). as it turns out, for example, from the little importance attributed to smart cities by the rtd3 the residents’ lives; inclusive, involving the residents not only as contributors of personal positions but as direct actors in the planning process too, and thus moving away from the purely centralist­technocratic approach to close in on a bottom­up one. ­ vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning elements, which seem in prospect to characterise its plan and to collide in some cases with the current principles of the urban planning discipline. most assuredly the smart city opens wide the doors to technology in particular by grounding its construct, as noted before, on the primacy of new (and renewed) technologies of value to the town. in recent history the relationship between urban planning and technological systems features for not having been especially favourable to the latter in terms of consideration in the configuration of the urban settlement. still now in the prevalent conception the technological systems are assigned a subordinate role in designing the plan in comparison with other factors such as morphological control, collective urban equipment endowment, urban rent control, safeguarding of the historic and cultural heritage, and so on. urban technology, and in particular the new technologies, integrated in infrastructure networks, building systems, services, and collective spaces, “follow” the plan which is so characterised in its contents by scant or no consideration or significance as regards technology. in this multiple causes concur, including relevant cultural factors linked to the urban planners’ education, training, and competences and, still talking culture, to the modus operandi and impermeability to innovation of the main dialogue partners of the planners, that is, the building contractors. however the smart city does not tally, or does so very badly, with the leading current way of planning (a­ technological plan), and, vice versa, such a way does not tally with the smart city given that it does not ensure direction and help for its deployment. the smart city approach requires reversing the stance towards technology, in the sense that the technologies or rather their applications become basic elements and starting points in the planning process. so in its directions for the physical and functional organisation of the town the plan should also configure itself, mainly on the basis of values and choices of a technologic nature. this is a first element that is distancing the urban planning discipline from the smart city; the opposite also holds true. linked to this is a second element distinguishing the urban plan for the smart city. the massive introduction of technologies into the town aims at improving the quality of life and rational use of resources but also at being a driver of economic growth. urban technological innovation is acknowledged as a factor of competitiveness for enterprises, contributing to the productive vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning and cultural specialisation of the whole town or parts of it. in this context, planning of the physical urban organisation has to directly or indirectly match the theme of the local growth expressed in terms of sustainable development4. it seems that in other ways and with other ends, and hoping for better results, the relationship between planning and development established during the 1970s (the so­called “season of programming”) is going to reopen. the themes are different in that they are focusing not on heavy industrialisation and urban armature but on how, by means of the new light technologies and the provision of new specialised services, the organisation of the town may, in these times of global competition, concretely generate assets for urban marketing and contribute to a sustainable local development. however the discipline of urban planning, for years folded in on itself in the search for a specificity based essentially on methodologies and procedures for the normative plan, seems unprepared for tackling the present critical themes of socioeconomic development requiring different specialist knowledge, competencies, and (most of all) sensibilities to connect with the context and real processes of our time. the third element, emerging later but overbearingly from conceptual elaboration, is the factor relating to the intense component of participatory governance characterising the smart city, undoubtedly the widest ground for a localism understood both as extensive decentralisation of institutional and administrative powers and development of participatory direct democracy. in general the local approach to “city smartness” is seen as structured on three progressing levels describing actions of the local authority5 whose meaning is patent, that is: principles (e.g. those of h. daly) towards an evolutive idea, particularly as regards the definition of urban sustainability or sustainable urban development. reference is made here to progressive design such as that of the transition town combined with the notion of eco­efficiency. the concept of sustainable development has undergone many revisions of its first orthodox4 1. leading by example; 2. governing the private urban actors; systems, http://think.eui.eu see e.g. smart city initiative; how to foster a quick transition towards local sustainable energy5 3. conceiving and implementing an integrated approach at the local level. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning the third level is the nearest to “city smartness” and the one most characterised by decentralised powers and widened participation (though with some centralised decision­making, anyway, performed by local bodies acting as process leaders). actually there is also a fourth level, dealt with hereinafter, but even going no farther than the third level a directing line stands out pointing to the plan as a process more than to a defined and codified “product”. the general plan, as currently intended, seems to be slim in content, lose all operativity, and also to limit its strategy to far­sighted visions and a few structural elements. but under the thrust of the intense factor of decentralised participatory governance the action of the urban planner takes the characterisation of continuity and is converted into “planning by doing”. the plan becomes more “work ongoing” than a stable document. so the planner also acts as animator and facilitator of participatory processes and eventually may take charge of, or serve as, an interface for activities of information, communication, education, and training, which, by the way, present significant features from the technological point of view. technology shapes the plan not only as regards interventions in the town (plants, infrastructure, systems, components, materials, etc.) but also operates in the planning process. therefore it seems that the urban plan should be able to manage a complex elasticity, on the one side tending toward a structure complying with the relevance of technology in urban interventions entailing precise and definite choices (but transformable and not irreversible ones), and on the other being dynamised by the push of a participatory governance imposing flexible and interactive planning. in this context the technologic value can increase its driving function in the urban plan until it reaches the role of bearing the structure of the plan itself. the fourth element of adjustment of the urban plan consists in structuring it so as to direct the town residents toward virtuous behaviours. the plan tries to direct the construction and requalification of the physical and functional town to adapt its environment to emerging positive behaviours (e.g. “carbon free” ones) but also and above all to promote and tendentially enforce them. in any case the objective is to gain “virtuosity” by means of incentives and disincentives, constraints and facilitations, and also through the educational effect provided by a physical town expressly designed to develop virtuous vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning behaviours (consider for example the case of car­free quarters). the town is no longer only the response to behaviours of its inhabitants having more or less negative effects on the community, but becomes a spur to the development of positive environmental, social, economic, and emotional ( i.e. aiming to ensure emotional welfare) attitudes and behaviours pursuing common objectives of urban quality. urban planning will succeed in contributing to the attainment of the global and local sustainability targets set by the extant international agreements most of all by focusing the attention on a town configuration that helps to modify the behaviours of city residents. this kind of urban planning, which could be defined as behavioural, aims at affecting urban ways of life, favouring or contrasting them by means of the physical and functional configuration of the town, or of parts or elements of it, but at the same time is directed to progressively and dialectically act with the abovementioned flexibility in order to contribute to modifying the cultural model along a virtuous loop. the fifth element characterising the urban plan for the smart city, highlighted in the literature and directly or indirectly descending from the four above, is its elaboration path. the distinctive features of relevance of the technology, inclusivity, flexibility, and behavioural incidence recommend starting from the bottom, that is, taking a bottom­up approach. the urban part (quarter, district, etc.) proves to be the proper logic for ensuring operativity and effective deployment of said elements6. evidence of this is given by the recourse to the energy parameter for organising the territory in energy basins or by use of the participatory factor to define optimal territorial dimensions ensuring direct participation efficiency. but the smart city also needs a top­down systemic integration of its parts on the basis of one or more overall structural elements, more or less simple and progressively pervasive, in order to combine the parts themselves into a body reducing differences, supporting synergies, and first of all favouring the development of the physical and functional organisation of the urban settlement7. 2:5, “a metropolis is composed of regional centres, neighbourhoods, districts and corridors”. see e.g. a. duany, j. speck, and m. lydon, the smart growth manual, mcgraw hill 2010, point6 infrastructure described and analysed by many authors, and with regard to its imposing energy consider e.g. the territorial organisation of greater copenhagen around its energy infrastructure7 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning thus the smart city plan is generated by the dialectic convergence of the two approaches to decision­making (bottom­up and top­down) and two fields of intervention (small scale and large scale) in ways which for now seem far from having been defined. it is highly probable that the traditional path of elaboration of the urban plan will be followed only in part, but clearness is not the strong point in smart city planning. as a matter of fact even the expression “smart city” appears more and more a self­referential one being used to characterise the multi­dimensional value, grasped more by intuition than specifically decoded, of the concept inherent in it8. it seems obvious that a given urban set is smart because of the smartness of its component parts but the problem is to understand in depth what this smartness is made of. nowadays however the use (or should we say misuse?) of the expression is spreading, so continuing with it we can think of, and make reference to, smart city planning in terms of both contents (connectivity, ecology, local development, rational use of resources, safety, comfort, and so on) and ways and processes of elaboration and implementation of the urban plan (flexibility, inclusivity, interactivity, reversibility, incrementality, etc.). a sixth element characterisation of the innovative plan covers the changes in the framework of the operators involved in urban transformation. urban planning has traditionally chosen the main interlocutors between economic operators involved in the construction industry and buildings (builders, promoters and developers, general contractors, real estate companies, engineering companies, etc.). with the birth of the metaphor of the digital city in the 1990s, subjects have appeared from other areas9 but are too weak to be interlocutors of the planning or to become agents of urban transformation. infrastructure in particular see lars gullev, heat plan for the capital area of denmark (http:// www.e­pages.dk/dbdh/11/) and district heating in copenhagen (http://dbdh/images/uploads/pdf­diverse/ district_heating_in_copenhagen.pdf). interlinked subsystems (smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart people, smart governance); see: http://www.safecity­project.eu/index.php/mod.pags/mem.detalle/id.10/relcategoria.1077/ relmenu.5/chk.8def43cf5ccb30aed0f0c0433f2c3eab in comprehensive and heterogeneous terms the smart city is considered a system composed of8 “… digital cities have been initiated by three distinct actors: 1) non­profit electronic community9 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning instead, very powerful economic actors with significant weight come into the smart city: structures outside the construction industry, coming from industry in the strict sense and industrial services, such as companies operating in different fields of ict, in the production and distribution of energy, in transport, new materials, bio­agro technologies, advanced logistics, innovative finance, and so on. these sectors, unlike the construction industry, are characterised by intense processes of internationalisation and high sensitivity and interest in research and innovation. the match of international competitiveness is played in the city, in big cities but also more and more in medium­sized cities. implant consultation with these parties includes the possibility and need to make significant changes in the manner and content of urban planning, as mentioned above, and also to expand the cultural level of the negotiation. at the moment the problem is, however, to understand whether these actors are willing to take on the role of new agents for urban transformation or whether their role is confined to that of applicators and sellers of pre­ packaged systems and technologies to fit with the slightest change of the existing city, as appears to be the case at present. it is unclear if the new entrants, that is, willing to take on the role of changing the genetic structure of urban transformation, with all that entails in the revolution of modes and content, or leave the field to the old actors and are satisfied with the subordinate role of suppliers. 3. technological applications for urban governance and behavioural planning of the smart city the ongoing elaborations about technology applications for smart urban planning are filling a catalogue that is growingly bulky and articulate. herein, however, it is difficult to distinguish what could be defined as simple technology marketing from the presentations of instruments clearly susceptible to real incidence in the physical and social urban context (in the forums such as the ‘freenet’ movement in the us, 2) commercial services as local information portals by private companies, and 3) governmental initiatives for city informatization. …”, mika yasuoka, toru ishida and alessandro aurigi, the advancement of world digital cities, http://cs.gmu.edu/~jpsousa/classes/895/readings/0933.pdf. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning race to smartness the city sometimes gets lost). after a specific survey and analysis of the catalogue above four fields of applications might be identified in which the new technologies can contribute to bringing developments in the elaboration and governance of the urban plan. the list is not intended to be exhaustively comprehensive regarding the possible relationships between technologies and plans. however, on the basis of the analysis made, these fields appear at present to be those where the most interesting potentials of said relationships are emerging. they are also showing a direction for observation and interpretation of oncoming developments predictably full of proposals and applications. their reference frame as regards methodology and operativity is the one sketched before, centred on processes of continuous planning and “planning by doing” and marked by a specific structural value definable as behavioural urban planning. as an additional character of the physical and functional urban plan, this value aims at contributing by means of the plan itself to progressively guide the town residents towards virtuous behaviours and support them in practising them, mainly with regard to issues of environmental protection and eco­sustainability, with the purpose of directly involving them in the decision­making and implementation phases of the planning process. regarding this, it seems that the new technological applications tend to put special value on interactive communication between the individuals and the local community and to promote the participation of the former in the management of the latter within the urban planning context. in four fields, dealt with in the following, technology seems capable of providing an important support given that in the development of planning processes it is increasingly serving functions that are in some respects inescapable. these functions refer to a first contribution provided by the application itself of advanced technology (new and better services, rational use of resources, better comfort, increased urban competitiveness, etc.) and to a second one brought to the advancement of democratisation processes in local planning and administration. such processes are seeing the use of technology as the constituent element along their whole progress, so technology applications go beyond a role of simple support to become an integral part of the methodology and path of urban planning. lacking technology, the plan would be impaired if not even impracticable. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning 3.1. systems for perceiving individual impact considering the features of the new local governance, the necessity of continuous personal involvement in the attainment of the objectives fixed by the plan in conformance with the modalities and behaviours it establishes is increasingly evident. to this end great import must be placed on the continuous and timely provision of information to the inhabitants about their own personal incidence on the urban context and the indirect effects on it produced at the very moment when a given behaviour is adopted. one of the cardinal factors in implementing the plan consists in encouraging perception of the personal impact. planning becomes a process of co­ operation, with the residents showing their individual positions and therefore their behavioural congruence with respect to the attainment of established objectives. the first step along an effective participatory path is that of being aware and understanding our own role within the urban system. recording the individual impact with suitable elaborations may at the same time provide continuous checks on the effects on behaviours that the plan is producing. deviations from what was foreseen can provide inputs for plan recalibrations or more radical changes. at present various experimentations are underway, in different sectors and also applying different technologies, including: ­ on­line and real time computerised systems calculating carbon dioxide emissions at a given moment or over a time span; recording systems, which also provide georeferential information, recording daily displacements and more or less habitual behaviours in using urban spaces (for parking, services, sport) as well as their effects on health; more or less sophisticated measuring systems and devices to ease the demand side management of instant energy in dwellings, offices, and so on and for forecasting purposes; ­ ­ real­time location and tracking systems for produced or differentiated urban solid waste, also signalling the place of destination and disposal modes; ­ ­ devices and systems for monitoring and managing the use of public spaces and collective urban infrastructure. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning other important information, spreading and evolving over time and on which townspeople focus attention, concerns the economic and financial effectiveness of foreseen or already implemented technological applications. correct and continuing individual information on economic costs and benefits of measures adopted on a large scale, such as that of the urban part or whole town, plays a fundamental role in their acceptance, successful deployment, and in case sequent development. this holds true particularly when the measures directed to individuals are linked to their own specific behaviours. it is to be noted, for example, that the various technologies available for the abatement of polluting emissions show economic unit values that are very diverse and also quickly evolving over time, compared to expected results; determinative is the case of the wide ranging unit costs of carbon dioxide reduction per technology10. continuous personalised information also acquaints people with their own contribution to the return on investment and payback period of the technology considered, ensuring, moreover, a perception of its cost­effectiveness. without this kind of information, people’s appraisals may remain grounded on false or outdated knowledge. all of this helps residents to get over the so­called “tragedy of the commons” dilemma, according to which in the urban environment, as in the global one, technical measures to be adopted or already implemented to give immediate individual benefit often result instead only in inconveniences and sacrifices (be these real or supposed on the basis of the current cultural­anthropologic model). 3.2. systems for continuous monitoring and interconnection of the urban settlement this field includes a number of pervasive technologies essentially based on sensors and systems for the transmission and elaboration of the data which the sensors, conveniently placed, are collecting from the whole urban settlement or sizeable or particular parts of it. inputs are also provided by see impact of the financial crisis on carbon economics. version 2.1, 2010 and http://209.172.180.115/clientservice/sustainability/pdf/impact_financial_crisis_carbon_ec onomics_ghgcostcurvev2.1.pdf mckinsey & company publishes the unit cost curve of emission abatement per current technology;10 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning cell phones and other mobile devices as well as through the internet11. these applications result in complex and evolving systems for continuous monitoring which record crisis points in the town settlement and deviations from what was planned. when forecasting models are in use, moreover, they can be continuously validated by comparison with the collected and elaborated data. building on this information it is possible to gain competitive advantage for local firms and urban marketing and to develop specialist finalised services for the benefit of the urban organisation and public or private operators (e.g. information on buyers’ behaviour, tourists, use of services, etc.). for a planning design that is not only functionalist, the experiences aimed at recording the emotional relationship of affection and attachment between persons and urban places appear most interesting; the basic concept here is that of “place identity“. the experiences of bio­mapping12 fall into this category and aim at drawing emotional cartographies recording people’s reactions linked to places by means of portable electronic tools. coupling the two technologies gps (global positioning system mobile technology) and gsr (galvanic skin response sensor technology), individual emotional variations are detected and registered on a satellite map. integration and elaboration of a plurality of individual records allow the compilation of collective emotional cartographies; from these it is possible to directly draw up plan proposals or define participatory planning process paths. anyway, all of this can be seen essentially as an evolution enriched with technology applications of k. lynch’s studies on the human perception of the city. these systems, when related to those concerning the perception of individual impact reviewed supra at point 1, appear to serve a reciprocal function in order to make explicit the urban impact on both the individual (http://www.minteos.com/), winner of the mind the bridge competition 2011, appears very interesting. it is a system of environmental monitoring permitting real­time gathering and elaboration of data provided by a net of wireless sensors distributed over wide natural or urban areas and employed for land and town plans and also to forestall natural and environmental disasters; see also the smart cities platform from libelium, which allows system integrators to monitor noise, pollution, structural health and waste management (http://www.libelium.com/smart_cities/). there are many systems already available and operating. the platform minteos11 see christian nold emotional maps at http://biomapping.net/new.htm.12 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning and the community. and all these systems are grounded on the existence and efficient working of a wide wireless network, designed to create a shared and interconnected urban set and necessary to link projects and initiatives strengthening the connection between interests and needs of the different urban actors. processes of communication transmission may also make use of systems of amplification and intensification of information and messages employing sophisticated technologies of augmented reality13 that allow georeferential localised images and graphs of urban phenomena to be superposed on information from the net of sensors. another important advantage, not to be forgotten, is the reduction of the costs of drawing up the plan entailed by using these systems when fully operational. automatic gathering and provision of the up­to­date reliable data needed by continuous planning cuts survey costs and minimises incertitude levels. 3.3. systems for health protection and for managing safety and emergencies the issues of security and emergency bear increasingly on the urban plan, which, more and more, is being asked to incorporate them in its provisions and interventions particularly when concerning the requalification of existing settlements. making use of specific advanced technologies as well as the network system described above for continuously monitoring the urban set and its parts, steering virtuous behaviours, and adjusting or recalibrating what is planned, the establishment and activation of safety and emergency plans is thus becoming an integral part in the design and implementation of the general urban plan. security is essentially meant as individual and community freedom from danger, risk, or injury at the level of the quarter or other urban part, whilst emergency refers not only to natural catastrophic events but also to sudden dangerous conditions of the urban infrastructure and services (power htpp://www.planningtoplan.net/session­5­back­to­augmented­reality­part­2; http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/xxxviii/part1/10/10_01_paper_106.pdf; http://www.inria.fr/en/innovation/industrial­sectors/energy­transport­sustainable­ development/demos/artefacto­augmented­reality­and­urban­planning; http://nguyendangbinh.ord/proceedings/ismar/2002/papers/ismar_ishii.pdf. with regard to the use of virtual reality systems in urban planning, see e.g.:13 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning blackouts, public transport blockage, waste disposal emergencies, etc.) demanding immediate action. actually, however, reference should be made to the wider concept of dependability more than to the above one of security. the systems in heading not only have to be reliable but must also be seen as such in the eyes of their users in order to optimise and increase their use. this clearly apparent feature of reliability leads people to use the systems they trust. dependability thus becomes a complex characteristic, the synthesis of many attributes such as reliability, maintainability, availability, performability, safety, and security14, which can be translated into practice through the integration of information and telecommunication technologies with the applications of several branches of specific technologies for protecting the territory, the built­up area, and the inhabitants. dependability plays an outstanding role in urban liveability and must be evaluated and applied from the first phases of planning the town system. this category includes the integrated systems and devices for health protection as well as those for the inclusion of people with disabilities and in general of persons potentially or actually at risk of social exclusion. in particular, there is now keen attention to the issue of “city health”, to be understood as “the town for its residents’ health”, read not so much in terms of provision of medical care as in terms of prevention and specific responses to diseases, even with the complexities all this entails, ensured by the settlement organisation itself15, and so tackling the concepts of disease from the perspective of social factors and behaviours induced by the urban structure. the field of new technologies for urban security, regarding in particular those systems and devices to combat crimes against property and persons (aggression, terrorist attack, theft, extortion, kidnapping, etc.), presents ambiguous interpretations and critical applications. in various writings stephen graham (see references below) points out that this attention to security and the corresponding growth trend of these urban laprie, and brian randell, fundamental concepts of dependability. http://www.cert.org/research/isw/isw2000/papers/56.pdf. on the concept of dependability see algirdas avižienis, vytautas magnus u. kaunas, jean­claude14 built environment see the interesting exhibition “imperfect health. the medicalization of architecture” by the canadian centre for architecture, montreal, http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/1538­imperfect­health. on the difficult issue of the uncertainties and contradictions in the idea of health in relation with the15 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning technologies, in both rich countries and poor ones, corresponds in fact to an insidious process of urban militarisation. in the sense that the centralised use of these pervasive technologies actually conveys systems of social exclusion, segregation, racism, political discrimination to defend the interests of dominant groups and classes. the poor and the disordered are excluded, as well as minorities, non­state actors, social movements, and other struggles. indeed these systems are used against them to build the city of the rich or the “revanchist city”. the new security technologies become an instrument of social control, separation, and marginalisation, which is also in evidence in the physical organisation of the city16; in this way the conditions of real colonial war, fought in the same city in terms different from conventional ones but with similar aspects and results, are gradually being created. the survey work described here moves along the opposite direction to the discriminatory use of new technologies highlighted by graham. the basic approach of the investigation is precisely the study of the potential of social inclusiveness in the application and management of these technologies. the goal is stated in the title: the examination of the characters and contexts of application of these technologies to contribute to the development of democracy in urban planning. there is a good chance that this will happen; graham is also optimistic about the enlargement of the social context, in particular with regard to access to these technologies by social movements and communities: “there is a politics of data and of digital information in the city expressing the need for robust, democratically organised social movements to really harness these technologies in their full range”17. walls, fences and barriers with biometric scanning. it adds killer robots and cyborg insects to the revitalising sciences of urban fortification and ‘control architecture’. and it blurs globe­ straddling attempts to track people, information, money and trade to a proliferation of more or less militarized or securitized camps, bases, security zones and enclaves. many of these, however – far from being split­off from the world – are linked together through the very circulations and infrastructures that make neoliberal globalization possible” – from s. graham, the new military urbanism, in nonkilling geography, edited by james tyner and joshua inwood, center for global nonkilling, 2011, http://nonkilling.org/pdf/nkgeo.pdf. “… rather than castles, city walls and siege warfare, however, the new military urbanism combines16 urban militarism: excluding the “disordered”, s. graham interviewed by vijay nagaraj, 1317 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning 3.4. other systems for direct involvement of the residents in local urban planning: the case of energy and the new energy technologies under point 2 above, after listing three levels of local approach to “city smartness”, mention was made of a fourth one, with which we shall now deal. this fourth level is reached when participation takes the form of residents’ property or joint property with local authorities and infrastructures and plants serving quarters, districts, or other urban parts. the most advanced implementation line consists in the establishment of comprehensive (inclusive) structures of an entrepreneurial kind, similar in many ways to public companies, in which the inhabitant or partner, bearing on the administration of the service, plays at the same time the roles of owner, producer, and user and is thus compelled to reconcile social, economic, and environmental interests which usually conflict when these roles are played by separate actors. the energy sector proves particularly suitable for this approach; in denmark for example a relevant share of the overall energy system is covered by residents’ co­operatives, also established thanks to specific national support policies18, ensuring relevant social, environmental, and economic benefits to both the individual partners and their local communities. it has to be said that two evolving systemic drives are converging on the development of energy localism and its role in the reorganisation processes of settlement: on the one hand the increasing decentralisation of legal jurisdiction and powers, which is reaching the matters of energy and the environment; on the other the development of the process of liberalisation and privatisation of the energy markets. this second drive is countering the traditional monopolistic­centralist model of national energy systems. proposing wider and distributed new systems tendentially promoting the local context in their operational planning and therefore modifying the relationship between energy and territory, this opens an important new potential to the local plan. 13 september 2011, http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/vijay­nagaraj/urban­militarism­ excluding­disordered. see http://dbdh.dk/images/uploads/pdf­key­articles/best­practice­in­danish­district­heating.pdf.18 vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning in many countries the opportunities offered by these changes are being taken by several local communities, on the initiative of far­seeing local authorities or groups of residents. experiences are even at an advanced stage in some northern european states. especially suitable for the development of these local participatory initiatives are the new technologies of rational use of energy (rue) and renewable energy sources (res), in particular the systems for district heating and cooling by combined heat and power generation from traditional and renewable sources (biomass, urban solid waste, etc.), the small­scale combined heat and power generation plants (micro­cogeneration), and wind, thermal solar and photovoltaic power production systems as well as the recent “smart grids” using more or less complex ict systems for optimal on­time matching of the fluctuating energy demand with the energy supply from a mix (depending on the different particular circumstances) of carbon and renewable sources. by installing these technologies, by the way, the residents’ participatory initiatives mentioned before can obtain additional income for their proceeds from energy generation through the sale of the white and green certificates or other negotiable titles obtainable by their low­impact plants. all this highlights at least three points having relevant importance in the plan and project of a smart city: ­ the inhabitants directly contribute to modifying their behaviours as regards urban sustainability through their choice of efficient technological applications of low environmental impact. they are led in this direction by the conformation itself of the planned city. the inhabitants can also participate financially in planning the town, or parts of it, and in implementing what is planned. moving beyond the logic of immediate profit maximisation, at least part of the income from their sales of energy and related services may be allocated to interventions for the enhancement of urban quality (e.g. parks, social housing, etc.) and reduction of global urban impact. energy efficiency and environmental compatibility, both typical of these applications, may be considered ribs of the urban plan, that is, structural values for the pursuance of urban development and settlement requalification within the logic of collimating energy ­ ­ vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 22 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning 4. conclusions the survey and the previous elaborations suggest some preliminary conclusions: demand and supply exactly on those ribs. since setting out the plan, these new systems may be taken as the basis for establishing the energy basin or district, the functional mix, the dimensions of intervention, and the whole urban physical and functional organisation. ­ the widespread application of advanced technologies characterises the visions of the future of the city (smart city); this setting directly and indirectly affects the physical and functional organisation of the city, but can also be a formidable factor in the evolution of the form and content of urban planning in terms of the advancement of participatory democracy. this prospect of redefining the plan is based on some structural features of these technologies that are pervasive, embedded, and inclusive, facilitating the insertion of the individual in participatory processes and urban management. in the configuration of the new directions of the plan, however, resistance to innovation must be overcome and some problematic elements that characterise the traditional approach to urban planning must be dealt with, including: ­ ­ the modification of current approaches concerning the cultural foreclosure of technology in planning; technology should be one of the cornerstones of contemporary plans; the idea of the smart city is not in line with the a­technological plan, and vice versa, the latter does not lead to the smart city. ­ the consideration that the massive introduction of new technologies in the city should serve not only to improve quality of life and the efficient use of resources but also to promote socio­economic development; new technologies in planning as engines of local development and competitiveness. ­ ­ the incorporation of advanced governance in devolution of powers and participatory processes; technology shapes the new plan not only vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 23 de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning in content but also in the process of preparing as regards information, training, communication, decision­making procedures, and so on. the addressing of physical and functional organisation of the city to encourage and accompany virtuous behaviour of people (behavioural planning); not making the city conform to the behaviour of the inhabitants, but planning the city to generate the behaviour. the acquisition of the dynamic value of the plan produced by the dialectic convergence of two operational directions (bottom­up and top­ down) and the two fields of intervention (large scale and small scale). ­ ­ the facilitation of change within the framework of the actors of urban transformations giving roles to new entrants. in the smart city this opens up the possibility that the traditional interlocutors of the urban plan are at least partially replaced as agents of urban transformation by the producers of advanced technologies and services. the plan must take this opportunity to facilitate innovation and development processes and raise the cultural level of the negotiation. ­ specific fields of technological applications seem to open up interesting possibilities for the development of planning processes in terms of advancement of direct and inclusive participation in planning and urban management; technology application seeks to go beyond the simple role of support to become an integral part of the planning methodology. ­ the widespread urban application of these new technologies, particularly those for security also involves, however, possible misuses in the direction of systems marginalisation, segregation, and discrimination which find evidence in the production of functional and physical organisation of the city; their use in the plan must be considered under the democratic control of the community in terms of inclusiveness and enlarged urban management. ­ advanced technologies, properly implemented, enhance the dynamic and evolutionary value of the plan; the direction is towards the “plan­ process” and “planning by doing”. the dynamic characterisation of the plan is likely to drive the dialectic of city–behaviours and to respond appropriately to the information obtained in real­time. ­ vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 24 references abb smart city. available at: http://www.abb.com/cawp/db0003db002698/145abc3534b16460c12575b300520d8b .aspx http://www.smartgridinternationalforumworkshop.it/wordpress/wp­content/ uploads/2011/06/scalera.pdf http://www.abb.com/cawp/seitp202/541ed1c9c46658f6c12578850024ab5a.aspx amsterdam smart city. available at: http://www.amsterdamsmartcity.nl/#/en avižienis a., vytautas magnus u. kaunas, laprie j. c., randell b. (2000), fundamental concepts of dependability. available at: http://www.cert.org/research/isw/isw2000/papers/56.pdf augmented reality in urban planning. available at: http://www.planningtoplan.net/session­5­back­to­augmented­reality­part­2 http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/xxxviii/part1/10/10_01_paper_106.pdf http://www.inria.fr/en/innovation/industrial­sectors/energy­transport­sustainable­ development/demos/artefacto­augmented­reality­and­urban­planning http://nguyendangbinh.org/proceedings/ismar/2002/papers/ismar_ishii.pdf centre of regional science, vienna ut (2007), smart cities ranking of european medium­sized cities. available at: http://www.smart­cities.eu/download/smart_cities_final_report.pdf oecd (2001), citizens as partners. information, consultation and public participation in policy making, oecd publishing. available at: http://www.ecnl.org/dindocuments/214_oecd_engaging%20citizens%20in%20 policy­making.pdf city of edinburgh council, e­government smart city. available at: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/691/council_performance/967/e­government _smart_city de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 25 de pascali p. (2008), città ed energia. la valenza energetica nell’organizzazione insediativa, franco angeli ed., milano. de pascali p. (ed) (2008), territori della governance, franco angeli ed., milano. district heating in copenhagen. available at: http://dbdh.dk/images/uploads/pdf­diverse/district_heating_in _copenhagen.pdf dubai holding, smartcity – network of opportunities. available at: http://www.smartcity.ae/; http://www.malta.smartcity.ae duany a., speck j., lydon m. (2010), the smart growth manual, mcgraw hill. dyrelund a., steffensen h. (1999), "best practice in danish district heating", in news from dbdh, no. 3. available at: http://dbdh.dk/images/uploads/pdf­key­articles/best­practice­in­danish­district ­heating.pdf emotional maps. available at: http://biomapping.net/new.htm european initiative on smart cities. available at: http://setis.ec.europa.eu/about­setis/technology­roadmap/european­initiative ­on­smart­cities http://ec.europa.eu/energy/technology/initiatives/20110621_smart_cities_conference _en.htm set­plan, the european strategic energy technology plan ­ towards a low­carbon future. available at: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/technology/set_plan/set_plan_en.htm http://setis.ec.europa.eu/activities/project­mapping/smart­grids/ smart%20city.pdf/view?searchterm=smart+city graham s. (2011), "the new military urbanism", in nonkilling geography, edited by j. tyner and j. inwood, center for global nonkilling. available at: http://nonkilling.org/pdf/nkgeo.pdf de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 26 graham s. (2008), the city in the crosshairs: a conversation with steven graham. available at: http://subtopia.blogspot.it/2007/08/city­in­crosshairs­conversation­with.html graham s. (2011), interviewed by vijay nagaraj, urban militarism: excluding the 'disordered', 13 september 2011. available at: http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/vijay­nagaraj/urban­militarism ­excluding­disordered graham s., cities under siege: katrina and the politics of metropolitan america. available at: http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/graham/ gullev l. (2011), heat plan for the capital area of denmark. available at: http://www.e­pages.dk/dbdh/11/ ibm smarter city. available at: http://www­03.ibm.com/innovation/us/thesmartercity/index.shtml?cm_mmc=agus _brsmartcity­20090929­usbrp111­_­p­_­smcityvan­_­smcityvan http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/uk/en/smarter_cities/ideas/index.html?re=spf canadian centre for architecture (2012), imperfect health. the medicalization of architecture, montreal. available at: http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/1538­imperfect­health kista science city – city of stockholm, stockholm summit on service innovation in cities. available at: http://www.amiando.com/livinglabsglobalstockholm.html?page=471396 kochi smart city project. available at: http://www.yoursmartcity.com/ lhyra (2010), smart city governance. una proposta di approccio innovativo e competitivo nella gestione della città. available at: http://www.lhyra.it/download/it/smart%20city%20std%20rel%202.1.pdf matteoli l., pagani r. (2010), cityfutures ­ architettura design tecnologia per il futuro della città, hoepli. de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 27 mckinsey & company (2010), impact of the financial crisis on carbon economics, version 2.1. available at: http://209.172.180.115/clientservice/sustainability/pdf/impact_financial_crisis _carbon_economics_ghgcostcurvev2.1.pdf oracle, oracle's solutions for smart cities. available at: http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/public­sector/smart­cities.htm safecity project, future internet applied to public safety in smart cities. available at: http://www.safecity­project.eu/ siemens smart city. available at: http://www.seai.ie/news_events/previous_seai_events/the_role_of_smart _cities_/liam%20mulligan%20,%20siemens.pdf http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/ pof_fall_2008/gebaeude/vernetzung.htm http://www.usa.siemens.com/sustainable­cities/?tab=green_buildings http://www.usa.siemens.com/sustainable­cities/pdf/smarter­neighborhoods ­smarter­city.pdf forum pa (2011), smart city, progetti e tecnologie per città più intelligenti, forum pa edizioni, march. available at: http://saperi.forumpa.it/story/51416/smart­city­progetti­e­tecnologie­citta ­piu­intelligenti smart city expo world congress, barcelona. available at: http://www.smartcityexpo.com/# smart santander project. available at: http://www.smartsantander.eu/ sustainable management action resource tools for cities. available at: http://www.smart­cities.net/ think (2011), smart cities initiative: how to foster a quick transition towards local sustainable energy systems. available at: http://www.eui.eu/projects/think/documents/thinksmartcitiesreport.pdf de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 28 transition town. available at: http://www.transitionnetwork.org/ http://www.transitionnetwork.org/sites/default/files/ transitioninitiativesprimer(3).pdf http://transitionculture.org/; http://transitiontowns.org.nz/ washburn d., sindhu u. (2010), helping cios understand “smart city” initiatives, forrester. available at: http://www­935.ibm.com/services/us/cio/pdf/forrester_help_cios_smart_city.pdf yasuoka m., ishida t. aurigi a. (2010), the advancement of world digital cities. available at: http://cs.gmu.edu/~jpsousa/classes/895/readings/0933.pdf de pascali ­ technology for democracy in smart city planning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 the importance of indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 34vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 andrea raffaele neri issn: 2239­267x the example of the welsh index of multiple deprivation and the related communities first programme for the italian system. andrearneri@gmail.com msc regeneration studies, school of city and regional planning, cardiff university abstract the massive development of indices of multiple deprivation in the uk has provided new data sets which have helped decision makers in shaping innovative and effective strategies and programmes to tackle local deprivation. territorial planning is one of the more positively affected sectors, together with community regeneration, where the example of the welsh government’s programme, “communities first”, set a new standard of innovation in local government practices. conversely several problems affect the way indices of multiple deprivation are carried out in italy and the way they are deployed. they are mostly developed at the regional level and their use is only related to the health sector. planning and local government systems are still unaware of the potential of a national index of multiple deprivation in their fields, so that the current proposal to create an official national index is backed only by health ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 35vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 introduction deprivation is a wider concept than poverty. the term includes all those aspects which prevent people from having access to the “desirable attributes, possessions and opportunities which are considered no more than the minimum by the society” (coombes et al., 1995, p.5), such as education, good health and so on. since the late 1990s, indices of deprivation have become a fundamental tool to develop spatial plans and deliver regeneration programmes at the neighbourhood scale in many countries. the indicators of deprivation change from country to country because of the different issues and the political influences, and their number tend to increase in time whenever the indices are revised, improving the data set. the release of official rankings of deprivation makes it easier for planners and politicians to assess which areas are more in need of intervention and for what. the related map of deprived areas is a powerful tool of appraisal for planning at the local scale. it shows the need for intervention in local areas either from a spatial planning perspective or in terms of community regeneration. one of the most comprehensive and structured examples is the welsh index of multiple deprivation (welsh government, 2011b). updated and upgraded four times since the first version was released in the year 2000, it has allowed the national government to set a specific programme of intervention, known as communities first, to address the deprivation which affects the most disadvantaged communities with unprecedented geographical precision. communities first, with a new approach to regeneration based on the truly joined­up, bottom­up creation of partnerships between the public, private and third sectors, aimed to encourage the engagement of the communities in the sector bodies. in this paper the need to create a national, cross­ cutting and fully accessible index of multiple deprivation is highlighted by analysing the features of the italian indices published in recent years and comparing them with those far more structured, developed in the uk. neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 36vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 decision process by tapping the potential of the neighbourhood scale of intervention, with many examples of extremely positive outcomes. in italy the attempts to introduce effective regeneration programmes aimed to address deprivation with geographical precision were historically frustrated by the lack of information about the neighbourhood scale. the statistical data sets available were mostly concerned with demographic and economic issues, lacking quality of life indicators. this made the mapping of regeneration areas a matter of questionable and strictly top­down technical or political choice and disconnected from any measure of deprivation. the concept of deprivation itself, in the italian language, is related with issues of health, and since 1999 a number of indices of multiple deprivation were released, but strictly in connection with that sector. from the planners perspective, this use of the indices of multiple deprivation exclusively for the health sector should be perceived as one of the most important causes of ineffectiveness in the regeneration programmes, but in italy the debate on the topic is still in its infancy. another limiting feature of the italian indices is that they are mostly created at the regional level, with a tendency of fragmentation of information. the aim of this paper is to raise the interest of those involved in spatial planning and community regeneration in italy about the application of indices of multiple deprivation, as fundamental tools for strategic analysis, policy making and planning. the methodology of this paper is mostly based on the analysis of case­ oriented literature through qualitative methods, nonetheless elements of secondary quantitative analysis underlie the research, particularly in the evaluation of the most structured indices examined. the most relevant and updated literature about the case study of wales was compared with the italian system and its academic leaders (testi, ivaldi, and busi, 2005; caranci, and costa, 2009; etc.) concluding with suggestions for improvements from comparison (leblanc, 2004 and tashakkori and teddlie, 2009). neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 37vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 indices of multiple deprivation: an overview “deprivation refers to unmet need, which is caused by a lack of resources of all kinds, not just financial.” (university of oxford, 2001, p.4) deprivation and poverty is not the same, although the terms have been used often, and wrongly, interchangeably. poverty is the lack of the financial resources that individuals, families and groups need to satisfy the basic needs of subsistence and social integration (townsend, 1979) while deprivation is a wider concept, concerning the lack of conditions for individuals, families and groups to obtain happiness. people live in poverty if they can’t afford to escape the deprivation (townsend, 1987, p.125). the percentage of people with an income below x% of the median of the population is the acknowledged measure of poverty (european commission, 1996), where the value of the x changes in time and space. on the other hand, deprivation can be analysed with different measures in different perspectives depending on the object of the study (such as the estimates of life expectancy or the prevalence of tobacco use in case of health deprivation; the access to schools and training in case of education and skills deprivation). an index which incorporates different types of deprivation is an index of multiple deprivation where the scores are generated by the weighted combination of the different aspects taken into account. income, a measure of poverty, is also an indicator of multiple deprivation, but many other aspects must be taken into consideration to obtain a measure of the latter. thus, new sets of indicators must be added to income. the choice of the indicators is the centre­piece of the indices and they are drawn up depending on the purpose of collection of information and the nature of the method. referring to the council of europe (2005, p.98) there are three main types of social indicators: quantitative and objective (measurable values, e. g. number of unemployed); qualitative and objective (not measurable but verifiable, e. g. presence or absence of something); qualitative and subjective (e. g. level of satisfaction). the right indicators answer the right questions. therefore, a measure of multiple deprivation neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 38vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 must take into account those features which highly influence the actual life conditions of the population (e. g. the geographical access to services, a central indicator in sparsely occupied areas, may be secondary in dense towns). the choice of the weights as an expression of the importance of an indicator in generating the overall scores must be carefully pondered. the national indices, covering very different scenarios within the same model, set a compromise level between the weight of the domains which have different importance in different situations (as in the above example of geographical access to services). every type of index should always report the source of the data. the most used source is the census, but other sources from specific social and economic groups or different levels of government can be acceptable if reliable. a famous example of index of multiple deprivation is the townsend index of disadvantage and deprivation (townsend, 1987). it was the first one to provide a material measure of multiple deprivation combining four different variables to form the overall score: unemployment, non­car ownership, non­home ownership, household overcrowding. the higher the townsend index, the more deprived an area is thought to be. in time the model has been improved, but the mechanism in which the indices are created is roughly the same. indices of multiple deprivation in the uk: england and wales during the post war years a great number of specific areas of policy indices were released in the uk, particularly concerning education and health. since the 1960s the creation of cross­cutting measures of deprivation at the local scale became a target for central government, but the means that triggered the actual implementation of the project was the availability of electronic databases for the census in the 1980s with the enumeration district of the local areas (university of oxford, 2000b, p.4). new tools to store and process information made possible the development of new indices whose scores were obtained by summing different variables. the first national census to provide a townsend index at the scale of the electoral wards (the census output areas, name later changed in lower super output areas) was the uk census 1991. in the following censuses of 2001 and 2011 the index became more sophisticated, following the changing neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 39vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 social patterns of a changing society, for instance with additional information required in the census about ethnicity. nevertheless, the new areas were not directly targeting deprivation because of various publications: in 1991 the more specific index of local conditions (department of environment, 1991), in 1998 the index of local deprivation (department of environment, transport and regions, 1998) and in 2000 the very comprehensive index of multiple deprivation 2000 for england (university of oxford, 2000a) and the index of multiple deprivation for wales (university of oxford, 2000b). the first scottish index of multiple deprivation was published in 2004 and the northern ireland multiple deprivation measure one year later. the latest version of the english and welsh indices were issued respectively in 2010 and 2011. the english and welsh indices were made up of six domains of deprivation: neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ­ income. ­ employment. ­ health. ­ education, skills and training. ­ housing. ­ geographical access to services. a seventh domain (which did not influence the overall index) of child poverty was included in the overall scores. others were added in time: crime (security in wales) and living environment (physical environment in wales), while the english indices cut the geographical access to services domain. each ward had a score, which allowed the central government, for the first time ever, to have an objective and highly reliable ranking of deprivation of local areas comparable in time. the summary reports of the indices also provided disaggregated data and rankings for each domain. moreover, regional rankings, thematic maps, geographical information systems and local tables were published, contributing to a widespread interest in the indices, all available on the web ( the deprivation map of england is even available on google maps), and providing a sound foundation for regeneration activities at different scales. the indices have had a great relevance in strategic planning at the national scale. particularly the distribution and prioritization of grants and development funding to local authorities and bodies in different sectors has ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 40vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 been highly influenced by the results of the indices. in spatial planning, it has meant more attention for physical renewal or the provision of services and transport in the most deprived areas. it also represented a great opportunity to focus the efforts for community regeneration. it was the last step in a long process of investment in local development. for many decades councils in the uk have increasingly empowered neighbourhoods, a model which inspired also the european union which embraced it since 1988 for the leader programme and the following creation of the local action groups, where the role of ward and youth forums is central (rogers, 2004, p.24). thus both england and wales were ready to set­up ambitious and innovative local regeneration programmes specifically related to the new statistical databases of multiple deprivation, respectively neighbourhood renewal areas and communities first. the english programme was a lot bigger, in terms of the total amount and concentration of resources, in relation to the welsh communities first, but the latter resisted the cuts following the economic recession and it is still a priority in the political agenda of the national government for the next years. neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration figure 1 – distribution of multiple deprivation in england (left) (communities and local government, 2010) and wales (right) (welsh government, 2011b). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 41vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 tapping the potential of the indices of multiple deprivation for regeneration purposes: communities first in wales. the welsh assembly government defined regeneration as the process which: “aims to make sustainable places over time to improve the quality of life of the people who live and work there.” (welsh assembly government, 2010, p. 21) communities first is the long term flagship regeneration programme, established by the welsh assembly government in 2001, to address problems of deprivation and social exclusion in the most deprived wards of the country. it is a remarkable example of a cross­cutting, spatially targeted policy tool whose application is strictly connected with indices of multiple deprivation, since eligibility is based on these scores. originally only the 100 most deprived lower super output areas of statistics of the country (as ranked by the first welsh index of multiple deprivation) were eligible to be included in the programme; over ten years the number almost doubled with the inclusion of new neighbourhoods in the newly updated deprivation rankings of the welsh indices of multiple deprivation 2005 and 2008 and 10 “communities of interest” selected by the welsh assembly government (welsh assembly government, 2006). each of the eligible wards has on average less than 3,000 inhabitants. the typical top­down approach to regeneration, concerned with issues of physical environment improvements, had been formulated with little or no involvement of the people who would be the final consumers of the product, and it substantially failed to trigger lasting community growth, particularly in the most deprived areas (porter and shaw, 2009, p. 6; hackney and sweet, 1990, p. 149). in contrast, communities first has an extremely innovative approach to regeneration, based on joined­up community building. the strategies to undertake the process (community action plans) are community­led and central government action is only concerned with supplying skills and the basic resources to be transferred in loco. in fact communities first often undertook actions of physical transformation of the areas through landmark projects or development strategies. neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 42vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the communities first groups are funded with a basic core fund and the outcomes and trust funds provide additional resources for the delivery of specific projects, meant to encourage efficiency and innovation. the local groups aim also to bend into the area different streams of funding from other public bodies or the private and third sector. communities first works as a magnet of tangible and intangible resources to benefit the most deprived areas where the market and the typical public sector funding failed in doing so the last decades (morgan, k., 2010). the path which has been undertaken is the response of the welsh government to agenda 21 (un, 1992, section 3) in strengthening the role of local and weak groups in sustainable development (welsh government, 2011a). some deprived areas really benefitted from the programme and a number of leading, highly innovative and successful cases have been reported (welsh government, 2011c). the local communities first partnerships could define specific areas of intervention using the welsh index of multiple deprivation as a road map to direct the efforts where it was most needed. the index, which has been updated every few years, also provides objective data to evaluate whether the actions put on place brought tangible advantages in the areas or not. in fact, an important debate is taking place about the time required from a radical regeneration tool like this to bring tangible changes in the figures (public accounts committee, 2010 and hinch and robson, joseph rowntree foundation, 2010), but the many positive outcomes made the welsh government committed to continue and further invest in it after its initial planned end in 2012. indices of multiple deprivation in italy: overview and academic recognition in the italian language, the word deprivazione (or privazione, as suggested by morbelli, 2002, p.8) has the same meaning of the english deprivation, but its usage is substantially different, being focused on issues of medical science or psychology in a narrow concept, for instance regarding the deprivation or privation of sleep or parental care. no direct connection with social needs is attached to the word and deprivation only affects the individual, specifically his health. for this reason, the concept itself of deprivazione multipla really is neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 43vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 difficult to be fully understood in italy. this is because the concept of deprivation narrowly lies on individual and strictly medical issues, so that only medical treatments are remedies to resolve the problem. in fact in italy deprivation is not associated with regeneration which still is mostly regarded in planning practice as a matter of physical improvement. the word itself rigenerazione is mainly used, in town planning jargon, as synonymous with urban renewal, if not specified as sociale to highlight the importance of social aspects, or ambientale for environmental improvement. in the italian language the word lacks of the comprehensive meaning it has in english. many academic voices have been raised lately about the need to widen the concept of regeneration and to work to harmonise the activities which have an influence on it. they roughly are those domains which form the indices of multiple deprivation in the uk, another proof of the intimate links between the indices and regeneration practice. an important claim to acknowledge the importance of intangible factors (environmental gain/loss, satisfaction of the communities etc.) came from the academic world (e.g. della morte, 2010, p.1) but specific measures to include them into the decision making progress were developed only for feasibility studies (such as valutazione di impatto ambientale, environmental impact evaluation, or valutazione ambientale strategica, environmental strategic evaluation) and ex post evaluations. the strategic decision processes on the other hand cannot use qualitative indicators to establish comprehensive regeneration programmes because indices and rankings are not provided, making the decisions strictly a matter of political or technical choice. the responsibility for this situation lay with the static approach of academic teachings and the professional planning bodies. as a proof of that, important examples of indices of multiple deprivation already exist in italy, as explained in detail in the section on italian case studies of indices of multiple deprivation, but they are completely ignored for spatial planning and regeneration purposes. potential of indices of multiple deprivation in spatial planning in italy the system of spatial planning in italy would undoubtedly benefit from the neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 44vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 use of indices of multiple deprivation. the traditional system of spatial planning in italy has not developed adequate tools to understand the needs of deprived areas and how to meet them effectively. the improvements made in recent years in the participative systems included in the plan making processes cannot overcome a fundamental problem: the absence of official measures of deprivation able to demonstrate, on an objective basis, the importance of effecting certain actions in certain areas rather than others. although the involvement of local people is vital to develop the plans on solid grounds, it does not provide comparative data on supra­local scale to prioritize the use of the limited resources. for that use it is essential to have an index of multiple deprivation as a strategic analysis tool. just a few examples: a map of "educational deprivation", which takes into account the presence of illiteracy, the percentage of population holding higher educational qualifications, etc. would help the efficient location of new school facilities; a map of health deprivation would emphasize the need to prefer some areas for the location of new hospitals, sports fields, parks etc. the same applies to any other domain of deprivation included in the indices. a tool such as the index of multiple deprivation that takes into account simultaneously the different indicators is a scan of the local area. it allows the planner to have the pulse of the problems affecting the area on an objective basis in comparison with all other points of reference, usually on a national scale but, as in many italian cases, even at regional or provincial levels. the use of indices of multiple deprivation in spatial planning in italy would be even more beneficial if associated with community regeneration on a regular basis. in fact, its advantages would not be limited to planning, as in the examples cited above, but also to the management of the plans. the example of the welsh communities first is illuminating. the index in this case is first used to select the areas on which to intervene by establishing specialist regeneration teams, and then to direct their efforts to those specific points in the area which show greatest difficulties. a simple example will help to show the usefulness of inserting regeneration projects in deprived areas: the mere creation of a public park for the purpose of improving environmental and social conditions is not enough, it does not entail an automatic success if the people are not taught to care and to fully exploit its potential. to this end it is important that communities, particularly neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 45vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the most deprived, are guided in an inclusive process of enhancement of their social capital. unfortunately, because of the nature of zoning in italian spatial planning, initiatives comparable with communities first would not have the strength to develop comprehensive spatial transformations on their own. italian case studies of indices of multiple deprivation two indices of multiple deprivation have been created at the national scale in italy, both coming from pioneering attempts which scarcely resonated outside a few academic circles and regional bodies. at this point, the implementation of indices of deprivation at the regional level and the proposals to create a national database in italy come from the regional health agencies and the debate is not having any contribution from other areas, such as town planning, housing etc. the italian indices of multiple deprivation have two main features: fragmentation and sectorialism. fragmentation in this case is the process of regionalization of the development of indices of multiple deprivation followed the increased devolution of powers to that level of government. the positive aspect of fragmentation is that regions had the opportunity to create their own databases of local information. the most negative aspect is the lack of coordination with other bodies in the choice of the indicators, which makes really difficult, if not impossible, the comparison between national and supranational situations and the harmonization of the data into a national database. some attempts have been developed to promote the adoption of a national index, but with little success. sectorialism is the tendency to create indices of multiple deprivation for very narrow and specific uses. because the commitment of these studies comes from specific areas of interest, particularly the health sector, they tend to consider multiple domains of deprivation, but with important bias in the choice of the indicators and weights. in fact, this type of indices of multiple deprivation end up as improved versions of the old indices of x (health, food etc.) deprivation. indices created for specific sectors are commonly less accessible than cross­cutting ones. neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 46vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the first relevant example of an index of multiple deprivation in italy is the indice di deprivazione per l'analisi geografica delle diseguaglianze di mortalità (index of deprivation for the geographical analysis of death rate inequality) developed in 1999 (cadum et al, 1999). for the first time, an index of multiple deprivation was comprehensive, covering all of the more than 8,000 municipalities present in the italian national 1991 census. its aim was to analyse the correlation between the smr (standardized mortality ratios) and local deprivation. six weighted variables composed the index: neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ­ income. ­ unemployment. ­ education. ­ renter occupied housing. ­ presence of indoor bathroom. ­ percentage of single parents with childhood. the analysis was carried out separately for gender and classes of age (over and under 65). the index demonstrated a high correlation between deprivation and rate of mortality and the map resulted clearly showed the disadvantaged situation of the southern regions, islands and alps, particularly in the class of age under 65 and almost irrespective of difference of gender. the principal shortcoming of the index is the scale of the unit of deprivation, which is not the census area but the aggregated municipal unit. this made the results of the index completely meaningless when they concerned the major towns because of the enormous internal disparities the index could not measure. it also wrongly named the classes of deprivation, defining ricco (wealthy) as the opposite of deprived, again forgetting the fact that deprivation does not relate exclusively with income. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 47vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration a new index of deprivation was published in 2008 (caranci et al, 2008; caranci and costa, 2009) to improve the 1999 version and update it using as a source the 2001 census data. it is best known as the caranci index. five indicators compose the index: percentage population with poor education, unemployment, occupied dwellings for rent, percentage of single parents with dependent children, population density. figure 2 – map of multiple deprivation in italy from 1991 census ­ municipalities (cadum et al, 1999). figure 3 – maps of multiple deprivation in italy from 2001 census – municipalities (left) and census units (right) (caranci et al, 2008, pp.23­24). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 48vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the index used the census divisions instead of the municipal aggregated data as deprivation units to increase the detail of information (varying from an average of 7,000 inhabitants per unit to 170) which would make the data for the main metropolitan areas more meaningful. the authors again intended the index to be ancillary to studies of epidemiology, with no contribution from other areas in the choice of the indicators and weights. this is a controversial point, because this choice may have led to an even increased tendency toward sectorialism in the publication of following indices of multiple deprivation in italy. recently two regions, emilia­romagna and marche, speaking as representatives of all the italian regions, jointly put forward to the minister of health the proposal for the implementation of the caranci index all over the national territory and earmarking about 10 percent of the fondo sanitario nazionale (the national health fund) to be distributed using this new reference (quotidiano sanità, 2011a). the proposal was firmly rejected by the former minister of health fazio during a parliamentary hearing because the index of deprivation does not incorporate some indicators (various forms of disability) and weights (for classes of age) which would be fundamental for the effective distribution of the resources in the health sector (quotidiano sanità, 2011b). in the near future, the publication of the census 2011, expected in february 2012, is likely to reopen the debate, given also the change of government and the worsening of the economic scenario. in the last ten years other indices of multiple deprivation have been developed at the regional and sub­regional levels, the provincial level. it became an incremental process where new indicators were added to the basic index of material deprivation (townsend, 1987) to form, at first, the ids ­ indice di deprivazione sociale (index of social deprivation) and, later, the ias ­ indice di area svantaggiata (index of disadvantaged area). the only indicator added to the index of material deprivation to form the ids was the percentage of single parent families with dependent children, while the only indicator added to the ids to form the ias was the index of aging, with a set of variables drawn from the health and care sector. the indicators and variables used are extremely poor in describing social deprivation and the level of disadvantage of the areas, but still they were neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 49vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 used in two regional indices of deprivation. sardinia published in 2006 (minerba and vacca, 2006) the clear and comprehensive results of the application of these three indices, created using census data: neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration figure 4 – indices of deprivation for the analysis of the inequalities between the municipalities of sardinia (minerba and vacca, 2006, p.1). the terminology is slightly more appropriate, naming the less deprived class molto agiato (very well­off) unlike most of the italian indices where it is rendered as ricco (wealthy), but still needs to be improved. the best solution would probably be to simply use the term meno deprivato (less deprived), bearing in mind we are referring to a notion of deprivation relative to the case study to which we benchmark the results and not in absolute terms. the choice to publish three separate indices is motivated by the fact that each of them can be deployed for different uses in different areas. on the other hand it makes the spreading of the knowledge of the indices more difficult and allows the misunderstanding and exploitation of one index or the other for political use. the sardinia case shows how the inclusion or non inclusion of any indicator drastically influences the map of multiple deprivation. the rankings of the three types of deprivation per local area were not published apart for the provincial aggregated results. unfortunately, the lack of central guidance makes the regions uncertain about which kind of index to adopt, or with regard of developing their own models. besides sardinia, piemonte, basilicata and abruzzo preferred to publish an indice di area svantaggiata (index of disadvantaged area) ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 50vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration together with the caranci index, considered synonymous to an index of material deprivation. the case of abruzzo (agenzia sanitaria regionale abruzzo, 2011) is particularly structured, because the index of deprivation proposed for the national use has been applied with no relevant changes for the regional studies, relating epidemiological analysis and local deprivation, while the index of disadvantaged area was implemented independently to include additional data. in this case was avoided a duplication of efforts and costs, making the most of what was already available. again, no rankings of local deprivation were published. figure 5 – abruzzo: index of deprivation (left) and index of disadvantaged area (right) (agenzia sanitaria regionale abruzzo, 2011, p. 6). this brief overview of italian examples concludes with two indices proposed in the region of liguria which reinforced the current trend of considering deprivation mostly as an auxiliary to the mortality/diseases rates analysis. the first is the index of multiple deprivation for the province of savona (lillini et al, 2005) published by the mortality registry of the liguria region. the index was created to verify the correlation between local deprivation and mortality rate. although the area of interest of the study was the same of the cadum’s index (cadum et al, 1999) there is no mention of this or any comparison with its results. eight variables were chosen within two main indicators (population and dwellings). no rankings were released and a number of flaws in the terminology used were the same as already stressed in the above examples. this study might have had relevance for specific purposes, but fragmentation and sectorialism lowered its potential. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 51vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration figure 6 – index of multiple deprivation for the province of savona (lillini et al, 2005, p.13). the second is the index of deprivation for the municipality of genoa (testi, ivaldi and busi, 2004, part 2). the authors aimed to set an index of material deprivation (where issues of demographic or ethnic minorities are not taken into account, as the authors specified, p.8) on the model of townsend (townsend, 1987) but updating the indicators and changing them in response of features of contemporary italian society. for instance, indicators like “car ownership” or “social class” were not taken into consideration, for they were deemed outdated. moreover, the study incorporated the indice di deprivazione per l'analisi geografica delle diseguaglianze di mortalità (cadum et al 1999) we analysed above in the choice of the indicators. the statistical units were the unità urbanistiche, another name for the census units, 71 areas averaging around 9,500 inhabitants. four indicators were selected: a) unemployment, b) housing ownership, c) overcrowding, d) education level. six classes of deprivation were identified and a ranking table of the local areas score against the index was included, the only case in italy where only maps of deprivation are commonly published. but the choice of the terminology for the classes was not appropriate and the set of indicators could be improved, but in this case the british example was followed faithfully in the presentation of the results organized in ranking tables. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 52vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration figure 7 – index of deprivation for genoa, deprivation map (testi, ivaldi and busi, 2004, besides the publication of these local indices, the regione liguria developed a comprehensive study of the relations between local strategic programmes (programmi organici d’intervento, contratti di quartiere, 20,000 alloggi) and the property market based on the study above, but it was kept for internal use. this practice was not an isolated initiative, because until a few years ago most of the mediterranean countries were still quite reluctant to accept the idea of publishing the results in “official rankings” of neighbourhood deprivation fearing the stigmatization of the most disadvantaged areas and causing clamour which would have had political influence. see the illustrative case of the index of multiple deprivation developed by the generalitat valenciana, spain (cristoforetti and ghiara, 2006, p.111). conclusions: recommendations for the italian indices during the last decades, the uk developed very comprehensive and precise indices of multiple deprivation, one for each nation which compose the country. they are central and essential tools for spatial and strategic planning. their use has a crucial importance in the management of communities and local government, but it also demonstrated great relevance in different sectors, such as health, community safety and so on. the use of the same indicators for the whole nations and their stability throughout the regularly updated versions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 53vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration of the indices provide reliable comparisons in time and space. finally the awareness of the features of the indices is spread well over academia and it is matter of debate in most of the local areas. the use of easily accessible public rankings and maps help this process. spatial planning bodies deployed the tool to efficiently select and prioritize their actions in response of the real needs of the population. a remarkable example of application of an index of multiple deprivation in community regeneration is communities first, the welsh government programme specifically designed to address problems of community deprivation and social exclusion in wales. conversely, in italy, the process has been sluggish and confused. from the comparison between the uk indices of multiple deprivation and those published in italy it is possible to highlight a number of important flaws in the way the latter are conceived and presented. the underlying problem of the narrow meaning of the words deprivation and regeneration in the italian language adversely influences the quality and scope of the italian indices. to overcome the problem the first step is to gain a full academic recognition of it. the official documents also should use the terms more carefully, avoiding the mismatching between deprivation and poverty. moreover, a wider conception of regeneration would make clear the need for indices of multiple deprivation for community building purposes, including, for instance, the activities of local councils, planning bodies and housing associations. in italy the lacuna in the availability of qualitative data for ex ante operations concerning deprivation has been questionably filled in some regional and sub­regional attempts to create indices of local multiple deprivation. they were important initiatives, but the problem of fragmentation makes the achievements less valuable: duplication of data led to waste of time and resources and mismatching in the choice of indicators and terminology makes difficult any harmonization of the outputs. the caranci index is the only one ever applied at the national scale giving a measure of neighbourhood multiple deprivation, but it was not backed by the national authorities. thus the experimental phase should come to an end giving space to a more mature standardization and stabilization of the indices. the only way to achieve it is to create a national index of multiple deprivation completely ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 54vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration managed by national bodies. the national institute for statistics (istat), which already is responsible for the collection of the census data, would arguably be the most appropriate for this task. to resolve the problem of the sectorialism in the italian indices, the only means is to make more professional bodies and groups (other than those operating in the health sector) participate in the choice of the indicators and weights. they also have to take the indices into consideration as essential tools for strategic planning. one of the many results of the publication of indices must clearly be the earmarking of resources for the areas found most in need. the rejected proposal by the regions to the national government to allocate 10% of the national health fund to deprived areas was a good example of that, and a similar approach should be adopted in other sectors like housing, urban design, cultural activities, etc. accessibility to the indices must be drastically improved to make them effectively available through specific websites, interactive maps and other relevant technological means. the rationale is to spread awareness, knowledge and debate about them. for this reason official rankings should be published, providing at the same time action plans to help the deprived areas to improve their status, with a long term support from the national government bodies regardless of the political interests. the findings of this paper underline the fact that to achieve all these points it will be fundamental that key bodies at the national level (politicians first) commit themselves to put a national index of multiple deprivation and comprehensive regeneration programmes in place, following the example of the uk and welsh governments and many of their professional bodies. italian regional and local representatives together with spatial planning and regeneration professional bodies, on the other hand, should organize the debate and frame specific programmes to deploy the index in the most effective way, contributing at the same time to show what would be the potential of the tool. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 55vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration appendix some suggestions for the construction of an index of multiple deprivation in italy based on the bes project which can be useful for planning purposes. the bes project (benessere equo e solidale project, fair and supportive well­being project), started in june 2012, aims to provide measures of well­ being (including issues of inequality and sustainability) able to overcome the narrow conception of gdp (misure del benessere, 2012). the public institutions which promoted the initiative are istat and cnel, the most relevant ones in the fields, respectively, of statistics and economy at the national level. at this stage they provided the framework, the research itself is still being undertaken and some data gathered. it has the form of a index with 12 domains and 134 indicators. the units of statistics are mostly regions, but the framework is really innovative for italy and applicable as a index of non­ deprivation. finally it is important to highlight the remarkable variety of sources of data. the national institution for statistics istat will not be the only source for ministries and institutions operating in environmental, economic and social research (not only in the public sector but also ngos) will provide specific data for the project. follows the full list of domains and indicators (for every indicator is clearly expressed the source of the data, the periodicity, the scale of the statistic, the variables used and the rationale for it in the bes website, misure del benessere, 2012): 1. environment 1 ­ drinking water. 2 ­ water quality in coastal areas. 3 ­ quality of the air in urban areas. 4 ­ urban green areas. 5 ­ areas with hydrological problems. 6 ­ contaminated sites. 7 ­ terrestrial protected areas. 8 ­ marine protected areas. 9 ­ areas of outstanding natural beauty. 10 ­ loss of biodiversity worries. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 56vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration 11 ­ flows of matter. 12 ­ energy from renewable sources. 13 ­ emissions of co2 and other climate­altering gases. 2. health 1 ­ life expectancy at birth. 2 ­ life in good health expectancy. 3 ­ index of physical state. 4 ­ index of psychological state. 5 ­ infant mortality rate. 6 ­ standardized mortality rate for accidents of transport. 7 ­ standardized mortality rate for cancer. 8 ­ standardized mortality for dementia and related diseases. 9 ­ life expectancy without limitations in the everyday activities aged 65. 10 ­ overweight. 11 ­ smoke. 12 ­ alcohol. 13 ­ sedentary lifestyle. 14 ­ diet. 3. economic well­being 1 ­ average disposable income per capita adjusted (comprehensive of in kind services). 2 ­ index of inequality of disposable income. 3 ­ index of risk of relative poverty. 4 ­ average per capita net wealth. 5 ­ index of financial vulnerability. 6 ­ index of absolute poverty. 7 ­ index of severe material deprivation. 8 ­ index of housing quality. 9 ­ index of subjective assessment of economic difficulty. 10 ­ incidence of individuals living in households with no employed. (additional indicator proposed: index of children deprivation). 4. education and training 1 ­ participation rate in pre­primary school. 2 ­ proportion of people aged 25­64 with at least a high school diploma. 3 ­ proportion of people aged 30­34 who have completed a university degree. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 57vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration 4 ­ rate of early exit from the system of education and training. 5 ­ proportion of young people who don’t work nor study. 6 ­ people aged 25­64 who participate in education and training activities. 7 ­ level of literacy of students. 8 ­ proportion of people with high levels of computer competence. 9 ­ synthetic indicator of the level of cultural participation. 5. work/life 1 ­ employment rate of people aged 25­64. 2 ­ work non­participation rate. 3 ­ percentage of changes in the course of one year from unstable jobs to stable jobs. 4 ­ percentage of employed in short­term jobs for at least 5 years. 5 ­ incidence of low­wage employees. 6 ­ incidence of under­educated employees. 7 ­ incidence of over­educated employees. 8 ­ rate of fatal accidents and permanent inability. 9 ­ relationship between the employment rate for women 25­49 years old with children under school age and women without children. 10 ­ asymmetry index of family labour. 11 ­ percentage of population aged 15­64 that does more than 60 hours per week of paid work and / or domestic. 12 ­ percentage of employees covered by second level collective contracting. 13 ­ rate of employees working in a company where there is union representation. 14 ­ perception of insecurity in the employment. 15 ­ satisfaction for the work done. 6. social relations 1 ­ social participation. 2 ­ generalized trust. 3 ­ ngos per 10,000 residents. 4 ­ social cooperatives per 10,000 residents. 5 ­ valunteering activity. 6 ­ free assistance given. 7 ­ financing of associations. 8 ­ satisfaction for the family relations. 9 ­ satisfaction for the friendship relations. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 58vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration 10 ­ people you can count on. 11 ­ fun activities for children from 3 to 10 years conducted with parents. 7. safety 1 ­ homicide rate. 2 ­ burglary rate. 3 ­ rate of pickpocketing. 4 ­ robbery rate. 5 ­ physical violence rate. 6 ­ raping rate. 7 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who feel safe walking alone in the dark areas where they live. 8 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who are worried (very or fairly) to experience a sexual assault. 9 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who have been afraid of being subjected to an offense in the last 12 months. 10 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who often see elements of social and environmental degradation in the area where you live. 11 ­ rate of domestic violence on women. 8. subjective well­being 1 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who have expressed a satisfaction score for the life of between 8 and 10. 2 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who declares very satisfied with leisure. 3 ­ percentage of people aged 14 and over who consider their personal situation will improve over the next 5 years. 9. landscape and cultural heritage 1 ­ relevance of cultural heritage. 2 ­ current public municipal expenditure per capita used in the management of cultural heritage (museums, libraries and art galleries). 3 ­ rate of illegal building. 4 ­ rate of urbanization in protected areas. 5 ­ erosion of the countryside from urban sprawl. 6 ­ erosion of the countryside by abandoning. 7 ­ presence of historical rural landscapes. 8 ­ assessment the quality of rural development programming (rdp ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 59vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration regional) in protecting of the landscape. 9 ­ density of historic urban parks of significant public interest. 10 ­ consistency of the historic urban fabric. 11 ­ people not satisfied with the quality of the landscape of the place where they live. 12 ­ concern about the deterioration of the landscape values. 10. research and innovation 1 ­ intensity of research. 2 ­ propensity to patent. 3 ­ incidence of knowledge workers on employment. 4 ­ rate of innovation in the production system. 5 ­ rate of innovation in the services/products in the national productive system. 6 ­ production specialization in knowledge intensive sectors. 7 ­ intensity in the use of internet. 11. quality of the services 1 ­ index of accessibility to hospitals providing emergency services. 2 ­ beds in nursing homes and hospitals. 3 ­ waiting lists. 4 ­ percentage of regional population served by natural gas. 5 ­ separate collection of municipal waste. 6 ­ synthetic index of accessibility to some services (schools, police stations etc). 7 ­ density of urban public transport networks. 8 ­ index of accessibility of transport networks. 9 ­ percentage of charged users of children services. 10 ­ percentage of elders in integrated home care service. 11 ­ index of the overcrowding of prisons. 12 ­ disruptions in the water supply. 13 ­ use of landfills. 14 ­ disruptions in the electric service. 15 ­ time dedicated to mobility. 12. politics and istitutions 1 ­ voter turnout. 2 ­ civic and political participation. 3 ­ trust in the italian parliament. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 60vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration 4 ­ confidence in the justice system. 5 ­ trust in parties. 6 ­ trust in local institutions. 7 ­ trust in other types of institutions. 8 ­ women and political representation in the parliament. 9 ­ women and political representation at the local level. 10 ­ women in decision­making bodies. 11 ­ women on board of listed companies. 12 ­ median age of italian members of the parliament. 13 ­ length of civil proceedings in ordinary cognition of the first and second degree. most of the domains and indicators above strictly relate with spatial planning, for they provide a very comprehensive description of reality (and the perception of it). nonetheless, in a country where zoning is still formally the main instrument of planning, we believe that the addiction of a couple of indicators in the domain 9. landscape and cultural heritage would be helpful to give the pulse of spatial planning problems in italy. they are: ­ land subject to planning (expressed as the ratio of planned surface area on the total surface area). ­ implementation of the planning obligations/standards (expressed as the ratio of surface area where planning obligations/standards were implemented on the total of the planned surface area). we would also suggest to add two more indicators still related with spatial planning. 1 ­ environmentally friendly modes of transport (in domain 11. quality of services), measuring the level of walkability/cyclability of the areas. it would take the form of an index composed by at least 6 indicators around the two variables of ‘quality walking routes’ and ‘quality cycling routes’, both examined in terms of meters on the total road extension, people’s perception of the quality and people usage for their mobility and leisure. 2 ­ index of urban innovation (in domain 10. research and innovation). a descriptive index of the ability of cities to evolve over time in response to the needs of new generations, ensuring development and ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 61vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration connection with the nodes of the national/global economy. the indicators would be economic (of flux, in addition to static ones expressed in domain 3, expressed as the percentage of gdp originating from exchanges with outside areas), landscape (the ability to visually convey a sense of modernity while safeguarding the historical values, expressed as the number of physical interventions quality in the recent x years on the total) and social (perception of the degree of modernity and connectivity of urban areas, expressed as the percentage of people satisfied with the degree of modernity and connectivity of where they live on the total population). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 62vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 references agenzia sanitara regionale abruzzo (2011), l’epidemiologia geografica comunale ­ territoriale: ambiente, qualità della vita, salute e sanità federale, available at: http://sanitab.regione.abruzzo.it/osservatorio/l'epidemiologia%20territoriale%20d'abru zzo.pdf> ( accessed 16 december 2011). cadum, e. et al (1999), "deprivazione e mortalità: un indice di deprivazione per l’analisi delle disuguaglianze su base geografica", in epidemiologia e prevenzione n. 23, 175 ­ 87. caranci, n.et al (2010), "l’indice di deprivazione italiano a livello di sezione di censimento: definizione, descrizione e associazione con la mortalità", in epidemiologia e prevenzione n.34 (4) 167 ­ 76. caranci, n. and costa, g. (2009), un indice di deprivazione a livello aggregato da utilizzare su scala nazionale: giustificazioni e composizione, available at: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/scheda_rivista.aspx?idarticolo=35597 (accessed 22 november 2011) caranci, n. et al (2008), verso un indice di deprivazione a livello aggregato da utilizzare su scala nazionale: giustificazione e composizione dell’indice 2001, convegno aie metodi e strumenti per la misura delle disuguaglianze, roma 15­16 maggio 2008. communities and local government (2011), the english indices of multiple deprivation 2010: neighbourhoods statistical release. connolly, c. and chisholm, m. (1999), "the use of indicators for targeting public expenditure: the index of local deprivation", in environment and planning c: government and policy 17(4) 463 – 482. coombes et al. (1995), towards an index of deprivation: a review of alternative approaches, part 1, department of environment. council of europe (2005), social cohesion indicators: methodological guide, council of europe. cristoforetti, g. and ghiara, h. (2006), governance, valutazione delle politiche e gestione dei conflitti. linee guida per la costruzione di un centro di valutazione terittoriale e urban center di seconda generazione, alinea editrice. neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 63vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 della morte, p. (2010), dall'economia dell'informazione all'economia della conoscenza: il ruolo della partecipazione nei processi di rigenerazione urbana, available at <http://www.inter­net.it/aisre/minisito/cd2011/pendrive/paper/dellamorte.pdf> (accessed 9 december 2012). department of the environment (1991), index of local conditions. department of environment, transport and regions (1998), index of local deprivation ­ summary. department of environment, transport and regions (2000), indices of deprivation 2000. european commission (1996), first report on economic and social cohesion. figari, f. (2005), "multiple deprivation in italy: longitudinal evidence and comparison to european countries", in società italiana di economia pubblica. grasswick, h. (2011), feminist epistemology and philosophy of science: power in knowledge, springer. hackney, r. and sweet, f. (1990), the good, the bad and the ugly: cities in crisis, f. muller. hinch, s. and robson, b. (2010), regenerating communities first neighbourhood in wales, joseph rowntree foundation. hungtington, r. (2008), the nanny state, artnik. leblanc, d. c. (2004), statistics: concept and applications for science, jones&bartlett learning. lillini, r. et al (2005), costruzione di un indice di deprivazione socio­economica per la provincia di savona, istituto nazionale di ricerca sul cancro; available at: <http://www.ambienteinliguria.it/eco3/dts_generale/20080805/4_stato%20di%20s alute%20e%20deprivazione%20in%20provincia%20di%20savona.pdf> (accessed 12 december 2011). minerba, l. and vacca, d. (2006), gli indici di deprivazione per l’analisi delle disuguaglianze tra i comuni della sardegna, istituto nazionale di statistica. morbelli, g. (2002), rigenerare la città: obsolescenza e rinnovo dei tessuti urbani in gran bretagna, dalle leggi sanitarie all'approccio immobiliarista: un profilo sinottico, alinea editrice. neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 64vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 morgan, k. (2010), communities first: a community­led regeneratioin strategy?, lecture handbook, cardiff university. neri, a. r. (2011), linking participation and funding: exploring the contribution of communities first to the regeneration of the welsh valleys. the example of six bells and other partnerships in the ebbw fach valley, blaenau gwent, msc dissertation, cardiff university 2010­11. noble, m. et al (2000), welsh index of multiple deprivation 2000, the national assembly for wales. openshaw, s., sforzi, f. and wymer, c. (1985), a multivariate classification of individual households census data for italy, papers in regional science, vol. 58 (1) 113 ­ 25. porter, l. and shaw, k. (2009), whose urban renaissance?: an international comparison of urban regeneration strategies, taylor & francis. public accounts committee (2010), communities first, national assembly for wales. putnam, r. d., leonardi, r. and nanetti, r. (1994), making democracy work: civic traditions in modern italy, princeton university press. quotidiano sanità (2011a), deprivazione in quota minima: in serata arriva la proposta di emilia romagna e marche, online 8 febbraio 2011, available at: http://www.quotidianosanita.it/regioni­e­asl/articolo.php?approfondimento_id=697 (accessed 16 december 2011). quotidiano sanità (2001b), riparto fsn. fazio: l’indice di deprivazione rischia di premiare l’inappropriatezza, online 9 marzo 2011, available at: http://www.quotidianosanita.it/governo­e­parlamento/articolo.php?articolo_id=3177 (accessed 16 december 2011). rogers, b. (2004), reinventing the town hall: a handbook, institute for public policy research. tashakkori, a. and teddlie, c. (2009), foundation of mixed methods research: integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioural sciences, sage. testi, a., ivaldi, e. and busi, a. (2004), an index of geographical deprivation for geographical areas, available at: <http://www.diem.unige.it/23.pdf> (accessed 28 november 2011) testi, a., ivaldi, e. and busi, a. (2005), caratteristiche e potenzialità neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 65vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 informative degli indici di deprivazione, tendenze nuove. townsend, p. (1987), "deprivation", in journal of social policy, cambridge university press. townsend, p., phillimore, p. and beattie, a. (1988), health and deprivation: inequality in the north, routeledge. townsend, p., (1979), poverty in the united kingdom, penguin. united nations (1992), earth summit, agenda 21, the un programme of action from rio. university of oxford, department of social policy and social work (2000a), index of multiple deprivation 2000. university of oxford, department of social policy and social work (2000b), index of multiple deprivation for wales: final report. university of oxford, department of social policy and social work (2001), measures of deprivation in northern ireland. welsh assembly government (2006), communities first: a 2001 baseline. welsh assembly government (2010), framework for regeneration areas. welsh government (2011c), making the difference: good practice in communities first. welsh government (2011a), one wales: one planet. welsh government (2011b), welsh index of multiple deprivation 2011, summary report. web references http://asr.regione.emilia­romagna.it/ http://www.communities­first.org/ http://dizionari.hoepli.it/ http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rur/leaderplus/ http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/ http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ http://www.istat.it/ http://www.misuredelbenessere.it/ http://sanitab.regione.abruzzo.it/ http://wales.gov.uk/ neri ­ indices of multiple deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration is there need for strategic environmental assessment to improve the quality of planning decisions? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 77 alessandro rinaldi issn: 2239­267x phd student dipartimento di pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura ­ sapienza università di roma abstract this paper summarizes an early part of a wider research project on decision making and strategic environmental assessment (sea) processes. the screening phase of ea has been explored very little even though it represents the starting point of decision making about sea. activities in the lazio and veneto regions were investigated and evaluated. this study highlighted that generally neither lazio nor veneto subjected their plans and programmes to sea. this tendency is also confirmed in cases where many critical elements exist and also when some relevant institutional opinions have certified the need for evaluation. the results reveal that, in this way, strategic environmental assessment appears as a planning tool which is considered marginal for sustainable development aims. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 a study of the early stages of sea in the lazio and venetoregions. via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy – alessandro.rinaldi@uniroma1.it ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 78 introduction this paper summarizes a part of a wider research project on decision making and strategic environmental assessment (sea) processes. the aim is to understand administrative behaviour in relation to sea. for this reason, the screening phase and the relative decisions enacted by two regions, lazio and veneto, were analyzed. both lazio and veneto have subjected a very limited number of plans to sea. this aspect is also confirmed in cases where many critical elements exist, and also when some relevant institutional opinions have certified the need for evaluation. the sea was introduced in the european union in 2001 with the directive 2001/42/ec. however, many sea researches have arisen before 2001. at the beginning, a group of scholars focused on decision making within the sea process (kørnøv and thissen, 2000; nilsson and dalkmann, 2001; nitz and brown, 2001). from these studies has derived the current debate on effectiveness of sea (cashmore et al., 2004, 2010; herrera, 2007; hilding­rydevik and bjarnadóttir, 2007; jha­takur et al., 2009; kontic and kontic, 2012; retief, 2007; ruhnaar and driessen, 2007; stoeglehner, 2010). furthermore, another group of academics has compared environmental evaluation with planning theories (lawrence, 1997, 2000, 2001). many authors have pointed out the linkages between urban planning and environmental evaluation. all of these lines of research have one final objective to show how the sea could improve the quality of planning decision making (aschemann, 2004; fischer, 2003; partidário, 2000; runhaar, 2008; runhaar and driessen, 2007; sheate et al., 2003; thérivel and minas, 2002). nevertheless, the analysis of administrative behaviour regarding sea is still weak. in italy the sea has not achieved good results, above all concerning its integration with urban planning. the expected innovation was not realised in this country. many critical issues are still open and they are related to the decision sphere. this work will investigate the first phase of decision making in the sea context: the screening phase. this part has been explored very little even if it vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 79 represents the starting point of decision making about sea, and it shows administrative behaviour. the analysis considers the decisions enacted by two regions in 2011, 2012 and 2013. these concern urban plans or programmes which contain relevant territorial transformations. in italy the normative evolution about strategic environmental assessment started in 2006 with the national legislative decree (d. lgs.) n. 152 and it concluded in 2010 with the d.lgs. n. 128. this phase was considered necessary for the development of the method and enhancement of the process. for this reason, the only laws to be examined were those of 2011, 2012 and 2013, that is the years where the technical evolution could be considered mature. moreover, to select the cases to be examined a stock of relevance indicators was defined and used to choose those plans or programmes which presented peculiar features and problems. the aim of this study is to remove all doubts about the necessity or not of environmental evaluation, basing its assumptions on sustainability targets proposed by european bodies. the analysis of these acts has permitted the definition of a first profile on how the public administration operates. the results highlight how administrations prefers not to subject their plans to sea. this is also the case when there are all the characteristics defined in the normative acts. in this way, the regions elude the law. this behaviour emphasized the uncertainty about the real usefulness of the sea. the principal doubts concern the nature of this type of decision. perplexity increased when the reasons indicated by the administrations to exclude the sea were analysed. in fact, these are mainly citations of national and regional laws. the dynamics of decisions examined in this paper could be further analysed in future phases of the research. this work is structured in five parts. following the introduction, the second section presents a summary of experiences of sea research and the decision making process. subsequently, the methodology which was used to prepare this paper is explained. section 4 shows the results with the help of four synthesis tables. the last part contains a final comment where possible vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 80 future research lines about the topic are introduced. sea and decision making: the italian case strategic environmental assessment is considered the principal tool for the management of the environmental impacts of urban plans or programmes (directive, 2001/42/ec). urban planning is one of the most relevant application fields. in this context sea should support the decision makers to integrate the environmental issues within the decision making process, like economic and social issues (fischer, 2007; oecd, 2006; chaker et al., 2006; sadler and verheem, 1996; therivel and partidario, 1996; therivel, 1992). sea was introduced with directive 2001/42/ec. the directive was translated in the european countries at different times (dalal­clayton and sadler, 2005). in this way, different models were produced in order to carry out the application and results in each national context. all sea approaches developed in european countries have in common the relationship with the decision making process. this feature is central in the broad literature on the topic (jha­takur et al, 2009; stoeglehner et al, 2009; hilding­rydevik and bjarnadottir, 2007; runhaar and driessen, 2007; ascherman, 2004; emilson and tyskeng and carlsson, 2004; garano and zoppi, 2003; balfors and schmidtbauer, 2002; nilsson and dalkmann, 2001). in relation to links between plans and sea, the connection should be developed at the same time as the plan preparation, as explained in the directive. but this link could be realized only if sea is prepared at same time as the plan. from this point of view, transparency could be a very important element to improve the quality of the process. in fact, strategic assessment could limit the grey areas which are present in the shaping phase of decisions (bonifazi et al., 2011; kørnøv e thyssen, 2000). however, this characteristic is also one of the main limits for the correct application of this tool. this conflict occurs in the planning process, which can be “fuzzy” (aavv, 2005; therivel e partidario, 1996; therivel, 1992). this phenomenon is also evident in italy (scattoni and falco, 2012; fischer and gazzola, 2006) and it could only be reduced if sea is developed in the correct manner. the italian situation presents some critical aspects that could be derived from the directive’s translation into national law. in fact, the inclusion of vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 81 sea in italy was carried out late (wood and dejeddour, 1992; bonifazi et al., 2011; jha­thakur et al., 2012) and in an incomplete manner (garano and zoppi, 2003; garano, 2004; zoppi, 2008). the study of critical aspects of italian sea has been the subject of analysis in depth by fischer (2007) and fischer and gazzola (2006). the principal issues were on participation (zoppi, 2008; bonifazi et al, 2011) and the phase of creating alternatives (de montis, 2013). these elements are absent in almost all sea procedures. in relation to the screening phase, studies are very limited, above all with the focus on the decision making rather than the technical sphere. the sea process presents many decision phases where decision makers of different hierarchy levels make choices. at this stage, some conflicts could often arise and these could represent a problem or an opportunity to improve the process. unfortunately, these often simply represent an additional problem. the institutional organisms which can approve the sea differ from region to region in italy; two are the most relevant legislative bodies in italy, the national and regional parliaments. in reference to sea normative, and in general in relation to the planning system, national law defines the basic line. in each region there are specific requirements which determine in detail the contents of planning procedure. the sea is subject to these regional norms. for this reason, the institutional organism which can approve the sea changes from region to region. in some cases, this authority is conferred on the region whereas in other cases it is the province which approves the sea of a town plan. the procedural models adopted by public administration for sea are reflected in the cognitive models developed by simon (1947). according to them, there is a tendency to use similar approaches for similar cases, when they have proved to be successful. however, this method is weak in relation to its response to local and specific issues. this perspective is most commonly adopted for sea. it is difficult to reach the optimal solution in this way, since if on the one hand it reduces the complexity of the process, but on the other it avoids the consideration of the specific elements which are typical of each context. as a result the innovative character of sea is eliminated. thus the sea becomes only the extension of eia. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 82 methodology the acts enacted by two regions, lazio and veneto, have been considered in this study. both regions can make decisions in relation to sea procedures. the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 were considered to review the sea procedures. in italy the legislative evolution regarding strategic environmental assessment started in 2006 with the legislative decree n. 152 “norme in materia ambientale” and was concluded in 2010 with the legislative decree n. 128 “modifiche ed integrazioni al decreto legislativo 3 aprile 2006, n. 152, recante norme in materia ambientale, a norma dell'articolo 12 della legge 18 giugno 2009, n. 69”. this period was considered necessary to develop the method and to enhance the process. at a second stage, a set of indicators was created in order to choose the practices of sea that have been evaluated in this paper. these indicators were used to select only those plans which present considerable transformations in terms of scale or for their relative impact on the surrounding territory. these indicators are: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ­ an area larger than 100.000 square metres. this size indicates a transformation which certainly impacts on the environmental, social and economic balance of the city. ­ it is a town plan (piano regolatore generale), therefore affecting all parts of the city’s territory and its different functions. ­ the plan is related to a site included in the list of “natura 2000 network”(directive habitat, 92/43/eec). this feature highlights an extremely environmentally sensitive territory. ­ the designation of the plan or programme for industrial functions and uses with a high risk of environmental impacts. ­ there are opinions of institutions which certified problems with either the water, geological and/or hydro­geological systems. there are specific institutional opinions which require that the sea procedure be applied. the actions of the regions, with respect to the screening phase of sea, were taken into consideration in this study when at least one of the indicators above is present. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 83 the subject for analysis concerns the opinions on the screening phase produced by two regions in the years 2011­2012­2013. in this period the lazio region produced 86 of these, while there were 62 for the veneto region. 12 sea opinions for the lazio region and 8 for the veneto region were selected by means of the indicators described above. the environmental characteristics, the decisions in relation to whether the plan should be subjected to the sea and the reasons for this decision were all analysed. the presentation of the results is organised in two parts: in the first part, the administrative behaviour regarding sea is discussed; in the second, the reasons for sustaining these choices were taken into consideration. analysis of results: two case studies the analysis of the institutional opinions has highlighted that the two regions prefer not to subject their plans or programmes to the sea procedure. this decision was taken even if many critical issues were present. such elements are defined in the opinions produced by the regions for the sea screening phase. moreover, this kind of decision has not been supported by sound technical motivations. lazio region lazio region has made compulsory the implementation of the sea only for 33% of the examined cases (see table 1). in detail, the plans which were subjected to sea are only 4 out of a total of 12. these often present a very critical situation: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ­ the “variation of zone of the detailed plan” in the municipality of rome, the “town plan (piano regolatore generale) variation to build the aquatic centre” in the municipality of aprilia as well as the “integrated programme grotte porcella” in the municipality of frascati present many problems regarding both the hydro­geological system and the air and water matrix. moreover, some institutional bodies which are present in the process have declared the need for sea. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 84vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ­ the situation of the “variation of detailed plan” in the municipality of pomezia is different. in this case, the sea was carried out due to many deficiencies relative to the preliminary environmental report. in synthesis the arpa (regional agency for the environmental protection) certified the absence of a correlation between the environmental report with the higher environmental plans; the lazio region claimed the lack of the economic, environmental and demographic motivation to use new land. ­ the elements highlighted in these 4 sea procedures show an extremely critical situation. similar issues, however, are present in the other 8 cases examined which were not subject to sea, as can be seen below in table 1. table 1: analysis of the opinions of the lazio region (continue) ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of lazio region ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 85vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? table 1: analysis of the opinions of the lazio region ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of lazio region all developments concern an area larger than 10 hectares, an element which denotes a highly significant urban transformation for their council’s territories. moreover, other common problems were observed. in fact: ­ all plans reveal problems with the water system. in relation to the “integrated programme” for the municipality of marino, the "authority of basin" has recommended the need for a preliminary test for the availability of water. furthermore, the same authority had underlined that the “complex programme” of the municipality in cisterna of latina was located in “critical area (ac12)”, as specified in regional norms about the water basin (lazio region, 2009). ­ both “the variation” of municipality of colleferro and “the integrated programme” of fiumicino interfere with the primary connection of provincial ecological network (rep) (ptcp, 2010). moreover, they are located in proximity to sites protected by “natura 2000 network”, as explained in a habitat directive (directive 92/43/ecc). in addition, “the variation” of colleferro is located inside the clear zone (type of development constraint) of a weapons factory. ­ the “integrated programme” of fiumicino, the “detailed plan” of guidonia montecelio and the "plan for productivity settlements" of valmontone had most negative reviews from the institutional organisms. in relation to the "integrated programme" of fiumicino, even the ministry of activity and cultural heritage (mibac) highlighted the need for a sea for this programme. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 86vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? the situation of lazio region appears very confusing. the majority of procedures analysed were not subjected to sea, even when there are many problems certified by specialized bodies. as shown in table 2, the same laws, regulations and prescriptions were applied in almost all plans examined and deemed sufficient by the competent regional authorities. they can be summarized as follows: ­ all plans have to respect the provisions indicated in the ministerial decree 1444 of 1968 (italian government, dm 1444/1968), with the exception of “integrated programme” in the municipality of fiumicino; ­ all plans have to respect the regional environmental laws, with the exception of “parcelling plan” of marina velca (tarquinia); ­ all plans have to respect the provisions of the air quality plan of lazio region, with the exception of the programme in cisterna of latina municipality. ­ regarding the plan of the municipality of valmontone, tarquinia, colleferro and in the programmes of cisterna di latina and fiumicino, a preliminary assessment of the water needs was required. ­ all plans have to respect the law on energy saving buildings, with the exception of the “parcelling plan” of marina velca and the “recovery plan for the spontaneous settlements” of guidonia montecelio; ­ for the plan of the municipality of colleferro it was recommended to respect the protection guidelines allowed in the special area protection (sac, habitat directive 95/43/eec) which is situated near to plan's site; table 2: analysis of recommendations of sea opinions of lazio region (continue) ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of lazio region ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 87vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? table 2: analysis of recommendations of sea opinions of lazio region ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of lazio region in addition to the common measures, there are also some specific regulations for each programme or plan. even in this case it is possible to point out recurring elements. we can highlight the need to upgrade the street lighting system, the conservation of the landscape views and the creation of better pedestrian walkways in the streets. the recommendations expressed by the regional offices contributed to increase the uncertainty on the nature of decisions. in fact, the majority of these are either national or regional law or an act of the same value. therefore, every plan or programme has to already respect these bodies. moreover, the preliminary assessment of the water requirement, even if it is not specified in law, it should be good practice within the design phase. it is difficult to understand how these could improve the quality of the decision, and in general reach the objectives of sustainable development. veneto region the situation of veneto region is similar to that of lazio. in fact, the sea was adopted only in cases in which many serious critical aspects were highlighted. among the evaluated procedures, strategic environmental ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 88 assessment has been applied only in one case (see table 3). in detail: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ­ the plan “principal hub of veneto mobility: the strategic project of the eastern entry” was located in a highly environmentally sensitive territory. this characteristic was noted by all the authorities which were involved in the process. for this reason, they pointed out the necessity of sea for the plan. in particular, the “authority of basin” specified that the plan has to be subjected to sea; the arpav (regional agency for environmental protection of veneto) underlines that in the environmental report there is not adequate information to evaluate environmental impacts. furthermore, the agency points out that the site is located near areas protected by the habitat directive. also, the arpav demands to subject the plan to strategic environmental assessment. in addition, the regional direction for the cultural and landscape heritages recommended a preliminary evaluation of the archaeological state as extremely necessary. table 3: analysis of the opinions of the veneto region (continue) ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of veneto region ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 89 in regard to the seven cases which were not subjected to sea, relevant critical aspects were pointed out, as described in table 3: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ­ the “variation of town plan (piano regolatore generale) for the plan of alienation and appreciation of real estate (piano di alienazione e valorizzazione del mercato immobiliare), triennium 2012­2014” of the city councils of castelfranco veneto, erbezzo and caprino veronese represent a singular case compared to the other procedures taken into consideration. in fact, these plans have fewer problems with regard to the environment and landscape. however, they represent a typical case described in the sea directive because there is a strong interaction between the three dimensions of sustainable development: environmental, economic and social. table 3: analysis of the opinions of the veneto region ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of veneto region ­ the “recovery plan” for the isle in santo spirito of municipality of venezia represents another extreme case. in fact, the plan is located in a very environmentally sensitive zone, characterized by the presence of sci (sites of community importance) and spa (special protection area). ­ there is similar situation for the plan “orizzonte verde” of the municipality of jesolo which interacts with three areas protected by “natura 2000 network” (habitat directive, 92/43/eec). the level of sensitivity is further increased by the scale of transformation that ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 90vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? is about 613.000 square metres. moreover, the municipality of eraclea has highlighted that a buffer zone between the plan and the sci (site of community importance) is missing. l’arpav (regional agency for environmental protection of veneto) has indicated the lack of an adequate study on the acoustic impacts. in addition, the province of venice has asserted that: ­ it is not possible to define the boundaries of the plan. this could be a limit for the preparation of a correct analysis. ­ some works could be subjected to eia (environmental impact assessment, directive 85/337/eec) ­ the plan did not consider the similar development in the territory of eraclea which is located on the other side of river piave. ­ the planned development could represent a barrier between the inland environment and the mouth of river piave. ­ the “variation to pati” (plan of territorial arrangement of inter­city) of the district set up by four city councils and the “urban implementation plan” for nautical centre sansonessa (caorle) have less critical aspects than the cases described above. in fact, even if there are opinions which indicate the need for sea, the pati has influence on a more restricted territory. the plan for the nautical centre in caorle, instead, is more similar to a project than a plan and, furthermore, it was already subjected to eia. in relation to the analysis above, the prescriptions put into supporting the decisions appear more interesting. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 91 these “justifications” differ from those of lazio as they are not related to laws, neither regional nor national. in detail, as described in table 4: vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? the ”variation of town plan (prg) for the plan of alienation and appreciation of real estate (piano di alienazione e apprezzamento del mercato immobiliare), triennium 2012­2014”­ of city councils of castelfranco veneto, erbezzo and caprino veronese do not have prescriptions because these plans do not cause impacts (as specified in the acts of the veneto region to justify the choices). ­ table 4: analysis of prescriptions of sea opinions of veneto region ­ source: personal presentation of data published on website of veneto region ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 92vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? the “recovery plan of isle of santo spirito, the “variation to the pati” and the “urban implementation plan” of jesolo have presented a prescription only complying with the guidelines explained in the preliminary environmental report. in addition, the region has advised that these guidelines should be integrated with the measures which are specified in the opinion. moreover, the plan of jesolo has to develop an environmental incidence assessment for the site protected under natura 2000 network (directive habitat, 92/43/eec). ­ regarding the plan of caorle, the region has recommended that a monitoring plan should be carried out to limit the possible future impacts. ­ veneto region adopted a similar policy to lazio region in regard to sea since the “motivations” showed to support the refusal do not help to clarify the nature of the decision. some motivations described above are interesting in order to understand the administrative behaviour. for example, when the plan is situated inside a site of community importance (sci, habitat directive 92/43/eec) it is compulsory, according to the italian law, to develop an environmental incidence assessment. the prescription is not integration but only a measure to adjust a mistake. however, it is even more curious to have a closer look to the “variation of town plan (piano regolatore generale) for the plan of alienation and appreciation of real estate” of three city councils. in fact, in this cases no consideration was given to the economic value and the relative developments generated by the sale and transformations of these spaces. nonetheless, these cases appear as a lost opportunity to implement the sea as a real expression of sustainable development, where all three dimensions are present: environmental, social and economic. conclusion this work has analysed in depth the first phase of the sea and it attempted to understand how the public administrations behave in relation to this procedure. in detail, the activities of the screening phase of sea of both lazio and veneto regions were analysed. the results highlighted that a kind of “systematic rejection” exists about the application of sea. moreover, the observation of this trend offers a new perspective for the study of the strategic environmental assessment in relation with town planning in italy. this first stage of research focused attention on the relationship with the nature of decisions. in fact, generally the main focus of research on sea has been the environmental report. on the contrary, the screening phase (which represents the fundamental early stage of the assessment) was investigated only in a few cases. however, a better understanding of this stage of the process can play a remarkable role in the analysis of the administrative behaviour. to sum up, the application of the sea took place only in a few cases where serious critical issues are present. in detail, the lazio region has submitted the “variation of zone of the detailed plan” of rome, “town plan (prg) variation to build an aquatic park” of aprilia, “variation to detailed plan martin pescatore” of pomezia (see table 1). the decision about the first plan has been determined pursuing many recommendations by many instutions which have certified potential risks for the environment. moreover, the plan presented criticism about the hydro geological condition. as regards the plan of aprilia, the sea submission has been decided because both the environmental report and public institutions' opionions have highlighted several problems related to air, water and soil matrix. finally, the plan “martin pescatore” was submitted following the indications of arpa, province and region which have argued a variety of deficiency in the environmental report. anyway, the most interesting situation has regarded the “evaded” procedures (see table 2). indeed, it was observed how these cases presented serious risks of impacts for the environment, like the previous three sea analysed above. the prescriptions used to support these decisions seem to be very intriguing. the lazio region’s recommendations turn out to be only a “wish” to respect norms and regulations, both at national and regional level. this appears as a paradoxical situation because the respect of the law should be natural in a society and a civil state. in regarding to the veneto region, this has submitted only 1 plan of 8 analysed. the plan for the new hub of veneto mobility presented issues identified by different public institutions (see table 3). nonetheless, the plan’s location falls within a habitat directive protected site. the situation of the veneto region, with regard to the prescriptions for the 7 not submitted ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 93vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? finally, is it possible to state that the sea is merely another procedure which increases the costs and the slowness of the bureaucratic machine? ­ plans, seems as confused as the situation for the lazio region. indeed, the region has principally recommended the respect of the guidelines defined in the preliminary environmental report or the development of a monitoring plan. however, the uncertainty about these decisions remains because these measures were already provided by law. in fact, the normative bodies specify the mandatory nature of the lines identified in the environmental report (see table 4). the situation of veneto region is different with regard to the prescriptions but it seems similar in relation to the results. in fact, the region has recommended principally the respect of the guidelines defined in the preliminary environmental report or the development of a monitoring plan. however, the uncertainty about these decisions remained because these measures were already provided by law. in fact, the normative bodies specify the mandatory nature of the lines identified in the environmental report. that being so, the field of decision appears to be very confused. in fact, it is less clear the reason “why” the law is avoided and “why” the recommendations are only a kind of normative revision. above all, in this way a correlation between sea and the sustainability objectives does not exist. the strategic environmental assessment appears as a worthless tool for planning in italy, despite living in the sustainable development era. however, this situation might inspire many possible research projects in order to investigate the reasons for this administrative and political behaviour. in detail, some research questions have been formulated to structure further analysis: ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 94vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? could the sea improve the transparency of the planning process? could this tool become a threat for the "hidden negotiation character" which is present in the town planning decision making process? ­ or, is there a learning problem? could the perception of sea as an extension of eia represent a limit for the development of this tool? ­ ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 95 references aavv (2005), strategic environmental assessment and land use planning. an international evaluation, london, earthscan. aschemann r. 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(1996), strategic environmental assessment 53: status, challenges and future directions, ministry of housing, spatial planning and the environment, the netherlands, and the international study of effectiveness of environmental assessment. scattoni p. and falco e. (2012), "the hidden factor in planning and local politics in italy: the case of tuscany", in town planning review, vol. 83 (1), pp. 46­67. sheate w. r. (2012), "purposes, paradigms and pressur groups: accountability and sustainability in eu environmental assessment, 1985­2010", in environmental impact assessment review, 33, pp. 91­102. sheate w.r et al., (2003), integrating the environment into strategic decision­ making: conceptualizing policy sea, european environment, 13, pp. 1­18. simon h. a. (1947), administrative behavior. a study of decision­making processes in administrative organization, third edition, london, the free press, macmillian publishers. stoeglehner g. (2010), "enhancing sea effectiveness: lessons learnt from austrian experiences in spatial planning", in impact assessment and project appraisal, 28(3), pp. 217–231. stoeglehner g. et al.(2009), "sea and planning: 'ownership' of strategic environmental assessment by the planners is the key to its effectiveness", in impact assessment and project appraisal, 27, pp. 111–120. therivel r. (1992), strategic environmental assessment, london, earthscan. therivel r. and minas p. (2002), "measuring sea effectiveness: ensuring effective sustainability appraisal", in impact assessment and project appraisal, 20, pp. 81­91. therivel r. and partidario m. r. (1996), the practice of strategic environmental assessment, london, earthscan. wood c. and djeddour m. (1992), "strategic environmental assessment: ea of policies, plans and programmes", in impact assessment, 10(1), pp. 3­22. zoppi c. (2008), governance, pianificazione e valutazione strategica, roma, gangemi editore. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 99 web references lazio region: http://www.regione.lazio.it/rl_ambiente/?vw=contenutidettaglio&id=53 veneto region: http://www.regione.veneto.it/web/vas­via­vinca­nuvv/pareri­motivati vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 rinaldi ­ is there need for sea to improve the quality of planning decisions? research quality assessment and planning journals. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 96vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 bruno zanon issn: 2239­267x the italian perspective via mesiano, 77 ­ 38123 ­ trento, italy ­ bruno.zanon@unitn.it dipartimento di ingegneria civile e ambientale ­ università degli studi di trento abstract assessment of research products is a crucial issue for universities and research institutions faced with internationalization and competition. disciplines are reacting differently to this challenge, and planning, in its various forms – from urban design to process­oriented sectors – is under strain because the increasingly common assessment procedures based on the number of articles published in ranked journals and on citation data are not generally accepted. the reputation of journals, the impact of publications, and the profiles of scholars are increasingly defined by means of indexes such as impact factor and citations counts, but these metrics are questioned because they do not take account of all journals and magazines – in particular those published in languages other than english – and they do not consider teaching and other activities typical of academics and which have a real impact on planning practices at the local level. associate professor ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 97vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 changing metrics for assessing academic planning research a heated debate is in progress in different countries and in diverse journals on the changing metrics used to assess planning research products. it relates to the general adoption in academia of formalized methods to evaluate articles and rank journals by using internationally recognized criteria and procedures. scientific disciplines, social sciences and the humanities have diverse traditions and different levels of international integration. but a common trend is emerging in the selection of articles to be published and the evaluation of their impact. ‘citation index’ and ‘impact factor’ have become the buzzwords of research assessment. the reasons for the change are clear: to improve the quality of research by adopting methods which are comparable across disciplinary sectors and consolidated at the international level. in a competitive scientific environment, universities and research institutions must use sound criteria and reliable indicators for personnel selection and promotion, and to assess the results of research projects. in particular, this means considering, among the criteria used to rank institutions and for academic career progression, the number of articles published in authoritative journals fulfilling quality requirements, and considered of interest by the scientific community (ones that are cited, in other words). the key assessment method is peer­review, which is the selection of papers by academics and researchers working in the same or a similar sector. the purpose of peer­review is to choose contributions that present the results of research work, are based on a sound methodology, and are attuned to the international disciplinary debate. this is not a generic procedure, but rather a formalized process which must be appropriately managed by a well­organized publishing system which makes in italy the discussion is particularly heated because assessment procedures are recent, the disciplinary community is not used to publishing in ranked international journals, and the italian literature is not attuned to the international quality criteria. the paper reviews the recent debate on planning journals and research assessment. it focuses on the italian case from the perspective of improving current practices. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 98vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 it possible, once the article has been published, to count how many times it is cited, and thus define its “impact”. this change has had important effects, ranging from the growing use of english as the dominant language to the increasing power of a small number of publishers, to the debatable role of certification agencies providing data and indicators, and of the criteria and methods used. some disciplines, planning included, are under strain because this change means replacing traditional ways of doing research, assessing results, evaluating articles and publications, and organising career progression procedures. in particular, many of the journals and magazines, as well as books, in which it is usual to publish in countries such as italy, do not meet the new requirements, and the older generations of scholars run the risk of being considered unfit for their current positions. the specificities of planning – consisting of inter­disciplinarity and action orientation – are constantly cited and used as arguments to claim that research in this field is mostly coincident with practical experiences and projects (or even professional products) and that publications are of a different nature from those of scientific disciplines. but new trends are consolidating in this field as well. the procedure followed to evaluate the impact of articles – in terms of the reputation of the journal in which they are published, and of the citations generated – is much debated, in particular as regards the appropriateness of the criteria and indicators used and the role of the agencies and companies that certify journals and provide citations and impact factors data. thomson reuters’ isi web of knowledge/web of science, founded by emile garfield (garfield, 2006) is the most famous of them, but others that are well known are elsevier’s sciverse scopus, scimago (using scopus data) and publish or perish, based on the google scholar database, which is more inclusive than the others (harzing, 2008). besides the discussion on the indicators used, there are side­effects to be considered. old­fashioned paper journals (and many books and local publications), regardless of their intrinsic quality, are excluded by certification mechanisms, and this affects their influence. moreover, a digital divide is being created by the high subscription rates for electronic journals and citation databases which are not always affordable for institutions and zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 99vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 individuals. furthermore, a large body of “grey literature”, as well as the growing open access literature – which have a major impact at the local level or through diffusion via the internet – are not considered by formalized assessment indicators. these developments are taking place within a more general change affecting research and university institutions. at european level, there is increasing homogenization among universities due to the bologna process and the exchange of students and scholars, while access to eu research funds and growing competition tend to disseminate similar methods and to make institutions in different countries more similar (with drawbacks which will be commented on later in light of klaus kunzmann’s warnings). moreover, results in terms of impact factors and access to international research funds differentiate between research and teaching universities, although in many countries there is no official distinction. this is the case of italy, where – in principle – all universities are equal, and where some disciplinary groups –planning included – are reluctant to use formalized assessment methods, on the grounds that they are unable accurately to describe the quality of research and the qualification of scholars. this article, after analysis of the emerging issues relating to the assessment of research products in the light of the recent international literature, conducts a short survey of italian journals and the debate ongoing in italy. the aim is not to discuss indicators and ranking methods, let alone propose new ones, but rather to report on the discussion concerning the evaluation of planning research and the qualification of italian journals, drawing some conclusions with a view to improving current practices. an evolving research environment the growing competition in education and research is well represented by the rankings periodically reported by the media and stating which are the best institutions in the world. as usual, together with the use of common criteria, diverse aspects are considered by the specific indicators adopted by rankings such as quacquarelli symonds, academic ranking of world universities (arwu – by the shanghai jiao tong university), times higher education world university rankings, webometrics and similar. most zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 100vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 university rankings are primarily based on research productivity data and therefore they furnish an “oversimplified picture” of university missions, as stressed by a recent survey conducted by the european university association (rauhvargers, 2011, p.7) which provides deep insights into the diverse methodologies adopted, together with recommendations on how the results should be used. some years ago in italy, the la repubblica newspaper started to publish a ranking compiled by the censis research institute. this gave rise to a debate and stimulated other inquiries using different indicators (il sole 24 ore, campus, vision). depending on the aspects considered more important, diverse results are produced; some say that depending on the results wanted, different aspects are considered. assessment has become a routine exercise in the uk (government­ sponsored) and the usa (association­based) (tewdwr­jones, 2005; stiftel et al, 2004a; punter and campbell, 2009; stiftel et al. 2009), and institutions which perform well in rankings are quick to display their scores in promotional materials, whereas when results are based on controversial measures, harsh criticisms are made (stiftel et al., 2004a, p.6; stiftel et al., 2009, p. 323). planning schools in any case require specific kinds of assessment, and in the usa recommendations have been made to consider not only research but also “design, outreach and teaching”, thus respecting the specific mission of each university (stiftel et al., 2009, p. 330). the outcomes are indeed important, because in recent years both academics and potential students have made their decisions also on the basis of ranking data (stiftel et al., 2004a, p.6). it is accepted that there is no single way to rank research and educational institutions, because of the intrinsic differences among the activities and products considered, and scores are generally “a synthesis of a multitude of parameters attached to measurable variables” (geraci and degli esposti, 2011, p. 668). still unresolved, however, is “the problem of which variables should be measured and how” (geraci and degli esposti, 2011, p. 668). the complexity of the assessment of institutions and research is demonstrated by the literature generated by it – which includes specialized journals (such as scientometrics) – as well as by dedicated research strands (at the university of pescara, italy, there is a phd course in research assessment). also disciplinary publications devote increasing attention to zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 assessment, showing the extent to which different sectors are worried by the application of the new methods. these procedures are not new in scientific disciplines, but they are a relative novelty for the humanities and some of the social sciences. planning is a discipline whose boundaries are loosely defined, and which is influenced on the one hand by urban design and the methods and traditions of architecture – focused on projects – and on the other by a variety of social science methods and process­oriented theories and practices. moreover, urban planning publications are often oriented to practitioners, and they contain illustrated presentations of projects and plans selected by the editors, not papers submitted by authors and undergoing a peer­review process. in italy a sharp distinction is traditionally drawn among hard sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, and the assessment of academic research usually uses this distinction (abramo et al., 2011). nevertheless, there is a strong push for the introduction of formalized methods. in particular, new criteria for academic career progression – in planning as well – have been recently issued, and they require the use of indicators (cun, 2011; anvur, 2011a). concerning scientific literature, in recent years a major change has taken place in the way that publications are produced, consulted and cited, owing to the diffusion of electronic journals and the availability online of huge amounts of documents and bibliographic data. the access to all the relevant published literature at websites where searches can be made on the basis of key­words has changed both bibliographic research and the nature and organization of journals – especially in the way that papers are written and quoted: “this greater ease of access and use is leading to increased rates of citation to prior work” (stiftel and mogg, 2007, p. 73). in fact, the electronic version of a journal is currently the most important one. it activates cross­ referral links and supports all the statistics connected to citation and impact factor indexes. planning journals are also involved in this change, and nearly all of the most prestigious ones are currently on­line (stiftel and mogg, 2007, pp. 71­72). the use of rankings and indicators is facilitated by the growing homogenization among european educational institutions and academic courses. this trend, affirms klaus kunzmann (2004) in a paper echoed by a number of subsequent articles, reflects the anglo­american system and is zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals 101 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 102vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 undoubtedly positive. but there is the risk that some will win (those who comply with such academic “rules and rituals”), and some will lose: those who “cannot easily adapt to the global model, or who refuse to throw 100 or more years of local academic tradition over board” (kunzmann, 2004, p.1). the consequences may be severe, changing long­established traditions well rooted in institutional systems (with a key role of the public) in cultural environments and socio­economic milieus. in particular, kunzmann claims that planning schools will be squeezed into smaller units and shorter courses, thus endangering the teaching specificity based on a balance between theory and practice, and favouring lectures and seminars. it should be added that the strengthening of research assessment procedures (discouraging low­profile activities) will exacerbate such effects. a key aspect, as said, regards the diffusion of the use of english, which has become the lingua franca for the academic world (kunzmann, 2004). this does not simply concern the use of a neutral communication medium; it also gives more space to the approaches, views and experiences of the english­ speaking world. it is a problem that relates, more or less, to all disciplines, but some are more sensitive to it because they are connected to local conditions and mindsets, specific legal frameworks, communication methods and media, etc. planning is certainly affected by this trend, together with other disciplines, such as human geography (schuermans et al., 2009; derudder, 2010). for kunzmann, the use of english will have consequences on universities (forced to offer courses in that language) and on the literature market, which will be divided into two tiers: the upper one formed by a small number of english language publishers, the second one by regional publishers, with a lower impact (kunzmann, 2004, p. 6). planners wanting to be up­to­ date and to build a career must refer to papers in english and publish in that language, with obvious consequences on “the relationship to the regional socio­political environment, such as alienation from local milieus, little influence on local development” (kunzmann, 2004, p. 6). as a consequence, local issues run the risk of being neglected by the academic world and of being left to practitioners, often not so dynamic and less well prepared. in the case of geography (stiftel and mukhopadhyay, 2007), the contrasting issues regard the cultural as well as the economic hegemony of the anglo­ american countries, on the one hand, and opportunities to facilitate zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 103vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 international discussion on the other. many considerations can be made on economic and political power, as well as cultural influences, over weaker countries, but also a pragmatic attitude should be encouraged: the use of a common language facilitates communication. stiftel and mukhopadhyay (2007, p. 545) have stressed that “english is the global language of scientific communication and english­language publishers have positioned themselves as the arbiters of scientific progress and the profiteers of knowledge distribution”. indeed, the use of english has created an editorial system centred on anglo­american institutions and scholars, with a partial coverage of the rest of the world. currently, most articles are written by english mother­tongue scholars. as far as planning journals are concerned, only a small number of those indexed in the isi’s web of science are not printed in english, and citations of papers written in languages other than english (lote) are few. among the drawbacks of monolingual communication especially to be stressed is the risk that important points of view and experiences will be excluded because “there is not enough cross­movement of ideas among the planning literatures in different languages” (stiftel and mukhopadhyay, 2007, p. 566). the prevalent use of english also produces unexpected effects. small countries and the developing ones have long been oriented towards using english in academic communication, while other countries with long cultural and scientific traditions have resisted, thus running the risk of lagging behind the newcomers in the global competition. planning practice and planning research planning is an operational discipline and its main goal is “the development of practical outputs” (goldstein and carmin, 2006, p. 68) in order to provide benefits for the communities involved. from this perspective, the discipline is engaged in providing operational methods and tools, and it accompanies political actions. but theoretical, explanatory knowledge is also needed to build effective know­how and to validate the outputs. it has been noted that “planning scholarship has a history of drawing from many disciplines” and this interdisciplinarity has produced a variety of “approaches to problem definition and solution generation but also to notable ontological, zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 104vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 epistemological, and methodological variations in planning scholarship” (goldstein and carmin, 2006, p. 68). the composite nature of planning is a long­debated issue in the disciplinary literature, and only some recent references to the effects in terms of publications are considered here. “while some consider this ‘interdisciplinary’ basis as a weakness ­ making it difficult for planners to know exactly what belongs to planning ­ others see it as a key strength” (davoudi, 2010, p. 33). in fact, planning shares methods and tools with social sciences, on the one hand, and with more technical sectors – in particular urban design – on the other (goldstein and carmin, 2006, p. 67). it concerns policies and practices, and its scientific bases are related to sociology, economics, environmental sciences, law and administration, geography and gis. it is therefore difficult to define the homogeneous areas within which to make comparisons, because a variety of publishing traditions are present, including those coherent with scientific disciplines. it is not only planning that has two sides: social science and design, but also the progress of urban design can have different bases: “there are two primary locations for innovation in urban design: practice; and university­based research innovations” (forsyth, 2007a, p. 461). in particular, “in architecture schools, success is based more on success in the design world ­ competitions, exhibitions ­ than on peer­reviewed publications and citations” (anselin et al., 2011, p. 199). in order to counter competition, academics must strengthen their positions, also making use of methods for measuring productivity, in order to improve research effectiveness and to increase funding (forsyth, 2007a, p. 461). planning is also intrinsically locally connected, so that a great deal of low­ level literature is produced (mostly of a descriptive kind: experiences, plans, projects) and it is not possible to consider only high­profile products as important. academic career progression in some countries – and this is the case of italy – was long based also on professional products. much has changed in recent decades, also in italy, differentiating between physical planning and decision­making, between practice and research. this confirms that “[u]rban design is not equivalent to urban research” (forsyth, 2007a, p. 467) and that research products must undergo assessment procedures. in the 1960s, planning “became firmly ensconced as a public sector activity zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 105vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 that drew increasingly on formal social­scientific theories and rational decision­making to solve problems” (forsyth, 2007a, p. 464). this is the basis on which the discipline has developed, requiring specific research and debate on its background, goals and methods, assessing contributions, and accumulating knowledge (forsyth, 2007a, p. 466, table 1). in short, the multidisciplinarity of planning requires more, not less, methodological reflection and entails strict assessment of hypotheses and proposals. it thus pushes towards formalized research methods and an appropriate assessment of contributions (forsyth, 2007a, 2007b). the result is the progressive consolidation of specific approaches and methods. for academic institutions it is therefore important – and often vital in terms of economic support ­ the “reflection with practice”, that is the engagement of scholars in applied experiences, which allow to develop a “reflection on practice” (balducci and bertolini, 2007; balducci, 2007). a survey on the articles published in the journal of the american planners association – japa – found evidence “that academic planning is developing along the lines of a compact scientific discipline” (goldstein and carmin, 2006, p. 74). another survey of a large number of journals confirmed that the discipline is not “fragmented among different areas of specialization and that there is a common body of journal literature that binds us together as a scholarly community” (goldstein and maier, 2010, pp. 69). these conclusions, which cannot be thoroughly extended to the european case, as it will be stressed below on the basis of the analysis of planning journals, concern in particular the specific areas regarding the decision process, while the connections with a number of hard sciences have recently multiplied, thus requiring the use of formal methods, both qualitative and quantitative. apart from transport, which is traditionally linked with planning, issues such as environment protection, ecosystem defence, climate change effects, as well as sustainable development, require the use of measures and indicators, and the application of techniques like gis. all these disciplinary fields share the same international standards and publishing traditions. as a consequence, important sectors of planning research are more attuned to scientific paper writing. however, there are differences in planning trends and practices among countries. in recent years, planners in the usa and the uk “have seen zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 106vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 themselves as applied social scientists” (stiftel and mukhopadhyay, 2007, p. 565), after a struggle with urban design and architecture (anselin et al., 2011), whereas “[d]esign approaches to planning appear to be more common in continental european schools and in schools in developing regions”. these two approaches “have clear differences in the frequency and pattern of publication that results” (stiftel mukhopadhyay, 2007, p. 565). in italy, the delivery of planning courses mainly at the schools of architecture and civil engineering and a professional practice still dominated by such technical practitioners keep the discipline connected to urban design, while research is oriented to physical planning or the planning process, but mainly from a legal point of view. in recent decades, however, much has changed, in particular because new challenges, apart from the physical organisation of the urban space, have emerged and require the use of a variety of disciplinary methods and tools (sociological inquiries, decision theory, economic programming, environmental protection, etc.), and more scientific approaches have entered the composite field of planning. citation index, impact factor and the like assessment criteria and indexes are much debated, and even the agencies managing such tools warn against their misuse. the problems regard the focus of the assessment, whether the ranking concerns the journal or the qualifications of its contributors, the number and type of journals covered, and the time extension of data collected. it is clear that one indicator cannot be used to measure different aspects, that only part of the literature is covered, and that not all citations can be considered. as said, there is much discussion on these issues, and a large body of literature has been produced to propose new criteria and indicators. a caveat has been issued in order to prevent evaluators, in particular for academic career progression, from simply considering the prestige of the journals in which articles are published instead of reading the articles and evaluating them (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 67). also the european association of science editors has approved a “statement on inappropriate use of impact factors” (ease statement) which stresses that impact factor scores regard journals, not single articles or scholars. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 107vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the problem considered here is whether it is useful or indispensable to rank planning journals, and to consider, in the evaluation of scholars, indicators such as citation index, impact factor, h index, etc. the consideration that in the usa “[a]mong planning educators, there has been a long standing reluctance to the publication of comparative performance measurements” (stiftel et al., 2004a, p.6) can be extended to most countries. research can deal with a variety of issues and involve different end­users. in particular, final products (and in particular publications) may be of interest to academia (and the impact may be restricted to a small community of scholars), to practitioners and civil servants (for whom more practice­oriented articles are obviously of interest), and to politicians. in some countries, as in italy, english language is not so well known by practitioners and public officers, so that publications in italian have far more practical results. the effects of assessment procedures are evident, but they depend on how the evaluation is performed. when the 1992 uk research assessment exercises “placed emphasis on the quantitative aspect of scientific production the response was an increase in publication numbers. however in 1996, when the focus shifted from ‘output counts’ to ‘quality’, there was a greater propensity to publish in journals with a higher impact factor” (abramo et al., 2011, p. 230). in general, it is not easy to compare articles in different journals on the basis of indicators because the numbers cannot be taken as they are, and in any case an insight into the publication is required. but it has been observed that there is no strict correlation between the impact factor of a journal and its reputation in the scientific community. therefore “university administrators should hesitate to evaluate the scholarly output of individual faculty members by the impact factors of the journals in which they publish” (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 73). peer­review, as mentioned, is the key means to select papers for publication. it can effectively choose good products, but it can also be a self­referential procedure: the members of a small group of scholars select articles which are attuned to their shared background, address concerted issues, and cite materials produced within that group. alongside the validation of key topics and methodologies, there is the risk of creating short­circuits among a small number of scholars, thereby reducing creativity and preventing risk­taking zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 108vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 research strands (cgc, 2011, p. 191). it has been observed that impact factors “pursue a circular logic ­ measuring the impact of academic publication activities on academic publication activities ­ and reflect a conflict of interest on the side of the publishing industry, which develops indices that centre its own publications in the assessment of academic work”. (cgc, 2011, p. 190). from this perspective, scientific production can be “production of paper by means of paper”, to rephrase piero sraffa’s definition of capitalist production. as regards indexes, a journal’s impact factor represents “a ratio of the number of citations to the number of articles published in that journal”. the higher the ratio, the greater is the journal’s presumed reputation. one consequence is that this value is used to assess scholarly production: “[j]ournal impact factors can then be used as de facto ‘weights’ for each article published by individual faculty members” (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 67), with the connected risk that a paper is rated without specific evaluation of its contents. the most widely used index is thomson­reuters’ isi web of knowledge/web of science impact factor, which was first proposed by eugene garfield in 1955 (garfield, 2006). it is calculated, for a given journal and a specific year, as the mean of citations per paper in the two preceding years. “an impact factor of 2.0 means that, on average, papers published one or two years ago have been cited twice in the current year” (webster, 2006, p. 485). the journals must satisfy three criteria to be included in isi web of science: “1) works in the journal must be cited regularly in other journals; 2) the journal must provide full bibliographic information in english for each work included and for works cited; and 3) the journal must come out on time…” (stiftel and mogg, 2007, p. 81). apart from the impact factor, other statistics take account of the immediacy of citations, the average number of references per article (citation density), the life­time of articles (cited half­time), etc. there are also specific indicators regarding the features of an author’s production. increasingly popular among these indicators is the “h index” proposed in 2005 by j.e. hirsch. its value measures the number of articles that have received a number of citations equal to or greater than the same number of articles. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 109vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 what is counted is the major problem in the compiling of indexes because peer­reviewed articles can be related to citations which include different materials (reviews, comments, etc.), thus over­ or under­estimating the real impact (goldstein and maier, 2010, pp. 67­68). moreover, citations must be considered carefully because they are made for a number of different and contrasting reasons (provide background, praise, confutation, etc.) and therefore do not directly furnish an indication of the article’s value (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 67). other problems regard the number of journals listed in the isi web of knowledge, which does not include either low­quality ones or many of those written in languages other than english, or more recent journals or niche publications. it has been stressed, in particular, that some prestigious planning journals are not ranked (webster, 2006, p. 485). another issue is that “[p]lanning papers tend to cite eclectically”, referring to “reports and plans as well as academic papers”, thus lowering impact factors for more compact disciplines. the result is that “[p]lanning has an average of about ten citations per article” (webster, 2006, p. 488). apart from a few key journals, there is a large spread among the publications consulted by planners, which highlights that a number of specific interests are involved (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 69). in fact, articles in certified journals, professional journals and magazines, and in particular books, are produced and cited by planners. books can be published without quality control by local publishers, and in some cases they are home­made publications. but everybody knows how challenging it is to write a book, be it a handbook, a textbook, or a collection of essays. books are indispensable for teaching, and they have a long­lasting educational impact which is not certified by the usual procedures. finally, the complexity of territorial disciplines and the variety of publications involved have prompted warnings against the use (and abuse) of the impact factor, because it may recognise the academic fame but not the real “social impact” of research. two scholars representative of radical geography (cynical geographers collective, s.e. di mauro and h. bauder; cgc, 2011) have advanced severe criticisms and proposed a “social impact factor”. they argue that the impact factor “stifles risk­taking scholarship and creative thinking, rewarding a production­line mentality that undermines zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 110vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 academic work quality”. (cgc, 2011, p. 190). the proposed “social impact factor” should track not only publications but also teaching, public outreach, and knowledge production. these considerations are of particular interest to academic planners, who are involved in all these activities and encounter difficulties in making progress in one strand without having experience in the others. for the above­cited authors, the real impact to consider should be the number and the quality of students educated, at the different levels, and the ability to stimulate innovation in planning practices at the local level. international journals of planning a number of assessments have been performed on the reputation of planning journals, and controversial results have emerged (stiftel and mukhopadhyay 2007; goldstein and maier, 2010; salet and boer, 2010, anselin et al., 2011). the mixed academic/professional nature of planning is reflected in the variety of research interests, as well as in scholars’ perceptions of the relevance of journals (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 73). papers therefore spread over a number of journals of diverse disciplines, and in order to find titles in ranking databases, one must look through subject categories concerning environmental studies, geography, planning and development, transportation, urban studies, or sociology. the composite nature of the discipline “makes it difficult to devise meaningful rankings of planning journals” (webster, 2006, p. 485), and not all high­quality journals are considered by rankings, whose requirements imply costs and management burdens that editors and publishers may be unwilling to assume1. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals results: ‘urban’­ 28 items, among which: european urban and regional studies; international journal of urban and regional research; journal of urban history; journal of urban planning and development; landscape and urban planning; urban design international; urban geography; urban history; urban morphology; urban studies. ‘planning’ ­ 29 journals, among which: environment and planning a/b/c/d; european planning studies; journal of environmental planning and management; journal of environmental policy & planning; journal of planning education and research; journal of planning literature; journal of the american planning association; planning theory; progress in planning. a search in the isi database using keywords contained in journal titles yielded the following1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 111vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 while scholars of architecture and urban design do not frequently publish in peer­reviewed papers, they produce a variety of “design work, commentaries, edited collections, and research with a humanistic bent”, with the result that “the scholarly production of each group may be invisible to the other” (forsyth, 2007b, p. 179). moreover, “teaching is seen as a peripheral issue in the research university”, while “architectural programs spend a great deal of time and energy defending a relatively unique and time­consuming teaching approach…” (forsyth, 2007b, p. 179). the questions of where planners publish and how to assess the quality of journals and magazines and the impact of production are still unanswered. more objective measures of scholars’ qualification are certainly needed, in particular by adopting the procedures commonly used in other disciplines, in order to judge the productivity of faculty members and to take decisions on career promotion. but it has been found that “there is no statistically significant relationship between the relative value planning faculty subjectively place on journals and their impact factors” (goldstein and maier, 2010, p.71). an important analysis of international planning journals has been conducted by stiftel and mukhopadhyay (2007), whose results are now briefly summarized. only 4 out of the 25 journals considered were published outside the usa and the uk, specifically in the netherlands by elsevier b.v. more than 63% of authors came from the usa, uk or canada. italian authors do not rank badly, occupying eighth place, but they accounted for only 1.51% of the articles. moreover, italian members of editorial boards accounted only for 1.88% of the total. in general the rate of internationalization is very low, with few journals having a board of which one­third of members are non­english mother­tongue. there zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ‘regional’ ­ 19 journals, among which: annals of regional science; journal of regional science; regional science and urban economics. ‘landscape’ ­ 8 journals, among which: landscape architecture; landscape architecture magazine; landscape ecology; landscape research. ‘assessment’ ­ 28 journals of different disciplines, among which: environmental impact assessment review. some prestigious journals, not yet ranked, are the following: planning theory and practice; town planning review; disp; planning practice and research; journal of urban design. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 112vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 is also a difference between american journals and the rest, the former being less internationalized than the latter. this has important consequences because there is a correlation between the level of internationalization of an editorial board and that of authorship, with some journals comprising one­ third of articles written by non anglo­american authors. another survey on the diffusion and reputation of journals has been conducted among the acsp schools (association of collegiate schools of planning) (goldstein and maier, 2010), and it has highlighted a difference between american and european planners. the survey showed that in the former case planners make use of a high number of journals (191), but the most important ones are considered to be the journal of the american planning association and the journal of planning education and research. urban studies follows at a certain distance, while “[t]he large majority of the 191 journals were listed by only 1 respondent” (goldstein and maier, 2010, p. 69). for european planners, a similar inquiry involved aesop schools (salet and boer, 2010; salet and boer, n.d.). scholars cited 235 different journals. while for american planners the first two journals focused on planning, for the european ones “the highest­ranked journals are not typically specialized planning journals” (salet and boer, 2010, p. 95), namely urban studies, environment and planning a and european planning studies, which are open to a variety of contributions in diverse fields. “so, contrary to the usa, there appears to be no cohesion in pure planning studies in europe” (salet and boer, 2010, p. 95). the difference between european and american planners’ interests is highlighted by the fact that american journals obtain a second row classification. other inquiries have considered the qualifications of planning schools also on the basis of publication data. in particular, the american urban planning schools have been analyzed by considering the qualification of faculties (total number of faculty members, percentage of full professors, ratio of members publishing in isi journals) and faculty productivity and impact (number of articles in isi journals and citations) (stiftel et al., 2004a; for comments: teitz, 2004; forsyth, 2004; myers, 2004; albrechts, 2004; a reply: stiftel et al., 2004b). to be stressed among the results is that 45% of faculty members published at least one isi article in the interval 1998­2002. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 113vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 another finding is the concentration of publications in the best­ranking schools: the top 9 schools out of the 84 considered (34 of which offering phd programmes) account for 38.8% of all publications. also citations (on the basis of the isi database) are concentrated: the top 3 schools account for 38.2% of total citations, the top 5 for 50.7%, one half of the schools for 95.7%. faculty members are even more differentiated in terms of citations, because the top 4 members account for 27.4% of all citations, and the top 19 for 50.5% (stiftel et al., 2004a, pp. 10­13). the prestige and impact of italian juornals in italy, the “urbanism tradition” (cec, 1997; espon, 2007) implies that planning consists mostly of urban design and the professional practice of drafting master plans. in general, disciplinary interests regard the legal framework (more precisely, its criticism), urban history, and the analysis of case studies that can be considered good practices or innovative experiences because of their theoretical assumptions or methodological contents. for these reasons, articles in italian planning journals reflect the tradition of architecture reviews. they are usually descriptive, with few or no bibliographic references to the international literature, while they often take positions in the political debate, with a focus on innovation of the legal framework or on governmental provisions. the italian approach to urban planning began to be innovated in the 1960s, in particular by giovanni astengo, who founded the first planning school in italy at the faculty of architecture in venice. the approach viewed planning as an instrument for “rational” public intervention which required competencies in social sciences, economics, and public decisions methods. in the 1970s and 1980s the disciplinary bases of planning were scrutinized (vettoretto, 2009), creating space on the one hand for more traditionally design­oriented approaches, while on the other pushing for more research work on planning foundations and methods. regional laws began to structure a precise – albeit bureaucratic – framework. thereafter, other sectoral planning practices, innovative decision­making processes (public­ private partnerships) and assessment procedures (environmental impact assessment, strategic impact assessment), started to be used and required zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 114vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 an expertise different from urban design. more recently, the need to address the new forms of the urbanized space, as well as the emerging environmental issues, the challenge of energy and climate change, the quest for sustainable development, together with emerging social problems and the availability of new technical instruments (gis, in particular), have opened new research strands, and articles increasingly appear in academic journals. the italian academic tradition in evaluating publications for academic career progression is rather loose. it used to be based on an outdated law defining “publication” as everything submitted for legal deposit, that is, presentation of the publication (or manuscript) to a court office. this implied that, for career progression, evaluators could consider also products of minor quality, even self­produced ones. subsequently, isbn numbers were requested; and recently, more precise criteria have been established by a national academic body (“consiglio universitario nazionale”, cun, 2010) and the research and university evaluation agency ("agenzia nazionale di valutazione del sistema universitario e della ricerca", anvur, 2011a). in the 1980s, doctoral programmes were introduced and educated a new generation of scholars (balducci, 2005, p.250) with sounder methodological bases attuned to the international debate. recently, the pressure to use formalized assessment methods has become strong. the growing competition among universities and among diverse sectors within the same institutions has required assessment procedures for departments (the university institutions organising research), disciplinary sectors, and individual scholars (in terms of productivity). in recent years, some legal provisions have established assessment procedures for the universities, and the above­mentioned evaluation agency (anvur), after the experience of previous committees, was set up in 2008 (piazzini, 2010). the national academic authorities have issued guidelines defining criteria and parameters for the next competitions for academic positions which will be conducted at the national level (cun, 2011) and a database on productivity has been created by the ministry for university and research. following the directives of the cun document, the selection of a scholar for a full professorship entails that s/he must have authored at least 10 isi – or comparable level – articles or books. also innovative projects or plans critically presented by other authors on authoritative publications can be zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 115vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 considered. an adequate working time span must be covered, and recent productivity must be demonstrated. comparison among different disciplines and scholars working in diverse fields has therefore become inevitable. however, the results may be very problematic because scientific sectors which have long introduced international assessment models easily outweigh more traditional ones, in particular in the humanities, but also in architecture and planning. the discussion on the anvur document (anvur, 2001a, 2001b), which insists on the consideration of ranked journal papers, has influenced the final guidelines issued by the ministry for the next academic competitions. a decree (n° 76, june 7th, 2012) has defined such criteria and parameters, which make a distinction between disciplines using ‘bibliometric’ indicators and disciplines using ‘non bibliometric indicators’, the latter including architecture and urban planning. anyhow, a different weigh is given to publications, according to the prestige of the journal or the publisher of the books. and this classification has implied discussion, as well as the criterion that both evaluators and candidates must rank, in terms of publications, above the median of the disciplinary sector. an overview of italian journals shows that planning occupies a niche in architecture and urban design publications, and that only a few of the latter are focused on the discipline. in general, they are not organized as disciplinary journals usually are: that is, publishing papers submitted by authors and selected through peer­review procedures. urbanistica, the most prestigious journal, published by the istituto nazionale di urbanistica, and which has recently provided a full english translation of articles, is focused on the description of plans and experiences. other journals, such as territorio, published by the dipartimento di architettura e pianificazione of the politecnico di milano (with an international editorial board) and archivio di studi urbani e regionali, to cite two of them (but there are very few others) have a mixed system whereby some papers are selected but not through a formal peer­review process. the “conference of the deans of the italian schools of architecture” has recently drawn up a list of journals and magazines of interest to scholars in the disciplines of architecture and urban planning (personal communication, internet documents). the list ranks the journals in four classes on the basis zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 116vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 of a number of parameters, taking the following into account: english abstract, article in english, editorial board, blind peer­review, peer­review, international diffusion, article selection procedures, isi certification. in all, 215 journals and magazines are listed, some of which are in electronic format. there are items from different countries and in diverse languages (english, italian, german, french, in particular). zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals table 1 – journal classification by the deans of the italian schools of architecture the upper class counts 44 items, none of them italian. in the second class there are 60 items, 14 of which are italian (23.3%). publications include journals and magazines of architecture (some open to urban design, such as casabella, domus, lotus international), monument restoration, history of architecture, steel constructions, drawing, industrial design, regional sciences, urban sociology. also urbanistica is included in this class. in the third class there are 78 items, 39 of which are italian (50.0%). some important planning journals (archivio di studi urbani e regionali, territorio) and urban design and architecture magazines (parametro), are included here. last, in the fourth class there are 33 items, 28 of which italian (84.9%). it is evident that the italian editorial landscape is defined mostly by magazines oriented to professionals rather than by academic journals, but it must be stressed that many low­ranking items are in fact good quality publications but lack the features required, such as a prestigious editorial board, a reliable publisher able to cover different markets and to guarantee the continuity of publication, and, most importantly, peer­review procedures and inclusion in certification mechanisms. in fact, most magazines contain descriptive articles not organized in the tradition of academic papers (definition of the problem addressed and the methodology used, overview of ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 117vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 current literature, empirical analysis, discussion and conclusions). the reasons for drawing up the list of journals regard its use in scholar selection and promotion (in particular providing guidelines for the ranking of italian publications), but they also concern the endeavour to improve research products. some journals have started to use peer­review procedures and to provide translations or at least abstracts in english. another disciplinary group, comprising planners at the schools of engineering (urbing), has issued some statistics on publications by its associates and proposed an integrative list of journals and magazines (personal communication, web­site materials). in regard to the results, first to be stressed is that articles represent around 24% of the total publications by the scholars involved, the rest being books, proceedings, and local publications. a major outcome is the variety of issues addressed and the number of journals and magazines in which this disciplinary community publishes. together with isi journals, there are national but also local publications, which are important in terms of the dissemination of research results but do not provide scientific feedback in terms of citations. it is obvious, however, that a picture of where planners are actually publishing is not enough to consider the publications listed as important for the discipline. conclusions: the risk to become invisible formalized methods to assess the effects of research products are spreading. their role is crucial because they stimulate competition at higher levels. yet impact factors and citation data cannot be used as the sole instruments with which to evaluate the importance of a paper or the qualification of a scholar. not only is the real importance of journals not correlated with impact factors (goldstein and maier, 2010), and cross­citation in planning articles is not as frequent as in other disciplines (webster, 2006, p. 488), but other requirements are needed to qualify a scholar or to appreciate the real effects of his/her activity, apart from those on the academic environment, on what really counts: planning practice. some risks of the new methods are well known: “there is an old saying in relation to the promotion process which goes: if you want to promote a lecturer you weigh his/her publications, and if you don’t, you read them” (punter and zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 118vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 campbell, 2009, p. 52). hence there is “no entirely satisfactory substitute for peer review in terms of metrics” (punter and campbell, 2009, p. 52). planning is a niche discipline. scholars are few and schools are small, even in the usa (stiftel et al., 2004a, p. 13). as already noted, the discipline has no visibility in ranking databases, and relevant journals must be found under a variety of different headings. besides legitimate criticism of assessment criteria and indicators, there is a resistance against the new methods which has clear consequences: “urban planning programs may be losing visibility and resources because they do not participate in comparative performance measurement” (stiftel et al., 2004a, p.6). it is therefore evident also that planning scholars must adopt, or at least stay tuned with, the research methods of the hard sciences and accept the predominant assessment criteria. this does not mean neglect of the discipline’s usual topics or abandoning its specific methods; rather, it implies accepting the challenge of writing in peer­reviewed journals considering the impact effects. moreover, given that most qualified journals are in english, this also means accepting to write in that language. most european journals – also among those published by large companies – are the initiatives of associations or university departments, and they usually have international editorial boards which allow the integration of different interests and sensitivities. they are therefore open to a variety of topics and appreciate contributions presenting results of applied research. moreover, some on­line journals are available – among them the italian journal of planning practice – offering additional publishing opportunities. planners can make use of these tools to give wider visibility to their research work, but they must fulfil the fundamental requirements of methodological rigour and connection with the international debate. two aspects must be stressed in relation to the italian case: the presence of italian authors and topics in international journals, and the increasing role of research assessment procedures. not only is a more frequent presence of italian planners in international journals needed, but also new journals should be promoted in order to fill the gaps in the current literature landscape by better representing mediterranean issues and experiences. this should be part of “a twin strategy of increasing non­anglophone authorship in english­language journals coupled with improved mechanisms for zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 119vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 sharing of ideas across literatures of different languages” (stiftel and mukhopadhyay, 2007, p. 566). in italy a first assessment exercise has been conducted on research products (civr, 2006). it “produced performance rankings of universities based on an evaluation of a share of their 2001–2003 product that was equal in number to 25% of each university’s research staff complement in each of the 18 disciplines considered” (abramo et al., 2011, p. 231). another assessment is under way on the basis of the quoted guidelines (miur, 2011). “the evaluation criteria for the first vtr [triennial assessment of research] clearly directed research institutions to concentrate their resources on top scientists, while the new vqr [assessment of the quality of research] will offer reward on the basis of average performance of their research staff” (abramo et al., 2011, p. 231). to date, such assessments have not had much effect in terms of the allocation of public resources, because other parameters (number of students and staff, consolidated budget, etc.) are considered; but competition will be tough in the near future, and the image of institutions and academic staff will be more important in attracting students and obtaining research contracts. to conclude, planning runs the risk of becoming an invisible academic discipline. in regard to design­oriented sectors, it is necessary to develop reliable assessment methods appropriate to a variety of products, often marked by creativity rather than research (forsyth, 2007b). for process­oriented sectors, there is much space for improving the quality of research, publishing in international journals, without abandoning contacts with the local planning environment and publications. to be avoided is the risk that scholars involved in publishing in high­ranking journals “do not see a need or do not find the time to write for local journals” (schuermans et al., 2007, p. 422), thus reducing the impact of research on local society. in fact, “a deeper level of reflection is beneficial, or even necessary, for the [planning] process to be effective” (balducci and bertolini, 2007, p. 532). in short, a planner’s cv should not contain only well­ranking articles because s/he must demonstrate an ability to put his/her knowledge into practice and show commitment to the discipline’s social effects. on the other hand, it is no longer acceptable that a scholar be promoted on the basis only of local (or parochial) publications because s/he is a member of a self­ protecting circle of academicians. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 120vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 references abramo, g., d’angelo, c.a. and di costa, f. (2011), "national research assessment exercises: the effects of changing the rules of the game during the game", in scientometrics, 88, pp. 229–238. albrechts, l. (2004) "a challenge for the global planning community?", in journal of planning education and research, 24(1), pp. 26­27. anselin, l., nasar, j.l., and talen, e. (2001) "where do planners belong? assessing the relationship between planning and design in american universities", in journal of planning education and research, 31(2), pp. 196­207. agenzia nazionale di valutazione del sistema universitario e della ricerca – anvur (2011a), criteri e parametri di valutazione dei candidati e dei commissari dell’abilitazione scientifica nazionale. approvato dal consiglio direttivo il 22 giugno 2011. (criteria and parameters for the evaluation of candidates and committee members of the national scientific qualification) http://www.anvur.org/sites/anvur­miur/files/documento01_11.pdf. agenzia nazionale di valutazione del sistema universitario e della ricerca – anvur (2011b), sul documento anvur relativo ai criteri di abilitazione scientifica nazionale. commenti. osservazioni critiche e proposte di soluzione. approvato dal consiglio direttivo il 25 luglio 2011. (critiques and proposals on the anvur document on criteria and parameters for the national scientific qualification) http://www.anvur.org/sites/anvur­miur/files/documento%2002_11.pdf. balducci, a. (2005), "collegiality within a mass university system: reflections from italy", in planning practice and research, 6(2), pp. 249­251. balducci, a. (2007), a view from italy, planning theory & practice, 8(4), pp. 533­534. balducci, a. and bertolini, l. (2007), "reflecting on practice or reflecting with practice?", in planning theory & practice, 8(4), pp. 532–533. comitato di indirizzo per la valutazione della ricerca ­ civr (2006) ministero dell’istruzione, dell’università e della ricerca, vtr 2001­2003, risultati delle valutazioni dei panel di area. (italian triennial research evaluation 2001­2003, results of area panels), rome. http://vtr2006.cineca.it/ zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 121vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 commission of the european communities ­ cec (1997) the eu compendium of spatial planning systems and policies, regional development studies, 28, luxembourg, european commission. consiglio universitario nazionale ­ cun (2010) ministero dell’istruzione, dell’università e della ricerca, consiglio universitario nazionale, “criteri identificanti il carattere scientifici delle pubblicazioni, ai sensi dell’art. 3­ter, comma 2, del decreto legge 10 novembre 2008, n. 180, convertito dalla legge 9 gennaio 2009, n.1”, roma. consiglio universitario nazionale ­ cun (2011) ministero dell’istruzione, dell’università e della ricerca, “proposta su ‘criteri e parametri per la valutazione’ ai fini di cui all’art 16 comma 3 lettere a) e h) della legge 30 dicembre 2010, n. 240”, roma. cynical geographers collective ­ cgc (salvatore engel di mauro and harald bauder) (2011) "measuring impact beyond academic fame: an alternative social impact factor", in antipode, 43(2), pp. 190­194. davoudi, s. (2010) "planning and interdisciplinarity", in: geppert, and cotella, g., quality issues in a consolidating european higher education area, planning education, n°2, july 2010, reims, aesop, pp. 33­35. derudder, b. (2011) "some reflections on the ‘problematic’ dominance of ‘web of science’ journals in academic human geography", in area, 43(1), pp. 110–112. espon (2007), project 2.3.2, governance of territorial and urban policies from eu to local level. final report, luxembourg, espon. http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/documents/projects/espon2006 projects/policyimpactprojects/governance/fr­2.3.2_final_feb2007.pdf forsyth, a. (2004) "the view from design", in journal of planning education and research, 24(1), pp. 24­25. forsyth, a. (2007a) "innovation in urban design: does research help?", in journal of urban design, 12(3), pp. 461–473. forsyth, a. (2007b) "the rise of the nerds? interdisciplinary research and architecture, archnet­ijar", in international journal of architectural research, 1(3), pp. 177­182. garfield, e. (2006) "the history and meaning of the journal impact factor.", in jama: the journal of the american medical association, 295(1), pp. 90 ­93. geraci, m. and degli esposti, m. (2011) "where do italian universities stand? an in­depth statistical analysis of national and international rankings", in zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 122vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 scientometrics, 87(3), pp. 667­681. goldstein, h. and maier, g. (2010) "the use and valuation of journals in planning scholarship: peer assessment versus impact factors", in journal of planning education and research, 30(1), pp. 66 – 75. goldstein, h.a. and carmin, j.a. (2006) "compact, diffuse, or would­be discipline?: assessing cohesion in planning scholarship, 1963­2002", in journal of planning education and research, 26(1), pp. 66­79. harzing, a.w. (2008) “google scholar ­ a new data source for citation analysis." www.harzing.com kunzmann, k.r. (2004) “unconditional surrender: the gradual demise of european diversity in planning”, key note paper presented to the 18th aesop congress in grenoble, france on 03­07­2004. ministero dell’istruzione, dell’universita’ e della ricerca ­ miur (2011) linee guida vqr 2004­2008 (guidelines for the evaluation of the quality of research), rome. http://www.civr.miur.it/vqr_decreto.html myers, d. (2004) "how can planning schools be usefully compared?", in journal of planning education and research, 24(1), pp. 25­26. piazzini, t., 2010, "gli indicatori bibliometrici: riflessioni sparse per un uso attento e consapevole", jlis.it, vol. 1, n. 1, giugno/june, pp. 63–86. punter, j. and campbell, h. (2009) "reflections on the 2008 united kingdom research assessment exercise for town and country planning and closely associated disciplines", in town planning review, 80(1), pp. 31­54. rauhvargers, a (2011) global university rankings and their impact, bruxelles, european university association. www.eua.be salet, w. and boer s. (2011) "comparing the use and valuation of journals between u.s. and european planning", in journal of planning education and research, 31(1), pp. 95­97. salet, w. and boer, s. (no date) “how european planning scholars rank the importance and reputation of journals: summary of findings”, summary of the research. http://www.aesop­planning.eu/uploads/news/2010_surveyjournals_ europeanplanning.pdf zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 123vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 schuermans, n., meeus, b. and de maesschalck, f. (2010) "is there a world beyond the web of science? publication practices outside the heartland of academic geography", in area, 42(4), pp. 417– 424. stiftel, b. and mogg, r. (2007) "a planner's guide to the digital bibliographic revolution", in journal of the american planning association, 73(1), pp. 68­85. stiftel, b. and mukhopadhyay, c. (2007). "thoughts on anglo­american hegemony in planning scholarship: do we read each other's work?", in town planning review, 78 (5), 545­572. stiftel, b., forsyth, a., dalton, l. and steiner f. (2009), "assessing planning school performance. multiple paths, multiple measures", in journal of planning education and research, 28(3), pp. 323­335. stiftel, b., rukmana, d. and alam, b. (2004a) "a national research council­style study", in journal of planning education and research, 24(1), pp. 6­22. stiftel, b., rukmana, d. and alam, b. (2004b) "a reply to graduate planning school study responses", in journal of planning education and research, 24(2), pp. 128­130. teitz, m.b. (2004) "assessing the quality of u.s. planning schools: a comment", in journal of planning education and research 22(1), pp. 23­24. tewdwr­jones, m. (2005) "return of the indicators: the research assessment exercise", in environment and planning b: planning and design, 32(3), pp. 317­322. vettoretto, l. (2009) "planning cultures in italy – reformism, laissez­faire and contemporary trends", in: knieling, j. othengrafen, f. (ed.), planning cultures in europe. decoding cultural phenomena in urban and regional planning, ashgate, pp. 189­203. webster, c. (2006) editorial, in environment and planning b: planning and design, 33(4), pp. 485­490. zanon ­ research quality assessment and planning journals the products of research on spatial planning and urban development. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 29 bruno zanon issn: 2239­267x associate professor via mesiano, 77 ­ 38123 ­ trento, italy ­ bruno.zanon@unitn.it dipartimento di ingegneria civile, ambientale e meccanica – università degli studi di trento abstract in italy, recent university reforms, a research quality assessment exercise, and the selection of academics by means of innovative procedures are all accelerating the discussion on the specificity of research on spatial planning and urban design. one first step was a discussion on the quality of the journals in which planners and urban designers customarily publish, but there is an urgent need for a more general debate on what kind of research is expected to be developed, and what ‘research products’ must be delivered. this also relates to the structure itself of the discipline (such as its focus, and the specific methods used), the way academics are trained (ph.d. programmes, in particular), how they participate in the national and international debate, as well as how they are selected, the way research is supported vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 an inquiry into the recent italian planning literature. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 30 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development 1. the nature of research on planning and urban design: an international debate harvey perloff affirmed in 1956 that planners should be “generalists­with­a­ specialty” (perloff, 1985, p. 292). this means that in addition to a sound and general knowledge of the issues at stake, planning professionals must have the ability to develop in­depth knowledge of emerging problems and operational know­how based on up­to­date approaches and tools. for academics, this implies both developing scholarship in order to transmit knowledge and to consolidate practices, and critically analysing and innovating knowledge by means of research. a number of questions come to mind immediately: what does doing research in spatial planning, urban development and urban design mean? what does it produce? to what end? for whom? general reflections on the discipline must be accompanied by considerations of the various challenges of a practical and methodological nature faced by planners, and on how knowledge and innovation are produced and disseminated. the distinction between scholarship (knowledge and knowledge development) and research (the formulation of hypotheses and the search for evidence) deserves attention. scholarship is what academicians are required to do by means of a variety of activities within an environment that is oriented towards focusing issues, learning, devising novelties, and discussing. it has been claimed that “[s]cholarship demonstrates great expertise in a discipline, with clear goals and methods, documentation and internal critique, and broad significance as judged by peers” (forsyth and vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 financially, and finally, the connections between scholarship and practical (including professional) activities. following a review of the international debate on which an analytical framework has been developed, this paper analyses what is considered by italian academia to be ‘research product’, on the basis of articles published in key italian journals. the goal is not to pass judgment on each contribution, but to develop a classification of content, methods and results of what is put forward as – or should be – the product of research. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 31 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development crewe, 2006, p. 161). these activities require particular methods and organisation which define the different cultures and styles in the various disciplines. in particular, the meaning and role of research vary, although it is acknowledged that it is only through research that innovation and cultural development can be attained. “scholars are academics who conduct research, publish, and then perhaps convey their knowledge to students or apply what they have learned...” (boyer, 1990, p.15). as a consequence, four kinds of scholarship are recognized, which connect theoretical engagement, synthesis, practical experiences, and teaching: the scholarships of discovery, integration, application, and teaching (boyer, 1990, p.16). therefore, what is done by academics regards a wide array of issues and their products are only partially based on research. as far as planning is concerned, we must emphasise that it is mainly operational in nature, because it “operates at the interface of knowledge and action” (campbell, 2012, p.135), and its main goal is “the development of practical outputs” (goldstein and carmin, 2006, p. 68) to provide benefits for the communities involved. its strength lies in the ability to furnish a strategic framework that interacts with operational solutions (mazza, 2002, p. 11). there is, therefore, a close connection between theory and practice, because a methodology must be provided to frame practical activities, the development of which is the only way to test the appropriateness of methods and tools. this is why the link between practice ­ including in the form of professional activities ­ and innovation has long been considered, not only in italy, to be a fundamental way to develop new approaches and to experiment with innovative solutions. in what way can this be considered research? in some cases, it is treated as ‘practice­led research’ or ‘practice­based research’, because critical reflection accompanies action; other experiences are developed in the form of ‘action­research’, meaning that researchers analyse processes and outputs directly by taking part in practices, occupying a privileged position for observing and drawing general conclusions. a caveat is in order here, however, because “professional practice may be done in a scholarly way but rarely involves research in the full sense” (forsyth and crewe, 2006, p. 171). for academics, the practice of teaching is fundamental; it is not only a way vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 32 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development to convey previously­developed knowledge, but also a stimulus to provide knowledge with a stronger structure. “theory leads to practice. but practice also leads to theory. and teaching, at its best, shapes both research and practice” (boyer, 1990, pp.15­16). teaching and practical activities are therefore important, but they do not necessarily involve research, because, as has been noted, research is “a subset of scholarship” (forsyth, 2012, p. 6). the emerging question relates to how to assess the quality of research, however it has been developed. the growing pressure exerted by international university rankings, the assessment of the productivity of academics, the role of eu funds, and the search for visibility by departments and research centres are presenting a challenge for the everyday work of academics. the goal is an improvement in the quality of research, in anticipation of the diffusion of results and a demonstration that the discipline has ‘social utility’, but there is no single vision of the directions to be taken. in italy, recent university reforms, a research quality assessment exercise, and the selection of academics by means of innovative procedures are all accelerating discussion on the specificity of research on spatial planning and urban design. the quality assessment process has taken a variety of ‘research products’ into consideration: not only articles in journals (differentiated on the basis of their ranking) and written contributions such as books, proceedings and translations, but also innovative products like patents and software, and even more creative contributions such as drawings, design products, performances, and exhibitions, which could be considered only when a critical publication permitted their assessment. the following aspects were analyzed: the importance of the products, their originality and level of innovation, and their internationalization and impact. a distinction emerged between the disciplines which can rely on formalized tools (that is, ‘bibliometric’ indicators such as impact factors and h index), and others ­ among which urban planning ­ whose products required a case­ by­case assessment by the reviewers. the general question “what does research on planning mean?” needs to be explained in more detail, taking into consideration the complexity of this activity. therefore: ­ what are the relationships between innovation and research? ­ does research have a different meaning for the planning discipline? vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 33 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development ­ what can be considered a ‘research product’ in the case of planning? following a review of the international debate, this paper suggests an analytical framework which supports the analysis of ‘research products’ in the recent italian experience. this analysis is based on articles published in key italian journals, reflecting what is produced by italian academia. the goal is not to pass judgement on each contribution, but to develop a classification of contents, methods and results of what is put forward as – or should be – the product of research work. 2. research and practice in general terms, urban planning is oriented in two main directions: the planning process (with a leaning towards analysis and decision­oriented methods), on the one hand, and the object (that is the physical space, approached by means of design methods) on the other (strategic versus substantive approaches). while for the former strand a variety of scientific methods derived from the social sciences (and increasingly from the scientific­technical sciences) are being used, in the latter case, the role of creativity makes things more complicated. “at first glance, it can seem that the activities of doing research and doing design are similar. after all, both aim to contribute something new to the world… however, the two are rather distinctive activities” (forsyth and crewe, 2006, p. 170). in particular, design in its narrow sense “refers to the artistic process of creating new forms and the artistic quality of those forms” (forsyth and crewe, 2006, p. 171). the emergence of new issues such as environmental concerns, the effectiveness and equity of planning, and the quality of the urban space, together with the need to support public involvement and the spread of new technologies ­ in particular those relating to gis, data management, and communication ­ has opened wide scope for research, and has stimulated innovation in approaches and practices. this has accelerated the differentiation between a scholarship that is still founded on creativity, practice and professional activity, and one based on the results of research, which makes use of “systematic methods to answer questions and add to knowledge in a way that can be replicated by others” (forsyth and crewe, 2006, p. 171). the term ‘practice­based research’ has been introduced to provide a framework for the specificity of research in disciplines such as art, design vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 34 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development and architecture (biggs and büchler, 2007), but other terms are also used (biggs and büchler, 2008) to refer to an activity which does not coincide with – but whose methodology should not be that different from – what is done in ‘hard disciplines’. in general, practice­based research has been defined in the following terms: “[r]esearch in which the professional and/or creative practices of art, design or architecture play an instrumental part in an inquiry” (rust et al., 2007, p. 11). this does not imply that “practice is a method of research or… a methodology”, because it refers to an activity which can be used in research, but “the method… must always include an explicit understanding of how the practice contributes to the inquiry and research is distinguished from other forms of practice by that explicit understanding” (rust et al., 2007, p. 11). the issue, therefore, is whether it is practice that makes things different, and to what extent a rigorous method can be applied to practice in order to attain goals which can be defined as research products (büchler et al., 2008). in short, a practitioner is not required to provide responses to research questions and innovate knowledge, even when his or her products are characterized by originality and creativity. on the other hand, a researcher is expected to contribute to knowledge even when he or she is developing a project through practice, which means relying on previous work, formulating hypotheses, using an appropriate method, and providing evidence that the results obtained are new and respond to questions of general interest. this process marks a difference from professional practice, and defines an activity that is different from study. research does not, in fact, simply mean discovering something previously unknown to the researcher; it means discovering something that is new to the entire scientific community. this implies applying a rigorous method in order to analyse previous work and providing an assessment of results by peer­ review processes (biggs and büchler, 2007). with regard to knowledge, it has been recalled that, following newton, “we are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants”, and it has been affirmed that it is a cumulative process in planning (rocco et al. 2009). we unquestionably rely on work that has previously been done by others, but innovation implies applying this legacy critically, and research requires formulating hypotheses, applying methods which allow analyses and tests to vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 35 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development be repeated, basing conclusions on evidence, and disseminating results. creativity and practice can be useful in order to adopt innovative points of view or to make use of non­traditional approaches and methods. they intervene in the process, but cannot replace research benchmarks, and products must be assessed with regard to questions of general interest. the “isolationist position” (biggs and büchler, 2008), which means that a discipline can decide what research means and what the terms are for assessing results on its own initiative, cannot be defended in a scientific environment. as a consequence, “ineffability” cannot be used as an argument for defending creative practices not respecting – or replacing ­ sound research methods. in many countries, art, design and architecture were (and to some extent still are) taught in non­university institutions (such as polytechnics, écoles d’architecture, and fachhochschulen), the theory being that practice and creativity can be transmitted and developed, but do not require a close connection with research. in recent times, the shift by these institutions from vocational schools to universities or university­like structures, the activation of quality assessment procedures, and the competition for the assignment of financial resources have implied a more active role in research, which requires a definition of what research means for creative and professional disciplines. the authors quoted above conclude that a more precise definition of “practice­based research” would be pointless, because what counts is a rigorous method to “meet all of the conditions of the existing academic model of research” (biggs and büchler, 2007, p. 68). in fact, it is not accepted that “academic research that is developed in these areas should enjoy special privileges because the area would be in some way special” (büchler et al., 2008, p. 11). 3. an analytical framework research can be developed only applying a scientific method; this is true of both general rules (as briefly defined above) and the approaches and methodologies specific to each discipline, which have been (and continue to be) developed within a scientific environment made up of academic networks (such as universities, research centres, and scientific societies), vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 36 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development journals and published vehicles, and events that stimulate interactions among scientists. in short, a discipline usually relies on a ‘disciplinary infrastructure’ that allows researchers to obtain information and experience new stimuli, to expose their ideas, to disseminate their products, and to obtain reactions from their peers. an ‘infrastructure’ such as this is difficult to construct for planning, and in fact it has yet to be consolidated, because it is a composite discipline that draws issues, methods and tools from a variety of fields. this characteristic arises out of the diversity of “purposes, objects, procedures, and identities” involved, and subject­related roots that “are not just in the sciences, with their belief in analysis and causality, but also in the understanding of social relations… and the aesthetic concerns of the design professions” (beauregard, 2001, p. 438). this “diffuse discipline” must therefore confront a “wide diversity in disciplinary goals, theoretical concepts, methods, and standards for judging scholarly quality and validity” (goldstein, 2012, p. 494). with regard to the operational aspects of the discipline, the planning tradition is founded on political­administrative and legal issues and the associated decision­making and consensus­building aspects, on the one hand, and on physical planning on the other. both strands, especially the latter, are oriented towards collecting and transmitting knowledge and developing solutions through practice, so that “the scholarship of discovery is underserved in the planning discipline” (hopkins, 2001, p. 399). the need to expand “our set of explanations about how the world works to increase our capacity to cope with the world” (hopkins, 2001, p. 400) to define planning as a scientific discipline therefore remains unsatisfied. explanations must, in fact, be regarded as “causal mechanisms sufficient to make sense of observable phenomena” (hopkins, 2001, p. 400). this implies that to define the scientific basis of planning means sharing not only objectives but also methods and tools, because “for any given field of inquiry, there must be agreement on a core of relevant causal mechanisms, agreement on stopping rules about what depth of explanation is sufficient, and agreement on criteria for better or worse explanations” (hopkins, 2001, p. 399). another aspect relates to how knowledge can be developed, and in this regard the culture of planning has been defined as oscillating between two vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 37 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development poles: incremental (or cumulative) versus integrative knowledge. while the latter means a capacity for “drawing together the big ideas from discoveries by others” (forsyth, 2012, p. 162), the former relies on a process which should both increase and select knowledge. this expectation goes hand in hand with the hope that in the long run, “planners can speak with a single voice”. it has been observed that this is an unjustified position to take, because planners “need to accept the fuzzy boundaries of planning, the endemic incompleteness of professional control, and the healthy and relentless internal criticism” (beauregard, 2001, p. 439). in short, what is required of planners is not only a critical attitude, but also research, because development of the discipline cannot rely on a cumulative process in view of “speaking with a single voice”. instead, we must consider that the definition of scientific paradigms, to use kuhn’s terminology, can only be pursued in the presence of an appropriate environment (a ‘disciplinary infrastructure’) that allows us to discuss, select and validate hypotheses and results. the material published in journals reflects the effectiveness of disciplinary mechanisms, in particular concerning what is considered to be ‘research product’. published contributions deserve an analysis, therefore, which can be carried out by relying on a framework that recalls the basic conditions for research, the cultures within which activities are developed, and the various styles adopted by researchers. based on recent literature (in particular: forsyth and crewe, 2006), research must define goals, make use of appropriate methods, relate to prior work, develop arguments, provide documentation and perform evaluations, submit results for peer review, and publish results. various research cultures can be recognized in planning, reflecting diverse goals and approaches. in particular, the following have been described (forsyth, 2012): vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ­ scientific frontiers (focused on sectoral issues, operating in collaboration with other scientists, and adopting an incremental knowledge perspective); practical applications (operating within the framework of current knowledge, and making use of certain research products); ­ assessing practice (developing practices worthy of analysis, or studying practices that have already been applied); ­ ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 38 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development finally, research is developed by adopting different styles which relate to the methodology adopted and reflect diverse approaches. to draw from a previously quoted author (forsyth, 2012), these styles can be defined as empirical, logical argumentation/theory, critical/interpretive, and synthesis. yet more can be defined. this framework permits us to support an analysis of recent italian literature which demonstrates that italian journals devote little space to research articles. there is nothing odd about this if we consider that they are aimed not only at academics but also at practitioners, and that they have manifold aims, such as to spread information, provide good examples, or reflect on experiences. in short, the expected innovation relates to a number of different aspects: the topics addressed, the approaches and the methodology adopted, and the tools used, and it is not only research that is involved in contributing to these aspects. 4. research products in an evolving disciplinary environment. an inquiry into the italian journals. the italian case reflects the international debate, but preserves certain specificities, in particular the key role of physical­statutory planning, the engagement of the academic world in practical activities (often of a professional nature), and the unstable relationship between research and teaching. over recent decades, research has seen innovation, but also a continuity of approach and practice. notwithstanding the attention paid to new topics and the use of new technologies (such as computer graphics and gis), urban design in particular tends to follow consolidated methodologies, which means connections with practice, analysis of cases and experiences, and the transfer of knowledge. on the other hand, new issues and methods have been introduced that deal with the planning process, policy analysis methods, and socio­economic approaches. at the root of the discipline there is the practice of urbanistica, which was based on urban design, legal and administrative procedures and the practice vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 enduring questions (addressing the bigger, more challenging, and recurrent issues of the good and the right, of power and values, and the role of planning). ­ ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 39 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development of drawing up plans, all constituting what has been defined the “urbanism tradition” (cec, 1997; espon, 2007). the academic structure, defined in the 1920s by merging artistic disciplines and practices from academies of fine arts and scientific and technical knowledge and know­how from engineering schools, evolved in the 1960s and 1970s, when rapid economic, social and territorial transformations invested the country. design was not sufficient to provide responses to such complex phenomena, which needed the application of socio­economic methods and a specific attention to the decision­making process. new changes have taken place in recent years, in particular due to technical innovations, the emergence of environmental issues, connections with economic and local development programmes, and the need to involve stakeholders and the population at large in decisions. the legal framework was also modernized by an amendment to the constitution in 2001, which introduced the term ‘government of territory’ in place of ‘urbanistica’, reflecting the changes in approaches and practices we have described above. the array of issues which must now be faced needs a variety of methods and instruments. this condition might be considered either “a weakness – making it difficult for planners to know exactly what belongs to planning”, or a “key strength” (davoudi, 2010, p. 33) that widens the scope of the discipline. there is undoubtedly a risk of fragmentation of the discipline due to the coexistence of different – and sometimes conflicting – theories and methods (mazza, 2002). in recent times, the academic disciplinary strand oriented towards urban design has been partially absorbed by architecture, although urban planning makes use of physical­architectural methods, while expanding in a variety of areas. in the 1980s, doctoral schools were established in italy. for the first time, ‘learning by research’ was formalized, which boosted the research­based education of the new generations of academics. but it is only recently that competition among the various disciplines has become tougher, in particular following the establishment of research assessment practices and the definition of new parameters for the selection and promotion of academics. this process required a definition of what ‘research products’ deserve consideration, superseding the tradition that everything that is published has vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 40 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development to be accounted for, while ‘bibliometric’ methods, meaning inclusion in databases such as isi, scopus and the like, are being increasingly used (zanon, 2012). at the same time, the process of defining what research must mean is too slow, and there is the risk that some disciplines will be left behind in a competitive environment in which others can boast internationally­recognized rankings expressed in publications in refereed journals, citation counts, etc. in fact, certified products must be compared with an array of contributions that are difficult to assess, such as projects, exhibitions, and publication in magazines where images prevail over written content. not only can comparisons not be made, but it is also difficult to understand whether there is innovation when design products are not accompanied by critical reflection and articles do not define hypotheses, express a method, or provide evidence, and peer review processes are not set in motion. defending specificities that avoid the need to define what research is cannot be accepted. italian journals, it has been observed, are “mostly magazines oriented to professionals rather than… academic journals”, although many are “good quality publications, but lack the features required, such as a prestigious editorial board, a reliable publisher able to cover different markets and to guarantee the continuity of publication, and, most importantly, peer­review procedures and inclusion in certification mechanisms” (zanon, 2012, p. 116). in general, articles cover a variety of issues and topics, describe experiences and plans, address technical and legal issues, propose new topics and points of view, and transfer knowledge from other disciplines and places. their styles are therefore varied, and mirror an individual journal’s or magazine’s traditions and mission. in general, articles are not organized as they usually are in international journals: only a few focus on problems by analysing them on the basis of the ‘state of the art’, formulating hypotheses, and developing a discussion in the light of the evidence found after application of an empirical method. in many cases, articles ‘take a position’ not only in the disciplinary debate, but also in the political­institutional discussion, and consider that the ‘impact’ of what academics state should be measured in terms of changes in the political environment, administrative organization, and planning decisions. one initial point to be considered relates to the nature (or the ‘mission’) of vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 41 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development these journals. generally speaking, italian journals were traditionally founded by groups of intellectuals (architects, planners, or academics) who had close associations with a common ideological orientation, be it scientific, artistic, or political. as a result, articles were (and in many cases still are) written on demand by the editorial board (or the editor him/herself, in the case of an influential personality), and therefore peer review was not applied. this mechanism is still largely used, but in many cases it is possible to propose articles or thematic groups of articles, and the selection is made by the editor (sometimes with the support of referees). a second, but connected, point relates to the fact that journals follow a clearly­defined editorial policy which influences not only the topic being addressed but also the format of articles and the style employed. in particular, the content of journals is in many cases organized to create ‘special issues’, or ‘collections of articles’. these usually consist of an introduction and a series of short contributions, and may be the result of a research project or an investigation carried out by posing a question and collecting responses. the quality of each article cannot easily be assessed, because the information conveyed is defined by the overall collection, and the efforts of the editor cannot be restricted to just a few written pages. another aspect to be considered is the divide between urban design and urban planning. some journals only publish articles of one type, while others accept both. the former are generally journals that are mainly oriented towards architecture and are open to urban design (such as casabella or domus), or specifically oriented towards urban design (paesaggio urbano) and those that deal with socio­economic issues or the planning process (for example, archivio di studi urbani e regionali or urbanistica informazioni). some journals combine both strands (for example, urbanistica and territorio). the inquiry carried out in this study is a first step towards a wider analysis. it has taken into consideration the most representative italian journals on planning: urbanistica, archivio di studi urbani e regionali, territorio, and one of urban design: paesaggio urbano. recent issues have been critically analysed in light of the above framework. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 42 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development 6. article types and writing styles a number of different aspects must be considered when analysing articles in search of ‘research products’: first of all the type of contributions as regards the specificity of the host journal, then the topics addressed within a specific disciplinary culture, and finally the communicative style adopted. to be quoted in this regard is a recent analysis of planning publications, on occasion of an award assigned by the italian urban planning institute (istituto nazionale di urbanistica), which identified different ‘literary genres’ (biographies, histories, case studies, theories, descriptions, urban policies, state of the art descriptions, invectives, handbooks, textbooks, planning documents) as well as a number of common approaches (historical, theoretical, professional) (moccia, 2012). the publications here considered cover a wide array of topics and motivations for writing on urban planning. the analysis focuses on how the results of research are disseminated, and conversely, on how much research is at the basis of what is written. in general, italian planning articles are not much different from the contributions published in journals, and in professional magazines in particular, of other countries, although only a few are organized in the consolidated form of international academic publications. in architecture­ and urban design­oriented journals, articles are generally short (1500­5000 words), and make use of maps and illustrations. these contributions cannot develop an argument fully, and often provide ‘links’ to other materials (such as research reports, projects, and figures). journals covering theoretical or socio­economic topics carry longer articles which do not necessarily make use of graphics. as said, edited collections of articles represent a common way of organizing contributions. this model implies identification of an emerging issue, and in many cases a claim to be made. articles therefore tend to be short, to focus on a very specific aspect, and to adopt different writing styles, in particular because the authors are not only academics but also professionals and ‘eye­ witnesses’. collections of articles allow a large number of authors to make a personal contribution, but they tend to repeat the introductory statements and preliminary descriptions. in other disciplines, longer articles, often with vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 43 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development multiple authors, are more common. some published issues present the results of research projects (in particular those supported by national funds for cooperation among universities), while many others collect contributions based on personal reflections or experiences rather than research results. direct involvement in plan­drafting processes, administrative activities, or associations often forms the basis for proposing an argument and supporting a claim. another common category of articles includes those which describe applied research experiences, mostly funded by local authorities, in which even larger academic groups are often involved. these underline the continuing existence of certain areas linked to long­established practices (land­use planning, in particular), together with the emergence of new topics relating to urgent matters requiring new research and the development of appropriate proposals. there is nothing odd about these ties between research and the specificity of places and cases: they are typical of the discipline. the quality and level of interest of the results differ, because some experiences provide contributions of a professional standard, while others present opportunities for ‘practice­based research’ where academics can test hypotheses or methodologies. in any event, what is expected from articles on such specific topics is an ability to generalize the methodology and project approach so they can be of interest to a wide readership. research can also be connected to teaching. many experiences are based on a ‘project methodology’ that involves students (sometimes phd candidates) in the development of a project for a place where a ‘demand for planning’ has been devised or clearly expressed by a local administration. published articles therefore present research products in the form of projects developed by researchers or students under the supervision of teachers. in these cases, the aim being the illustration of an educational experience whose goal regards the transfer of knowledge, not research, a coherent process of hypotheses formulation, search for evidence, and assessment of results is rarely developed. in some way the idea conveyed is that a good project is anyhow innovative, because able to address clearly­defined issues appropriately, demonstrating an ability to respond to questions in the visible form of a designed proposal. the disciplinary culture proper in the ‘urbanism tradition’ emerges in many articles, first of all due to the close connection between physical planning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 44 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development and the other topics which marks the italian approach, and then because the need to make a claim and affirm a point of view is similar to the role of an architect, who needs to demonstrate his or her ability to find an appropriate or creative solution. as far as style is concerned, the first type is descriptive. the goal of an article is to spread new information and illustrate a specific approach, a method, or a peculiar solution which deserves attention and can be replicated. a good description implies selection of the objects and phenomena to be observed and transmitted: this is a key aspect when illustrating a complex document such as a plan or a project, because what must be conveyed is not only basic knowledge (what is being done, what techniques are being used, what results have been attained), but also methodological aspects. more analytical methods are applied when hypotheses are assessed that go beyond mere description. this entails making use of disciplinary methodologies, in particular when new topics, innovative approaches, and technical issues are being treated. another type relates to ‘taking a position’. discussion of certain issues requires not only presentation of an argument but also proposals of an approach or an intervention, and the modalities for doing this can differ enormously. in certain cases in particular, the weight of the author is considered to be a sound argument to be used to influence the readership. the proximity of the discipline to politics often attenuates theoretical analysis in favour of more ideologically­oriented positions. 7. research products in italian journals. some conclusions if we consider the results of the investigation in light of the framework described above, it is possible to draw some provisional conclusions. one preliminary consideration relates to the motivations behind writing an article, which may be quite different (moccia, 2012), and even contradictory. there is undoubtedly a need to communicate, describe, and explain, but there is also the desire of the author to gain visibility and/or to acquire credit in the academic or professional environment. this is the case with urban planning, which is an ‘inclusive discipline’ that can progressively absorb various topics by making use of diverse methods and tools. what is written, vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 45 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development therefore, is not necessarily based on a previous study, and communicative styles vary to an extraordinary degree. this does not mean that these articles serve no purpose, or that they do not deserve attention: information, descriptions of good practices, or analyses of successful (or unsuccessful) experiences are always important. a second, but connected, consideration relates to the already­emphasised nature of italian journals: they only devote a certain amount of space to research articles that follow internationally consolidated formats. the result is that many of the articles published in international journals by italian authors would probably not have been published in italian journals, which are only partially oriented towards academia, and mostly aim at a wider audience. in general, knowledge development and innovation are pursued through a cumulative process, by adding new fields and topics, proposing new points of view, and transferring methods and tools from other disciplines. this approach tends to preserve the traditional connection between physical­ organizational and procedural aspects. only some of the contributions analysed are oriented towards redirecting the discipline or proposing new methods based on a cohesive formulation of hypotheses, empirical analysis, and discussion of evidence. from a methodological point of view, this is the only way to develop research, and the nature of urban planning does not prevent one from working in this way. a focus on new fields of research is often regarded as innovation per se. addressing issues such as “infrastructures and landscape”, “military brownfield reclamation”, and “urban agriculture” means devoting attention to aspects which had been ignored, and which require ­ albeit only in part ­ the use of new methods and tools. it should be stressed that it is expected that opening up new areas will provide visibility for the researcher (or author), who then becomes a pioneer. in some cases, this kind of ‘innovation’ is supported by new terminology, which often uses (or misuses) english expressions, or is based on the transfer of knowledge from one place to another, but appropriate analysis of the specificities required to avoid a mere ‘transplant’ of topics or practices following modish trends is not always performed. the conclusions which can be drawn from the study of the presence and vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 46 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development quality of research products in italian journals are by no means negative. it is not yet possible to elaborate precise statistics, but a number of considerations can be made by using the framework proposed above, in light of forsyth’s classification. most of the articles address practical applications and/or assess practice. while in the former case plans and projects are mostly treated using a descriptive writing style, in the latter experiences are analysed and case studies developed, and the arguments presented must rely on analytical concepts and tools. only a few articles address ‘enduring questions’ that represent theoretical and methodological issues, but they can be of considerable significance, even though they often put forward a specific point of view or ideological position. finally, a growing number of studies address ‘scientific frontiers’: technical aspects and the use of new technologies or innovative approaches. in many cases, they propose methods and tools that have been developed in other disciplines, thus widening the scope of urban planning and its toolbox. the style adopted reflects the nature of the article, with a prevailing use of description and analyses that are not always based on precise theoretical assumptions. different styles are adopted by papers that address ‘scientific frontiers’, theoretical issues, or reviews of approaches and methods. as far as references to prior work is concerned, articles of an analytical and theoretical nature and those addressing ‘scientific frontier’ issues generally quote the literature (mostly italian) and experiences (plans, good practices, etc.) extensively, but cross­reference controls are not in place, and the impact of the article cannot be measured in a formalized (measurable) manner. in short, the following classification of the goals and types of articles can be proposed. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 1. enlarging the disciplinary scope. the articles that fall into this category tend to ‘set an agenda’: they propose new topics and/or points of view, and in particular devise emerging ‘needs for planning’. an incremental attitude lies at the basis of this approach, and the proposed method relates to a proposal for ‘new insights’ and the ability to formulate topics, including the use of appropriate terminology. examples are articles on “mafia ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 47 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development in conclusion, research in planning cannot be regarded as an activity that differs from other disciplines as far as basic methodology is concerned. innovation undoubtedly emerges from a variety of contributions and practices, which are not always based on research. italian journals support the spread of knowledge effectively, even though the space devoted to research products may not be especially extensive: in fact, articles only relate to the results of research projects in part, while they frequently present case studies and experiences, or advance claims. academics also tend to publish in a variety of journals and professional magazines that do not always apply peer­review processes. this does not imply that the articles vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 territories in northern italy” or “university cities”. innovating scientific approaches and methods. these articles address topics (some of which are not especially new) that require the use of technical knowledge and know­how, such as gis and landscape ecology, but also issues like citizens’ participation. these are the preferred fields for the use of research methods through formulating hypotheses, searching for evidence, and drawing conclusions. innovating and consolidating planning practices. the focus here is on everyday planning activities. the approach adopted can be defined as ‘professional­like’, because the issues addressed require the ability to focus on problems, devise alternatives, and provide solutions. the key method is practice. 2. 3. observing and analysing practices and experiences. this approach focuses on certain relevant cases, and deconstructs the process by making use of different methods, one of the key ones being the ‘policy analysis’ approach. the various levels of this approach include observation, narration, and analysis. 4. describing experiences. this method can be defined as ‘transferring knowledge’, in the tradition of plan and project descriptions and applying the more recent ‘best practices’ approach. there is often the hope that innovation will emerge from a ‘transplant’ intervention. 5. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 48 zanon ­ the products of research on spatial planning and urban development have a reduced impact, however, because they enjoy a wide audience that extends beyond the circles of the particular discipline and involves professionals and managers. in any event, the risk is that the areas of concern to the discipline will be expanded by the addition of new topics and the accumulation of new methods and tools without evidence being provided of their relevance and effectiveness. aknowledgments. a preliminary version of the paper was presented at the aesop­acsp joint congress, 15­19 july 2013, dublin. the author is grateful to an anonymous referee for his/her helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the article. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 49 references beauregard r.a. 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(2002), technical knowledge and planning actions, planning theory, 1(1), pp. 11­26. moccia f. d. (2012), i generi della letteratura urbanistica, in: f.d. moccia, m. fantin, e. papa, (eds.), premio inu letteratura urbanistica 2012, urbanistica dossier online, 003, pp. 2­8. available at: http://www.urbanisticainformazioni.it/img/pdf/ud003.pdf. perloff h.s. (1985), the art of planning. selected essays of harvey s. perloff; edited by l.s. burns and j. friedmann, new york, london, plenum press. rocco r., biggs m. and büchler d. (2009), design, practice and research: interconnections and the criterion­based approach, 8th european academy of design conference, 1­3 april, 2009, aberdeen. available at: https://uhra.herts.ac.uk /dspace/bitstream /2299/7476/1/903917.pdf. rust c., mottram j. and till j. (2007), ahrc research review. practice­led research in art, design and architecture, bristol: arts and humanities research council. available at: zanon b. (2012), research quality assessment and planning journals. the italian perspective, italian journal of planning practice, vol. ii, n. 2, 2012, pp. 96­123. available at: http://ijpp.uniroma1.it/index.php/it/article/view/81. http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/43065/practice­ led_review_nov07.pdf. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 61 stan: a software for a community strategic framework marco lombardi msc st ud e n t dip ar t i me nto d i p ia ni f ica zio n e, d es i g n, t ecno lo g i a d ell 'ar c h ite tt ur a sap ie n za u n i ver sit à d i r o ma via f la mi n ia, 7 2 0 0 1 9 6 ro me, i t al y mar co .lo mb ar d i .r m@ g ma il.co m 5 keywords: strategic choice, community strategic framework, public participation, planning, urban design abstract the application of a community strategic framework (csf) (scattoni, 2018) requires simple and low-cost techniques. csf is an approach communities can work with to identify the main characteristics of the problems they are facing and to help with making decisions about these problems. this article outlines the essential and immediately operational elements for applying stan (strategic analysis) mailto:marco.lombardi.rm@gmail.com lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 62 software. this develops from the “strategic choice” approach (friend and jessop, 1969) and, while computerised techniques have been developed, they have been found to have limitations and have been little-used (friend and hickling, 2005). some applications have been attempted in the italian context (giangrande and mortola, 2005) but without a significant following. this paper aims to show how a computerised technique called stan, which developed about ten years ago, can be used for constructing and managing a csf. indeed, this technique has characteristics that are well suited to community use because, in particular, it requires only basic knowledge of computer science, which we can assume to be present in many small groups of people. an important additional condition is the stan software’s free license, available as open source software. the method’s versatility makes it possible to integrate it properly where the formation of the csf is oriented to cooperation, information exchange, or possible conflict comparison between various stakeholders, as well as decision makers. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 63 introduction the article is formulated as follows. previous attempts to use stan software will be analysed. it is particularly important to assess the potential, as well as the limits, which has not permitted the development in the past. thereafter, this paper will evaluate the possible use of such a technique in a strategic choice approach. the paper then focuses on the steps required for using stan in a csf and presents specific steps for constructing the csf, considering the assumed minimum conditions. the identification of the actors, perception of the problems and of the possible alternative courses of action are then analysed to solve the perceived problems. the identification of possible conflicts then outlines negotiating strategies. the paper then offers a brief review of the applications so far carried out in experimental teaching exercises and proposes the possibility of developing a basic guide for using stan software. finally, the conclusions focus on the possible technical developments in relation to csf. state of the art strategic choice the method refers to the strategic choice approach for urban planning. friend and jessop summarise the essential features in the fifth chapter of their book, which was published in 1969 (friend, jessop, 1969). lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 64 the approach is innovative, looking at planning as a continuous process of interaction and dialogue between a system of government and a community system. often, the demands of the community system are confused and unstructured and the government system has the responsibility to structure community demands and needs. the authors describe this process through progressively complex diagrams and a particularly important contribution is the classification of uncertainties characterising public decision-making processes in general and those of planning in particular. they identify three sources of uncertainty. the first uncertainty is related to the knowledge of the environment (ue, uncertainties related to the environment), with reference to the difficulties of urban analysis, particularly in relation to the forecasting tools. setting out a problem and the possible options to solve it is called “decision area”. the combination of the possible options allows for a whole range of possible general solutions to be identified. the alternatives may, in fact, emerge from the study of the technical system of government, or from the knowledge expressed by the community. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 65 the various options are evaluated from different points of views. each stakeholder can express different preferences. further, each option can have different consequences in relation to objective parameters as environmental impacts, costs, etc. the decision process does not necessarily occur according to a strict sequence. often, it is done through progressive mutual adjustments, which may also go through community participation, organised in various ways. strategic choice for csf in italy, the strategic choice approach has not found many applications. in 1974, baldeschi and scattoni provided the first translation in chapter 5 “the nature of planning” of friend and jessop’s book (1969). the following year, balbo (1975) introduced the aida technique. much later, giangrande and mortola (2012) made the first operational test. only in grosseto’s structure plan does the strategic choice approach find application. the grosseto structure plan remains the only large-scale plan using strategic choice (scattoni, 2007). looking at these few theoretical and practical experiences, it is necessary to evaluate how the approach can meet the characteristics of a csf. in fact, in csf, common knowledge prevails over expert knowledge. in this paper, we try to demonstrate that the approach is suitable for this requirement if it is driven by a simple and understandable sequence and with the aid of an equally simple, computerised procedure. the operations for the framework’s lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 66 construction are strategic choices made from progressively identifying problems. the definition of the options proceeds from the simplest, which implies no action, to the complex. for each problem, the “no action” option needs to be considered (keeping the existing situation, i.e., the status quo) and a generic change statement then develops over time with increasingly specific options. the technological support can be managed by a member of the group with only minimal computer knowledge. the minimal expertise required involves simple operations, such as software installation and management. previous experience in this paragraph, the discussion is about the stan software as the support for strategic choice. such software was developed in two phases. the first phase takes shape in the 70s at newcastle university by openshaw and whitehead (1975). they developed software called dot (decision optimising technique). they derived dot from the aida (analysis of interconnected decision areas) approach developed at ior (faludi and mastrop, 1982). the second phase concerns reusing some of those experiences to finally outline a simple and intuitive tool: stan software. it requires limited technical skills and is easily accessible even in poorly structured or spontaneous groups, lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 67 with limited resources, but which are interested in building a community strategic framework. the same ior school later developed the strad software, which is limited to the treatment of subsets of the decision-making framework identified with the strategic choice method. above all, strad helps to frame the decision-making process through workshops in which various stakeholders participate. however, in this method, technical expertise is essential (friend j.k., hickling a., 2012, chap.10). openshaw and whitehead’s abandonment of the dot software’s development from 1985 had different technical reasons, mainly concerning the computer limits at that time. openshaw and whitehead investigated the interactive use of dot when adequate computer power was available at the time only at a few universities. only in their last contribution did openshaw and whitehead (1985) sense the importance of the personal computer but obstacles concerning easy use in practice still remained at that time. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 68 the new phase: stan development picture 1 stan initial banner the grosseto structure plan’s preparation (2000-2006) provided the environment for developing a technique to support the strategic choice approach, operated by a group of planning consultants from sapienza rome university. the main inspiration for stan originated from this work, with a research group comprising a planner, an expert in operational research, and a computer expert. unfortunately, stan was not ready for the grosseto structure plan but it later found several applications, mainly in university teaching. its official presentation took place in 2005 in a seminar taken at the department of urban and regional planning. all of this has created a research group formed mainly by urban planners and computer and operational research experts. the stan software, mainly based on linear programming 0/1 elements (ricca and scattoni, 2008), comprises methods and models lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 69 of operations research suitably designed to provide a decision support tool, in line with the principles and processes that characterise the stages of strategic decision making. thus, it is developed from the work of openshaw and whitehead and exploits the possibilities of computers available today on the market, in addition to exploiting the advances that have been made in software. through the tools offered by the java programming environment, a graphical interface has been developed that allows even complex strategic frameworks to be managed. the user interface allows the integer linear programming models to be set up by simply selecting them from a subset of possible methods including those available. the following are the criteria (ricca and scattoni, 2008) used for developing and setting up stan software: 1. debate: stan software allows the stakeholders involved in the planning process to participate interactively in developing the strategic framework; 2. flexibility: the strategic framework can be easily modified according to the dynamics of the decision process; 3. traceability: the strategic framework can be commented on in its entirety through the placement of text, which allows for changes to the strategic framework over time to be described in order to be able to reconstruct the main transformations; 4. low cost: stan is an open-source software under the gnu license and is, therefore, freely downloadable, testable in the source code, and possibly modifiable. the users only need a lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 70 personal computer and possibly a video projector for use during sessions. stan explores a large number of solutions through the aid of mathematical and statistical tools. the role of the software is not to replace the decision maker but to allow the actors of a given context, based on debate, to explore the alternatives in the decision-making process. it can help with assessing the effects of preferred options and provide the traceability of the decision-making process. stan, thus, assists the decision makers, offering a strategic choice environment, looking at:  decision areas, which represent the structure of the problem;  options, the alternatives of choice for every possible decision area;  criteria to evaluate the different alternatives;  the relationship between the options of the various decision areas. in april 2014, the research group released version 2.0, incorporating software updates and developing a function to export the csf in a format compatible with mediawiki. such a function provides the possibility of interaction between a decision wiki database (scattoni, 2018) and stan software. a worked application is in the appendix. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 71 concluding remarks the stan technique looks to play a key role for the csf as imagined by scattoni (2018). it is economically sustainable for any voluntary group, even if they are small. the software is available for free, the necessary technical knowledge is minimal, and it can be assumed that, within each group, there are members able to manage stan appropriately. defining decision areas through meetings and opinion exchange, either live or through the web, is an easy task. once started, the process of defining options and actors’ positions should follow without significant difficulty. in this respect, the link with knowledge organised according to a classical strategic choice approach is important. a wiki database based on the strategic choice approach can further facilitate the use of stan. decision areas, options, value judgements by stakeholders (that of the group, as well as those deduced from other actors), and interconnections among decision areas can easily feed into a stan exercise. consequently, the csf can also be built through easy steps in a group meeting, using basic equipment like a computer connected to a projector. using stan allows for the summary of the csf on a single page where all the essential elements can be read. on the other hand, the page elements can be described through text, even entered during the meeting with synthetic notes and, if necessary, refined later. such a feature is particularly important for preparing reports to support the lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 72 group in different situations, such as the public participation exercises launched by the “government”. further, the ability to export to an excel format can simplify the analysis of a csf. on the other hand, there are obstacles to be considered for full implementation of the technique in a small group context. the initial absence of experience may be a significant obstacle. until now, the implemented experiences occurred in a university teaching environment. in a real-world situation, it is almost certain that a proposal from one or more members of the group can encounter scepticism by others. regardless that the technique is simple to understand, in situations of conflict between community and government, use of stan may appear an alien and ineffective exercise. it could appear unable to help in managing decision making where impairment is evident, especially in terms of access to sensitive information. of course, the prior construction of a wiki related to the decision-making process can help to dissolve scepticism. it is, therefore, important to make clear that the technique is not a black box for producing solutions but only a means to order them in an operational way for self-organised groups. future research on stan can develop according to two main directions: software and empirical work. as far as software is concerned, different research activities must be implemented. it is necessary to provide regular updates, especially in relation to java updates and releases. as a matter of fact, java guarantees operability lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 73 with most operating systems: linux, windows, and mac. the transition from 1.0 to the current 2.0 version of stan is needed to ensure the software is used with new releases of java. also, implemented functions of the exported csf need to be in a compatible format with the mediawiki software in order to give users the opportunity to interact with both systems. more importantly, the effectiveness of stan can greatly benefit from a facilitated interrelationship with the information base on the wiki. for non-technically-oriented groups, it is important to simply provide inputs in terms of decision areas, options, different actors involved and related value judgements, as well as technical criteria and functional relationships. a last but not least aspect is that of collecting experience from small groups using the software. such documentation would be of great importance to work on possible improvements. for such a purpose, a platform linking different experiences could be of value for research. appendix operating procedure the appendix is designed to show an example of dealing with a decision area starting from a csf using the latest version of the stan software (http://stan.sourceforge.net/). the diagram below is the basis for identifying the elements that will make up a decision area, so called because of the models and the http://stan.sourceforge.net/ lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 74 methods shown in the previous paragraph. the set of decision areas and their contents will form the csf. box n.1 shows the structure of a decision area. title of the decision area problem description of the problem. options possible options for a resolution to the problem. actors main actors involved in the problem. related areas decision areas related and, therefore, mutually influenced. learn about documents to learn about and resources to support the knowledge of the problem. the stan has a common type menu. in the bar at the top of the window, you can find file. with left-click, it will open a drop-down menu through which you can make basic operations on csf. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 75 with left-click on file-> new, you can create an empty csf while by left-clicking on file-> open you can open an existing csf. some example scenarios are available in the examples directory within the stan software folder. picture 2 left-click on file picture 3 new empty csf lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 76 once opened or created, you can save the csf by left-clicking on file-> save or file-> save as. the difference between the two operations is that the first stores the same file from which you opened the csf while the second allows you to specify a new file on which to save the scenario. it is possible to open multiple scenarios and call them from the window menu item, which can be found to the right of the file menu. you can close the single csf by left-clicking on file> close. the software also enables the printing of a csf report. this report is visible in preview mode by left-clicking on file-> print preview and can be forwarded to the printer by left-clicking on file-> print. to exit the program, left-click on file-> quit. the insertion of the data is done through a pop-up context menu, which is able to display the type of operation permitted depending on the row and column in which the pointer is located at the moment in which the operator invokes the menu with the right-click. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 77 picture 4 right-click context menu the operations that allow the context menu are as follows:  add / edit / delete a decision area with the possibility of inserting text that describes the problem to be treated;  add / edit / delete an option with the possibility of inserting text that describes the proposed solution;  add / edit / delete an evo column going to identify the actors/stakeholders or any other constraint criteria;  add / edit / delete the mutual condition of influence between the options of the same area of the decision or from the options of the other decision areas. the documents collected in support of knowledge cannot be inserted directly into stan software. however, in the case of a publication of the csf on a wiki-type website, these documents will complement the decision area as an integral part of it. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 78 the wiki-type website can also be used for storing a state of the csf at a given moment in time. similarly, the wiki-type website, thanks to the functions of discussion and participation, can be a source of items to complete or update the csf on stan software. once you have entered all the data, we will have the csf to be analysed in tabular form. in the first column, we will find lines of text containing the options, the latter grouped by decision areas that may contain descriptions or comments entered into the correct field via the context menu, the same thing is true of the decision areas that are freely open to comments and sortable freely by the right-click menu. in the second column, ordered from left to right, you can find incompatibilities and stakeholders. usually, among the first columns, you can find mutual exclusions between options incompatible with each other and in the columns to follow, we can identify the stakeholders. alternatively, other constraint criteria can be inserted. each constraint can be set either as a target function for maximum thresholds of values, as a target function for minimum value thresholds, or as an objective function between a pair of minimum and maximum values. for each stakeholder, there is an evaluation column expressed in a choice scale (e.g. from 1 to 10) that must be maintained homogeneous for all the evaluations. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 79 in addition to subjective judgments for each related stakeholder stan may consider continuous measures such as those related to costs, environment, etc. stan allows for moving the original columns and lines by the user. therefore the software facilitates the planning process during the various phases of comparisons and negotiations. achieved results this paragraph looks at an example in order to clarify the way stan functions. it is from a work carried out in 2006, taken from exercises in final dissertations (opolka, 2006). the thesis tests the method (strategic choice approach and stan) in an unplanned rome neighbourhood. the thesis was built through the local organisations helped by the formulations of csf. it identifies decision areas, options for each one, the stakeholders involved, and the interrelations between decision areas. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 80 picture 5 initial csf with three decision areas box n.1 shows the structure of a specific decision area. decision area – sewerage network problems increasingly reported sewage spills that resulted in extensive damage to homes. the causes were: defective sewerage network lack of maintenance; many of the old drainage canals were closed. options 1. maintain the current situation; 2. strengthening of the existing sewerage network, 3. new sewerage network; 4. scheduled maintenance of the sewerage network; 5. scheduled maintenance of the sewerage network plus strengthening of the existing sewerage network; lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 81 6. new sewerage network plus strengthening of the existing sewerage network. actors main municipality of rome; local municipality district; committee of district; small owners of vacant lots. related areas local roads further analysis documents to learn about and resources to support the knowledge of the problem. box n.2 shows the evaluation provided by four main stakeholders. the scale is 1 to 5, where 1 is very negative and 5 is very positive for interviewed stakeholders. stakeholders / options main municipality of rome local municipality district committee of the district small owners vacant lots 1. maintain the current situation 1 2 1 1 2. strengthening 3 4 2 2 lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 82 of the existing sewerage network 3. new sewerage network 2 3 4 4 4. scheduled maintenance of the sewerage network 3 4 4 4 5. scheduled maintenance of the sewerage network plus strengthening of the existing sewerage network 3 5 4 4 6. new sewerage network plus strengthening of the existing sewerage network 3 3 5 4 lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 83 picture 6 an example of elaboration that displays the preferred solutions for the "main municipality of rome" stakeholder picture 7 an example of elaboration that displays the preferred solutions for the "local municipality district" stakeholder picture 8 an example of elaboration that displays the preferred solutions for the "commitee of district" stakeholder lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 84 picture 9 an example of elaboration that displays the preferred solutions for the "small owners of vacant lots" stakeholder more recently in a final dissertation (lombardi, 2018), the method was tested in the context of the urban renewal of the main archaeological area of rome. the thesis ends with a detailed evaluation of the results regarding stakeholders’ preferences. references baldeschi, p. & scattoni, p. (1974). pianificazione come scelta strategica, urbanistica-ipotesi, 1, 27-30. davidoff, p. (1973). pluralismo sociale e pianificazione di parte, in crosta, p.l. (1983). l'urbanista di parte. ruolo sociale del tecnico e partecipazione popolare nei processi di pianificazione urbana, milano, franco angeli. davidoff, p. & reiner, t.a. (1962). a choice theory of planning. journal of the american institute of planners, 28, 103-115. davidoff , p. (1965). advocacy in pluralism in planning. journal of the american institute of planners, 31, 331-338. friend, j.k. & hickling, a. (2012). planning under pressure, oxford: butterworth-heinemann. friend, j.k. & jessop, w.n. (1969). local government and strategic choice, london , tavistock publications. lombardi – stan: a software for a community strategic framework ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 85 friend, j.k. & jessop, w.n. (1974). italian translation of chapter 5, friend, j.k. & jessop, w.n. (1969). urbanistica-ipotesi, 1. giangrande, a. & mortola, e. (2005). neighbourhood renewal in rome, in friend, j.k. & hickling, a. (2005). planning under pressure, oxford, butterworth-heinemann. openshaw, s. & whitehead, p. (1975). a decision optimising technique for planners, planning outlook, 16(spring), 19-33. openshaw, s. & whitehead, p. (1976). working paper 1, department of town and country planning, newcastle university. openshaw, s. & whitehead, p. (1978). structure planning using a decision optimising technique, town planning review, 49, 486501. openshaw, s. & whitehead, p. (1985)., “a monte carlo simulation approach to solving multicriteria optimisation problems related to planmaking, evaluation, and monitoring in local planning”, environment and planning b, 12, 321–34. ricca, f. & scattoni, p. (2008). modelli matematici per il supporto alle decisioni: le basi formali della scelta strategica, roma, aracne. scattoni, p. (2007). il piano strutturale di grosseto e la memoria della pianificazione, urbanistica, 133, 63-69. scattoni, p. & tomassoni, g. (2007). un sistema informativo dei processi decisionali nella pianificazione, urbanistica, 133, 68. scattoni, p. (2018). flipped transparency in community strategic framework. a bottom-up approach for transparent planning and urban design in italy, italian journal of planning practice, viii(12018), 38-60. an italian urban “fashion” ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 66vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 sara verones1, simone tulumello2, simona rubino2, ilaria delponte3 issn: 2239­267x the urban 1 programme as a catalyst for institutionalplanning shift 2 department of architecture, university of palermo ­ simone.tulumello@gmail.com; simonarubino@unipa.it abstract since the 1990s italy has been going through changes and experiments concerning modes and tools of urban government. new methods, based on public­private partnership, on a consensual basis, were progressively adopted, overcoming the traditional authoritative mechanisms and role of public actors. the contribution of community policies such as initiatives on urban areas, has been crucial in creating new tools, influencing the existing ones and activating new approaches to planning. this paper builds some theoretical considerations on the contributions the implementation of european programmes has given to the changes in the conception of urban interventions and the debated shift in urban policies from “government” to “governance”. 1 department of civil and environmental engineering, university of trento ­ sara.verones@ing.unitn.it 3 department of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, university of genoa ­ ilaria.delponte@unige.it verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 67vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 1. introduction italy has faced momentous changes. the transformation from a predominantly agricultural economy to one based on industrial and services sectors only occurred in the 1970s after the post­war reconstruction period (scattoni & falco, 2011). in the 1980s and 1990s the de­industrialization processes started, shifting to a post­fordist, post­modern model (bagnasco, 1990) with the development of «hyper­territories, meta­expressions, and increasingly complex functionalities of urban life, work, consumption, and mobility» (seixas & albet, 2010, 772). in such turbulent contexts, italy experienced two decades of experiments in legislation and operations (palermo, 2006; governa & saccomani, 2004; tira & zanon, 2011), shifting the mainstream institutional planning paradigms from government to governance (seixas & albet, 2010). new methods, based on public­private partnership, on a consensual basis, were progressively adopted, overcoming the traditional authoritative mechanisms. various legislative provisions have introduced new instruments for territorial and urban planning (governa & saccomani, 2004) such as the family of integrated programmes and tools focusing on economic­productive aspects. moreover, while strong pressures existed for the reform of national and regional planning legislation, several mechanisms have been experimented «with contracts among different institutional tiers or between public and private actors, with grants, special purpose vehicles, marketable building rights or potentials, mixed agencies» (ponzini, 2011). the role of european comunity policies in the innovation of territorial and the aim is to build a critical analysis about how the urban 1 initiative acted as a “catalyst” for the evolution of urban practices, accelerating the innovation of the planning cultures and practices. the article examines three cities where an urban 1 programme has been developed: genoa, naples and palermo. the cases have been selected in order to present the variety of interpretations of eu initiatives across italy, fostering a critical discussion on eu programmes and their relationships with local planning policies. verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 68vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 urban government tools in italy has been crucial. the community initiatives, such as the urban pilot project 1 and 2, and the urban programmes, were designed by the european union as opportunities for innovation in urban policies in the local perspective to enhance the effectiveness of public action (padovani, 2002a). as a result, the europeanization of urban intervention cultures, together with the innovation and integration of policies concerning social and economic issues and an invitation to overcome the traditional focus on building and planning modelling has made new inputs to the debate. the community initiatives contributed to the definition of new modes and tools for urban interventions, according to rivolin and faludi (2005, 207): thanks to a sort of contamination by community policies (through participation in integrated mediterranean programmes, territorial employment pacts, urban pilot projects, leader and urban community initiatives), a dozen or so new tools for “negotiated programming” and “complex programmes” for urban regeneration have been created, within the short period of time of only a few years giving rise to a plethora of local territorial actions. in recent years, community policies have been the objects of several studies, revealing a wider debate on the development of national policies for the city and the territory, including different institutional levels of government and governance (balducci, 2000; rivolin & faludi, 2005; rivolin 2000; governa, 2010; governa & salone, 2005). the literature has deeply analysed urban 1, above all, due to the innovative concept of inter­ institutional, inter­sectoral, multi­actor, and participative action and to its wide use throughout the peninsula. the urban 1 initiative concluded in 1999, involved 118 european cities, 16 in italy. the objective was to push european cities to implement innovative and participative programmes in order to be able to intervene in effective terms in situations of serious environmental and social urban decay (padovani, 2002b). the urban initiative aimed at acting as a driver for local development «through exemplary projects aimed at sustainable improvement of living conditions of urban residents, particularly in the poorest and socially verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 69vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 degraded areas» (cec 1994). whereas the physical outcomes of this experience have been analysed (palermo et al., 2002; campagna & ricci, 2000), studies have approached urban 1 experiences as a chance to activate a learning process concerning the use of cross­sectoral urban policies (padovani, 2002a), and the promotion of effective participative processes, all aimed at the social and economic cohesion of target areas (tosi, 2001). accordingly, the urban initiative has improved a set of capabilities in co­operation and in dealing with integrated urban problems (padovani, 2002a, 2002b). furthermore, the adoption of suggestions from the eu city governance approach and the introduction of a series of integrated programmes have had direct consequences on the italian planning culture, inaugurating a “planning by project” (fontana, 2002) fashion which had to deal with the crisis of planning models. what seems to be missing is a debate on the contribution of urban 1 in the discussion on the contemporary shift in the italian institutional planning. to discuss this, the article will analyse the initiative in three italian cities, genoa, naples and palermo, following three specific perspectives. the first is related to the role of the nation states in relation with european union institutions and the consequent new models for public action. the first generation of european community initiatives – such as the urban programme have partly contributed to the evolution of the italian planning systems with the introduction of new concepts and practices to deal with urban issues pressing to enforce administrative decentralization, strengthen local responsibilities and to develop integrated urban policies (saccomani & governa, 2004; stanghellini, 2001; tosi, 2001; governa, 2010). clementi (2002, 26), stated that it is necessary «to manage by agreements rather than with decrees and measures for self­reliance. we would expect that after this very intense period of experimentation, the local development plan would never be the same [translated by the authors]». the second is to critically discuss how the european aspiration to build a socially shared interaction, closely related to the concept of “consensus building”, were differently activated. laino (1999, 75) observed that the 16 different interpretations of urban 1 were examples of «a series of decision­ making means partially following the government approach combined with others in accordance with urban governance conceptualization [translated by verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 70vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 the authors]». taking into account the significance of the term governance in relation to the particular phase of citizens’ involvement in the decision­ making processes, he outlines the use of methodologies of participation of inhabitants, the great potential for innovation, and the clear limits to the italian practice of urban regeneration. the last point of interest is how such urban regeneration policies with social objectives, together with the expansion of strategic means of planning, select areas and/or issues of intervention and how the trends to timely intervention may foster some tendencies to the exclusion of some areas or issues from the planning field. to sum up, the concern of this paper is to make some theoretical reflections on the modifications of planning practice in italy, through the lenses of the institutional planning shift that restructured the planning discipline in europe in the last decades. the role of the urban programme as a “catalyst” of changes in planning cultures will be debated. in chemistry, a catalyst is a «substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change1»: the same programme has been implemented in several different contexts, and we will debate how it contributed to the accelerating of the processes of shifting of institutional planning. the theoretical debate on this shift will be outlined in section 2. section 3 will summarise the evolution of the italian planning system in order to give the context for the empirical analysis (section 4) which will show how the implementation of the urban 1 programme in italy is worth studying in order to provide some theoretical considerations (section 5) in respect to the general frame aforementioned. 2. the contemporary institutional planning shift and the eu initiatives the last three decades of the last century have been described as the epoch of the post­modern shift, the transition between a fordist and a post­fordist economy being entrenched with great social and cultural consequences and available on www.wordreference.com as defined by the concise oxford english dictionary, edited by the oxford university press and1 verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 71vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 gigantic spatial transformations within the urban field (fillion, 1996). the growing specialization of urban spaces, the fragmentation of the urban structure, and the emergence of new and typical urban forms allow the 1970s to be considered as the beginning of a period of general transformation of urban forms, not yet concluded (martinotti, 1993). such phenomena have been faced by the public sector with growing difficulties due to the fiscal stress connected with de­industrialization processes. neo­liberal trends and the crisis of planning models made factors like the decline of nation states, the fragmentation of the decision­making processes, and the prevalence of the multinational private sector crucial to an exploration of contemporary policies (shaktin, 2002). three general aspects of the contemporary shift in planning can be reviewed in order to formulate the questions to be debated within the paper. 1. it is necessary to look at the redefinition of the role of the nation states which do not simply passively undergo the aforementioned processes «but engage in them as actors in their own right» (governa, 2010, 664). decentralization processes have reshaped the relationships between national and local levels, defining new models for public action and a number of new policies were developed, shifting the mainstream institutional planning paradigms from government to governance (seixas & albet, 2010). it has been noted that making an absolute distinction between such two models is an unattainable task, and referring rather to a «continuum of intersecting aspects and features» (governa, 2010, 679) seems to be a more appropriate approach. indeed, within such processes, the role of strategic means of planning is crucial. within the eu, a further level is in play: a re­scaling of territorial governance (brenner, 1999) related to the bilateral relationships between nation states and eu institutions. the shift to governance and the innovation of local policies are commonly considered as main tools for achieving the objectives of competitiveness and cohesion which frame the community agenda on urban development (territorial agenda, 2007; espon, 2010; governa, 2010). from this view­point, the first generation of urban programmes can be analysed as a test­bed for the desired renovation of local policies in southern european cities. within such a context, some reflections on the eu's territorial agenda have stressed on the fact that a shift towards a so­called “evidence­based” verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 72vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 justification of policies has brought a relative neglect of the dimension of political and social agency in spatial development processes (gualini, 2008). might we extend such reflections by suggesting that the shift from governmental to governance practices refers to a shift from a political to an operational attitude? in other words, may the shift towards project­based planning and the (relative) neglect of normative planning practices reduce the opportunities for political debate and foster some tendencies to focus only on economic development policies? 2. such a question is intertwined with the second theoretical point to be debated: the so­called institutional turn in social sciences2, stressing the new forms of political interactions between the vertical pressures of private interests – linked with the growing role of multinational sectors – and the grass­roots democratization and decentralization pressures. in a post­modern political arena, decisions cannot be taken «in a linear fashion from intent to choice, but in a complex, socially structured interaction» (vigar et al., 2000, 47). thus, specific practices should be embedded in a wider context made of social relations (healey, 1999), considering both the growing effects of large international institutions on day­to­day people's lives and the ability of people to influence them (beauregard, 2005). consensus building practices and the general shift from normative to strategic planning are deeply interconnected with such themes. within their analysis of contemporary large urban developments in europe, gualini & majoor (2007) have stressed some critical aspects: a limited amount of both strategic and comprehensive planning approaches; a lack of effective implementation of “new” planning ideas. the point seems to be the institutional fragmentation wherein most of such projects are realized which makes it harder for governments and local administrations to effectively pursue their interests. these authors foresee the emergence of a “new urban policy” (ibidem, 198) whose main focus shifts from welfare policies to market­oriented approaches. given the shifting patterns of justification of policies, how did the implementation of the urban 1 programmes in italy manage the consensus­ building issues? can we recognize some tendencies towards the so­called see planning theory, vol. 4, n.3, 2005.2 verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 73vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 “new urban policies”? 3. a last theme stresses the “dark­side” of the institutional planning shift. if we recognize that both contemporary societal patterns and urban forms are increasingly associated with social polarization, privatization of public space(s) and exclusion of social groups (young, 1991; petti, 2007; holston, 1998) we might be interested in understanding how such processes are justified: if a democratic interaction is necessary to justify policies, the role of information is decisive for consensus building (forester, 1989; hillier, 2002). thereby, a “neo­liberal governmentality” has been described, based on the building of oppositional categories such as “order/disorder”, “we”/”the others” (hutta, 2009) to justify selective and/or exclusive policies. from this viewpoint, a strategic means of planning – and the use of specific programmes as well – allows a “selective non­planning” (yiftachel, 2009) in order to exclude from institutional attention some areas, instances, or populations. tosi (2001) questioned the model of an integrated approach proposed by european documents in relation to the concept of multidimensionality of measures in the social literature, stressing the relationships between the choice of areas where urban programmes apply and the achievement of social goals. a last question emerges: can the generalised use of integrated programmes, such as the urban one, reduce the use of normative planning tools and, thus, foster some tendencies to the exclusion of some areas or issues from the planning field? these questions can provide some critical interpretations of the italian shift in planning policies. thus, instead of a review of “best practice” outcomes, this paper will compare different processes, in order to make some general conclusions on the way complex, well­funded urban programmes may, at the same time, contribute to positive innovation to planning processes or shift the decision­making focus from public to private interests. verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 74vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 3. the italian planning shift 3.1 from zoning to the crisis of traditional italian planning the italian planning system is grounded in an outdated law, law 1150 approved in 1942, which defines the municipal plan (prg, piano regolatore generale) as a master plan based on land­use zoning extended to the municipal area. its main aims were organizing the physical growth of the city and providing building regulations for land transformation. subsequent legal amendments and supplements have further articulated the zoning and the prg has progressively become a tool used to orient urban growth in order to perform economic and social development (oliva et al., 2002; mazza, 1997). this model is based on a comprehensive knowledge of reality that allows the definition of problems and the construction of alternatives to choose the planning solutions, structuring the local plan in the notion of public interest (mazza, 1997). since the 1970s, major territorial expansion has stopped, social demand changed, and the notion of collective interest broken down (saccomani, 2003) putting in crisis this sort of plan. the main criticisms of this model were brought from social, business, and environmental interests (salzano, 1998). three main reasons for the ineffectiveness of public actions and the inadequate technical quality of municipal plan have been recognised (oliva et al., 2002): • the reference to a model unable to govern the transformations taking place; extreme rigidity of the plan in comparison to the rapidity of urban change; inadequate implementation tools, essentially based on expropriation procedures and not considering public­private negotiations. • • to overcome such a crisis, an incremental approach to the municipal plan was developed aiming to a design parts of the city, according to the needs and priorities of the moment. thus, in the early 1990s, new tools for urban planning were introduced in the italian framework to operate in a more flexible and pragmatic way on the basis of public­private agreements in verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 75vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 derogation of the existing prgs (mello, 2007; ombuen et al., 2000). after the first implementations, these tools could only give partial answers when disconnected from a general planning strategy and vision. thus, there was a new planning demand for a return to having a municipal plan, but radically changed in form and procedures (salzano, 2008; oliva et al., 2002). 3.2 “complex urban programmes”: integrated planning tools and european projects during the 1990s, new tools were developed in order to shift the way of urban intervention from “traditional” to “integrated” (governa & salone, 2004): the family of “complex urban programmes” (programmi complessi), were tools focusing on economic­productive aspects, negotiated planning (programmazione negoziata), and all finalised to define a contractual model for the interaction between public and private actors. the complex urban programmes, have been implemented in five national programmes: integrated intervention programmes (pii, programmi integrati di intervento, 1992), urban rehabilitation programmes (pru, programmi di recupero urbano, 1993), urban renewal programmes (priu, programmi di riqualificazione urbana, 1994), neighbourhood contracts (cdq, contratti di quartiere, 1998 and 2003), and programmes for the urban renewal and sustainable development for territories (prusst, programmi di riqualificazione urbana e sviluppo sostenibile del territorio, 1998). in these programmes, the principle of integration – in terms of intervention­ sector multi­dimensionality (functions, economy, local societies), of coordination among various institutional levels, and of cooperation between public and private actors (davoudi, 2003) – is put forward with different approaches in an evolutionary perspective. the first direction for these urban regeneration policies – aimed to improve urban quality – including piis, prus, and prius, focused mainly on physical renewal, integrating urban issues with social and economic problems. then, prussts and neighbourhood contracts, were aimed at promoting sustainable local development in situations in which physical and functional degradation are accompanied by social problems, but at an enlarged scale, municipal at least. the second kind of intervention programmes (law 662/1996; cipe verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 76vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 resolution 21/3/1997), consists of a set of tools focused on economic­ productive aspects using negotiating approaches. territorial pacts (patti territoriali), area contracts (contratti d’area) as well as quarter (neighbourhood) contracts were defined as agreements for local development promoted by local entities. within this context, several planning policies – eu actions, complex programmes, traditional planning, and plan implementation tools – can overlap in a single geographical area, and the analysis of their relationships is a challenging task. it is important to stress the experimental character of the last two decades and the period of important institutional, economic, and social changes. moreover, with a similar model but with different financial capacity, complex and urban 1 programmes have simultaneously involved the same public local administrations and, sometimes, the same target areas. following these considerations, it is undoubted that the complex urban programmes «have often been implemented in accordance with eu urban initiative or through projects emulating its “spirit”» (governa, 2010, 673) and the pivotal role of european union to widely spread an innovative model of urban intervention able to “contaminate” (rivolin & faludi, 2005) and contribute to the evolution of the italian way of planning, working as a catalyst. it is evident that, not only the introduction of various legislative provisions of different tools for urban renewal but also the european union policies have put forward the principle of integration in different forms and in different sectors contributing to an evolution of italian practices not only through the amount of finance offered, but also by introducing an urban renewal culture unlike the traditional building and urban renewal approach (governa & saccomani, 2004). hence, urban initiatives, and urban 1 in particular, being the first, have played a crucial role in proposing the same new cultural issues in planning that were similarly debated in each eucountry, introducing key innovations in terms of territorial and urban government tools (padovani, 2002a). 3.3 main outcomes in ordinary planning since the second half of the 1990s the italian national planning institute (inu) has tried to respond to the new planning situation with the proposal for verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 77vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 a novel national planning act with principles, guidelines, and coordination with the subsequent legislative action of the regions (stanghellini, 1997). the extension of the municipal plan into strategic­structural and programmatic­operative regulations has been the major innovation. such a new plan is split into three tools: structural plan (piano strutturale comunale, psc), the programmatic one; development plan (piano operativo comunale, poc), the prescriptive one; planning and building regulations (regolamento urbanistico edilizio, rue), prescriptive for the management of developed areas (campos venuti, 2008). the structural plan is aimed at outlining the main organization lines and indicating long­term changes; the development plan is intended to identify actions and transformations to be carried out in the short­term (dal piaz & apreda, 2010; salzano, 2008). as a result, a proactive/strategic nature and a regulative role arise for the plan. the former, without a real prescriptive framework, create new possibilities for development. the latter ensures existing and new rights, defined through prescriptive and detailed proposals (mazza, 1995). particularly, the main innovative aspect of the psc should be the non­prescriptive nature of the land­regulation, except for higher­level prescriptions and constraints (oliva, 2009; oliva et al., 2002), deleting land revenue provisions (campos venuti, 2009). thus, from a normative point of view, the psc should be a flexible tool for identifying strategies, objectives, constraints, and safeguards, representing more agreements by the administration than duties for the private sector (urbani, 2000). within this framework, the poc defines the initiatives and the governance of main territorial development achievable in the municipal electoral mandate or five­year period on the basis of the programme of the administration (dal piaz 2004; avarello & properzi, 1997). in this sense, the poc regulates planning interventions and implementation according to criteria of priority and feasibility (dal piaz & apreda, 2010) and occurs in strict relation to procedures for public­private negotiation (oliva, 2009; urbani, 2000). following tuscany, in 1995, many regions have reformed the concept and structure of the prg, developing different variations, reflecting, more or less, the model proposed by inu. the new local plans system largely uses the equalization strategy of property rights for its implementation, recognizing both its advantages and limitations verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 78vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 (micelli, 2010; 2011). while strong pressures were aimed at the reform of national and regional planning legislations, new models have been introduced. pro­market based devices – proposing the exchange of development rights – have been experimented and progressively adopted (pompei, 1998; micelli, 2002; 2004) with the objectives of achieving spatial justice and allowing administrations to effectively implement planning decisions without using financial resources (karrer, 2004). in such a national context – where a more advanced urban planning model is arising, bringing to more effective implementation of normative planning means – complex urban programmes and community policies can become a way to implement the development plan3. otherwise, urban interventions from national and european initiatives may become, sometimes in derogation of the existing plan, tools which run counter to the traditional italian planning system. 4. case studies 4.1 methodology and background of the case studies a case study methodology has been considered to closely examine the questions within the specific contexts (yin, 1994/2003; tellis, 1997a). the paper presents a multiple­case design due to the numerous sources of evidence through the dissemination logic of community initiatives (tellis, 1997b). three cases have been selected for the exploration of the urban 1 italian experience: genoa, naples and palermo, in order to reflect the wide variety of interpretations of eu initiatives across italy, highlighting strong and weak points of local authorities actions, and fostering a critical discussion on eu programmes and their relationships with the evolution and improvement of urban government. some interviews and informal meetings with local administration’s representatives4 have been included in the case see also oliva et al., 2002. the foregoing is strongly supported by gianluigi nigro as emerged in a long interview with him.3 municipality councillor. in naples, daniela lepore, responsible for national research on the urban programme and person close to the former manager for social policies. in palermo, emilio arcuri, former chairman of the committee for the historical centre and nadia spallitta who lead the office for the design of the urban 1 proposal. in genoa, bruno gabrielli, professor emeritus at university of genoa and former genoa4 verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 79vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 study approach and are named as sources in the text. before discussing each case, a brief summary of the background is necessary to show the great variety and interpretation of urban 1 in italy. in genoa, a port city in northern italy, the selected areas are located in two industrialized neighbourhoods in the urban west side. the background of the sites was characterized by social conflict and lack of control by public authorities over the process of exploitation of land by private developers. these are, in fact, two of the most representative areas where the industrial production has characterised the context, both in physical and social terms. both in naples and palermo, the largest cities of southern italy, the selected areas were within the historical centres which are characterized – like many mediterranean cities – by a richness of cultural values and historic buildings; a complex and decayed physical structure; social deprivation; depopulation with some trends to re­population thanks to immigration and initial regeneration processes; inadequacy of public policies (lo piccolo, 1996). the table below gives a general overview of the selected case studies. table 1 – overview selected case studies source: official urban website: ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/urban2/index_en.htm. 4.2 the urban experience: measures and results genoa: the urban tessera the urban 1 initiative in genoa mainly involved three measures: (1) verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 80vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 reclamation of the environment; (2) control, monitoring and mitigation of traffic pollution; (3) economic support for new economic activities. distinctive aspects of the deployment of urban 1 in the genoese area could be attributed to the importance given to it as a fundamental tessera of a total redesign of the city and, above all, of its image: in fact, contemporaneously to the renewal of central parts of the old harbour, financed by other programmes and national investments (pru, prusst, structural funds objective 2, columbus international exhibition, g8 international summit, 2004 capital of eu culture), and considering the typical polycentrism of the city, they chose to channel urban 1 funding into the reuse of the western industrial outskirts. thus, the municipality provided to the citizens visible interventions in different quarters and neighbourhoods of the metropolitan area. according to bruno gabrielli – in one of the informal meetings we had around these topics – the real future challenge was in how such improvements could become permanent and durable afterwards. the genoese proposal was aimed at organising an innovative job centre and to improve the general conditions concerning transportation and services. some other complementary interventions were implemented, thanks to a subsequent negotiation that permitted a re­modulation of the financed objectives. the main funded actions concerned the renewal of the ancient villas of cornigliano – establishing new functions and a renewed connection to the city fabric – and the urban green areas of valletta rio san pietro and monte gazzo, definitely protected from the attacks of building speculation. during the re­modulation process funds were addressed to the restoration of a daily surgery centre, justifying it by the starting­up of a new vehicular accessibility project which improved traffic conditions and made less crucial the creation of the goods­centre. the actors involved were the municipality – an international and european policies sector was created inside the mayor’s office –, the province, and the local transport society with the technical support of private parties. in this sense, the desired public­private partnership was not completely achieved: scholars agree on the authoritative role played by municipality in managing the resources (palermo & savoldi, 2002; fedeli & gastaldi, 2004). at the time of approval, genoa proposed to assign to a public­private consortium the leading role in the deployment of the project: nevertheless, verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 81vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 for a simplification of the steering and managerial activities, the municipality assumed the whole function. only two actions were delegated to other actors: the public transport manager – for the setting up of new bus­lines in the target area – and the province – as far as environmental monitoring was concerned. for the job centre, an agreement procedure was provided in order to enable third sector private parties to collaborate in the work. about the relationships between the reclamation programmes and (ordinary) spatial planning, some outcomes can be identified. the complexity of two regulatory plans – city and port – was balanced by a joint task­force during the drawing up of the urban programme, but the influence of extraordinary contributions to planning issues – large­scale projects, urban marketing decisions, supra­local intents, economic pressures – made this difficult. therefore, urban 1 was not directly connected with the existing plan drawn up in 1990, but with the new approach to planning – a new municipal plan was drafted in 2001 – changed because of urban 1 and other integrated programmes experiences, especially regarding the dynamic relation between plans and projects. naples: a story of missed opportunity urban 1 for naples was guided by aims of normalization and legalization, and implemented by a small, informal team that allowed quick decision making , overcoming the uncertain bureaucratic attribution of duties, and avoiding the excesses of political negotiation and mediation. two measures represent the main focus of the eu programme: (1) setting up of new economic activities; (2) training and local employment promotion. when talking about urban 1 for naples we mostly refer to the quartieri spagnoli neighbourhood. in terms of social networks, the different starting points of the two target areas have had a significant impact in terms of effectiveness of the programme. the quartieri spagnoli already had a strong social cohesion, so it has been possible to implement the programme more efficiently recording better results than in the rione sanità neighbourhood. some maintenance and restructuring of urban furniture, and some actions for the improvement of areas intended for cultural and recreational activities have characterized the urban renewal and regeneration. the only intervention integrated with traditional planning instruments has been the project for the verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 82vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 restyling and improving pedestrian accessibility of the toledo street­plebiscito square axis – commercial axis into the valley of quartieri spagnoli –, introduced at a later time in the urban programme to ensure eu funds (lepore, 2002c). the main goal of the programme has been to provide economic and technical assistance in upgrading existing enterprises, encouraging entrepreneurial self­improvement and supporting the creation of consortia and co­operatives. in such a way, it has been possible to restructure two hundred existing craft manufacturers highlighting the fact that some economic activities already existed but were not legal (lepore, 2002a, 2002b). the project also worked as a laboratory for testing innovative services aimed at improving social conditions through direct prevention and recuperation work with the young people, with specific interventions in terms of information, safety, crime prevention, and, lastly, a support to the unemployed to enter the job market (mingione at al., 2001). from this point of view, a job centre has been established in both areas as a point of listening and guidance to search for job opportunities and carry out information and training activities. these centres are still active. the balance of what has been carried out with urban 1 has been quite positive in the short term, but today almost nothing is left, because the former mayor represented the mainstay that could keep the whole system together. when he stepped down, the project disintegrated in a domino effect as we debated in an interview with daniela lepore. the urban 1 programme in naples has been characterized by a very low integration with traditional planning instruments and it is differentiated from other italian cases by activities which involved less “build” and more “social”: in consequence, it interacted with policies that have nothing to do with urban planning. this has been possible thanks to the delegation from the municipality to the councillor responsible for social policies and to a great trust between the informal team, this councillor and mayor bassolino (lepore, 2002a, 2002c). in this sense, the measure (2) “training and local employment promotion” is the one that best integrated with social policies already planned by specific departments of the municipality, especially incorporating actions and social policies foreseen in the “plan for children and adolescents”. some provision of the ordinary plan have been used to verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 83vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 obtain urban funding due to the need to have in the eu programme a provision for urban renewal and regeneration aspects. no integration of the urban 1 with integrated programmes may be found because all of them have involved peripheral areas of the city. nowadays, in the quartieri spagnoli, a pilot project is being implemented for the regeneration of the bassi5 which, hiding behind the aim of continuity with urban 1, is fostering huge gentrification processes. palermo: contradictions over contradictions urban 1 in palermo has involved two historical districts on the waterfront, characterised by the contradictions typical of southern italy historical centres. within these areas, huge monumental and cultural values exist, as well as most of the cultural institutions of palermo, together with areas of extreme physical and social degradation, lacking any neighbourhood public facilities. in 1994, the districts were strongly under­populated, as a consequence of the abandonment by inhabitants, which had characterized the historical centre since 60s. the unemployment rate reached 35%. four measures were implemented: (1) launching new economic activities; (2) ensuring employment; (3) improvement of public social services; (4) environment and infrastructure. the municipality desired to renew the image of the historical centre and to promote the heritage as strategic means of upgrading the economy (vinci, 2002). measure 1 has been the most successful, and the districts are nowadays punctuated by dozens of newly established economic activities. the same cannot be said of the other measures but the new activities have had minor results on residents' employment rate while the measures (3) and (4) – funded with 80% of the budget (padovani, 2002b) – have not been successful. different neighbourhoods have seen different outputs. olivella has seen successful economic development, with the establishment of a system of hand­crafts, bars and restaurants, mainly run by residents who have empowered their sense of community (leone, 2009). on the other hand, vucciria, a neighbourhood hosting a famous historical market, has not received any benefit. the lack of urban centres – like the ones that were small apartments on the ground floor of the historical buildings.5 verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 84vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 decisive for olivella's outputs – contributed to such a failure (ibidem). it is useful to note the general lack of coordination with government's tasks: no relationships existed with 1989 detailed plan for the historical centre which aim was the philological regeneration of the historical space (see lo piccolo, 1996). not thinking in terms of “feasibility” or “housing”, such a plan undoubtedly “saved” the historic centre from demolitions and inappropriate development but left the urban fabric at the mercy of the property sector, generating a slow but progressive gentrification. the urban 1 programme has been developed without any relationships with the detailed plan and this has contributed to very scrappy results without much improvement of the urban condition. nowadays, the 1989 plan, which has never being modified after the urban 1, is clearly out­of­date. the embryonic re­population of the historic centre which begun in 2001 (leone, 2009) is partially connected with urban 1, for many private refurbishments of residential buildings have started. but the lack of any effective policy for social housing has pushed towards growing gentrification processes. the measures involving public intervention were least effective, mostly because slowness and corruption of public bureaucracy made it difficult to manage the allocated funding. furthermore, after the end of the programme, the new right­wing administration assigned to private activities almost all the buildings previously appointed and renovated for be social services. indeed, the programme has been a challenge for public offices unused to managing complex programmes. such aspects clearly emerged during meetings with emilio arcuri and nadia spallitta. excellent results in terms of quality of the proposals and fast execution of some measures were achieved thanks to competences acquired by the responsible staff during the implementation of urban 1. unfortunately, in the long term, the results vanished: the new administration has dissolved such competences, dismantling offices, mostly for political patronage reasons. no relationships with integrated programmes may be found, for the use of such programmes arose after the end of the urban 1 programme. pru, prusst, and pii are very significant labels of the new right­wing administration, which uses them to promote private investments rather than urban regeneration. such programmes are commonly used in breaking of normative planning instruments. verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 85vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 5. discussion and concluding remarks the great variety of methods, processes and outputs of the three cases described may be of great help in building some general theoretical considerations for a critical debate on the role of eu regeneration policies in the shifting patterns of institutional planning in italy. the methodology we chose was a multiple­cases design, and builds on the so­called “replication logic” (yin 1994/2003, 47). this provides a theoretical framework in two complementary ways: predicting similar results in similar contexts – a “literal replication” – or finding contrasting outputs but for predictable reasons – a “theoretical replication” (ibidem). the variety of outputs we discovered for the use of the same tool in different contexts, thus, may be rethought on the basis of the different contexts and political cultures of the three cities. in order to build some conclusions with reference to the framework outlined in section 2, several key themes emerged: the considerations focus on the drivers and barriers identified in the relation between the local contexts, the italian planning system and the european urban policies. in the genoa case, following the debate on strategic planning as a reflection of the shift from government to governance, some of the most representative interventions were not delivered by the management of transformations in the traditional “sense” of planning. they are more due to a long­term vision built up by means of non­standard planning tools, in which private interests and public priorities are matched, creating all around project aspirations and an attractiveness halo. the public sector retained the leading role but in partnership with strong pressure groups expressed by the best economic resources of the territory: marketing and r&d sectors were also closely involved in the strategy. about participation, the urban 1 initiative collected several contributions by citizens, mostly related to the problems arising from the damaging environmental impacts of the industrial plants. in this sense, urban 1 funding was exploited by the public sector for a typical process of consensus building: it allowed the municipality not to concentrate all the interventions in the central area, turning the regard to a peripheral zone and, thus, preventing the risk of offering the image of a disequilibrium towards citizens from different parts of the polycentric city. verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 86vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 in naples, the programme was implemented by direct involvement of government. nevertheless, we cannot speak about a pure top­down approach: the choices were the result of continuous and direct face­to­face contact with the so­called “informal team”, represented by the quartieri spagnoli association, a social network already existing and strengthened in the neighbourhood. from the viewpoint of the consensus building, the “informal team” has been a mouthpiece of citizens without real participatory practices. having knowledge of the needs of the inhabitants, it owned the freedom to decide individually with the institutions. for this reason, this approach has been termed as the “good soviet” one (lepore, 2002a; laino, 1999). yet, it has represented together the strength and weakness of the programme. when the mayor resigned from his office, in the absence of the strong leadership that had joined the network of trust relationships, the “good soviet” approach revealed itself as a problem instead than an opportunity. the biggest weakness of the programme has been that it seemed incapable of creating an effective system of governance: there has been product innovation but there has not been process innovation. without any doubt, the palermo case is the one characterised by lower levels of bottom­up participation. the administration leading the city in such times has been called the one of palermo's “spring”: for the first time after the second world war, the city was lead by uncorrupted and competent administrators and the 1990s were marked by a great social reaction against the mafia and by some cultural and economic development. nevertheless, the urban programme was characterised by low levels of public interaction for the administrative and bureaucratic apparatus which were, and still are, contaminated by huge corruption and nepotism. furthermore it is to be noted that eu controlled mostly the project phase rather than the implementation one. such a complex context may explain the very complex outputs of the urban 1: the need for great efforts from the responsible administrative staff and the identification of short­time consensus from the administration politicians are two sides of the same coin. we may trace some general considerations from such a kaleidoscope of issues. a first point is the effectiveness of the community initiatives – such as the urban programme – as drivers for the construction of “european styles” of urban governance and planning, in the quest for the verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 87vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 competitiveness/cohesion model (see governa, 2010). the implementation of urban 1 programmes has been strongly dependent on local and national, political, institutional, and socio­economic conditions: in a period of turbulent changes, italian planning has experienced both the eu policies and the evolution of domestic policies and practices. in such a frame, the eu factor has had a strong role in accelerating the restructuring processes. thus, the case studies support a rethinking of urban 1 as a “catalyst” for some planning innovations, a tool replicated in the same way in many different contexts which had some role in increasing the rapidity of change in local and national planning cultures. such a “catalysis” has been both an opportunity and a constraint: in other words, the critical analysis of the outputs produced suggests that the referred shift to “governance” – in which the european policies have had an accelerating role – reveals two faces. undoubtedly, urban 1 has been a great opportunity for there­thinking of policies in order to achieve urban regeneration for problem areas: in some cases – in genoa and partially in palermo and naples – results were achieved in short periods and with relatively low public funding. some conditions seem to be crucial for their successful implementation:• integration with general and normative planning in order to ensure long­term and general results; a bottom­up attitude, in order to understand the needs of the areas and where to intervene; an integration of public and private activities which should not mean pursuing private interests with public investments; • • integration with social cohesion policies.• without such conditions, the following effects may be expected, as mainly the naples and palermo cases showed: • only sectoral outputs are achieved, which are not effective by themselves to produce a widespread regeneration of the intervention areas; the spatial distribution of outputs is in a random fashion, for while some areas achieve good results, some other ones may remain unaffected or worse; • verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 88vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 distorted consensus building processes arise, shifting the target of the programmes to merely private interests and leading to gentrification processes. • urban 1 programme could have been highlighted as a major opportunity to start processes of re­orientation of planning structures, experimenting with public­public and public­private partnerships, innovations and experimentations with integrated urban planning and programming, but sometimes it has had also disastrous implications. in some cases – as happened in naples and palermo –, urban 1 leaded to some reinforcement of social and spatial polarization: some areas got regenerated for affluent populations – and the public funding was used to “launder” property speculations (see yiftachel, 2009) – and others got progressively abandoned by the public sector through the lack of general planning – or through a the selective “non­planning” (ibidem). however, there are critical aspects of new planning paradigms – like the lack of political and social agency (gualini, 2008) and the shift towards market­ oriented means of planning (gualini & majoor, 2007) – which have been be exacerbated by some local characteristics – such as the rhetorical and distorted use of consensus­building. thus, a second face of the move to “governance” appears. in the general context of the “shift” towards less normative and more strategic means of planning, generously funded complex programmes – such as the urban programme – may be for the public sector a way to reduce “government” practices, abandoning the urban field and delegating whole issues and areas to single projects and private agencies. an important issue to emerge is how effective innovations in the planning culture and some tendencies towards the “dark side” of contemporary institutional planning may have walked hand in hand under the banner of the urban programme. probably, one of the most critical aspects is to be identified in the rapidity of changes: it has been said that only slow and settled changes are sustainable for local contexts (lo piccolo 1995). yet the role of some programmes as catalysts, together with a growing fashion to short­term intervention, is commonly disconnected from a long­term programming of changes: we highlighted how excessive rapidity in the modification of policies and practices may be accompanied by the reinforcing of the weak points of both normative and strategic means of verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 89vol. ii, issue 2 ­ 2012 planning. undoubtedly, in italy this happened and more critical debates about such processes within the context of planning theory may be useful for a rethinking of the future generations of regeneration programmes. all authors contributed extensively to the work presented in this paper. the individual contribution of each authors is as follow. sara verones, sections 1, 3.2, 4.1 and 5; simone tulumello, sections 2, 4.2 and 5; simona rubino, sections 3.1, 3.3, 4.2 and 5; ilaria 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(1990), justice and the politics of difference, princeton: princeton university press. verones, tulumello, rubino, delponte ­ an italian urban "fashion" ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 86 practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. federica ricca as si st an t p r o fe sso r , sap i enz a u ni v er s it y via del ca s tr o la ur e nz ia no 9 , ro ma, f ed er ic a . r ic c a @ u nir o ma 1 .i t 5 keywords: urban planning, complex decision process, strategic analysis, operations research, decision aid abstract the main difficulty in urban planning decision processes is that several aspects must be taken into account simultaneously, together with their consequences. the human mind alone is not able to manage and process all the information correctly or completely. quantitative models are able to formalize problems and define evaluation functions, providing unbiased analyses focused on the important aspects of the decision. operations research models are able to solve complex systems of relations, with the additional possibility of optimizing an objective function. these models have ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 87 demonstrated to be very useful in urban planning, where decisions must also pass through the delicate process of negotiation, which typically involves several decision makers with conflicting viewpoints. using for example mathematical programming makes it possible a fast evaluation of the different decisions, as well as, of the relations, interactions, and consequences of the alternative decision choices. sharing this kind of information helps the decision makers to cooperate and find a final common decision. also transparency and traceability of the decision process are intrinsically guaranteed by the adoption of the formal method. in this paper we discuss this point starting from the origins of the ‘strategic analysis’ approach. then we illustrate the model and the method which are implemented in stan, a software recently developed to provide a useful operational tool for decision aid in urban planning processes. ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 88 decision processes and operations research taking decisions is a difficult task in every application field. this is a main issue for industries and companies, but also in the service sector, in economics and finance, in medicine, etc. nowadays, the use of mathematical tools in complex decision problems is a common practice, typically for the solution of technical problems, but also in many other situations in which the decision process can be supported by information deriving from processed data and related computations. the best known and common tools for quantitative analysis generally come from statistics, mathematics and algebra, whose task is to measure data, explain relations, and produce information that may help in the decision. operational research (or operations research – or) has brought a new way of applying mathematics, planning and formalizing complex systems of relations, and introducing the revolutionary idea of solving optimization problems. or dates back at the time of the second world war, when the approaching of the conflict required new strategies and operational tools to exploit technologies at best for military purposes. soon after the end of the war, or fast became a widespread discipline; starting from the 1950’s, it was also recognized in the academies all over the world, including italy in the middle 1960’s. in the reconstruction period after the war there was a natural tendency to apply these innovative techniques in different areas, since in many countries all the economic and industrial sectors required restarting their activities and encouraging a new and fast development. in the recent years, the or approach has deeply diffused also in every management context where people are called to take strategic decisions that influence the future of their activity. basing on quantitative analysis, management science is the discipline which develops methods and models to organize and support complex decision processes (winston and albright, 2001). ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 89 operations research and the strategic choice approach in urban planning in 1963 the institute for operational research (ior) was founded by a group of researchers of the british operational research society. they were interested in the application of or to human sciences and their studies were particularly focused on the application of or to decision problems arising in the public sector. urban planning was one of the involved areas, and one of their projects was related to the study of planning processes by local administrations (municipalities). the innovative approach was soon appreciated in some localities, especially those where the war had provoked hard damages which needed a major intervention in urban organization and reconstruction. the case of the city of coventry was the object of a complex study developed in a strict relation between the researchers from ior and the coventry council, with a detailed analysis of all the available information, and an active participation of the involved actors to all the (formal and informal) steps of the decision processes (friend and jessop, 1969). the main result of the study was the proposal of the ‘strategic analysis’ approach. according to it, the decision process is seen as a strategic activity, able to act in a context where uncertainty is an unavoidable element to face with. it determines a context that may change in the decision process, due to unexpected situations that arise during the negotiation. stakeholders should take decisions by adapting to this changing scenarios, being able to maintain a continuous exchange between governments and community’s representatives. some techniques, like aida (analysis of interconnected decision areas), were developed to structure the problems so that alternative possible decisions could be clearly defined and evaluated by each decision maker on the basis of the same information. in the following years, the strategic analysis approach was widely discussed in the urban planning literature, ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 90 especially in great britain, also giving rise to many applications and experiments (faludi, 1987; friend, 2001; yewlett, 2001). following this approach, in the middle of the 1970’s, stan openshaw and paddy whitehead, from the university of newcastle upon tyne, proposed a new method to solve decision problems in the aida framework. they introduced formal mathematical formulations of the decision problem, based on optimization techniques from integer linear programming. they also developed a software called dot (decision optimization technique) which was able to find an ‘optimal’ solution of the formulated models, even if the development of computer technologies at that time was not sufficient to guarantee an efficient solution process (openshaw and whitehead, 1975, 1977, 1978). this kind of approach was hardly criticized, even by the researchers from ior, since, in the opinion of the many, operational research – or, better, optimization – was used in a too hard way. the method was not acknowledged in the right way, and it was accused of making an extreme use of computers and to rely too much on solutions produced by automatic procedures that may be optimal for a formal model but do not necessarily correspond to the best solution for the planning problem. actually, this was not in the authors’ intent; rather their aim was to exploit the powerful tools of mathematical programming for providing concrete aid in the decision process. quantitative analysis makes it possible a fast evaluation of the different decisions, as well as, of the relations, interactions, and consequences of the possible alternative choices. in this context, or is used to conduct the process in a clever way, so that each decision maker develops his/her evaluation on the basis of the same shared information. moreover, intermediate evaluations or decisions may themselves produce new ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 91 (updated) information to be used in the following steps of the decision process. in this way the negotiation becomes a traceable process with at least two main benefits: on the one hand, each stakeholder can develop his/her final decision looking at the whole course of his/her positions during the negotiation (and – why not? – also at those of the other actors, since multiple decision makers must not be necessarily always in conflict, and it may happen that comments and observations of one of them influence the point of view of another, even in a positive way!); on the other hand, the main steps of the negotiation process can be recorded to be available to the public administration in a future similar context. for example, it can be recorded why a decision was taken/not taken annotating a set of quantitative evaluations and/or tracing the consecutive contrasting positions of the different stakeholders that finally produced a shared decision. or decision aid in urban planning decision processes the original and powerful contribution of or in in urban planning decision processes is its ability to formalize problems and define evaluation functions. in any complex decision problem the main difficulty is that several aspects must be taken into account simultaneously, and their combinations could be so many that the human mind is not able to organize all the information and use it efficiently. in general, a decision problem can be classified as ‘complex’ when there are many variables that interact in the decision, and when they are interconnected by a series of relations and implications that must be taken into account simultaneously when processing the decision. the problem becomes even more complicated when there are several decision makers that have to cooperate and find a final shared decision. in urban planning there are all the above ingredients, and ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 92 the problem is even harder since decisions must pass through the delicate process of debate and negotiation among a set of decision makers (stakeholders) who typically have conflicting viewpoints. the same happens also in decision contexts in the public sector, where, differently from the private sector, decisions must be taken in order to meet the goal of public benefit (at least ‘in principle’). combinatorial optimization is a branch of or which studies efficient techniques to solve complex combinatorial problems. several smart and powerful tools are available, but they are mathematically sophisticated, so that, typically, people coming from social and human sciences are afraid of using it, or do not trust in the efficacy of their application. our opinion is that mathematical decision aid could be a useful and practical support for public decisions in urban planning, able to provide concrete help in combining the different views of the many actors participating to the decision process. here the meaning of the words must be carefully understood. on the one hand, ‘mathematical’ refers simply to the idea of measuring information and computing quantities that generally helps in understanding the many different aspects of the problem (for example, computing costs or measurable benefits connected to a decision). on the other hand, the (key-) word ‘decision aid’ means that the quantitative approach can only help the decision makers, and it is never meant to replace them. it must be clear that the automatic procedure that mathematics and optimization can provide do not ‘solve the problem’, they just help in evaluating objectively (i.e., on the basis of measurable indicators) the alternative possible choices that, in fact, may be a huge number. therefore, this must be seen as a tool that supports the decision process through transparent and traceable steps. in this way, additional and precious information can be provided for a given decision process, which is then traced and recorded in order to be conserved and re-used (both ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 93 data and processes) also for other similar decisions which may arise in a future occasion and/or in another locality. in public decision processes this is not a rare case, since it frequently happens that the same decision must be taken in the same context at some time lag distance, or in two different geographical areas. the strategic choice analysis with the software stan it is in the above view that the strategic choice approach and the aida technique were recently reconsidered in the realization of a new software called stan (from st-rategic an-alysis, but also in honour of the previous work by stan openshaw). stan is a successful realization of the quantitative analysis approach described above. it is an easy-to-use software, characterized by a simple and user-friendly interface, that applies well assessed and consolidated mathematical tools and optimization techniques (nemhauser and wolsey, 1988) to problems that arise frequently in urban planning decision processes. these are conceptually simple problems that can be described to everyone in an intuitive way. in spite of this, they are not simple to solve at all. they need to be formalized by rigorous mathematical and logical models (without affecting the original meaning of the problem) in order to use the powerful solution tools provided by mathematical programming. stan allows many evaluations under different viewpoints; the implemented mathematical models can be used to analyse economic or environmental aspects, as well as to establish the preferences of a single decision maker. the final aim is to obtain useful information to depict a complete picture of the situation under which the final decision must be taken. the positions of the various stakeholders are never merged together by the software, but they are analysed in an ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 94 organized and systematic way in order to make them clear and useful for the negotiation and the interaction between decision makers. obviously, a decision maker/user without any specific mathematical skill could be afraid of using this software, but it must not be seen as a black-box. even if the algorithms implemented in stan cannot be understood by every user, its output can be easily checked by everyone. in other words, the user does not know how a solution is produced, but he/she is able to verify on his/her own the quality of such solution by simple computations and to compare it to a different alternative (his/her preferred one). stan can be seen as a decision support system (dss) for urban planning decision processes, designed to help planners to answer difficult questions without having to worry about technical issues. the users might never even see the mathematical models or the solution procedure, but they have to know which kind of analysis they are performing in order to be able to understand the output. the users have to intervene only to select the input of the problem they want to solve, using buttons, dialogue boxes, toolbars and menus, specifically designed to make these operations easy. then they see a back end of the software which produces the output of the elaborations. this phase is designed so that the report provided by the software is sufficiently clear to be read and understood by all users. the model and methodology implemented in stan following the aida approach, the problem consists of the choice of a coherent set of decisions related to different decision areas. four basic elements are given; i) a set of decision areas; ii) for each decision area, a set of options, i.e., the possible alternative choices available for that area; iii) a set of criteria for the evaluation of the ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 95 options of each area; iv) the set of relations existing between options of the decision areas. these relations specify whether two options can be realized together or not (are compatible or not), thus providing a complete picture of the decision system. the idea is to set a tool able to support the delicate process of evaluation of specific sets of choices, their characteristics and possible consequences. the difficulty of the problem is that exactly one option for each decision area must be selected and the selection of options should be feasible, that means that selected options should be compatible. the combinatorial nature of the problem is then evident, since problem solutions are combinations of options, and the complexity of its solution can be easily understood if one realizes that, even in the simple case in which only 2 options are available for each area, when the problem has n decision areas, the number of alternative solutions exponentially grows with n, and it is equal to . this means that, if, for example, one has to take a decision with n=3 areas, the potential number of decisions is , but this number grows fast, when n increases only a bit. for example, for n=20, which is quite a reasonable number of areas in a real-life application, ! this is certainly a number of choices that the human mind cannot easily analyse and compare, especially when, like in urban planning, the number of evaluation criteria for the decision is greater than one, as well as, the number of decision makers. in stan the above decision problem is formulated by integer linear programming (nemhauser and wolsey, 1988) with binary 0/1 variables. the set of linear constraints included in the program represent the structural relations characterizing the interconnected areas decision framework. they basically model incompatibilities between options from different decision areas imposing that if two options are incompatible, then at most one can be chosen. in practice this means that the possible decisions are either choosing only one of ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 96 the two, or no one. in addition, since exactly one option must be chosen for each area, the model includes the ‘natural’ incompatibility conditions holding among any two alternative options of the same decision area (ricca, 2008). let n be the number of decision areas and , ,…, the corresponding number of options. for each possible option j of decision area i, we introduce a decision variable which takes value 1 when option j is selected for decision area i, and 0 otherwise. then each variable corresponds to a single decision modelled as an elementary yes-or-no choice (in numbers one-or-zero choice). then, a complete decision configures as a set of 1/0 values (a vector), one for each elementary decision, and solutions returned by stan can be easily read and interpreted as a sequence of accept/reject answers to each elementary choice. the main task in the model is played by the set of constraints which, as a whole, is able to guarantee that output decisions correspond a set of compatible elementary decisions. first of all, a constraint must guarantee that exactly one option is selected for each decision area. for this, the model includes the following set of n linear equalities by which necessity and mutual exclusion conditions are imposed on options of the same area: the other important aspect is avoiding incompatibilities between options from different areas. this is settled via linear inequalities. for each pair of options, say option j of area i and option k of area h the condition is that at most one between and can be selected (set to 1). in formulas, the condition is the following: ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 97 . notice that the above constraint is satisfied when only one of the two options is chosen (i.e., and or and ), but also when no of the two is selected ( ). this means that the incompatibility between option j of area i and option k of area h is avoided by the model, but the choice is not forced to select one of these two options. in fact, the possibility of choosing different options both for areas i and h is left open. the above set of constraints describes mathematically what is called the feasibility problem, i.e., the problem of selecting a decision corresponding to a combination of compatible options. the possibility of introducing an objective function in the mathematical model must be seen as an opportunity and not as a threat. through an objective we can ask the model to return the best decision among the feasible ones, for example in terms of monetary costs, or we can ask for the one that is the most preferred by one of the decision makers (according to an appropriate and previously fixed score function). one can exploit the model to evaluate any conceivable aspect, provided that it can be formulated as a linear function of the model variables, and to output the decision which ranks first w.r.t. it. this could appear to the non-expert in mathematics a forced way to decide. on the contrary, it is an advantage if the output solution is not taken as ‘the optimal solution’ but just as a good one that, in any case, could, and should, be further investigated and evaluated under other additional important aspects. the advantage of the mathematical approach implemented in stan is that it is flexible in terms of the possible analysis that it is able to perform. a common mistake that can be made is considering as rigid a tool that is formally correct. this is not necessarily true. one possible analysis with stan is asking the software to order the ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 98 feasible decisions, from the best to the worst, according to one selected criterion. one can order w.r.t. a cost function and then apply again the selection by restricting the set of possible decisions only to those that ranked, for example, within the first cheapest 20. another possibility is repeatedly solving the same feasibility problem by computing each time the objective function on the basis of the preference system of a different decision maker. by the mathematical formulation of the combinatorial decision problem stan can even go beyond the basic feasibility model described above and perform further analyses. the model can be enriched with additional constraints, such as those known as ‘logical constraints’ that are able to formulate via simple inequalities important logical implications that typically characterize contexts with a high degree of interconnection between elementary decisions. one possible additional request could be imposing that, in case one choses option j of area i, it is recommended to choose also option k for area h. this implication may be motivated by reasons that cannot be formalized mathematically, but, in any case, the model allows to take them into account by just adding one single logical constraint in the model, and without modifying the nature of the model and its readability. other examples explaining how much stan is flexible and adaptable to the needs of the decision makers can be found in (ricca, 2008). there are additional analyses that stan is able to perform and that could be very useful for the evaluations during the negotiation process. in the following we list some examples of those that may be exploited by decision makers to interact with the system and use the software to answer to specific questions: 1. the possibility of analyzing decisions by fixing minimum required thresholds (for example when an environmental ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 99 compatibility index must be evaluated) or maximum tolerance levels (for cost-based indices). 2. the capability of automatically excluding combinations of options that cannot be implemented together for structural reasons (infeasible solutions for the mathematical model), thus avoiding further and useless evaluations on them. 3. the possibility of fixing a variable (option j of area i) at a given value (0 or 1) and filter decisions that are compatible with the already fixed choice. this is an important kind of analysis which may be used when some priorities exist for the elementary decision in a given area. several other interesting analyses can be performed with stan, and several others may be implemented in a future development of the software. the above listed ones are different ways of performing what-if analyses aimed at improving the knowledge of the problem and better specifying the structure of the problem itself. it must be underlined that these tools are available to all actors in the decision process, and, therefore, they can be used to improve the collective knowledge of the problem, since a query by one may produce useful information for all. further comments and conclusions at the current time, the software stan is only partially developed. it was mainly used in academic courses and experimented in some test applications for urban planning in small localities (scattoni, 2002, 2007). in spite of this, in the real-life case studies the use of stan was deeply appreciated, since, by directly experimenting it, the involved decision makers acknowledged the usefulness of the evaluations provided by stan for the success of the negotiation. stan can also rely on the technological improvements of the hardware of the computing processors and on the continuous ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 100 production of new optimization algorithms and solvers. it is susceptible of fast development also thanks to its open source nature that may help in sharing the software, improving its capabilities, and promoting its use. but the step forward to make stan becoming a ‘professional’ tool is to apply it: to understand how it works, and to appreciate how much it may help the decision process, one must try it. under a technical viewpoint, it must be pointed out that the combinatorial problems formulated in stan (and dot) are computationally hard in theory. however, this is not a problem in practice, since the integer linear programs used to formalize the problems arising in urban planning decisions can be efficiently solved by the current available optimization solvers, provided that the problem size is not extremely large. this is, in fact, the typical size of problems arising in stan in which, in spite of the many alternative choices that must be evaluated under many different aspects, the problem can be always formulated as a computationally tractable mathematical model. it is important to underline that the use of mathematical models and methods does not affect or modify the nature of the problem and the mechanisms of the process. on the contrary, transparency and traceability, which are the essential requisites for a fair and efficient decision process, are intrinsically guaranteed by the adoption of a formal method. this approach is consistent with the philosophy and practice of the strategic choice, fitting the idea that computational tools with an easy-to-read output can actually help the decision process and provide useful operational support. this was, in fact, the original motivation of stan openshaw and its research group when they suggested the mathematical analysis framework operating in the dot environment. ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 101 with stan this framework is further improved. particular attention is paid to obtaining a system that, at the same time, is technically powerful and easy to use, thus providing a practical tool for supporting the decision process. the only risk is that users may be afraid of adopting it, fearing that they could not understand all steps, or, that someone else could decide in place of them. but the strength of stan is that it operates independently from the interests of single stakeholders, its aim being exactly the opposite, that is, to produce unbiased information available for all decision makers; if correctly used, it can be a really useful operational tool, helping both the single decision maker and the whole negotiation process to reach a final decision. references faludi, a. (1987). a decision centered view of environmental planning. oxford: pergamon. friend, j. (2001). the strategic choice approach, in rosenhead, j., mingers, j. (eds.), rational analysis for a problematic world revisited. problem structuring methods for complexity, uncertainty and conflict, wiley: chirchester. friend, j., jessop, n. (1969). local government and strategic choice: an operational research approach to the processes of the public planning. london: tavistock. nemhauser, g. l., wolsey, l.a. (1988). integer and combinatorial optimization, john wiley & sons: new york. openshaw, s., whitehead, p. (1975). a decision optimising technique for planners. planning outlook, 16(1-2), 19-33. doi: 10.1080/00320717508711495. ricca – practical decision aid for complex decision processes: why strategic analysis with stan is not a black box. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 102 openshaw, s., whitehead, p. (1977). decision making in local plans. town planning review, 48(1), 29-41. doi: 10.3828/tpr.48.1.dg52865473n79874. openshaw, s., whitehead, p. (1978). structure planning using a decision optimising technique. town planning review, 49(4), 486501. doi: 10.3828/tpr.49.4.664j976n25177144. ricca, f. (2008). modelli matematici per il supporto alle decisioni: le basi formali della scelta strategica. aracne: roma. ricca, f., scattoni, p. (2008). pianificazione nell’approccio della scelta strategica, in felici, g., sciomachen, a. (eds.), scienza delle decisioni in italia: applicazioni della ricerca operativa ai problemi aziendali, ecig: genova. scattoni, p. (2008). saggio introduttivo a ricca, f. modelli matematici per il supporto alle decisioni: le basi formali della scelta strategica. aracne: roma. scattoni, p. (2007). il piano strutturale di grosseto e la memoria della pianificazione. urbanistica, 133, 63-69. scattoni, p. (2002). relazione del responsabile scientifico. piano strutturale di grosseto, elaborato a, comune di grosseto. winston, w.l., albright, s.c. (2001). practical management science, 2nd edition, thomson learning: duxbury. yewlett, c.j.l. (2001). theory and practice in or and town planning: a continuing creative sinergy?, journal of the operational research society, 52(12), 1304-1314. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601239. ijpp issn: 2239-267x flipped transparency in community strategic framework. a bottom-up approach for transparent planning and urban design in italy paolo scattoni as so ci ate p r o fe sso r , dip a r ti me nto d i p ia ni f ica zio n e, de si g n, t ecno lo gia d ell ’ ar c hi tet t ur a, sap ie nza, u ni ver si tà d i ro ma via fla mi n ia , 7 0 p sc at t o ni @ g ma il. co m 5 keywords: flipped transparency, strategic framework, public participation, planning, urban design. abstract efficient public participation in planning provokes transparency as an unavoidable condition. however, almost always, transparency is only partial. the main decision-makers prefer opaque mediation and negotiation processes. the weakest actors are disadvantaged. the aim of this paper is to present some methods and techniques for flipped transparency built for bottom up processes by small interested groups (instead of government). it is possible to hypothesize more planning plurality that is able to develop in parallel with the official one. it is thus possible to develop more ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 38 mailto:pscattoni@gmail.com scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework effective and transparent public participation. the construction of the plan can take shape through the combination of the strategic choice approach and the wiki environment. in addition to being completely public through the web, the system is simple to manage, low in cost, and able to trace the decision-making process through a detailed step by step documentation in which it is possible to explore the chronology showing the contributors to the planning process. and suitable for interaction among stakeholders. finally, the paper outlines an approach to constructing urban design rules, again using wiki. in this case the wiki environment is accompanied by a revision of christopher alexander's pattern language. introduction equal access to information is one of the main requirements for public participation and inclusion of citizens in the decision making process. yet, in italian planning, this is rarely granted. despite a rich legislation supporting transparency in public administration, the planning process in italy is in most cases characterised by opaque practices and negotiations that make public participation a mere formality. such opaque practices often degenerate into corruption. the misdistribution of information in italian planning is a paradigmatic case for what lindblom (1990) defines as impairment. it demonstrates the limits of public participation as outlined in most italian regional planning legislation. furthermore, the national environmental legislation for environmental impact assessment (eia) and strategic environmental impact assessment (sea) shows the same shortcomings (rinaldi, 2016). certainly, it precludes any possibility of applying habermas' ‘ideal speech situation’ in planning, as described in forester (1993). empirical research (author 2012) has shown that opacity in negotiations between local authorities and stakeholders is the main cause of dramatic delays in the italian planning process. picchianti (2016 in this issue) examines the differences between the preparation and regional approval of grosseto's structure plan, ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 39 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework which was carried out through a largely transparent process in less than four years, and its implementing operational plan, which required another eight years. the latter was prepared according to a traditional process, characterised by mostly opaque negotiations. this paper outlines a completely different, fully operational approach to participation in planning. it introduces a tool, the community strategic framework (csf), through which common knowledge precedes the use of expert knowledge. for a community, this process is intended to give interested groups the opportunity to influence the official planning process. the main argument of this paper is that self-organization of a proxy for an official planning system by communities not only can increase the community’s bargaining power but also can contribute to the quality of the official planning process. lindblom (1990) presents a model for a self-guiding society, and this paper looks at this possible organization for the purpose of planning. the transparency of such a csf preparation can allow for various forms of aggregation and can build powerful avenues for dialogue and/or confrontation with the official planning system. csf represents a “flipped transparency” (i.e. a bottom-up built knowledge of the decision-making process in the sense that transparency is not conceded by the ‘government’ but rather is progressively built and organised by the interested community). more specifically, this article considers a model in which technical expert knowledge is minimised so that the csf is easily achievable using the available common knowledge. this knowledge is organized for policy construction according to a “wiki approach”, here referring to an environment built a wiki software. at the same time, using a similar wiki approach, the community can also organize knowledge concerning problems in the realm of urban and landscape design. in recent years, an increasing amount of free and open-source software has been made available to support public participation (falco, 2016). as far as the csf is concerned, most of the tool’s ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 40 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework methods and techniques require the action of a facilitator, which should not be excluded but is not a sine qua non. the possibility of using alternative plans to arrive at the same context dates back to the 1960s, but even with these alternatives, the presence of an ‘advocacy planner’ is considered to remain a must (davidoff, 1965). in csf, however, such techniques are reduced to a minimum. this is exactly the opposite of what happens in the habermasian ‘ideal speech context’, where facilitation is emerging as a new profession, able to support a growing multiplicity of techniques (holman, devane, cady, 2006). in contrast, simplicity and low cost are the essential conditions for the csf. the rest of this paper is structured into four parts. the paper is organized according to the structure summarised in figure 1. it begins by identifying the division between the areas of planning and of urban design and landscape. these two parts are then further divided into two spheres, that of knowledge and that of action. the article then analyses each of the four parts. the first analysis concerns the planning. by reference to the strategic choice approach (friend& jessop, 1969), it describes methods for constructing a database in a wiki environment that progressively accumulates the systematic knowledge of the community. the stan (following work on dot see openshaw, whitehead, 1975; 1985) technique (lombardi, 2016) allows the community to use this knowledge in the development of policies, plans, and programs. the second section concerns the establishment of rules for the physical inspection of urban transformations and landscape. in the third part, the article deals with possible effects of the inverted transparency of the community strategic framework on governance. finally, the conclusions summarize potential limitations and possible developments of the proposal. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 41 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework the community strategic framework the organization of a community strategic framework is summarised in table 1. it outlines an organization that provides an effective alternative means of planning with a minimum of technical knowledge; i.e., it is able to provide all the necessary tools for self-organised planning and urban design. in this context, transparency is simply the use of available information that is progressively acquired by the community. unlike official planning procedures, the initial and main information used by the csf is socalled common knowledge, which when necessary will be later integrated with knowledge provided by the experts. it assumes, after the concept provided in lindblom’s (1990) inquiry and change, that expert knowledge—including that derived from social sciences—is not central for social problem solving. the scheme contains a minimal requirement of structure, with ordinary citizens organised in spontaneous groups to efficiently face impairment from the local authority in planning and urban design. table 1 the csf organization knowledge action planning wiki data base of decision areas perceived by the community community policies, plans and programmes urban and landscape design wiki data base of decision areas perceived by the community solutions for urban and landscape transformation urban planning and urban design table 1 shows the csf organization. rows indicate two different areas of action for the csf: planning and urban-landscape design. urban planning and design in italy suffer from the original sin of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 42 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework the italian schools of architecture, which were mostly born in the first half of the last century. from the beginning, urban planning was seen as an exercise in the formal spatial organization of sets of architectural products. planning culture subsequently evolved, but this original imprinting still influences planning practices. after the reform of the architecture profession in 2001, the role of the planning professional was recognised and several university courses in planning were introduced. yet most of these programs closed down only a few years later, especially those in southern italy. nowadays, planning practice is still considered to be a competence for architects, and too often their plans are excessively oriented towards formal paradigms as in the so called rational comprehensive approach (bobbio, 1996). wiki as an operational tool for a community strategic framework: the flipped transparency columns of table 1 divide the framework in the area of knowledge (first half) and the area related to decisions/actions (second half). the term wiki is often used as a descriptor for the connectivity that is changing the world of today. the seminal book wikinomics 2.0 (tapscot, williams, 2006) anticipated many of the changes that have taken place in the last decade. new ways of production emerged through collaborative technologies. more recently, cottica (2011) has outlined the possible impacts of collaborative technologies in advancing new forms of public participation in government and public administration in italy. even though this work emphasises the importance of the wiki software in the presented cases, wiki applications in their strictest sense are either absent or marginal. cottica (2011) avoids considering the resistance to change and instead follows a path of the “ideal speech situation” (forester, 1993); above all, he avoids examining in detail the planning sphere, where opacity appears to be endemic to the system. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 43 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework herein, the term wiki refers conversely to a specific technique and even specific software: the well-known mediawiki (jackson, m., blackburn, j. d., & mcdonald, r. h., 2007) used for wikipedia. the main criteria for choosing mediawiki are its affordability, traceability, and debate. the three criteria are briefly discussed in relation to their use in a csf process. affordability: as far as affordability is concerned, the software is freely downloadable. initially it is possible to use an online version called wikia. this version offers a good guide for immediate use. as a non-commercial version, though, it can contain advertisements. a step further entails installation on a provider site, at a minimal annual cost. this would require less than an hour’s work by a member of the community with some computing knowledge or by an external expert. the time needed for instruction on the use of the software would be minimal as well. traceability: the two wikis in csf are organised in pages. work carried out by the community can be traced, so that all changes (new data and modification of the old data) can be documented. figure 1 shows the evolution of a single page. the chronology allows one to look at the page as it existed during each step and at the same time to identify the author of each modification introduced. debate: each page can be commented upon, and it is, therefore, possible for members of the community to discuss possible modifications to the page and the introduction of new information. again, these comments can also be documented through the chronology function. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 44 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework figure 1 – chronology of the evolution of a wiki page furthermore a great advantage of the chosen wiki software is a qualified and safe update process that guarantees access from different operating systems. as shown subsequently, a different tool was developed but it presents additional difficulty and higher cost of maintenance to the preferred mediawiki software. on the other hand, the use of mediawiki for knowledge accumulation in both planning and urban design makes the csf easier to learn. structuring the flipped transparency for planning the wiki system is organised in entries as it is on wikipedia. in the csf, it is essential to structure the entry appropriately. this structure will be different for the csf’s two wikis, those of planning and urban design. the page structure in the wiki related to planning closely refers to the strategic choice approach (friend, ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 45 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework jessop, 1969). let us, then, look at the wiki that serves as the basis for this bottom-up transparency for planning. the strategic choice approach the csf is by definition based on an incrementalist approach. information is progressively accumulated, and consequently, policies and actions are based on that information. the structure for the entry must be based on the basic concepts of the strategic choice approach (friend, jessop, 1969). this approach considers the planning system as based on a continuous dialogue between a community system and a governmental system (figure 2). figure 2 the basic dialogue model (friend and jessop, 1969) the community begins the process by expressing discomfort concerning problematic situations. the government analyses the situations to find a solution. a multiplicity of solutions may be needed to deal with these problems, because they are often related to each other—hence, the need to develop plans and programmes. because of impediments in the community’s access to information as compared to that of the "transparent” government system, the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 46 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework flipped transparency model changes the relations between government and community as follows (figure 3): figure 3 the basic model according to the csf this model represents a sort of parallel planning. the information base is organized by the community system. the entry in the wiki system can be easily organised. the knowledge is then directed towards the products (policies, alternative plans, programmes, etc.) to be used by the community in relating information to the government system. the strategic choice approach then proceeds through ‘decision areas’, which are structured as follows: a title, indicating a specific problem; the description of the problem; and the available options, indicating alternative courses of action for addressing the problem. the zero option, i.e., accepting the present situation and consequently taking no action, must always be included. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 47 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework furthermore, the decision area has to include the main stakeholders who can influence the choice. it is the view of the community that determines the main actors who must be involved, including those among their own group. the decision area also contains a list of other decision areas that are related to that problem. finally, the decision area can contain considerations regarding possible developments presented by the analysis. the documentation involved in this analysis may vary; it includes official documents, certainly, but also a variety of other sources, e.g., press reports. it is essential to include such secondary sources in order to document, even partially, the positions of main stakeholders. the information contained in the wiki can thus be richer than the official documentation about the problem. all this work can be publicly available in a simple but effective platform. thus, in the flipped transparency model, users can get access to the information, discuss it, and potentially add new information. why not an ad hoc software? in the past years, researchers have worked to develop a software that can trace all the steps of plan preparation and implementation, and including all information used for such purposes. paulus (planning analysis of urban linkages within urban systems), for example, has been successfully tested to document the grosseto structure plan process (scattoni, 2007). even a decade later, it was found that the information stored in that system could be useful to consider updates to that plan (picchianti, 2018 in this issue). paulus would thus respond to the needs of a "community group" seeking to make all the activity available in an accessible platform. however, the proposed wiki offers most of the functions of paulus while at the same time overcoming some of paulus’s shortcomings. as a matter of fact, the paulus software has been found to suffer from several disadvantages, such as the time required for answers for a normal adsl user. a second ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 48 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework shortcoming relates to the maintenance of the software, which must be upgraded any time a new version of the operating system is introduced. the mediawiki software overcomes such limits. furthermore, the free version of the software, wikia, can be used directly on the web. possibly wikia can be used as a first step for csf work. the initial work can then be easily transferred to a wiki platform hosted by a provider. producing policies, plans, and programmes the csf must produce coherent policies, plans, and programmes mostly in parallel with similar government activities. among several available tools that can be identified for this purpose (falco, 2016), strategic analysis (stan) is suggested here (figure 4). stan was derived from the dot (decision optimising technique) developed by openshaw and whitehead (1975; 1985) in the 1970s and early 1980s. dot, in turn, is based on the aida technique developed by the ior school (friend, jessop, 1969; faludi, 1987). lombardi (2018, in this issue) provides an introduction to the characteristics of the two versions of the software stan that were developed in the last ten years. the wiki database allows for an easy feeding of information to a stan framework. subsequently, several exercises can be performed. it is up to the community to implement these exercises either for a restricted group within the community or with other groups and the general public. stan offers the ability to maximise the information available. all the elements of the strategic choice approach are present: decision areas, options and the interconnections among them, stakeholders and the preferences they have expressed. when such information is available, the stan frame can also contain objective criteria, e.g., environmental indicators such as land use, polluting emissions, etc. stan can be a very effective tool for producing a strategic environmental assessment, in cases where public participation ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 49 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework should be activated from the beginning of preparation of the plans and programmes1. figure 4 strategic analysis (stan) software simulating the planning system to increase general knowledge until now, stan’s real-life operational applications have been limited (falco, 2016), but at the same time they are quite promising. conversely, its potential for teaching has amply been shown. stan’s capacity to simulate the planning process according to the strategic choice approach is one of its main strengths. through stan, a community can replicate what is taking place in the government system planning process. 1 this software can be downloaded at stan.sourceforge.net. lombardi (2016, in this issue) offers a technical description. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 50 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework developing planning know-how within a community is one of the main elements for preparing an effective approach to counter undesired government planning decisions. this approach can be supported by simple simulation methods such as role play (higdon, d., et al., 2004). the community can easily avoid more complicated methods, such as those developed around the ‘ideal speech’ approach, that require the presence of specialised but often expensive facilitators. from stan back to the wiki a stan session is not an exercise that is carried out in the web. on the other hand, it represents a significant event during the planning process. it also provides further knowledge that should be made public. in italy, the application of the strategic choice approach, e.g., the grosseto structure plan, has shown how any participation or consultation exercise can induce multiple changes in the existing decision framework set up by planners (scattoni, 2007). it is thus likely that this would happen in the stan exercise. an interactive process is likely to produce not only new decision areas and options, but also possible changes to existing ones. these new contributions must then be introduced in the wiki and added to the chronology. the increased ability to engage in a planning proposal and to control responses can answer a community’s demand for transparency. it can produce a number of effects. firstly, it makes clear to the responsible planning authority that the process is being monitored by at least one external organization that is determined to expose opaque negotiations and agreements. second, the interest of the general public in the collected and developed information can be measured (e.g., through easy and at the same time powerful software such as google analytics). that is data that should be published as well. thus, this action through simple and accessible tools makes it almost impossible for government authorities to ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 51 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework permit the process to go "dormant" for years in the eyes of the general public. flipped transparency and the quality of the built environment the following section considers the possibility of developing flipped transparency in the area of urban and landscape design. in this respect, the situation in italy is particularly critical, and decisions in this area tend to be even more opaque than those in planning (camarda, 1999). the planning act 765 of 1967 introduced a sort of ‘emergency legislation’. the goal of this act was to correct the evident mismanagement of the fundamental planning act of 1942, though this act was never replaced but only amended. the emergency legislation of 1967 introduced standards and indexes. since then, however, the development control has not taken into proper consideration the ‘quality’ of the built environment’s transformation. the only exception to this lapse can be found in the listed landscape areas, which according to landscape act 1497 of 1939 allowed for qualitative control by state agencies (soprintendenze). however, in these cases also, the criteria for decisions are not explicit and indeed are often perceived by local governments as impositions. in recent years, regions and provinces have produced plans that were accompanied with very specific attention towards landscape conservation and management. furthermore in italy, self-organised communities often perceive the impact of potentially disruptive changes too late, most of the time when permissions have already been granted and sometimes when the work has already started. given this fact, building an effective flipped knowledge model through a wiki may be more difficult than it is for planning, but it is still possible. looking at a specific participatory project (briani, 2016) for the municipality of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 52 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework scansano, tuscany, a possible solution can be seen for a useful application of the csf. the scansano project used a method that christopher alexander (1977) called ‘pattern language’. alexander’s main assumption is that is possible to build a specific language for solving design problems. this language would provide a shared basis to allow for communication among the different actors who are interested in working for acceptable formal transformations. in time, this approach was used in disciplines other than architecture, mainly in computer science (gamma, e., et al., 1995). in those disciplines, however, alexander’s (1977, p.x) contribution is limited to the basic definition of the pattern language: the elements of this language are entities called patterns. each pattern describes a problem that occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice. in urban and landscape design, the pattern language method seeks to define elements of the language (the patterns). the patterns are shared values, because they are set up by the citizens themselves. their combination then becomes a shared language with which the stakeholders can work to face the possible changes. on the other hand, the florence convention on landscape in 2000 defines landscape as follows: ‘"landscape" means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors’. it is, therefore, essential to include the people so that they can express their perception.2 2 the italian legislation recognised the florence convention in legislative decree no. 42/2004. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 53 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework unfortunately, the scansano project has been one of the few exercises, if not the only exercise, that did not leave the ‘people’s perception’ to be determined by experts. (briani, 2011) the csf assumes that it is possible to transform that experience into an exercise in flipped transparency. beyond the minimal structure up to this point, this article has dealt with tools for flipped transparency in a small community; i.e., the minimal conditions for building a community strategic framework. once it is shown that a csf is viable, it is then necessary to outline possible developments arising from the growth of such a community in terms of members and its internal organization. the use of a paid software like softgis (falco, 2016), used to build a gis oriented to public participation, can represent an insurmountable entry barrier at the beginning of the csf process, but it may be possible to incorporate such a process after initial consolidation also, access to expert knowledge can take place in numerous different forms. one such form could be through collaboration with universities according to the science shop model, even though that process is not always simple (schlierf, k. and meyer, m., 2013). the success of a csf for one community can trigger emulation by others. in such case, communities can exchange information about their respective experiences among themselves, including both achievements and failures. in the case of databases for urban and landscape design, patterns developed by one community can be easily reused by others, particularly those located in neighbouring areas. the influence on the government system even a single csf can influence the planning processes, at least in terms of the opaque relationships with some stakeholders. in other ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 54 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework words, the csf community becomes an influential stakeholder, playing an influential role in support of transparency and participation. the extent and effectiveness of the community’s influence depends on the quality of the strategic framework itself; as noted in lindblom (1993): “existing societies need radical alterations, “need” in the sense that, if volitions were well probed, they would call for radical revisions’” (p.365). focusing this concept on planning and landscape design, a csf can have a definite influence on the government system’s planning practices. article should be between 4,000-5,000 words, excluding tables, figures, and references. conclusions this article investigated the feasibility of an independent information system that is built by communities interested in influencing the planning process. in italian planning, transparency is often denied, despite an abundant legislation that should grant it. yet on the contrary, opacity is the unwritten rule observed in conducting negotiations with interested stakeholders. it is, therefore, evident that only self-organization of a community can overcome the problem. this paper postulates that the use of a flipped transparency model built by the community itself is of great importance in achieving that purpose. this paper thus describes the creation of a completely autonomous system called a community strategic framework, through which a community can implement a dialogue or a confrontation with the government system. this alternative approach looks at, among other things to the well-established software strategic analysis (stan). it can help to face limitations of planning processes in italy, where too often the boundaries between planning and urban design remain unclear. in this sense, the academic background of planners in italian architecture still plays a negative role. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 55 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework an essential condition for the csf is low cost. in most cases, a community will be unable to afford a tool costing more than a few dozen euros. furthermore, the csf must guarantee universal accessibility, mainly through the web, that is more and more accessible to the great part of italian population. the flipped transparency must, on one hand, be granted by accessibility to a framework based on cumulative knowledge and must be immediately accessible during its making. on the other hand, this process must also be easy to manage. a final condition for the csf is scalability, the possibility to add new functions beyond the minimum conditions that were initially assumed. the community for a particular csf can develop in number, influence, and resources and thus in the future may have access to possible integrations of expert knowledge. in this respect, the development of science shops for planning and landscape design could represent a great opportunity. what results from this work is a puzzle combining three different yet simple techniques.these are wiki for decision area, strategic analysis (stan) and wiki for pattern language. the flipped transparency is obtained through two databases. the first database is structured according to decision areas derived from a classical strategic choice approach. this database is then used to outline alternative policies as a basis for plans and programmes. such information represents direct input that can be used in the stan software to order and discuss solutions. the second database exposes the rules of physical transformations as related to urban and landscape design. the pattern design approach allows the community to build pages of the wiki through the use of patterns. the mediawiki software (jackson, m., blackburn, permits tracing of the whole process of building the database through its chronology function. as with the previous database, it is possible to open collaboration and discussion to the general public and not restrict it to the community only. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 56 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework such knowledge can allow the community to engage in dialogue/confrontation with the government system while in possession of effective arguments in support of the community’s position. as shown in the scansano project (briani, 2011), a community can take advantage of the production of expert knowledge distributed in a variety of published sources. the knowledge accumulation process is also likely to reinforce the community’s sense of belonging to its own landscape. at the present proposed csf is in its infancy and only single parts of the approach as shown in fig. 1 can be documented and evaluated in specific contexts and practical applications. on this respect further research on planning practice is needed. as a matter of fact the main limitation of this work is the lack of empirical evidence of a csf being implemented in its entirety. the different parts of the framework have been well tested. therefore, if the proof is in the pudding, at present only the ingredients are reasonably reliable. therefore, the main development from this research is its demonstration of the importance of monitoring the implementation of a csf. one immediate step forward that can be taken in support of the flipped transparency model is the preparation of simple guidelines that can help communities to embark on the process of building a csf. in such a case, a study should also be undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of those introductory tools. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 57 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework references alexander, c. (1977). a pattern language: towns, buildings, construction. london. oxford: oxford university press. bobbio, l. (1996). la democrazia non abita a gordio. milano: angeli. briani, n. (2011). participatory landscape design "il paesaggio partecipato" (scansano, italy), participedia. http://participedia.net/en/cases/il-paesaggio-partecipato. downloaded september 6, 2016. camarda, d. (1999). public consensus and planners expertise: a twofold problem for italian planning law. town planning review, 70, 25-39. cottica, a. (2011). wikicrazia. governare ai tempi della rete. palermo: navarra editore. davidoff, p. (1965). advocacy and pluralism in planning. journal of the american institute of planners, 31, 331–338. falco, e. (2016). digital community planning: the open source way to the top of arnstein’s ladder. international journal of eplanning research (ijepr), 5(2), 1–22. faludi, a., (1987). a decision-centred view of environmental planning. oxford: pergamon. forester, j. (1993). the argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning. duke university press. friend, j., & jessop, w.n. (1969) local government and strategic choice: an operational research approach to the processes of public planning. london: tavistock. friend, j. k., & hickling, a. (2005). planning under pressure: the strategic choice approach. london: routledge. gamma, e. (1995). design patterns: elements of reusable objectoriented software. pearson education india ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 58 http://participedia.net/en/cases/il-paesaggio-partecipato scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework higdon, d., higdon, j., scattoni, p., carrilho, j., (2004). roleplay maputo. maputo, fapf, universidade eduardo mondlane. holman, p., devane, t., cady, s. (eds) (2007). the change handbook: the definitive resource on today’s best methods for engaging whole systems. berrett-koehler publishers. jackson, m., blackburn, j. d., & mcdonald, r. h. (2007). media wiki open-source software as infrastructure for electronic resources outreach. the reference librarian, 48(1), 19–36. jones, m., stenseke, m. (eds) (2011). the european landscape convention: challenges of participation. springer science & business media. lindblom, c.e. (1993). concluding comment: a case study of the practice of social science, in redner, h. (ed), an heretical heir of the enlightnment in the work of charles e. lindblom, 343-373. boulder: westview. lindblom, c.e. (1990). inquiry and change. yale university press. lindblom, c.e. (1965). the intelligence of democracy: decision making through mutual adjustment. free press. lombardi, m. (2018). stan: a software for community strategic choice. italian journal of planning practice, this issue. openshaw, s. & whitehead, p. (1975). a decision optimising technique for planners. journal of environmental planning and management, 16(1-2), 19-33. openshaw, s. & whitehead, p. (1985). a monte carlo simulation approach to solving multicriteria optimisation problems related to plan making, evaluation, and monitoring in local planning. environment and planning b: planning and design, 12(3), 321334. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 59 scattoni – flipped transparency in community strategic framework picchianti, r. (2018). decision traceability and the strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan. italian journal of planning practice, this issue. schlierf, k., & meyer, m. (eds) (2013). situating knowledge intermediation: insights from science shops and knowledge brokers. science and public policy, 40(4) 430-441. tapscott, d., williams, a.d., 2008. wikinomics: how mass collaboration changes everything. penguin. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 60 flipped transparency in community strategic framework. a bottom-up approach for transparent planning and urban design in italy ijpp issn: 2239-267x economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas luca cesaro, sonia marongiu re sear c h er s, c re a co un cil fo r ag r ic ul t ur al r es ea r ch a nd e co no mi c s u ni t: p o l ic y and b io eco no m y, v ia p o 1 4 , 0 0 1 8 9 ro ma , lu ca. ce sar o @cr ea. go v. i t, so nia. ma r o n g i u @cr ea. go v . it keywords: inner areas; fadn; profitability; performance; balance sheet. abstract the national strategy for inner areas was launched by the italian government in 2014 to improve the quantity and quality of services (education, health and mobility) in these areas and to promote development projects enhancing the natural and cultural heritage and local production chains. to fulfil the strategy, specific funds have been provided to the italian regions and autonomous provinces. the strategy highlights some critical elements and in particular the negative variation in utilized agricultural area (uaa) and number of agricultural holdings. despite the general abandonment of farmland, the performance and profitability of some agricultural systems in inner areas are comparable with those located in the centres. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 100 mailto:luca.cesaro@crea.gov.it mailto:sonia.marongiu@crea.gov.it cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas this paper analyses the economic results of the holdings surveyed through the italian farm accountancy data network (fadn) during the period 2012-2014 and belonging to four types of farming: cereals, oilseed and protection crops (cop), viticulture, fruit sector, livestock. holdings have been classified following the same criteria as the national strategy in order to compare the performance and profitability of agriculture in inner areas and centres. the main instrument through which the comparison is made is the income statement, a part of the balance sheet used in the assessment of holding profitability. the economic analysis is conducted at a subnational level (nuts level 1) considering five macro-regions: north-west, north-east, central italy, south italy and islands. the paper highlights the difference in the most important budgetary outcomes and in a set of selected income indicators related to production factors (land and labour). introduction the national strategy for inner areas has been developed in italy since 2012 with the aim of improving the quality of life and the economic well-being of people living in isolated and scarcely populated areas and to invert the demographic trend. inner areas are defined as those areas far away from large and medium-size urban centres and related infrastructures. essential services (healthcare, education and transport) are concentrated in urban centres and distance affects the quality of life and welfare of inner areas inhabitants. despite this, inner areas have important environmental resources and a high diversification of activities as a result of the dynamics of different development paths and strategies. natural resources include water resources, forests, natural and human landscapes, cultural resources and agricultural systems. agriculture and agri-food systems, in particular, are considered as key factors in the development of inner areas and ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 101 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas their promotion is an important strategic element. according to an analysis based on the italian trade chambers association (infocamere) database, almost 43% of municipalities in the centres (service centres and belt areas) are specialized in the primary sector while this percentage rises to almost 73% in inner areas (barca et al., 2014). there has been a greater tendency towards a more widespread agricultural specialization than the average in southern italian inner areas (abruzzo, molise, campania, basilicata, sicily, sardinia) than in central and northern italy. despite the relative importance of agriculture in many regions, a comparison between the 1982 and 2010 census highlights a decrease in the extension of the utilized agricultural area (uaa) and number of holdings. however, the presence of agricultural systems with good performance in terms of productivity and profitability can be observed and considered as strategic in the development of the specific districts. the accounting analysis of specific type of farming based on the italian farm accountancy data network (fadn), permits costs, revenues and profits of agricultural holdings to be estimated. in fadn all the holdings are geo-referenced and this makes their classification possible on the basis of the same criteria as those applied in the strategy. fadn data have been used for several territorial analyses (terluin et al., 1995; stolbova and hlavsa, 2008; marongiu and cesaro, 2010; kempena et al., 2011) but there are no specific studies based on an accounting analysis specifically for agricultural holdings located in inner areas. the aim of this paper is to give a general overview on the economic results in four important types of farming (cereals, oilseed and protection crops cop, viticulture, fruit sector and livestock) surveyed by the italian fadn during the period 20122014. fadn is an important source of microeconomic data based on bookkeeping principles and gathers accountancy data from eu ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 102 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas agricultural holdings every year. the comparison is made on the basis of the economic results accounted in the income statement and assessing the profitability and productivity of the considered agricultural systems. even if most structural and economic indexes are lower in inner areas (especially those related to work), the productivity per hectare is sometimes similar, emphasising a comparable competitiveness and economic performance. the strategy for inner areas and the classification of italian territory in terms of “marginality” (distance from health care and education structures) is described in the first paragraph together with an analysis of the different importance of agriculture in inner areas and centres. in the second paragraph, the structural characteristics of four types of farming, selected on the basis of fadn results for the 3-year period 2012-2014 are presented, while the economic analysis is the main focus of the third paragraph. the performance and profitability (in terms of costs, revenues and economic indexes) of the holdings located in inner areas and centres are compared on the basis of the income statement elaboration, as provided by the italian fadn. in the final paragraph, some concluding remarks are provided. the strategy for inner areas and the importance of agriculture the strategy for inner areas was launched in 2014 in a document drafted by the italian department of development and economic cohesion as not just a structural development policy but also a new way to recognize rural deprivation (barca et al., 2014). its aim is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in isolated and scarcely populated areas through interconnected projects focused on selected fields of intervention and priorities. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 103 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas the identification of inner areas is based on a polycentric consideration of the italian territory, characterized by a network of municipalities and aggregation of municipalities (service provision centres) which areas with different levels of spatial remoteness gravitate around (barca et al., 2014). the distance between these areas and the urban centres limits citizens’ access to essential services affecting their quality of life and level of social inclusion. the classification focuses on marginality in terms of distance from health care and education structures (higgs and white, 1997). following this criteria, the italian territory has been mapped identifying six classes (figure 1): a. single-municipality service centres b. multi-municipality service centres c. belt areas (up 20 minutes from the centres) d. intermediate areas (from 20 to 40 minutes) e. peripheral areas (from 40 to 75 minutes) f. ultra-peripheral areas (over 75 minutes) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 104 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas figure 1: classification of italian territory according to the strategy for inner areas source: agency for territorial cohesion, 2014 inner areas are identified by grouping the intermediate, peripheral and ultra-peripheral areas. they include 51.1% of italian municipalities, 22.5% of the national population and 59.8% of the national territory. since the late 1970s, inner areas have been affected by a negative demographic trend (-8.1% in peripheral areas and -5.3% in ultraijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 105 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas peripheral areas during the period 1971-2011), an increase in the number of elderly people and an increasing migration flow. this has resulted in a change in the use and destination of the land. the consequent loss of active protection and increased hydrogeological risk are considered among the worrying phenomenon that could affect these areas. agriculture plays an important role in inner areas, even if a comparison between the results of the agricultural censuses 19822010 highlights a general decline in the utilised agricultural area (uaa) and number of holdings and an increase in wooded lands. table 1 shows the distribution of agricultural land, holdings and forests in all six classes identified by the strategy. table 1– distribution of uaa and holdings in centres and inner areas. agricultura l holdings (n.) uaa utilized agricultura l area (ha) forested area (ha) agricul tural holding s (%) uaa (%) forest ed area (%) uaa averag e (ha) centres a singlemunicipality service centres 186,241 1,442,531 516,343 24.1 25.5 18.4 7.7 b multimunicipality service centres 48,695 265,107 181,276 6.3 4.7 6.5 5.4 c belt areas 537,506 3,942,653 2,107,700 69.6 69.8 75.1 7.3 inner areas d intermediate areas 495,058 3,642,737 3,329,240 58.4 50.6 43.6 7.4 e remote areas 295,131 2,744,535 3,222,034 34.8 38.1 42.2 9.3 f ultra remote areas 58,192 817,474 1,084,743 6.9 11.3 14.2 14.0 total 1,620,823 12,855,038 10,441,336 100 100 100 7.9 total centres 772,442 5,650,291 2,805,319 47.7 44.0 26.9 7.3 total inner areas 848,381 7,204,747 7,636,017 52.3 56.0 73.1 8.5 source: agency for territorial cohesion; agricultural census 2010. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 106 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas in terms of land area and number of holdings, agricultural activities seem to be more important in inner areas, where 56.0% of uaa and 52.3% of holdings are concentrated, mainly in intermediate and remote areas. in the centres, uaa and holdings are concentrated mainly in belt areas (more than 69.0% of uaa and holdings in the centres). as stated in another analysis (osti, 2016), not all rural areas are marginalized and peri-urban areas could be associated with the idea of urban farming, the characteristics of which differ from the agricultural systems in remote areas, not included in the urban networks. according to the results of an analysis performed using the italian land use inventory (marchetti et al., 2016), in 2008 almost 5.1 million hectares in inner areas were covered by arable land, 1.6 million by orchards, vineyards and nurseries, 1.5 million by natural grassland and pastures and 8.7 million by forests and other wooded lands. more than 70% of forests in inner areas are in protected areas (carlucci and lucatelli, 2013). forests in inner areas give an important contribution to the richness of natural assets, being important not only for the production of timber but also for the provision of ecosystem services (natural landscapes, water resources, protected areas, etc.). description of fadn sample as previously stated the analysis of the economic characteristics of agricultural holdings in inner areas has been based on the elaboration of the italian fadn (farm accountancy data network). fadn is a european system of sample surveys conducted every year to collect accountancy data from agricultural holdings, with the aim of monitoring the income and business activities of the eu agricultural system. fadn is the only source of microeconomic data based on harmonized bookkeeping ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 107 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas principles. in order to reflect the farming diversity and heterogeneity of fadn’s field of observation, the liaison agency (responsible for the fadn survey in each member state) selects the stratified sample on the basis of three criteria: region, type of farming and economic size. the type of farming is defined in terms of the relative importance of the different activities on the farm, measured as a proportion of each activity’s standard output on the farm’s total standard output 1. each type of farming is further broken down into different types with a more accurate level of detail. not all agricultural holdings are included in the fadn sample but just those which, due to their economic size, are considered as “commercial”. this threshold differs in the member states: in italy only holdings with a standard output equal to or greater than 8,000 € are taken into account. in this paper, all the holdings have been classified following the same criteria as that used for the strategy for inner areas. the analysis is based on a 3-year period (2012, 2013 and 2014) and the source of data is the on-line fadn database, where all the structural and economic results are gathered every year. table 2 shows the distribution of holdings and uaa between centres and inner areas. in the 3-year period, an average of 10,537 holdings per year have been surveyed by fadn. similarly to what is stated in table 1 on the basis of the agricultural census results, agricultural lands and holdings are more or less equally shared, given that 49.0% of holdings and 52.6% of uaa are located in inner areas. the largest part of holdings surveyed by fadn in 1 the standard output of an agricultural product (crop or livestock) is the average monetary value of the output at farm-gate price in euros per hectare or head of livestock. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 108 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas centres is concentrated in belt areas, while the survey in inner areas involves mainly intermediate and remote areas. the average size is not very different: in the centres it is equal to 32.3 hectares while in inner areas it rises to 37.3 hectares. instead, the type of farm in which a forested area is combined with the agricultural one, is concentrated mainly in inner areas (69.3% of forested areas). table 2 number of holdings and uaa of fadn sample in centres and inner areas agricultura l holdings (n.) uaa utilized agricultura l area (ha) forested area (ha) agricul tural holding s (%) uaa (%) forest ed area (%) uaa averag e (ha) centres a – singlemunicipality service centres 1,278 46,945 3,012 23.8 27.0 31.3 36.7 b multimunicipality service centres 263 6,016 734 4.9 3.5 7.6 22.8 c belt areas 3,830 120,702 5,889 71.3 69.5 61.1 31.5 total centres 5,372 173,662 9,635 51.0 47.4 30.7 32.3 inner areas d intermediate areas 3,149 103,444 11,797 61.0 53.7 54.2 32.9 e remote areas 1,678 69,494 8,499 32.5 36.0 39.1 41.4 f ultra remote areas 338 19,837 1,461 6.6 10.3 6.7 58.6 total inner areas 5,165 192,775 21,757 49.0 52.6 69.3 37.3 total 10,537 366,438 31,392 34.8 source: elaboration on the on-line fadn database (2012-2014) as previously stated, every holding is classified in a different type of farming according to the value of standard output. four types of farming are included in the analysis as the most representative in inner areas in terms of number of holdings and uaa: ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 109 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas • specialist field crops: specialist cereals, oilseed and protection crops (cop), excluding rice • specialist permanent crops: vineyards (quality wine) • specialist permanent crops: fresh fruits (other than citrus) • specialist grazing livestock: dairy sector (milk production). table 3 shows number of holdings and their average size in centres and inner areas for each of the five italian macro-regions (nuts level 1). table 3 number of farms and average size in the selected type of farming per macro-region specialist cop (other than rice) specialist vineyards (quality wine) specialist fresh fruits (other than citrus) specialist dairy (milk) centres inner areas centres inner areas centres inner areas centres inner areas number north-east 590 165 778 307 426 337 437 609 north-west 532 158 432 299 127 77 522 397 central italy 395 363 250 211 40 57 164 146 south italy 157 558 271 193 160 177 156 487 islands 18 61 37 78 9 38 94 76 uaa (ha) north-east 40.4 45.0 15.7 9.5 13.0 6.1 50.9 26.3 north-west 46.8 22.3 9.6 11.1 18.5 10.9 65.1 59.9 central italy 59.4 52.2 28.4 22.3 7.7 14.6 43.7 46.3 south italy 37.0 42.4 15.3 11.9 11.7 8.2 40.2 27.9 islands 37.8 61.0 31.5 55.8 6.3 12.8 42.4 56.2 source: italian on-line fadn database (2012-2014) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 110 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas economic characteristics of agricultural holdings in inner areas the performance and profitability of the holdings is compared on the basis of the balance sheet elaboration, and in particular the income statement. the income statement (or profit and loss statement) is one of the most important statements used by accountants in the analysis of the profitability of a holding or company during a given period (in general one year). it shows revenues, expenses, gains and losses incurred by the holding. the income statement format varies according to the complexity of the activities. in this paper, the scheme is the same as that provided by the italian fadn: it takes into account revenues and expenses for primary and complementary activities, subsidies from the common agricultural policy (1st and 2nd pillar) or other sources (national and regional). the scheme starts from the total revenues and, by subtracting the different cost components, leads to the determination of the net income (or net loss). there are important accounting aggregates in the scheme that allow to make preliminary evaluations on the holding management (table 4): • total revenues (tr): include the sale of goods and services, european subsidies and revenues from other gainful activities • current costs (cc): include the expenses for production inputs during the accounting year (seeds and seedlings, fertilizers, crop protection products, feedstuffs, etc.), other costs (processing, commercialization, general expenses) and farming overheads (insurance, veterinary expenses, etc.); • added value: is the gross profit, calculated as the difference between the tr and the cc, it gives initial information about the production results, before the deduction of structural and labour costs ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 111 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas • net income (ni): is the final result of the farm management and includes all the items coming from the whole activity (financial and extraordinary management, other public subsidies). accounting aggregates are expressed in euro per hectare, except those related to the holdings specialized in milk production, calculated for every livestock unit (lsu; total revenues, current costs, feedstuffs, added value and net income). lsu are calculated applying to the average number of animals reared in the farm, a coefficient related to the category of animal. table 4: economic results of different types of farming in centres and inner areas (€/ha) specialist cop (other than rice) specialist vineyards (quality wine) specialist fresh fruits (other than citrus) specialist dairy (milk) centres inner areas centres inner areas centres inner areas centres inner areas total revenues: €/ha €/lsu north-east 2,075 2,316 11,012 12,027 12,156 22,727 2,730 2,851 north-west 2,395 2,395 13,580 11,004 10,162 10,111 2,279 2,312 central italy 1,650 1,550 7,347 5,595 5,028 5,125 2,158 2,571 south italy 1,873 1,490 5,123 5,973 8,170 6,132 2,206 2,150 islands 1,047 1,190 3,974 4,000 6,108 4,135 2,465 1,920 subsidies (eu and not eu; €/ha) north-east 395 414 237 302 585 1,232 669 781 north-west 451 480 491 482 638 603 825 725 central italy 408 461 397 381 268 350 465 400 south italy 449 407 279 316 205 335 421 342 islands 309 302 264 214 172 203 915 305 other gainful activities (€/ha) north-east 66 169 303 478 253 598 135 189 north-west 57 18 262 507 21 386 153 422 central italy 96 55 764 183 11 237 225 425 ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 112 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas south italy 70 34 104 50 26 113 37 49 islands 0 85 0 13 7 12 2 1 current costs: €/ha €/lsu north-east 1,073 1,111 3,464 3,847 3,804 5,260 1,366 1,436 north-west 1,101 1,102 4,023 2,970 2,994 2,627 958 817 central italy 746 643 2,263 1,911 1,668 1,552 994 949 south italy 737 647 1,440 1,496 2,423 1,787 1,016 911 islands 497 535 958 901 1,861 1,528 1,100 784 fertilizers and crop protection products (€/ha) north-east 354 370 806 848 1,380 1,494 197 68 north-west 350 278 793 702 967 791 159 58 central italy 221 181 386 339 602 233 314 99 south italy 185 180 511 584 958 745 244 184 islands 170 172 252 202 609 505 370 68 feedstuffs (€/lsu) north-east 715 713 north-west 471 369 central italy 423 410 south italy 553 432 islands 613 380 added value (€/ha) €/lsu north-east 1,002 1,205 7,548 8,180 8,352 17,467 1,364 1,416 north-west 1,294 1,293 9,557 8,034 7,169 7,484 1,322 1,495 central italy 904 907 5,084 3,684 3,360 3,573 1,164 1,622 south italy 1,136 843 3,684 4,478 5,747 4,345 1,190 1,239 islands 549 654 3,016 3,099 4,247 2,606 1,366 1,136 net income (€/ha) €/lsu north-east 524 656 4,826 5,321 4,859 11,719 902 907 north-west 581 447 6,807 6,118 4,997 5,338 975 1,300 central italy 546 570 2,917 2,092 1,845 2,255 666 1,222 south italy 762 615 2,084 3,256 3,277 2,345 744 840 islands 465 355 1,885 1,804 2,011 1,275 1,063 801 source: elaboration on italian on-line fadn database (2012-2014) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 113 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas the economic performance of agricultural holdings in inner areas and centres is not the same. the total revenues per hectare are, in general, lower in inner areas, pointing out the more difficult production and market conditions. the fresh fruit sector in northeast italy is the exception: the high values of total revenues derive mainly from the apple production district of trentino alto adige, characterized by high yields and an efficient market organization (marongiu, 2013). a deeper analysis focused just on apple production highlights the greater competitiveness of holdings located in inner areas: average yield is 38.6 tons/ha (with peaks of more 60.0 tons/ha in trentino alto adige) and gross margin per hectare is 14,187 €/ha. in the centres, the yield is 33.3 tons/ha and gross margin is 10,856 €/ha. the production of quality wine is another important agricultural system in inner areas: 43.1% of uaa covered by vineyards for quality wine is located in these areas. concerning the total revenues per hectare, values are similar in holdings located in south italy and the islands while in north-west and central italy, revenues are higher in centres. only in the north-east viticulture for quality wine seems to guarantee higher revenues in inner areas. in all cases, the structure of costs (in general higher in centres) leads to a very competitive net income per hectare, highlighting the importance of this sector in the agricultural system of inner areas, in every macro-region considered in the analysis. small variations in terms of total revenues per hectare are found in the holdings specialized in milk production: in every macro-region the value in inner areas is not so different from the centres, except for the south of italy, where the values are lower. greatest differences are observed in the costs per livestock unit. current costs, including feedstuffs, are in general lower in inner areas, in particular in the islands, characterized by grazed pasture. the animal density (table 5) is, in general, lower in inner areas, except for holdings in the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 114 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas south of italy, where animal density is quite similar (in particular, the value is influenced by the raising of buffaloes in campania, in intensive farming systems). in terms of net income per livestock unit, the results show the competitiveness of holdings located in inner areas, which performance are similar or higher than those observed for the centres. a low value of net income per lsu is calculated for islands, where the different animal density in inner areas (2.0 lsu/ha) and in centres (5.4 lsu/ha) reflects a different intensity of dairy systems. another interesting point emerging from the analysis is the relative importance of the other gainful activities2 (oga). in particular the share of these revenues on the total farm revenues is higher in the inner areas, especially in holdings specialized in fresh fruits and dairy farming (all the macro-regions). holdings specialized in viticulture for quality wine have an important income from oga in the inner areas of northern italy. this is an important parameter, especially in the context of income diversification, identified as one of the solutions proposed by the strategy to revitalize the territories. diversification can be explained on the basis of internal and external characteristics. external determinants are often linked to the location of the agricultural holding, which involves a different degree of rurality depending on the distance from urban centres. studies have found that there is less diversification in less favoured areas but, at the same time, more service-related diversification (e.g. agri-tourism) in environmentally attractive locations (sharpley and vass, 2006), 2 include all activities other than farm work, directly related to the holding and having an economic impact on the holding. in these activities, either the resources of the holding (area, buildings, machinery, agricultural produce, etc.) or the products of the holdings are used. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 115 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas where the natural beauty of the landscape can enhance opportunities for diversification. according to some studies based on the italian fadn (dries et al., 2012), when a farm location is in the vicinity of an urban area, the likelihood of observing income diversification is positive while the effect is negative for agricultural, structural and environmental diversification. this is plausible, given that urbanization can pose constraints on a farmer willing to provide environmental services such as landscape protection and agri-environmental schemes. when a farm location is in a mountainous area, it seems that the likelihood of observing an income diversification strategy increases, in line with other analysis (maye et al., 2009) emphasizing the importance of offfarm employment as a survival strategy in marginal areas. the governance of inner areas and implementation of the projects planned within the strategy should consider this important element for integration wherever the presence of natural assets (water resources, agricultural systems, forests, natural landscapes), cultural resources and landscapes positively affects the diversification structure. concerning the current costs per hectare, the values are in general lower for holdings located in inner areas, except for the fresh fruit sector of north-east italy that, however, has a lower cost incidence (table 5) than the holdings in centres. the same applies to the cost for fertilizers and crop protection products: excluding the fruit sector, in almost all the macro-regions and farm types considered in the analysis, the value per hectare is lower in inner areas than in centres, with important differences in the dairy sector. the net income per hectare, considered a measure of the farm performance and an index of land profitability, is similar in farms specialized in cop, while in vineyards for quality wine the results differ in the macro-regions: a higher land profitability in inner areas is observed in north-east and south italy while the results ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 116 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas are similar in the islands. the fresh fruit sector seems to be competitive in inner areas, especially in central and northern italy. concerning dairy systems, the land profitability in inner areas is lower than in centres, in all the considered macro-regions. as stated before, more specific structural and economic indexes are summarized in table 5. the value of the subsidies incidence (subsidies on the net income) is a little bit higher in the inner areas for holdings specialized in cop (where subsidies count for the half of net income), vineyards and fresh fruits in almost all the macro-regions. in the dairy sector, the incidence is particularly high in the inner areas of northern italy, where an important part of subsidies are linked to all the nature-enhancing measures, easier to implement when the intensity of agricultural land use is low (agrienvironmental measures, compensatory allowances for less favoured areas, modulation, greening, etc.). in some cases the continuation of the traditional agricultural systems with a low-input impact depends heavily on this support (strijker, 2004). as previously stated, the indexes related to land productivity and profitability are, in general, lower in the farms located in inner areas, in particular in the holdings specialized in milk production. as other indexes, holdings specialized in cop have similar values, showing an equality between inner areas and centres. differently from the profitability of land, the income per annual work unit (labour profitability) of holdings specialized in cop is higher in the inner areas, except for the north-west. for vineyards, the highest value in the inner areas are observed only for the north-west and south italy while the labour profitability in the fresh fruit sector has its highest value in the holdings of north-east. the income per awu in the dairy sector of inner areas is lower than in the centres in all the macro-regions (except central italy). another important parameter is the labour cost per unit, which value is almost always lower in inner areas. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 117 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas table 5 – structural and economic indexes of different types of farming in centres and inner areas specialist cop (other than rice) specialist vineyards (quality wine) specialist fresh fruits (other than citrus) specialist dairy (milk) centres inner areas centres inner areas centres inner areas centres inner areas livestock density (lsu/uaa) north-east 4.4 2.8 north-west 3.7 2.6 central italy 5.7 3.1 south italy 6.5 6.9 islands 5.4 2.0 subsidies incidence (eu and non-eu subsidies/net income; %) north-east 37.4 39.6 6.7 7.0 12.0 9.1 13.8 41.7 north-west 36.9 44.4 10.4 13.7 12.9 11.1 36.0 46.0 central italy 55.4 57.9 15.8 24.3 15.0 16.9 14.8 16.6 south italy 44.8 54.4 11.0 11.1 5.1 10.2 11.3 13.7 islands 60.7 54.0 12.3 13.2 4.7 16.6 17.1 21.2 cost incidence (current costs/total revenues; %) north-east 52.7 51.3 36.3 36.5 36.2 26.3 50.6 52.6 north-west 47.7 48.8 32.4 32.1 29.7 28.6 43.4 37.3 central italy 46.0 43.9 35.9 40.5 50.2 34.6 48.5 37.3 south italy 40.5 44.1 33.2 28.0 29.1 34.5 46.3 42.6 islands 47.3 44.9 23.3 26.0 32.0 39.5 46.0 40.4 gross land productivity (gross saleable production/uaa; €/ha) north-east 2,008 2,148 10,706 11,549 11,903 22,126 10,984 7,194 north-west 2,337 2,378 13,318 10,490 10,141 9,725 8,069 5,135 central italy 1,549 1,494 6,491 5,372 5,018 4,885 9,930 6,358 south italy 1,794 1,454 5,020 5,923 8,143 6,011 11,944 11,948 islands 1,047 1,104 3,974 3,986 6,100 4,123 12,526 3,638 net land profitability (net income/uaa; €/ha) north-east 524 656 4,826 5,321 4,859 11,719 3,756 2,273 north-west 581 447 6,807 6,118 4,997 5,338 3,433 2,761 central italy 546 570 2,917 2,092 1,845 2,255 2,752 2,996 ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 118 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas south italy 762 615 2,084 3,256 3,277 2,345 4,192 4,164 islands 465 355 1,885 1,804 2,011 1,275 5,225 1,338 gross labour productivity (gross saleable production/annual work unit; €) north-east 67,817 75,547 51,608 46,543 51,089 60,218 118,717 67,357 north-west 78,079 46,700 49,301 49,917 61,699 45,883 111,988 72,645 central italy 58,119 54,748 47,499 36,164 22,148 25,872 96,103 90,680 south italy 56,267 64,287 36,675 31,755 35,087 28,197 83,623 77,013 islands 48,956 58,758 52,221 45,320 25,609 31,373 133,754 72,224 net labour profitability (net income/annual work unit; €) north-east 19,448 24,193 21,774 21,415 20,739 32,407 40,475 22,475 north-west 25,171 11,336 25,712 29,411 30,327 22,321 47,972 41,440 central italy 21,128 23,024 21,794 13,401 8,481 11,477 29,463 42,187 south italy 24,341 28,454 14,506 17,561 13,885 11,713 26,525 27,948 islands 20,971 22,074 27,821 19,702 10,569 9,536 54,550 28,538 labour cost per unit (labour costs/annual work units; €) north-east 3,861 4,916 5,483 4,535 7,478 7,796 8,006 4,605 north-west 4,442 3,174 4,563 4,325 6,446 4,981 6,345 4,549 central italy 4,797 4,022 7,615 5,029 4,049 4,254 6,724 4,947 south italy 4,858 3,495 7,551 4,704 7,243 5,545 6,455 5,482 islands 3,360 4,431 8,967 9,002 2,727 5,907 4,277 5,004 source: elaboration on italian on-line fadn database (2012-2014) conclusions the accounting data collected by the italian fadn have been used for a number of analyses based on the assessment of the economic results of agricultural holdings. each holding is georeferenced and this makes it possible to conduct territorial analyses based on specific spatial characteristics. in this paper, the classification set out in the national strategy of inner areas has been applied to the fadn sample for the period 2012-2014 in order to compare the performance and profitability of four important types of farming ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 119 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas (cop, viticulture, fruit sector and dairy sector) in the five macroregions corresponding to the level 1 of italian nuts (north-east, north-west, central italy, south italy and islands). the comparison has been made on the basis of the income statement results. the economic performance of agricultural holdings in inner areas and centres is not the same because of different farming techniques, production systems and market conditions. in general, in every macro-region, the profitability decreases from north to south and the difference in terms of costs and revenues per hectare is not the same in all the selected types of farming. the lowest differences between inner areas and centres are observed in the holdings specialized in cop: revenues and costs per hectare are very similar and the values of the most important aggregates and indexes are comparable in all the macro-regions. it seems that the localization and the distance from the centres has no influence on the economic performance and structure of this type of farming. on the contrary, in terms of net income per hectare, the holdings specialized in vineyards and fresh fruits located in inner areas have relatively good performances when compared to those in the centres. this is observed in almost all the macroregions, except the fresh fruit sector of south italy and islands, probably influenced by the exclusion of citrus, one of the most important cultivations in this area. the highest value is observed in the north-east, where the high specialization in areas suited to the production of apples has led to the improvement of the whole chain, ensuring high revenues for the holders, even in the case of high land fragmentation (marongiu, 2013). strategic projects based on already competitive agricultural systems and the strengthening between these and other sectors (in particular environment and tourism) have a great potential for the socio-economic growth of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 120 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas inner areas and can became an important development opportunity. as concerns the dairy sector, the net income per lsu in inner areas is similar or higher than the values observed in the centres but, in general, the net land profitability (net income per hectare) is lower. this is partially due to the more extensive dairy systems characterizing the inner areas, where the number of livestock units per hectare is low if compared to the centers (except for holdings in south italy). this means a different pressure on the ecosystem in intermediate and remote areas, mainly composed of grassland and permanent pastures, sometimes with a high level of biodiversity. in this case, the strategy could be developed around interactions between the dairy sector and the environment, given the importance of this activity in the protection of biodiversity and preservation of specific ecosystems. the opportunities to create synergies between the agricultural sector and other activities is highlighted by the different incidence of other gainful activities on the total revenues. this percentage is higher in inner areas and this is partially due to rural livelihood diversification and the presence of important natural assets, cultural resources and landscapes positively affecting the diversification structure. with regard to this aspect, the project included in the strategy should reinforce all the synergies in order to make the agricultural sector more attractive for youngsters and avoid the abandonment of farmland in marginal areas. another piece of evidence emerging from the analysis is the different importance of public subsidies in the holdings located in inner areas. in some cases, as in the dairy sector in northern italy, subsidies are very important, being linked to enhancing-nature measures and having a strong impact on the maintenance of lowinput systems. given the low profitability, the continuation of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 121 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas traditional dairy systems in inner areas could depend strongly on this kind of subsidy. inner areas will be included in the next rural development policy: the synergy between the strategy for inner areas and the measures provided by the rural development plans can guarantee a higher level of efficacy in the interventions. references barca, f., casavola, p., lucatelli, s. (2014). a strategy for inner areas in italy: definition, objectives, tools and governance. materiali uval, 31, 1-66. carlucci, c. & lucatelli, s. (2013). aree interne: un potenziale per la crescita economica del paese. agriregionieuropa, 9(34), 17-20. dries, l., pascucci, s., gardebroek c. (2012) diversification in italian farm systems: are farmers using interlinked strategies? newmedit, 4, 7-15. fadn database (2012-2014) accessed from: http://bancadatirica.crea.gov.it higgs, g., white, s.d. (1997). changes in service provision in rural areas. part 1: the use of gis in analyzing accessibility to service in rural deprivation research. journal of rural studies 13(4), 441-450. doi: 10.1016/s0743-0167(97)00030-2 kempena, m., elbersenb, b.s., staritsky, i., andersenc, e., heckelei, t. (2011). spatial allocation of farming systems and farming indicators in europe, agriculture, ecosystems and environment, 142, 51-62. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.08.001. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 122 http://bancadatirica.crea.gov.it/ https://doi.org/10.1016/s0743-0167(97)00030-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.08.001 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas marchetti, m., de toni, a., sallustio, l., tognetti, r. (2016). recent land use changes in inner areas of italy. poster presented at the i international conference on research for sustainable development in mountain regions, 5-7 october 2016, bragança (portugal). marongiu, s. (2013). cooperation as a factor of territorial competitiveness: the local system of apple production in trentino, 306-311. proceedings of the ii conference bioeconomy and sustainable development of agriculture, tbilisi state university, tbilisi, georgia, october 2013. marongiu, s., cesaro, l. (2010). the technical efficiency of mountain farms: analysis of fadn data and comparison between italian and french farms, rivista di economia agraria, 65 (4), 595618. maye, d., ilbery, b., watts, d. (2009). farm diversification, tenancy and cap reform: results from a survey of tenants farmers in england, journal of rural studies, 25, 333-342. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2009.03.003 osti, g. (2016). the unbalanced welfare in italian fragile rural areas. in grabski-kieron u., mose i., reichert-schick a., steinfurher (eds) a european rural peripheries revalued. governance, actors, impacts (64-88)., münster: lit verlag. sharpley, r., vass, a. (2006). tourism, farming and diversification: an attitudinal study. tourism management, 27, 1040-1052. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.10.025. stolbova, m., hlavsa, t. (2008). the impact of the lfa payments on the fadn farms in the czech republic. agricultural economics-czech, 54(10), 489-497. storti, d. (2016). aree interne e sviluppo rurale: prime riflessioni ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 123 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2009.03.003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.10.025 cesaro, marongiu – economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas sulle implicazioni di policy, agriregionieuropa, 45, 39-43. terluin, i.j., godeschalk f.e., von meyer, h., post, j.h., strijker, d. (1995). agricultural income in less favoured areas of the ec: a regional approach. journal of rural studies, 11(2), 217-228. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0743-0167(95)00012-c strijker, d. (2005). marginal lands in europe – causes of decline. basic and applied ecology, 6, 99-106. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2005.01.001 short author biography: the authors are researchers in the unit of policy and bioeconomy of the council for agricultural research and agricultural economics analysis (crea). they are involved in the survey and data analysis of italian fadn and in agricultural and forestry policies. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 124 https://doi.org/10.1016/0743-0167(95)00012-c https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2005.01.001 economic performance and profitability of agricultural holdings in inner areas processes of urban and rural development: a comparative analysis of europe and china. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 51 andrea raffaele neri issn: 2239­267x lecturer in urbn planning and management ethiopian institute of technology, mekelle university, department of architecture and urban planning abstract china, in its construction fever, has imported from europe a great range of architectural and design features. the planning systems of china and of most european countries are based on functional zoning, allowing meaningful comparison. nonetheless, the process and goals of spatial planning differ markedly and china largely ignores the distinctive progress achieved in the field in europe. across europe, the model of planning is undergoing important transformations in the last decades, gradually making decisions concerning land­use more participated, flexible and sustainable, and safeguarding the rural dimension. in contrast, the planning system of china is primarily focused on promoting urban gdp growth and is still based on a top­ down approach. the inclusion of some key elements of european vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 52 introduction this research analyzes the similarities and differences between the two apparently opposite patterns of urban and rural development of europe and china. most european countries apply a zoning approach not too different from that of china. nonetheless this research points out that european zoning is gradually evolving towards a more incremental and participated system, led by the uk, that could be taken into consideration by china in order to reduce the strength of its top­down decision­making processes and thus improve the outcomes of its planning provisions. china often copies the traditional architectures of the most famous tourist spots of europe, but seldom looks at the leading urban planning practices of “the old continent” to improve its own performances in the field. moreover europe and china have an opposite perspective concerning territorial inequalities and the urban­rural divide. on the one hand, the european union and european national governments tend to transfer planning powers from central to local government and resources from the richest areas to the poorest, from cities to rural areas. on the other hand, china’s zoning standards are only in force within the administrative boundaries of cities and government focuses centrally driven public investment into the main poles of the national economy, with dramatic effects on internal inequalities. these differences are also reflected in the degree of involvement of the most disadvantaged and deprived communities in forms of bottom­up processes of local government and in agenda 21, which is very high in some european countries such as the uk, and practically non­ existent in china. this article provides some relevant examples of successful zoning vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 planning into the chinese system, with particular reference to laws establishing national standards and comprehensive environmental protection, would benefit china by reducing the internal inequalities between cities and countryside and safeguarding its natural assets. neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 53 neri ­ process of urban and rural development provisions aimed at environmental protection which are in force in the european countries and which could possibly influence china's legislation, where the loss of rural land has never been effectively tackled in the recent decades of economic boom. therefore, the object of this research is to demonstrate that there is a european way of planning, based on participation, equal rights against the state and, increasingly, incrementalism, which could positively influence the system of governance at the local level in china. it also aims to fill the lacuna in the available literature concerning the knowledge exchange between the two, since the media and academic articles are too focused on analyzing the often ephemeral stereotypes of european architecture that penetrated china in the last decades. the similarities and differences between europe and china are described, analyzing the planning legislation at different scales, and comparing the findings with the most relevant literature already available. thus the research method is mostly based on the comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative secondary data, with a positivist approach aiming to establish relations of cause­effect between the national legislations and practices and the outcomes on field. we do not assume that the good practices identified in a specific geographical area would necessarily generate similar outcomes in different contexts, but meaningful case­to­case examples are offered from a comparative standpoint to suggest different perspectives and innovative approaches to governance to those who might be concerned. similar patterns of urban development in china and europe between the middle of the 19th century and the years following the second world war there was an urban population explosion in europe comparable with that of contemporary asian countries like china (grigg, 1980, p.254), leading to a dramatic transformation of the cities. in the central areas, the high streets were enlarged, older buildings were redeveloped to make them more comfortable with improved hygienic standards and to make room for offices, theatres and shops. new development areas for urban uses were created outside the ancient city walls, often producing a supply of housing in excess of the demand (bruegmann, 2008, p.33), as in contemporary china (chang, 2013). in most of continental europe the most effective instrument vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 54 to establish a centrally driven strategy for urban development was functional zoning, able to promote and give certainty to private investment on one side and to prevent the destruction of natural or historical values on the other. the same applies to contemporary china where the government’s power to enforce its top­down decisions is as strong as that of the non­democratic european governments before the second world war. it is possible to say that the newly developed areas in the main cities of china are mostly rigidly divided by function and residential areas are designed for specific social classes (veeck, et al, 2011, p. 292) similar to those developed in europe in the early twentieth century. in fact an overly rigid model of zoning easily becomes a tool of social segregation (un­ habitat, 2009, p. 55) because of the physical divisions between wealthy and poor areas within the towns and the hierarchical pattern of urban land use it often embeds. even though today’s european housing policies actively encourage social mix much more than the chinese, europe did not manage to overcome the problem since the central urban districts are increasingly gentrified (dines n. t and dines n., 2012, p.45; petsimeris in atkinson and bridge, 2005 p. 240) as they are in china (goodman, 2008, p.179). surprisingly, european planning practice performs no better than the chinese regarding urban sprawl, despite its lower population, the scarcer availability of land and the considerably lower rate of growth. as regards the increase in the area of built up land, planning instruments in china allowed an increase of about 1,287 km2/y (only considering the cities’ administrative areas) between 1989 and 2000 (bai, chen and shi, 2011) while the total increase in built up area in the european economic area (excluding greece, switzerland and the u.k.) amounted to about 1,000 km2/y (european environment agency, 2012, p.5) between 1990 and 2000. finally china’s approach to urban planning is architecture, engineering and design oriented, similar to that traditionally adopted in mediterranean countries. this approach is rigidly top­down and underestimates the importance of public consultations to ensure that the planned use of land benefits the largest number of people. this perspective on planning is very far from that of the uk, where issues of design are secondary compared to the incremental reconciliation of conflicting interests (dunford, 2008, p.8). the right of the citizens to comment on plans and development applications vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 55 is stronger than that of most european countries since landowners are not granted the constitutional right to build on their land. this also strengthens the power of the planning authorities who have great discretion in managing development control. recent attempts to introduce and strengthen zoning approaches in the uk for specific business areas reflect only economic rather than land use planning targets, aiming to reduce the burden of regulation on private enterprise, but they represent a break in the system of planning in a country where the grant of the planning permission never comes in advance of the proposal coming forward (cullingworth and nadin, 2006, p.140). fashionable european urban design in china in recent years a good number of chinese urban plans and architectural projects hit the headlines of the media for they undeniably demonstrate the great interest in china concerning european styles of urban planning and design. this interest is threefold. firstly, there is a direct impact because impressive replicas of several european cities, villages and monuments have been erected all across the country. the thames town of shanghai (preece, 2012), the alpine style village duplicating the unesco world heritage austrian village of hallstadt in huizhou (parry, 2012), the florentia village in tianjin (foster, 2011) and the chinese version of salvador dalì’s home town of cadaques in spain (rodriguez baena, 2011) are the most relevant examples of this architectural fad. surprisingly, european architects are most often the creators of such kitsch urban districts. secondly, at the opposite extreme, famous european architects prepare zoning plans for chinese cities maintaining the traditional regular geometry of street layouts of china and a plain international style of zoning: richard rogers conceived the first redevelopment masterplan for the financial centre of pudong, shanghai (richard rogers partnership, 1992­1994), vittorio gregotti a detailed plan in ningbo (gregotti associati international, 2006), jürgen engel the qingdao science and technology city (vinnitskaja, 2011). thirdly, and most importantly, a european style of urban planning and design ‘developed as a counter­model to modernism’ (urban, 2008), based on sensitive handling of heritage, with mixed land­uses, moderately dense settlements and respect for the human scale, has become an international conception of urbanism very popular in china. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 56 in all cases, design and physical planning appears the aspects of urban planning where foreign expertise is most appreciated in china (healey and upton, 2010, p.305), particularly referring to european practice. however, a more mature knowledge exchange between europe and china regarding not only physical aspects of urban planning but cutting edge governance processes has dramatically increased in the last years (sveriges arkitekter, 2011, p.3; fondation charles leopold mayer and iclei local government for sustainability, 2010, p.12). the number of partnerships between twin cities, universities and research institutes is intensifying. this form of cooperation makes easier and more effective the sharing of best practices and implementing them in different contexts. the next paragraphs analyze some of the aspects of governance regarding urban planning and community involvement implemented in europe that china could take into consideration to improve its path of development in the years to come. zoning in china and europe: mechanisms and processes the first tier of zoning in china concerns the rigid administrative division between what is town and what is not. the cities are planned and the countryside is substantially unplanned, creating enormous disparities within local areas. the city planning law of the people’s republic of china (1989) and the urban real estate administration law of the people's republic of china (1995­2007) establish that most of the rights on land­use are granted to the population only within the planned areas of the cities by the state, which is the only land owner. this means that in rural areas there is virtually no real­estate market, there are no planning standards and that in the expropriations outside the administrative urban areas (called chaiqian) the evictees are insufficiently compensated at agricultural land values even though the expropriated areas have a residential function with spontaneous settlements (ma, 2012, p.64) with urban real estate market dynamics. in contrast, in european countries the planning instruments cover the whole territory, often with an overlap of hierarchical plans (bennington and harvey in newman and thornley, 1996, p.22), and the urban and rural populations have the same rights against the state. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 57 for instance, in italy the same minimum planning standards apply to homogenous territorial zones all over the country to reserve land for public use in order to guarantee the uniform provision of satisfactory planning outcomes (ministerial decree 1444/68, in mariotti, 2010, p.89). the 1968 national law fixed the minimum amount of 18m2 of public land per inhabitant, devoted to public services such as schools, green areas, car parks, etc in residential areas (ministero dei lavori pubblici, ministerial decree 1444/68, art. 3) and regional laws have the power only to extend it, not diminish it. this shows a rigid approach to spatial planning more similar to that of china than that of the uk where the land use provisions are more flexible. however in china, as mentioned above, planning standards are only in place within the administrative boundaries of the main cities (city planning law of the people's republic of china, 1989, art. 3). there is no prescription for local authorities in the national planning laws concerning standards so they vary from place to place, only in conformity with the generic ‘national and local levels of economic and technological development’ (city planning law of the people’s republic of china, 1989, art.13). thus the perspective of the chinese law on planning standards clearly accepts that the outcomes of the planning system change depending on the local gdp performances. to confirm this we can examine the proposed planning standards for the provision of green space in newly developed eco­cities. the first is the tianjin eco­city, in the fastest growing area of china (zhang, 2012), which aims to guarantee 12 m2 per capita of green space (government of singapore, 2012), while another similar flagship project in the internal province of guizhou, the landscape bridge city ­ green duyan, the provision is only 8.66 m2 per capita (qiannan buyi and miao autonomous prefecture, 2012). the standards system has been highly criticized in italy in the last decades because it does not respond to the specific needs of the territories and is not flexible over time, but it has undeniably reduced territorial inequalities in terms of basic planning provisions. furthermore, in the last decades, in europe, even in those countries where it is still the key tool for planning such as france, germany, italy, netherlands or spain (respectively with the plan local d’urbanisme, flächennutzungsplan, piano regolatore, bestemmingsplan and plan general de ordinacion vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 58 urbana) the practice of zoning is changing its mechanism on one hand and the decision processes on the other. going back to the general features of the planning system of the european countries cited above, the national laws oblige the municipalities to develop binding zoning land­use plans covering the whole territory and in force for a specified time, formally without taking into account single projects (munoz gielen, 2010, p.88). nevertheless the intent to bring certainty into the planning process through comprehensive land­use zoning has been hindered by the fact that many municipalities do not have the necessary resources, and therefore competence, to develop sound plans in reasonable time. furthermore there is evidence of a trade­off, in drawing up zoning spatial plans, between simplicity and flexibility (cullingworth, 1993, p.73). this is true because the rationale of zoning is to reduce complexity in the plans, but an overly simple plan ends up being too rigid to cope with the changing needs of society. for this reason the regulatory frameworks of zoning plans have often become really complicated, betraying the original spirit of the tool (babcock, 1966, p.11). to cope with these issues, in some of these countries new forms of spatial planning have been developed formally maintaining the previous zoning framework, but substantially changing it. in 2000 the netherlands introduced a substantial change in the zoning mechanism of the municipal bestemmingsplan (zoning plan) with the so­called art.19 by allowing important exceptions. the instrument represented a too radical shift from the traditional zoning approach of the country and was formally abolished in 2008 and replaced with the new wet ruimtelijke ordening (spatial planning act) (government of the netherlands, 2013; van alphen, 2009, p.32), but still most of its features were maintained in art.3 of the latter. in italy, where regions have largely exclusive legislative powers in the field of spatial planning (legge costituzionale n.3/2001, art.117), the legge regionale (regional law) n.12/2005 of the lombardy region created a new form of plan, the piano di governo del territorio (territorial government plan) which is now the chief planning document for the municipalities (art. 6), replacing the piano regolatore generale. it brought about important innovations in terms of simplification of destination uses, abolition of building height limits and a great focus on strategic projects (de carli, 2011, pp. 17­18). vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 59 in europe there are also important cases of radical improvement in the processes underlying the first stages of the local planning activity to make it more transparent, particularly in the southern countries which historically lagged behind in public participation (van den brink, 2007, p.47). in italy the legge regionale dell’emilia­romagna (law of the region of emilia­ romagna) 20/2000, art. 8, enforces the inclusion of initiatives for community participation and consultation during the formation of the planning documents. in spain the comunidades autonomas (autonomous regions) have a similar degree of legislative power in spatial planning. for example, the ley foral del territorio planeamiento y urbanismo of navarra (regional act of spatial planning and urbanism of navarra) 35/2002 improved the participatory processes in the planning activity, particularly at the development stage (enerìz olaechea, 2005, p.71). in contrast, there is no trace of community participation in the development of planning documents in the city planning law of the people’s republic of china (1989). art. 28, the only section of the law regulating the relation between the plan and the population, states: ‘the plan for a city shall be announced by the people's government of the city after it is approved.’ (city planning law of the people’s republic of china, 1989, art.28). since issues of participation are not contemplated in the previous articles, the law clearly states that the plan for a city becomes public only after it is approved, not before. europe and china dealing with regional inequalities and the urban­rural divide china and europe have very different approaches to deal with territorial inequalities. on one side, the government of china invests in major urban areas eight times more than the national average (dollar, 2007, p.1) exacerbating the difference created by the market between the most and least advantaged areas. on the other in europe the policies put on place are diametrically opposed to this. the european union's regional development fund (erdf), social fund (esf) and cohesion fund have as objectives the vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 60 reduction of disparities between regions, both in terms of gdp per capita and quality of life, as well as being the main instruments of economic stimulus of the union. only the least­favored regions have access to most of these programs, those performing below 90 percent of the union’s average in terms of gdp for the erdf, esf (european commission 2012a, p.10) and gross national income for the cohesion fund (european commission, online, 2012c). furthermore, looking at a specific national case, in germany no regional authority (land) can have contributions from the state 10% higher than the national average (dollar, 2007, p.1). also, in italy the amount of central government grants to the regions in 2009 were almost double in the poorest regions than in the richer: in basilicata region it was 2,236 € per­capita against 1,136 € in lazio region, the regional authority of rome, the capital city (copaff, ministero dell’economia, 2012, in centro studi sintesi, 2011, p.5) and the per­capita spending of the state is quite evenly distributed between the different areas of the country exception of the lazio, where it is triple that of umbria at the bottom of the ranking (ragioneria generale dello stato, 2009, in centro studi sintesi, 2011, p.14). the european policy about territorial inequalities also tends to pump investment into rural development, trying to restrain internal migration to the cities, preserve the historical and cultural heritage of agriculture and take full advantage from the multifunctional potential of the rural world (givord, 2000). through the flagship programme leader+ of the european union the structural funds help rural actors to implement strategies of sustainable development, particularly those focused on agriculture. on the contrary, in china the policies concerning territorial balance put in place in recent decades identified a number of key cities in depressed areas to be transformed into centres of national investment, neglecting the potential of rural areas. the most striking examples are chongqing, chengdu, changsha and kunming, cities of central/western china where population and gdp has grown exponentially since they were chosen as alternatives to coastal ports for strategic development (zheng, 2011, p.27). the result of this almost exclusive investment in the urban areas has meant that the countryside has been depopulated at an impressive pace. the rural vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 61 population amounted to 81% of the total in 1979, dropping to 49% in 2010 (bloomberg news, 2012), still far more than the 23% of population living in rural regions of europe (eurostat news release, 2012, p.2) but rapidly following the same demographic trend. this phenomenon (regulated through the hukou household­registration system that prevents internal migrants to become official urban residents, highly criticized by amnesty international, 2007, p.1) has created urban populations deprived of effective connections. this also led to the loss of working­age people and expertise in rural areas. the issue to cope with concerning territorial inequalities is that resources are limited and policy makers have to decide whether invest in efficiency (give more to those who produce more) or in equity (to equally distribute resources) (oecd, regions matter, 2009, in oecd, china development research foundation, 2010, p.82). china definitely embraced the efficiency driven perspective, investing in the areas apparently more capable of providing economic return, while europe invested in equity to allow less advantaged areas to catch up with the frontrunners and invest in local development so as to prevent people moving to more affluent areas in search for a job. in terms of gdp growth there is no doubt that the chinese model has worked better than the european in the last decades, but it definitely is not sustainable on the long term. to sum it up, the chinese model of development widened enormously the territorial inequalities in china and an approach similar to that of the european union would be beneficial to evenly distribute resources and opportunities, even though the gdp growth might be influenced negatively in the short term. different perspectives on agenda 21 the democratic organization of europe is of great benefit to planning practice because it strengthens the sustainability of decisions through community participation (european commission, 2012b). however, china’s non­democratic model of government, together with more than 2,000 years of feudal culture, discourages people from standing up for their rights and from participating in the decision making processes for the common good (plummer and taylor, 2012, p.212). consequently, the involvement of the chinese population in participatory processes such as agenda 21 (unced, vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 62 1992) whilst being formally promoted by the government (the people's republic of china, 1997, p.8) was hampered by the overwhelming power of the government in the decision­making processes and by the economically driven interest of the projects undertaken (castellucci, 2009, p.220). during the 1990s, agenda 21 was adopted in china with the specific goal of improving the quality of government decision making at the local level (guizhou province planning commission and guizhou province science and technology commission, 2001), but six chinese ngos critiqued china’s progress in the agenda 21 in relation to sustainable development (liang, 2012). they highlighted the discrepancy between what was stated in the 2004 program for comprehensively implementing government administration in accordance with the law regarding information disclosure and public involvement and its lack of implementation (chang, in china going green, 2012, p.52). therefore china, quoting the motto of agenda 21, should really go ahead in ‘thinking global, acting local’, giving more powers and independence to local authorities in choosing the local policy targets, similar to what happens in most european countries. case studies from the countries like france or italy are more suitable for comparison with china, since in the nordic countries the model of substantial local self­government is too structured in terms of networking between government bodies and bottom­up policies (jensen and richardson, 2004, p.183). the two countries recently implemented a cross­border agenda 21 and their level of adherence to the programme at the local tiers of government is relevant and well documented, particularly around the four topics of waste, mobility and transport, energy and tourism (pirlone et al, 2012, in pacetti et al, 2012, p.247). in france the total number of governmental bodies involved in the programme reaches 949 (comitè 21, 2013) 372 of which are municipalities (pirlone et al, 2012, in pacetti et al, 2012, p.247). in italy over 700 local governmental bodies are involved in the programme (ministero dell’ambiente, 2012, in bettoglio, 2012, p.20). community involvement in local planning analyzing the implementation of agenda 21, we realize that the power of communities in china is extremely limited since they have no voice in the decision making processes. the central government authority is unquestionable vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 63 and unsupervised and it hampers the progress of civic initiatives. the number of ngos and citizen associations in china is impressive (354,000 civil organizations in 2006; ministry of civil affairs of the people’s republic of china, 2007) but their capacity to bring innovation to the system is limited because they have to be legally registered, and so are subject to the approval and supervision of the government. (yin, 2009, p.523). indeed, these organizations manage the community volunteering activities with the support of the national, provincial and local governmental authorities but have virtually no influence on planning decisions. following this top­down model, the urban community development programme and the rural community development programme of the ministry of civil affairs (ministry of civil affairs of the people’s republic of china, 2013a and 2013b) represent the flagship programmes of the central government of china aiming to trigger community development in deprived areas, but always measuring it in terms of economic outcomes and using economic indicators. the internet, although censored and restricted in its use, truly represents the place where chinese people can exercise their freedom of expression (lee et al, 2012, p.110), but this silent movement of protesters rarely affects the planning decisions, particularly at the local scale. nonetheless some cases contradict this common belief. by means of the internet in 2007 thousands of people spontaneously gathered in the streets of xiamen, fujian, to campaign against the government’s decision to create a polluting chemical plant in the city until they forced the government to change its decision (chang, 2012, in china going green, 2012, p.53). that was a milestone for bottom­up initiatives for local development, but still an isolated episode at that scale. in a mature democracy, the role of the government in organizing community participation in spatial planning should be to promote and steer the debate, supporting non­governmental programmes at the local level and to empower the most deprived tiers of the population and give them ‘voice’ in the decision making processes which will directly affect their lives. the example of the u.k. is illuminating. in 2011, england introduced the localism act, radically modifying its vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 64 planning framework in order to 'to achieve a substantial and lasting shift in power away from central government and towards local people.' (department for communities and local government, 2011, p.1). it was intended to be the last step to empower local communities, following the abolition of the regional development agencies announced in 2010, with the establishment of local enterprise partnerships, neighbourhood development plans and neighbourhood development orders in its place and the simplification of the national legislation concerning spatial planning into a single national planning policy framework. however because of other government decisions to loosen development control, these actions are not having the expected impacts. regarding inequalities, england, wales, scotland and northern ireland between the years 2000 and 2005 mapped the deprivation of the nations in separated indices of multiple deprivation using indicators that allowed the analysis of the living standards at the neighbourhood scale, using indicators concerning income, employment, health, housing, education, skills and training, living environment or geographical access to services (tallon, 2009, p.15), and updated them regularly. this operation resulted in a fantastic tool to tackle deprivation with unprecedented geographical precision, fundamental for the creation of specific programmes of community regeneration. the welsh government’s programme communities first was established in 2001 to tackle social disadvantage in the 10 percent most deprived areas of the country, an eligibility based on the statistics provided by the welsh index of multiple deprivation (welsh government, 2012). even though the capacity of such ambitious programme to effectively demonstrate value for the money spent on it has been questioned (national assembly for wales, public accounts committee, 2010, p.22), not appreciating that initiatives operating towards long term and immaterial targets cannot be measured only in terms of gdp growth, the communities first local programmes effectively empowered their communities (adamson and bromiley, 2008, p.4), created lasting networks with other representative and non­representative bodies and contributed for a more participated governance of the areas involved. although the resources required for these sorts of programmes have been affected by the economic downturn, this kind of bottom­up approach to governance and community vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 65 planning makes citizens more responsible for the local development and management (oecd, 2001, p.41). planning to preserve rural areas finally, it is important to analyze the different planning laws protecting open land in europe and china, which differ considerably reflecting the different weight they give to rural policies. simply analyzing the loss of rural land, it is easy to notice that in fast growing economies the land market, in the absence of strong development control, forces urban sprawl into the countryside and neighbouring towns tend to merge. the uk was the first industrialized country in the world, therefore the first to witness the negative effects of the encroaching form of modern urbanization on nature. it was the first country to realize the importance of preventing the merging process by creating the so­called ‘green belt’ of london in 1935 (rowley, 26, p.113), a functional zone for natural preservation and thus construction restrictions around the existing built­up area. this is a remarkable case in a country where zoning is not the key element in the planning practice. in the uk, green belts are now common features of local plans, developed under the non prescriptive planning policy guidance 2: green belts, recently substituted by the chapter 9 of the national planning policy framework (smith, 2013, p.2). even though local councils are not bound to establish green belts, these are now a sort of intangible heritage part of the english urban tradition, so most local authorities set them up. the debate is still open about the outcomes of green belt policy, since development often circumvents the green belts triggering increased needs for mobility and dispersed communities. nonetheless a recent study demonstrated that green belts have been really successful in achieving their goals since the land consumption rate within their boundaries is about 90% lower than outside them (natural england and cpre, 2010, p.28). in the rest of europe in the last decades the green belt theory inspired a great number of local plans (werquin et al, 2005, p.13) and the cost (cooperation in science and technology)’s greenstructures action project of the european union, which aims to promote environmental planning and management, targeting the relationship between built­up areas and their vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 66 surrounding countryside (cost 2011). presently, china has to cope with problems similar to those of the uk at the peak of its industrial boom, on a bigger scale. thus china is trying to implement a number of green belt policies in the major cities, influenced by european practice. beijing’s comprehensive plan, approved in 1982, the most famous but unsuccessful example, introduced an inner greenbelt of about 300 km2, but poor management and control allowed new development to sprawl inside the belt, so that in 2002 only 100 km2 remained untouched (huang, 2004). this example proves that the implementation of green belt policies in china did not follow the same pace of the real estate market at the local scale. acknowledging this, the national government is trying to push forward a new conception of green belt based on the artificial creation of woodlands in strategic areas characterized by heavy pollution and undergoing desertification. the most recent cases are the project proposing 1,000 km2 of new plantings in the hebei province surrounding beijing (state forestry administration of china, 2013) and the 202­km long and 5 to 15­ km wide strip of vegetation to be planted between the two merging deserts of badain jaran and tengger, requiring the eviction of about 1,000 residents (xinhua news agency, 2010). as regards to saving the outstanding natural landscapes, china established over two hundred national­level scenic and historic interest areas and many more at the province and city levels, but they are all created and preserved because of the specific aesthetic and cultural significance attached to them, not for their intrinsic value. china lacks of legal instruments to comprehensively preserve natural locations and corridors and to protect natural features all over the country. on the other hand european countries developed important planning instruments to guarantee the respect for entire categories of natural values, regardless of human factors. an illuminating example in this field, particularly in a country with a zoning approach similar to that of china that regulates the urban and rural planning of the country, is the italian state law 431/85, galasso (gazzetta ufficiale della repubblica italiana, 1985), which protects the landscape and the environment in an organic way, marking the transition from the concept of landscape as aesthetic value to that of vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 67 landscape as environmental value (salsa, 2008, p.294). before this law, the areas and landscapes subject to environmental protection were individually chosen as they are in china today, while after that entire morphological classes and natural categories were protected, such as mountain areas over 1,600m (in a secondary mountain range it was lowered to 1,200m), the areas around 300m from the shores of the sea and lakes and 150m from rivers, volcanoes, marshlands and archeological areas (gazzetta ufficiale della repubblica italiana, 1985). conclusions the patterns of urban development of china have some important similarities with those of many european countries. firstly, the continental european countries base their planning systems on functional zoning, similarly to that of china, making it easy to compare the features of the plans and to identify best practices working with the same approach. secondly, the negative effects on the urban and rural environment following industrialization had already been experienced in europe. for this reason the planning systems in europe are trying to innovate themselves in the recent years, successfully implementing new mechanisms and processes. the european style of city planning is fashionable in china, but mostly in terms of urban design and landscaping. still some features of the planning system of some european countries should be considered carefully by china and taken as best practices, particularly in two areas: the application of the same planning standards all over the country and the implementation of an incremental approach to decision making processes, in order to improve public participation. as regards the first point china should follow the example of italy by establishing a national set of binding planning standards. it should also overcome the urban­rural divide in connection with land ownership and management rights which creates enormous disparities in terms of poor planning standard provisions and insufficient individual rights in relation to planning decisions. moreover china, instead of minimizing regional inequalities exacerbates them, transferring resources from the poorer to the wealthier areas and from rural contexts to the cities, showing a perspective on regional development opposite to that of the european union. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 68 concerning public participation in the planning process, some european countries reached levels of excellence with bottom­up community­led programmes, such as the regeneration programmes implemented on the basis of the rankings of the indices of multiple deprivation in the uk. on the other hand, china lags behind in transforming its rigid top­down government system into an open model of governance, as witnessed by the critiques moved by many ngos towards the way it deals with agenda 21 projects. finally china should follow europe in implementing more comprehensive and effective tools for safeguarding green land, particularly those surrounding the urban areas. on the one hand, it could widely adopt and enforce green belt policies, strengthening the mechanisms that failed to be successful in the first attempts like that of beijing. on the other, it could establish laws inspired by the italian 431/85 in order to comprehensively protect entire categories of natural environment, independently of any qualitative or cultural assessment. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development ijpp ­ italian journal of planning 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(2012), top 10 provincial regions in china in 2011. available at: http://china.org.cn/top10/2012­03/16/content_24912437_10.htm (accessed 14 january 2013). vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 neri ­ process of urban and rural development abstract since the end of the second world war, the architectural and planning culture has been showing a fluctuating attention to the theme of historical centres and their enhancement. first of all this uneven progress explains the difficulty to reach a homogeneous definition and this is still lacking. during a long phase of this period, the historical parts of the town were considered as objects to be preserved in an integral way, as urban monuments. this is mostly due to the high symbolic value of these settlements, that represent fundamental landmarks. identity building and empowerment of local communities are indispensable conditions for any development programme, especially in the case of centres or other historic environments at risk of abandonment. the progressive evolution of this concept brings awareness of the impossibility of separating – either in analytical or in planning terms ­ historical centres from their urban and territorial contexts, which are linked by mutual, deep relationships. this article attempts to retrace the steps signaled by the publication ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 73vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 roberta lazzarotti research assistant via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy ­ rob.lazzaro@fastwebnet.it dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente, sapienza ­ università di roma historical centres: changing definitions issn: 2239­267x lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 74vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 introduction the objective of this article is to identify the main concepts emerging from the long scientific and cultural debate around the definition of a historical centre, especially in europe, after the second world war. despite the presumable immobility of the subject matter, the idea of a historical centre has evolved a lot in the opinions of experts and academics, following a trend of a progressive widening of the field of interest. the different definitions, processed by experts and academics in international contexts, are evidence of the efforts made to delimit this field; documents produced during these confrontations have represented, for long periods, important landmarks for reflection and action, in particular for planning and urban renewal. the purpose of this article therefore is to re­build the steps of a conceptual route, referring to the definitions produced at the dates of the selected events, and so to arrive at an identification of the essential terms for a contemporary definition of historical centre. first of all it is necessary to suggest that the route described will not be a linear one, essentially for two reasons: of international documents and conventions, from the charter of gubbio (1960) to the charter of krakow and the european landscape convention (2000); they obviously represent particular points of view, not exhaustive of the richness of the positions in the debate, but extremely significant in terms of diffusion and consensus. 1. the historical centres theme is situated, by its nature, between town planning and heritage protection. each area claims autonomous spaces for theoretical elaboration and definition of objectives and intervention methodologies. but they move from different points of view, because the subject of observation is different. planners look at historical settlements as a component of territory, and their objectives are balanced development and the effectiveness of functional lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 75vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 these two kinds of values represent, paradoxically, the same rationale for very different approaches to the restoration of historical heritage: the need to preserve it, even “extracting” it from people’s use in the primary interest of conservation; and the necessity to re­interpret it in a design sense, even locating new functions and identity, to ensure the maintenance of a symbolic and an urban role (in the worst cases, even trying to ensure the survival of the settlement). protection and transformation are opposite and irreconcilable positions. from these premises, it is possible to argue that the ambivalences of the theme can be appreciated during the last fifty years, through the emergence of contrasting statements, and which continue to represent an obstacle for the identification of criteria and guidelines for policies to enhance historical centres. the simplest example of this problem is the conflict between the conservationist’s approach to management of historical buildings, that gives priority to the preservation of integrity, and the developer’s approach, that pays more attention to the functional question, mainly to find an answer to the great problem of the abandonment of small historical towns and villages. therefore there is a clear importance of research into common key concepts of historical centres, but this research is neither simple nor univocal. even if the european union stated that balance between regions was a primary development goal, there is still a strong cultural resistance – especially in relationships with the other components (new settlements, services, green areas, infrastructures, production areas, etc.). heritage protectors are more focused on the physical and cultural values of the asset, and their objectives are conservation and safeguarding for future generations. the contents of the documents produced by the organizations associated with the two areas reflect these different approaches. 2. two different kinds of values are related to the safeguarding of historical towns: the physical value, from which aesthetic and contemplative meaning derives; and the testimonial value, which assumes a documentary and a symbolic role for communities, due to the conservation of the memory and identity of the sites. lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 76vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 backward areas – to looking at historical settlements as an economic and social resource, as well as a cultural one. the story of the theoretical elaboration around these concepts will be discussed using the documents and publications produced between 1960 and the present at an international level. the documents selected (declarations, charters and legal texts) are linked by their efforts to explain and synthesize positions and are strongly representative of policy guidance; hence they mark crucial steps of the debate, express principles of action, and take part in agenda formulation. finally, these documents also represent balances of reflections on activities and of projections of future opportunities and needs. synthesising the contents of the documents, it is possible to find an increasing effort: to enlarge the whole of the categories of cultural value which are to be protected; • to define, in a wider way, the idea of a historical centre, more integrated with its territorial context. • the most interesting steps in the evolution of the debate, as can be inferred from the reading of these documents, can be summarised in three transitions: from a position of protection of isolated monuments to an increasing interest for the territorial context, that can integrate and enhance identity and value; • • • from an attention to the physical dimension of interventions to the social ones, especially in terms of care for the maintenance of local community and economic activities in historical sites. from a conception of heritage as an object for survey and passive observation to a trust in its capability to generate new processes for the development of cultural identity; this article does not propose a chronicle of ongoing historical heritage protection but it attempts to define, through the identification of some key concepts, the possibility of a definition which may be always dynamic. the final part will present a critical review of a recent innovation in the italian normative system of heritage protection, as introduced by the so­called lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 77vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 “urbani code” in 2004. 1. documents as is well known, protectionist culture developed from the end of the world wars, above all for the need to defend historical heritage first from war events and then from the threats from an urgent need for reconstruction. in italy, conventionally, the first event in which the historical centres theme was brought to the attention of the urban studies debate was the first charter of gubbio (1960), produced in italy at the end of a congress treating with “safeguarding and rehabilitation of the historical and artistic centres”. at the end of the congress, the charter was signed and the national association of historical­artistic centres (ancsa) was founded. the congress did not directly address the subject of identification and definition of historical centres (dainotto, 2003). mostly, the charter states priorities, specifically concerning the need to institute heritage censuses and to define intervention categories; a new attention is also expressed regarding social structure and a concern for the maintenance of communities and of economic activities within the settlements. in 1964 in venice, in the 2° congress of architects and monuments technicians, in which the icomos1 organisation was created, a first relevant step is made towards the protection of historic settings, with the formulation of the so­called charter of venice. the concept of a historic monument embraces not only the single architectural work but also the urban or rural setting in which is found the evidence of a particular civilization, a significant development or an historic event. (art. 1) forward (art. 6): the conservation of a monument implies preserving a setting which is not out of scale. this is an important enlargement of the scope of analysis and action to extend protection to the setting. international council of monuments and sites1 lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 78vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 at the national level the contribution of the franceschini committee (1967) brings very interesting reflections, even if it failed in its primary goal of setting out a new law for protection and enhancement of historical, archeological and artistic heritage. the committee’s work on the definition of cultural and environmental heritage also included urban and non­urban structures that present a particular asset for their civilization values, which must be conserved for the enjoyment of the community. in practical terms, it resolved that an entire settlement, with clearly defined boundaries, could be included in the category of monuments, and so have the same status of objects submitted for special protection. historical centres, regulated by italian laws since 1939, and, later, the sites identified by the so­called galasso law, were to become areas with a “special” territorial status. also the idea that the purpose of conservation is for the enjoyment of the community, suggests a democratic and universal right to enjoy the common heritage, and this seems to put into the background the importance of the ordinary functional role of the historic buildings (residential, cultural, economic). the succeeding article explicitly refers to historical centres, defined as urban structures that constitute a cultural unit or the original and authentic parts of settlements, and attest the character of a living urban culture; it asserts the need to have dedicated, specific planning and financial tools. these are the peak years of planning and analysis methodologies, linked to the concept of zoning, and with theoretical assumptions for classificatory practices; the law n. 1444/1968 will represent the crucial normative reference of this approach, influencing all planning activity of 70’s. historical centres are, because of their value, “extracted” by urban plans in order to set them in a particular normative position, but in the most part of situations it means a non­choice. the effect is a real stop of transformation and improvement practices, and the consequent progressive degradation and abandonment of centres. the definition of the a zone “historical centre” of the law 1444, identifies areas of urban settlements having historical, artistic character or particular lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 79vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 the definition of the a zone “historical centre” of the law 1444, identifies areas of urban settlements having historical, artistic character or particular environmental value, or parts of these2. in fact the practice which was most utilised – the coincidence of the a zone boundary with the town­walls – ignored the possibilities of relating to the historical setting, expressed in the definition in the law. nevertheless, at the same time, another expression of the need to “look over the walls” in the identification of the historical value of settlements comes from the italian restoration charter (1972, ministry of education) that, coming from a different disciplinary field, represents an important conceptualisation for approaches to conservation. the most important concept expressed is that the identification of historical centres must consider not only the old urban “centres", in a traditional sense, but also in a more general way, consideration should be given to all human settlements which have structures, complete or fragmentary, or even partially transformed over time. the second relevant statement concerns the historical character has to be referred to the value that settlements have as evidence of past civilization and as records of urban culture, apart from intrinsic artistic, formal or environmental values. the statement is relevant from different points of view. firstly it expresses an ideal of historical value not strictly linked to the objective quality of the site, questioning the equivalence between history and value. implications of that concept also pave the way to reflections about the question of the admissable time scale and about the equality between testimonial value and belonging and the identification value, produced for the community. additionally, restoration charter confirms the importance of consideration of the external villages, which is a frequently used form of historical the explanatory circular of ministry of public works n. 3210/1967 asserts that these2 settlements can be identified as (translation of the author): a) urban structures in which the majority of blocks contain buildings erected before 1860, even in absence of monuments or buildings having particular artistic value; b) urban structures enclosed by ancient walls, entirely or partially maintained; c) urban structures, built after 1860, that constitute examples of special building practice. lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 80vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 urbanization, especially in italy, and that often represents de facto a unit with the main nucleus3. the document refers to particularly valuable situations where the environmental setting in which historical centres are situated is an intrinsic factor of the entire quality (for examples the circle of hills around florence, the venetian lagoon, roman centuriations in the padana valley, trulli’s unique area), and so selecting an group of excellent cases. the safeguarding of the entire area constitutes a key instrument for the enhancement of historical centres, and it requires an analysis of locality and the role of the centres. a new concern is for the impending threat of functional overload of the historical parts of many towns, particularly of business functions, that need to be “lightened” as piccinato suggested. there are also functional pressures regarding mobility questions, in particular the territorial connections and relationships between historical sites and modern urban additions, and with territory in a larger sense; for these themes planning, and specifically protection norms, is seen as the real solution. in this view, historical centres have a preeminent role in territorial organisation, not for only for being a keystone of urban activities, but as a place to safeguard as the precious and delicate guardian of collective memory. so the need to avoid alterations becomes clear, even loosing importance and role of these centres, that historically were the privileged places of public and civil life. in the same period, and with the same approach, the question of historical centres was brought to attention of the international community by the unesco convention concerning the protection of world cultural and natural heritage (paris, 1972), in which historical centres are considered as “cultural heritage”, enlarging their significance from only a physical/symbolic meaning to forming spiritual, cultural, economic and social capital and the expression of a civilisation. the value of belonging to a community is thus increased, because safeguarding the historical heritage ensures an essential in italian planning practice it’s not rare to find villages coeval to the historical main centre,3 classified as b zones (“completion” zones) by the local plan, because of greater major flexibility and hence a greater appeal for owners. lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 81vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 setting for balance and cultural development. the concept is further confirmed in the declaration of amsterdam (1975), from the congress of the european architectural heritage4: architectural heritage is an irreplaceable expression of the wealth and diversity of european culture, but it adds that its protection depends largely upon its integration into the context of people's lives, that seems to allude to an active dimension of enjoyment. furthermore, architectural heritage consists not only of our most important monuments: it also includes the groups of lesser buildings in our old towns and characteristic villages in their natural or manmade settings. this establishes that the areas can extend beyond the town walls and can also include the natural environment as a complementary factor of the setting, and allowing, in that way, the formulation of the concept of historical landscape. this idea seems to be still conditioned by the fear that any external transformation could corrupt the quality of the historical site, therefore we can consider it a vision which is still unbalanced towards protection and preservation of readability of the original aspects of the sites (even if there are wide controversies between experts about the correct way to establish what is “original”). the basic belief is that we are responsible for our heritage and that we must transmit this unaltered to future generations, otherwise part of man's awareness of his own continuity will be destroyed. the concept of conservation is however consistently enlarged and enriched with many important functional connotations. in fact it confirmed the great educational value of historical buildings, but also that they offer the right conditions for the development of a wide range of activities. the abandonment of built heritage is a serious threat, but it is equally important the congress of amsterdam, the crowning event of european architectural heritage year4 1975, and composed of delegates from all parts of europe, wholeheartedly welcomes the charter promulgated by the committee of ministers of the council of europe, which recognizes that europe's unique architecture is the common heritage of all her peoples and which declared the intention of the member states to work with one another and with other european governments for its protection. the charter of european architectural heritage, adopted by the committee, together with the succeeding declaration, has to be considered the "charter of integrated conservation". lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 82vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 to pay attention to an inappropriate use of contemporary technologies and an unbalanced concern for mobility problems. the road to travel is that of integrated conservation that can be achieved by the application of sensitive restoration techniques and the correct choice of appropriate functions, which are necessary also to reverse the departure of the poorer inhabitants, who need to be involved in rehabilitation processes. for these reasons, european architects hoped for a better dialogue between protection and planning experts, even with the conviction that historical centres belong to field of competence of the former, and that the most important tool is the cataloging. ten years later, the convention for the protection of the architectural heritage of europe. (granada 1985) basically confirmed this guidance, inserting in the definition of heritage also rural buildings conspicuous for their historical, archaeological, artistic, scientific, social or technical interest which are sufficiently coherent to form topographically definable units. in the convention, european states were also committed to demonstrating the unity of the cultural heritage and the links that exist between architecture, the arts, popular traditions and ways of life at european, national and regional levels alike. the value of the heritage is also recognised as multidimensional, and, consequently, any intervention strategy has to adopt the same character. at world level the importance of the safeguarding of historical towns – in consideration of their role as historical documents, and the values of traditional urban cultures – is asserted in the icomos charter of conservation of historic towns (washington 1987), that also states the principle of the involvement of the inhabitants in the interventions. in 1987 was enacted the italian charter of conservation and restoration of artistic and cultural objects, which expresses the point of view of a precise cultural position, not only in italy. historical centres (to which a specific annex is dedicated) can be defined as a residential settlement whose meaning is irreplaceable in the history of a cultural area of humanity5. translation of the author5 lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 83vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 its uniqueness requires a special normative regulation, the lack of which is noted. the “historical” attribution could not be generalisable, and it is necessary to evaluate the individual qualities which identify worthy historical centres; the attention is hence concentrated just on physical interventions, neglecting immaterial aspects. regarding the individual elements which need to be addressed in order to safeguard the whole centre, consideration must be given, not only to the built elements, but also to other constituent parts such as external spaces (streets, squares) and internal features (e.g. courts, gardens, empty spaces, other relevant structures (walls, doors, rocks), as well as any natural elements which make up the whole, for examples, natural contours, streams of water, geomorphological singularities (like orvieto’s cliff)6. this statement seems to take a step backwards in respect to what was affirmed in the charter of amsterdam, which talked about environment and not about single elements. therefore the comparison with what experts of urban renewal were expressing in the second charter of gubbio (1990) appears more strident7. it marks a moment of progress in the disciplinary debate around the theme and a first weighing up of the experiences of a decade of urban renewal interventions that is not completely positive: historical towns are still threatened, first of all by the speediness of transformations, and because trust in planning begins to waver, but the policies being proposed are seen as the right answer, especially the territorial network policies. the most relevant concept introduced in the new charter is that of historical territory, global expression of cultural identity and the subject in all its parts (existing city and periphery, built landscapes, rural land) of an organic action strategy8. therefore the concept of the historical centre has emerged from merely classifying or delimiting needs, and stops being considered as a “zone” in a conceptual sense; now it lives and has relationships with all other territorial components. further, its value represents an identity resource, as well as a cultural one. translation of the author6 xi international congress ancsa, gubbio, 26­27­28 ottobre 19907 translation of the author8 lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 84vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 historical­cultural identity is a guarantee of environmental quality; conservation has become a need, because it is now seen as having a recognised value (social, economical, cultural and aesthetic) involving, first of all, the living community. on the international scene, the italian debate is the most advanced about these themes. the charter of megaride (naples, 1994), in fact, reasserts many of gubbio’s principles and brings them to maturation; memory is regarded as a quality factor of places; it asks for respect, but also has the capability to re­ interpret and innovate it, giving these places back to being a necessary part of the new organisation of urban space9. the charter of krakow (2000) was produced after a three years work by the international conference on conservation "krakow 2000” and of its final plenary session "cultural heritage as the foundation of the development of civilisation". first of all, it rejects a unifying definition, and this is surely an interesting innovation: heritage cannot be defined in a fixed way. it can be only defined in the way in which a particular heritage can be identified. then it highlights the lack of flexibility within some protectionist positions, recognising that heritage values change over time. plurality in society implies also a great variability in the ways that ideas of heritage may be formulated by an entire community. monuments, as single elements of heritage, are bearers of values that can change over time, at different moments of history10. implications for the concepts of identification and of the safeguarding of historical residential heritage are evident: architectural, urban and landscape heritage are the result of an identification associated with different historical periods and with variations in socio­cultural settings. therefore the identification and recognition of heritage value – which cannot be entirely objective and measurable – is a process in constant evolution and change. the analysis of the dynamics of change is an operation preliminary to intervention, as relevant as historical and translation of the author9 translation of the author10 lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 85vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 typological analysis. change involves all population sectors, and requires an integrated planning process inside which a great variety of actions are located. this multidimensional character of the historical centres is the starting point. the irruption onto the scene of the european landscape convention (2000) produces the apparently final affirmation of two key principles: the relevance of the perception of the community (living or visiting), that becomes a proper, defining factor of landscape; 2. the recognition of the quality of the so­called minor or degraded landscapes, eliminating, de facto, any principle of a hierarchy of quality. 1. even the concept of heritage starts to show some limits, in particular for significant portions of territory as historical centres and parks. even landscape without history and without quality, in fact, merits attention, that must be expressed not in the form of protection, strictu sensu, but of projects, enhancement and management. this starts a path that seems to lead to a unitary conception of territory, in which quality and disvalue factors have to relate to each other in a transformation and management process. the worry that “protecting all could mean protecting nothing” can be answered by prefiguring an integrated approach to the enhancement of historical centres (and of heritage in a larger sense), strictly related to all material and immaterial factors. the temporary end point of this path seems to lead to the formulation of some common key concepts, even in the face of contradictions inherent the duplicity of positions of conservationists and planners. these are: the relevance of the relationships between historical settlements (towns, villages, nuclei) and the setting, from which derives the necessity to adopt a territorial scale for observation; • • • the increasing importance of the functional daily role of heritage. the enlargement of the concept of heritage users and the necessary involvement of the community in projects; lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 86vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 the urbani code: a step backwards in italy the contraposition between heritage protectors and planners is also a conflict of professional competences, significantly expressed in the difficult relationship between the state (specifically the ministry of cultural heritage and activities) and the regions about the cultural heritage and landscape matters. the state produced some “historic” laws for the protection of heritage and, most recently, the so­called urbani code (legislative decree n. 42/2004), that aims to re­organise these powers, re­centralising some competences. the law defines areas of landscape heritage as being subject to specific safeguards because they are material and visible representations of national identity and expressions of cultural values – also complexes of buildings that compose a characteristic aspect having aesthetic and traditional value, including historical centres and nuclei11 (art. 136, point c). the text continues with operational criteria for the identification of sites, the public interest declaration and the regulation of the admitted uses12. so the laws aim at a precise identification of buildings and sites (art. 139). this seems to be a return to zoning, mostly because historical centres enter the typical normative condition of monuments and sites needing a boundary. but the most important consequence is that an entire centre can be subject to restrictions or footnoted with specific use regulations and goals for quality. the backward step of apparently regarding historical centres simply as sites – and the return from territorial to local scale – naturally implies conceptual consequences, first of all the transfer of competences to the state, overriding, in the opinion of planners and regional and local administrators, the principle of subsidiarity. a strange protectionist drift seems to have been produced by fears of deregulation or of weaknesses in local administrations the proposal (for identification) is formulated with reference to the historical, cultural,12 natural, morphological, aesthetic values expressed by the particular aspect and character of the buildings or sites considered and to their identity value in relation to the setting in which they are located (art. 138) translation of the author11 lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 87vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 and planners. however, this re­definition (and overlap) of competences seems to ignore the fact that the processes of re­appropriation and re­ interpretation of historical towns by local communities are well advanced and probably have taken an irreversible direction. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 88vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 references ancsa (1960) the charter of gubbio. associazione nazionale centri storico­ artistici available from: http://www.eddyburg.it/article/articleview/11185/0/241/ ancsa (1990) 1960­1990 un contributo italiano alla riqualificazione della città esistente: pre­atti. xi international congress in collaboration with gubbio municipality. congress on the european architectural heritage (1975), the declaration of amsterdam. available from: http://www.icomos.org/docs/amsterdam.html council of europe (1985) convention for the protection of the architectural heritage of europe. available from: http://www.esiweb.org/pdf/granada%20convention.pdf council of europe (2000) european landscape convention. available from: http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/treaties/html/176.htm dainotto, r. (2003) the gubbio papers: historic centers in the age of the economic miracle. journal of modern italian studies, 8 (1), pp. 67­83. franceschini committee (1967) per la salvezza dei beni culturali in italia (vol. iii). atti e documenti della commissione d’indagine per la tutela e la valorizzazione del patrimonio storico, archeologico, artistico e del paesaggio. roma: casa editrice colombo. international conference on conservation "krakow 2000" (2000) the charter of krakow 2000. principles for conservation and restoration of built heritage. available from: http://lecce­workshop.unile.it/downloads/the%20charter%20of%20krakow%202000.pdf gazzola, p. et al (1964) international charter for the conservation and restoration of monuments and sites. second international congress of architects and technicians of historic monuments. available from: http://www.icomos.org/venice_charter.html italian ministry for cultural and environmental heritage (1987) charter of conservation and restoration of artistic and cultural lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 89vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 lazzarotti ­ historical centres: changing definitions objects. available from: http://www.webalice.it/inforestauro/carta_1987.htm italian ministry for education (1972) carta italiana del restauro. circular n° 117, april 6. available from: http://www.fotovideolab.it/vitorchiano/moai/foto/carta_restauro_1972.pdf piccinato, g. (2005) historic centres under pressure. lights and shadows from the italian experience. paper presented at the 2005 aesop congress, vienna, 13­17 july 2005. available: http://aesop2005.scix.net/data/papers/att/197.fulltextprint.pdf ijpp issn: 2239-267x services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility simone garlandini os ser va to r io d e llo s vil up p o ter r ito r ial e, ac cad e mi a d i ar c h ite tt ur a, un i ver sit à d el la s vizz er a ital ia na lar go b er n asco n i 2 – ch -6 8 5 0 me nd r is io , s i mo ne. gar la nd i ni @ u si. c h gian paolo torricelli os ser va to r io d e llo s vil up p o ter r ito r ial e, ac cad e mi a d i ar c h ite tt ur a, un i ver sit à d el la s vizz er a ital ia na lar go b er n asco n i 2 – ch -6 8 5 0 me nd r is io , gia np ao lo . to r r ic ell i @ us i. c h keywords: services; accessibility; peripheral region; liveability; centrality index; switzerland (canton of ticino) abstract the liveability of a region depends directly on the residents’ ability to access a variety of services that support materially the human settlement and daily life. in the case of peripheral areas, the presence of services and their accessibility play a fundamental role – a centrality – to hinder demographic decline and, specifically in the case of the alps, to safeguard the mountainous territory. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 50 mailto:simone.garlandini@usi.ch mailto:gianpaolo.torricelli@usi.ch garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility the indicator of centrality proposed in this article aims to identify the “central places” of a peripheral/marginal region. more precisely, it ranks places, within a particular territory, on the basis of their centrality, which is defined according to two conditions: the availability and the accessibility of private and public services. our method was evaluated for the case of ticino, a mountainous territory in southern switzerland. the indicator combines several variables that were geo-processed in a geographic information system (gis). it made use of four geo-datasets to model, quantitatively and qualitatively, the supply of local services (thirty types of private and public services were taken into account and classified in five categories), the proximity of the population to services (mean linear distance), the availability of public transport (quality of stops) and the potential connectivity of residential buildings to the internet (quality of the internet connection). the indicator of centrality here proposed is built on parameters that make it useful to point out the potentials of peripheral/marginal areas in terms of services development. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 51 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility introduction services are crucial to support materially human settlement and to carry out daily life. in order to be liveable, a territory should provide some basic conditions for an adequate quality of life (de haan et al., 2013). both the availability of services (in qualitative and quantitative terms) and their proximity to residents have a marked influence on the citizens’ everyday life. services are heterogeneous and various: they can be public or private and encompass, among others, retail stores, post offices, clinics, schools, hospitals, bars, restaurants, hotels, transport services, senior care homes, gyms, etc. in this paper, “service” means the place of delivery, use or consumption of a particular benefit or good (cf. antognelli & vizzari, 2017). nowadays, issues regarding the availability and accessibility of services are popular in the political debate because of their clear impact on citizens’ lives. the paper reports the case of ticino, the italian-speaking swiss state (canton), situated between the mountain ridge of the central alps and the italian border (figure 1). it counts about 340,000 residents (2012), nearly 90% of which live in urban areas. more than 50% of the population lives in the south of the canton, in the urban agglomerations of lugano and chiassomendrisio; in terms of functional relations, they are part of milan’s northern metropolitan area. today in ticino, issues regarding services’ offer and accessibility are frequently discussed in the public sphere. in 2012, two cantonal constitutional initiatives were launched to improve their availability and accessibility especially in peripheral areas or isolated, marginal, mountainous regions1. 1 cf. “avanti con le nuove città di locarno e bellinzona” and “uno per tutti, tutti per uno solidarietà nel finanziamento della scuola dell’obbligo e delle istituzioni sociosanitarie fondamentali per la popolazione ticinese”. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 52 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 1 – geographical situation of ticino canton source: authors’ elaboration on data from swisstopo (wabern), fso (neuchâtel) and istat (roma). on the one hand, these political actions aim to increase the availability of some public services (such as schools, kindergarten, home assistance services, etc.), on the other hand, they promote the processes of municipal aggregation in order to establish fewer and better coordinated public institutions to improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of current services. in fact, the presence of services is a key factor and plays a fundamental role – a centrality – for the territorial development of peripheral areas. specifically for the case of the alps and ticino, services preservation and promotion can further the safeguard of mountainous areas that, like other peripheral/marginal areas, are subjected to demographic decline. in fact, these ones are confronted with a continuous decreasing of population: residents tend to move to more urban and well equipped ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 53 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility valley floors (cf. torricelli & garlandini, 2010). the pace of this process accelerated in the last past years and this trend is likely to be further strengthened during the next years, particularly in ticino. in this regard, two infrastructural projects are going to reshape mobility in this region: first the opening of the gotthard base tunnel in 2016 and second, the construction of the ceneri base tunnel 2. both are railway projects targeting to reduce the travel distance among urban agglomerations, the former in an international perspective and the latter in a more internal one. in parallel, the inhabitants of ticino’s marginal areas, especially those located in the northern part of the canton, are probably going to be confronted with a degradation of the services’ offer and accessibility. actually, the more urban and central areas of the canton will likely be preferred as destinations for services’ localizations. a policy for peripheral areas in switzerland in europe, the peripheral/marginal areas are usually subjected to a constant negative flow of population (mainly young people) and the progressive ageing of the residents. since the ‘90s, increasing trends of socio-economic impoverishment have been observed in the rural and mountainous areas of switzerland and in the rest of the alpine arc as well: peripheral areas and even more marginal ones (generally mountainous isolated regions) located close to relatively dynamic small cities typically show high levels of commuters (torricelli, 2001) and/or negative demographic and economic trends (low potential regions, cf. kopainsky et al., 2008; thévoz et al., 2009). 2 the main objective of these project is to facilitate the transport of goods through the alps. the transport of passengers is going to be indirectly improved by the new configuration of the railway network. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 54 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility in switzerland, the regional development policy law named “legge sugli investimenti nelle regioni di montagna (lim)” constituted the main legislative framework of public intervention in peripheral and mountainous areas during the ‘80s and the ‘90s. the “new regional policy” (nrp) recently3 replaced the lim, providing a change in the conceptual framework of intervention that switched from a keynesian model to a neoliberal one. thus, the federal council (central national executive council) established the policy for rural and mountain areas through long term objectives such as the creation and maintenance of attractive conditions, the sustainable exploitation of natural resources, the strengthening of regional competitiveness and the promotion of cultural diversity (are, 2014; consiglio federale, 2015). in fact, nrp aims to promote innovation and to improve the competitiveness of swiss marginal territories by involving municipalities and other private and public socio-economic actors more directly in the territorial investment process. however, it is up to the cantons, which have the constitutional powers, to apply principles of federal directives and implement specific policies for spatial development and local economic growth. in ticino, this strategy was put into effect in 2009 through the “legge di applicazione della legge federale sulla politica regionale” that encompasses the paradigms of the nrp and marks the transition towards a model of economic development promoting networking activities and entrepreneurial spirit (cantone ticino, 2016). moreover, within these initial conditions, four regional development agencies were established to promote and coordinate the financial support for the implementation of local projects, and to match the spatial development along with the economical one. 3 nrp was ratified by the swiss federal parliament in 2006. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 55 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility centrality and location of services the notion of centrality refers to the importance of a place in relation to a distinctive characteristic. for instance, it can be assumed that the geographical distribution of activities, goods or services can delineate spatial relations among i.e. places, regions or nations in terms of centrality (cf. bavoux & chapelon, 2014, pp. 87-89). walter christaller’s (1933 / tr. it. 1980) theory of central place arose from the observation that services are not situated randomly in the geographical space; instead they tend to be located in a few places, usually situated near the population and other economic activities. he noticed that the more a service is “rare”, the more residents are willing to travel in length for the fulfilment of their needs. these two observations organize geographical locations into a hierarchy based on the rarity of a particular service and the proximity to residents: the more a place contains “rare” services that attract distant residents, the more it will be situated in the high levels of the consequent urban hierarchy. briefly, christaller defined the central places of the hierarchy as the centres of goods and services’ supply. moreover, he considered also the distance between the service and the consumer (christaller tr. it. 1980, p. 48) taking into account, among other things: a) that the cost of a service consists of its market price plus the cost of transport (considered as a linear function of the distance); and b) that the delivery capacity of a central service – the supply area – is defined by the maximum distance that a consumer is willing to travel to reach this service (ibid., pp. 51-52; see also conti, 1997, pp. 41-50). christaller’s central place theory is a longstanding spatial economic model to study the distribution of services that provides a definition of centrality from two points of view: the local offer (quantitative and qualitative presence of services) and the accessibility (distance or time of access from place of residence to service). the former imply ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 56 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility that the cantons have to ensure a basic offer of services 4, even in peripheral/marginal or remote areas of the territory, and besides, the latter indicate that the citizen/user/consumer has to be able to access services traveling along a relatively short/cheap distance. several studies report gis (geographic information system) computation models of this double-sided definition of services’ centrality (among many others it can be considered borruso & schoier, 2004; langford et al., 2008; neumeier, 2014). definition of centrality and research questions the methodology presented in this paper aims to build a straightforward hierarchy of central places modelling the strengths and the weaknesses of an area of interest in terms of services’ offer and accessibility. it is relatively easy to replicate and allows the identification of potential improvements within a peripheral region from a strategic planning perspective with a regional scale. a study area can be compared, objectively, with other situations or with a hypothetical ideal case (for instance the supply of basic services determined a priori). services (parameters of the model) that could/should be improved to increase the centrality, attractiveness and vitality of an area can then be easily pointed out. as previously discussed, this study addresses the concept of “location centrality” according to two measurable characteristics: a) the local offer (quantitative and qualitative) of services and b) the “reachability” (average linear resident-to-service distance) of services. the centrality of a place is then determined through an 4 in switzerland there is not a universally valid definition of “basic offer”. the confederation (federal level) provide a general “public service” that imply the supply of a public transport system, postal services and telecommunications. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 57 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility index that takes comprehensive consideration of both the local offer and demand of services. as a result, the more a place is well equipped with services (in terms of quantitative and qualitative offer) and the residents are situated close to them (short distance resident-service), the more a place is central. the research questions can then be stated: which type of places’ hierarchy draws the aforementioned concept of centrality (in the case of ticino)? is this model useful to discover and locate service’s centres in peripheral/marginal areas and/or remote, mountainous and sparsely populated areas? geodata, method of analysis and procedure the study combines four official geodatabases released by the swiss federal administration. the population and household statistics (statpop) and the structural business statistics (statent), both available at the swiss federal statistical office (fso). the former fully geocodes the residents and the latter does the same for the businesses with a meter-precision. both the geodatabases are based on full count information. moreover, statent classifies companies according to their economic activity and size in terms of employees. for the implementation of the centrality index, two additional geodatabases were considered: the public transport quality categories (meter precision) made available by the federal office for spatial development (are) and the internet availability via the fixed network by the federal office of communications (ofcom, geodata with a resolution of a grid 250x250 meters). the former geodatabase categorizes public transportation stops as a function of the quality of the service based on the frequency and the coverage of public transport network; the latter allows to determine the potential internet connection speed of the residential buildings. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 58 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility the case study area, canton of ticino, was subdivided according to the administrative sections of the municipalities (255 items, provided by the cantonal administration) representing a relatively detailed spatial division that can be compared to city sectors. these sets of geodata consider and inspect the centrality of a location according to services’ availability and proximity. these components were taken into account in the model through four features that represent the variables of the centrality index. (1) the qualitative/quantitative offer of services (see below figure 3 and table 2 in the appendix), (2) the average residents/individual-toservices distance of access (for the categories of services s1 to s5; see table 2 in the appendix and figure 4 below), (3) the quality of connection to the public transportation network (figure 5, below) (4) the local potential internet connection (figure 6, below). the first two elements define directly the centrality of the location and the other two represent rather an incentive or a constraint on the potential fruition and accessibility of services. the construction and the operating principles of the centrality index are fully described in the next paragraphs. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 59 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 2 – population in the municipalities’ sections of ticino canton source: authors’ elaboration on data statpop 2012 from fso. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 60 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility the qualitative offer of services we grouped a wide range of economic activities (30 in total), distributed in the geographical space, into five categories of services (namely, s1, s2, s3, s4 and s5; see table 2) making use of the previously mentioned statent dataset that incorporate the general classification of economic activities (noga)5. this categorization was built specifically for the purpose of this study, but it recalls those adopted by schuler et al. (1999) that utilized a similar logic to sort out services’ distribution. the first category (s1) contains “banal” services, which are the most popular and needed on a daily basis. usually s1 services benefit from a widespread distribution. the second category (s2) comprehends special regular services, which are also used on a daily basis but are specialized and relatively concentrated in central areas. the third category (s3) includes specialized occasional services that are used on a weekly or monthly basis and target very specific customers. the fourth category (s4), the irregular specialized services, are relatively rare services mainly concentrated in cities. finally, the fifth category (s5) includes “public services” (see table 2 in the appendix). each municipal section were assessed through their offer of services, determining the presence or the absence of the 30 economic activities that compose the five categories of services. the best score is obtained when all categories of services are fully available (all the 30 services are present within the municipal section). 5 equivalent to the ateco classification of the italian statistical office (istat). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 61 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility the average resident/individual-to-services distance all resident/individual-to-services distances were calculated starting from the location of each inhabitant: the smallest linear distance (in meters) to each types of services (among each of the 30 different economic activities that define the service offer) was calculated; then, the results were aggregated (average of distances) into the five main categories of services (s1 to s5). finally, the values were attributed to the municipal sections, the geographical subdivision of the study. the distances for the category “total services” have been computed through the aggregation (average) of the five categories of services (calculated for each individual). the quality of the connection to the public transportation network a minimum standard offer of public transport was considered to compare urban and marginal areas that show usually significant degree of connections. as suggested by the federal office of spatial development (are, 2011), the centrality index incorporates the quality of the accessibility to public transport from people’s residences, resulting in four categories a, b, c and d (see table 1). table 1 – quality of public transportation service level train frequency bus frequency influence range in m. a b c d < 5 min 5 – 10 min 10 – 20 min 20 – 40 min 40 – 60 min < 5 min 5 – 10 min 10 – 20 min 20 – 60 min 1'000 / 750 / 500 1'000 / 750 / 500 / 250 750 / 500 / 250 500 / 250 250 > 60 min > 60 min source: are (2011). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 62 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility the public transport’s stops are thus ranked in a way that considers simultaneously the carrier type (train, bus, boat, etc.), the frequency of service and its spatial influence commensurate with the importance of the stops (those with an high frequency have a more widespread spatial influence than those with a low frequency). the results were mapped for each municipal section. the internet connection potential the federal office of communications (ofcom) defines for each residential building the type of connection to telecommunications (cf. www.broadbandmap.ch). thus, the potential connection of residential buildings to the internet was calculated to inspect the coverage of the internet offer (the resolution of the original geodatabase provided by ofcom is a grid of 250x250m). the internet connection with a download speed of 10 mb/s was defined as a minimum standard offer. the telecommunication potential was attributed to the municipal sections like the other variables. it seemed important to us to take this indicator into account because several services are available/accessible directly through internet (for instance postal, financial or entertainment services). a hierarchy of centrality based on offer and access to services in ticino the aim of the project is to classify geographical entities according to their local service offer and their proximity to residents. an index was therefore developed to outline a hierarchy ranking different municipal sections according to their centrality (in terms of services availability and accessibility). the index is based on a “standard/minimum” palette of services significant for a conventional daily life and an adequate safeguard of marginal territories (in ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 63 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility switzerland these are frequently located in mountainous areas). the objective is then to highlight the central and peripheral sections in terms of services delineating therefore local issues related to the availability and accessibility of services 6 . the centrality index is defined as follows: centrality index (ci) = oq100 + 1 / dm100 + qtp100 + qtel100 oq – qualitative offer of services; dm – average residents-to-service (in total) distance of access; qtp – quality of connection to the public transportation network; qtel – potential internet connection. a recent study conducted in collaboration with the local office of spatial development (cf. torricelli & garlandini, 2016), allowed us to evaluate this index for ticino. in the early stages, we considered to introduce the size of the services (number of employees) as a variable of the index. this proposition was discarded because of the complexity of the index construction, in particular the identification of the correct weight to attribute to each category of services. it should also be noted that the fso presented a similar study (cf. jeanneret & altwegg, 2016) using a comparable but slightly different method. the following maps (figures 3-6) depict the four components of the centrality index, individually. figure 7 shows the centrality index (aggregation of the four components) by municipal section. 6 in switzerland, all the inhabited areas are going to be provided, in the near future, with a good internet connection. the variable “download speed of at least 10 mb/s” will then not be very significant anymore for the configuration of this index. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 64 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 3 – offer of services “in total” in 2012 source: authors’ elaboration on data statent 2012 from fso. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 65 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 4 – access distance (average, meters) of services “in total” in 2012 source: authors’ elaboration on data statpop 2012 and statent 2012 from fso. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 66 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 5 – potential offer of public transportation service in 2013 source: authors’ elaboration on data statpop 2012, statent 2012 from fso and quality of public transportation stops 2013 from are. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 67 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 6 – potential offer internet connection of residential buildings in 2015 source: authors’ elaboration on data internet availability download ≥ 10mb/s in 2015 from ofcom. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 68 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility figure 7 – centrality index for the municipalities’ sections in 2012 source: authors’ elaboration on data statpop 2012, statent 2012, quality of public transportation stops 2013 and internet availability download ≥ 10mb/s in 2015 from fso, are and ofcom. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 69 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility results of the centrality index the four components were indexed (index 100) on the basis of the value of the lugano section, the main cantonal centre for all the considered services. the resulting hierarchy of locations highlights not only the sections with a satisfactory or broad offer of services and an acceptable accessibility (urban centres), but as well those areas with a significantly lower allocation of services and longer distances of access (features that characterize peripheral or marginal areas). the estimation of the centrality index for ticino is shown in figure 7. how to interpret the centrality index (ci)? first we tried to explain its evolution through a simple statistical test: two multiple regressions were calculated to find the predictor variables. the first multiple regression considers equally the four underlying components of ci: all the four series are, of course, significant, however, there is a clear predominance for the potential connection to internet (download speed at least 10 mb/s) and for the connection to public transport (quality categories a/b/c/d), followed by the qualitative offer of services and the average distance of access to the “total services”. the quality of internet connection (and, with a lesser relevance, the quality of public transportation) proved to be a key factor to identify central places. the second multiple regression considers instead the average distances of access to services and the qualitative offer (subdivided in categories, s1 to s5: 10 variables); here the variables that have the most influence on the ci are the average distance to daily services (s1) and the local supply of “public” services (s5). these are variables related to groups of services relatively widespread in the geographical space, and should encompass the most “essential” offer/typology of services: their absence compromises residents’ quality of life (especially in peripheral regions). now let’s see the evolution of the index, starting with the lowest values. in the class with less than 10 points, there are 14 sections with ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 70 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility a population of generally less than 100 inhabitants (overall 840 residents, 0.2% of the cantonal total). these are the sections that, besides having the highest average distances of access and a very low offer of services, are also deprived of public transport and standard internet connection. we find 23 cases in the class with scores between 10 and 50, generally small mountain locations, with a population from 50 to 500 inhabitants (3,945 in total, 1.2% of the cantonal total), with a local supply of services slightly higher (s1 essentially) and, in 8 cases, the internet connection is optimal, but public transportation is still inadequate. in the class with scores between 50 and 100, there are 28 cases (with a population between 100 and 500 inhabitants, 4,659 in total, 1.4% of the cantonal total), still located in mountainous regions and hinterland space that benefit from good internet connection and, in some cases, short access distances to services. in the class of 100 to 150 we find 48 cases (for a population of 17,196 inhabitants, 5% of the cantonal population): small locations (under 100 inhabitants) situated still in mountainous regions or hinterland spaces, and sections (500-800 inhabitants) close to cities with better accessibility to services. in all the cases accessibility to the internet is adequate. in the class with scores between 150 and 200, the sections are distributed within peri-urban, hinterland and mountain zones, with a population varying from 300 to about 2,000 inhabitants (36,144 in total, 10.6% of the total cantonal) which benefit from an adequate offer and accessibility of services. in all the cases accessibility to the internet is adequate. in the class with scores between 200 and 240, there are various residential locations situated in the urban agglomerations, primarily in peri-urban (37 cases for a total population of 43,333 inhabitants, ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 71 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility 12.7% of the cantonal total), with excellent connection to the internet and to the public transportation, and an adequate supply of services. in the class with scores between 240 and 350, there are only urban localities (57 cases in total, with population generally oscillating between 1,500 and 9,000). it is the most important class, with 165,971 residents (48.6% of cantonal population), comprising regional centres, that benefit from an offer and accessibility of services that range from good to very good. finally, in the highest class we find the most central locations counting more than 350 points (69,564 inhabitants, 20.4% of the cantonal total), with the best equipment both in the supply and accessibility of services. it should be noted that the centrality index scores were classified according to their frequency distribution. this was an arbitrary choice but it allowed to point out not only the distinctions between central and marginal territories but also the differences within these spatial entities. for instance figure 7 shows clearly four main central/urban areas of the canton and the marginal, mountainous regions situated in the northern part of the canton. within these peripheral regions, it is still possible to differentiate the more disadvantaged municipalities’ sections (in terms of services) from those providing a higher level of service offer and accessibility. strengths and weaknesses of the method and further work this paper presented a central place hierarchy model based on the presence of services and their proximity to residents. a centrality index was developed to depict the situation in peripheral/marginal areas and it allowed to identify, not only the areas with an adequate presence of services but also those, while being populated, that still have a services shortage. in the nrp’s perspective, this is valuable ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 72 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility because it potentially suggests where to direct support. this method can be used of course in other contexts, such as the italian inner mountainous areas affected by the policy named “strategia nazionale per le aree interne”. indeed, it is highly customizable: the considered services’ palette can be selected and modelled according to the objectives of a particular territorial development policy. what can be also learned from this experiment? the result is a hierarchy of localities that can be represented spatially, by cartographic means. this allows the obtainment of an overview of the problematic: how services structure the geographical space and how central and marginal locations are distributed. in addition, the results show that the indicator is sensitive to the presence/absence of services not only in the case of peripheral/marginal areas, but also in urban areas. this result is partially unexpected and suggests that the method is flexible and could be applied in other contexts such as metropolitan areas, small and medium centres, or residential peripheries. moreover, it is also possible for this model to take into account a minimum level of services (for instance a basic services’ supply) needed in an area or region to be considered “liveable”. if such a threshold were introduced, it would be possible to recognize which areas do not meet the minimum service requirements and hence to identify the most problematic component of the index in specific localities. this was not implemented here because switzerland does not have, for the moment, any specific directive establishing the “ideal” minimum offer of services for municipal sections. in addition, the proposed methodology seems to be flexible in terms of databases. for instance, if there is a lack of datasets, geodata can be easily produced in the gis environment in the form of a points feature class. finally, the sets (basic categories) of services can be adapted to the needs of the project, for example they can be extended or reduced. however, we have to emphasise that this methodology is ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 73 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility sensitive to the initial conditions, such as, the composition of the categories of services, the variables used and the method of calculation of the distances. about the latter, in this paper distances were calculated through straight lines connecting the positions of the different services and the resident (point-to-point); certainly, it would have been more accurate to use the road network mainly for two reasons: to include travel times and to consider the morphology of the area. this is going to be included in a next version of this model. references antognelli, s., & vizzari, m. 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(2016). distribuzione e centralità dei servizi nel cantone ticino. un confronto 2001-2012. bellinzona, mendrisio: dipartimento del territorio e università della svizzera italiana. available at: http://www.arc.usi.ch/it/ricerca-eistituti/istituti/ost/quaderni [accessed 9 january 2017] appendix table 2 – categories of services (noga code in brackets) s1 – daily services 1. retail stores (471104 + 471105) 2. restaurants (561001 + 561002 + 561003) and bars (563001) 3. post offices (531000) 4. hairdressing salons (960201) 5. maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (452001) and retail sale of fuel (473000) s2 – special regular services 1. supermarkets and hypermarkets (471101 + 471102 + 471103) 2. specialized retail stores (from 472100 to 472902) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 77 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility 3. retail sale of textiles (475100 + 477101 + 477102 + 477105) 4. retail stores of household equipment (474300 + 475400 + 476300) 5. financial service activities (from 641902 to 641906 + 641910) 6. saunas (960401), fitness facilities (931300) and other physical well-being activities (960402) s3 – specialized occasional services 1. pharmacies (477300 + 477400) 2. retail sale of furniture (475902) 3. retail sale of books (476100) 4. hotels, inns and guesthouses (551001 + 551003 + 552002 + 552003 + 553001) 5. general medical practice activities (862100) and other human health activities (from 869001 to 869007) s4 – irregular specialized services 1. retail sale of babies' and children's clothing (477103) and retail sale of furs (477104) 2. retail sale of musical instruments (475901) 3. taxi operation (493200) 4. specialists medical practice activities (862200), dental practice activities (862300), veterinary activities (750000) 5. motion picture projection activities (591400) 6. washing of textiles (960101 + 960102) 7. beauty salons (960202) 8. funeral and related activities (960300) s5 – “public services” 1. crèches and day nurseries (889100) 2. pre-primary and primary schools (851000 + 852001) 3. secondary schools (853101) 4. general care hospitals and special clinics (861001 + 861002) 5. retirement homes and residential nursing care activities (871000 + 872001 + 872002 + 873001 + 873002) 6. nursing (869003) source: authors’ elaboration on general classification of economic activities (noga) from fso. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 78 garlandini, torricelli services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility short author biography: simone garlandini is a geographer, research associate at the osservatorio dello sviluppo territoriale (observatory of spatial development), accademia di architettura, università della svizzera italiana (usi), mendrisio (switzerland). in 2014 he gained a phd in science at the école polytechnique fédérale de lausanne (epfl) with a dissertation entitled “small city public space”. his research interests include urban geography and giscience. gian paolo torricelli is a geographer, phd in economics and social sciences (university of geneva), enabled as university professor (ministère de l'education nationale, france, 2002). at the academy of architecture, università della svizzera italiana (usi), he is currently responsible for the courses of "urban geography" and "spatial development" (master) and head of the osservatorio dello sviluppo territoriale (observatory of spatial development), a laboratory for the monitoring of territorial policies of the ticino canton. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 79 services for citizens in peripheral areas: a hierarchy of centrality based on their availability and accessibility why italian planning is worth studying abstract italian planning seems to be underestimated outside italy and the cause for this is unclear. there may be two possible explanations. on the one hand, it could be argued that italian planning is ignored internationally as the consequence of a lack or of a small number of international articles about it published in international journals. on the other hand, it may be the perception that international scholars have of it, which in part depends on the articles published, but which means that there have been few attempts to spread knowledge concerning the practice of planning in italy. this article provides a brief account of the development of italian planning over time and seeks to emphasise the peculiarities of the discipline in italy and to discuss what areas of study offer the best potentials for further studies either on a comparative basis with other countries or italy­focused. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 enzo falco phd student via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy ­ enzo.falco@uniroma1.it paolo scattoni associate professor via flaminia, 72 ­ 00196 ­ rome, italy ­ paolo.scattoni@uniroma1.it dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente, sapienza ­ università di roma dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente, sapienza ­ università di roma issn: 2239­267x scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 introduction italian planning is a strange object. on the one hand, the need to manage some of the most important, if not the most important areas of world cultural heritage, with universally recognized environmental and landscape values. on the other hand, there is instead a system of physical development, based on an antiquated law, that has been the general framework for planning for nearly seventy years. the institutional level within which urban planning works is particularly fragile. this is because the planning legislation currently in force finds its application in eight thousand municipalities which range in population size from a few tens to millions of inhabitants (hine, 1993). in this institutional framework, in the second half of the twentieth century, italy has faced momentous changes that have seen it transform from a predominantly agricultural country to one based on industrial and services sectors. so in a few decades a profound transformation took place whereas, in other european countries, these changes had taken place over a much longer timescale. the transformation, however, took place in a “low trust” society where familial phenomena and "patronage" have permeated the management of the common good, especially at the local level (giordano, 2006). further complicating the picture, this kind of “privatization” of the "common good" has taken different forms in the country. the relatively recent unification of italy (1861) determined the merging of states between which the nature of social and economic relations was profoundly different. thus the forms of appropriation for the common good in the south had a somewhat different form to those of the centre and north. the south has inherited political relations characterised by forms of patronage which were inherited from a feudal structure that then has adapted to all attempts of modernisation. within this context dark networks of organised crime have played an important role and affected all aspects of social and political life, including that of urban planning. different situations characterised the centre and north of the country where the phenomena that characterise a low trust scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 society have been overcome by means of a long tradition of civic structures that sometimes have their roots in medieval­type society. obviously urban planning has also been influenced by this context. regional decentralization, which started in the 1970s, has had good results for planning. regions in the north and centre have sometimes been able to produce planning tools and applications of great interest, even if their application is not national. within this framework, the question of whether italian planning practice is worthy of study by foreign scholars finds positive answers, for a number of different reasons. the first and most obvious is that urban, environmental and landscape planning in italy is certain to influence world heritage sites of great historical, cultural and landscape value. the second reason, from a disciplinary point of view, is that examples of excellent practice can provide useful information for non­italian scholars. this will include experiences of conservation and enhancement of historic centres. a third area concerns the negative situations found in a low­trust society. many scholars have used the italian experience as a paradigmatic example of a low­trust society (giordano, 2006; chubb, 1982). in these studies, planning issues are important aspects of those mechanisms. surprisingly, however, these studies have been conducted by scholars from different disciplines while planning scholars seem to neglect them. the objective of this paper is to demonstrate how the italian case, through the analysis of planning practices, may provide useful elements for the international disciplinary debate, especially in europe. the paper therefore consists of three sections. firstly, there will be a discussion on the perception of italian planning in the international literature in order to understand why and how much our planning is under­represented. secondly, the basic steps in the development of italian planning are introduced in order to provide the basic background for possible international contributions. finally, the arguments for in­depth comparative analyses of planning practices are highlighted, so as to help overcome a position of isolation in which italian planning currently finds itself. scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 1. perception of italian planning we can distinguish three stages in the perception of the importance of italian planning in europe and especially in britain, that for most of the last century was considered as the more frequent and prestigious reference: from the beginning of the century to the 1950s, from the early 1960s to the mid '80s and from then until now. in fact, in the first half of the twentieth century, urban planning in italy received considerable attention. in 1915, one of the first works on planning stated (alteridge, 1915 p.1): "the italian method of obtaining both urban and suburban comprehensive road and street planning, including street widening, land for public gardens and squares, etc, may be summed up roughly in a few sentences:­ corporations and landowners, usually in friendly co­operation, prepare comprehensive road­schemes to permit orderly growth of the city in every direction. owners are paid for all land and property taken. compensation is assessed at the value the property and land has when taken, quite apart from any value given to it by either the proposed or executed works. (...) opposition does not appear even to be formidable. mutual cooperation between owners and communal council is the general rule. (...) italian town planning is not optional, but in practice compulsory for urban communities of more than 10,000 people". the perception then was that of a planning system, well­handled by the government, which was capable of establishing profitable relationship with private developers. the nineteenth­century model, where the public is investing in major infrastructures (roads and squares) and makes provision for private housing development, worked well in italy, albeit with far more limited resources than could be invested than those in the wealthier european countries like france and britain (benevolo, 1973). for many decades the british journal "town planning review", published scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 by the department of civic design in the university of liverpool, was perhaps the only, certainly the most prestigious, source for information on urban planning. italy is very present in the first decades of the journal's life. within the review, italian planning is frequently cited and positive emphasis is placed upon it. articles by luigi lenzi (1928, 1929, 1930, 1931) help to make known the contents of the main city plans; these were often the result of competitions between national planners. the experience of the new towns which were founded in the fascist period is considered an interesting experiment, consistent with emerging theories about new towns. the congress of the international federation for housing and town planning, held in rome in 1929, was a substantial recognition of the italian planners’ active role. moreover, it is interesting to note that this perception escapes preconceived political judgments on the fascist regime. the foundation of the national institute of urban planning (inu) in 1930 is a direct consequence of that event and therefore it is included in the international context. the focus was not confined to the “roman” school that dominated inu but extended to some interesting experiences such as the milan plan (chiodi, 1926). following this trend, in the period after world war ii, the interest in italian planning is dominated by attention to the adriano olivetti community movement (figure 1). urban planning has a fundamental role within olivetti’s thinking. olivetti himself, at the time president of the inu, placed great importance on international relations with the most advanced international planning experiences. the article of 1952 by giovanni astengo, grown in the olivetti school, is an interesting overview of the limits but also of the hopes of italian planning. the beginning of that article, addressed to the foreign reader, provides the motivations and methods for the study of italian planning that, at present, still retain their validity. scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 a general picture of town planning in italy must be seen in the particular atmosphere which has developed since the war; and must be introduced by a reference, however brief, to town planning activity as it was carried out in this country during the decade preceding the war. without this, the foreign observer, examining aspects of present activity, might either form too optimistic an opinion by considering isolated achievements, or a pessimistic one by judging only from the official results of plans. in either case he would lose sight of the significance of the slow and difficult process which was clarifying and transforming town planning in italy; and for the foreign observer, who is in a position to make comparisons with other countries, this is certainly its most interesting and striking aspect. with olivetti passing away, however, italian planning lost any form of appeal to the eyes of non­ italian planning scholars. the figure of olivetti was important in the international context, and perhaps even more so than in italy. in announcing his death, the editorial in the town planning review, written by paolo radogna, a student of the department of civic design, underlines the sense of olivetti’s message and his role within italian planning: figure 1 – adriano olivetti (source: urbanistica, 30, 1990). "for olivetti, (planning) was no mere technical exercise; he saw it as scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 an essential part of a unified whole which embraced industrial, social, political and cultural problems" (radogna, 1960). after olivetti, italian planning is no longer a landmark of interest to the international planning scene. the phenomenon of urbanisation, with the massive urban migration of millions of italians from rural to urban areas, was dealt with without appropriate planning instruments (scattoni, 2004), and finds no attention within international planning literature. however the phenomenon was investigated by scholars from other disciplines, especially from the political viewpoint. the most important study on the preparation of an urban plan in italy was carried out by john fried (1973), who sees in the arduous preparation process of rome plan of 1965, a significant case to explain the nature of italian politics at the local level. even the establishment of regional governments, which were surely to have considerable influence on the enforcement of the 1942 planning act, had different results in the southern regions compared with those achieved in the north and centre. but this was not analysed within the international literature except for rare exceptions (e.g. scattoni and wlliams, 1978; scattoni, 1979). the renewed interest in the italian planning since the mid '80s is certainly due to the emergence of the european dimension and the needs for comparative planning research. european student exchange programmes and faculty and research funding contributed to this new phase. in fact, williams’ contribution (1984) was followed by other studies of importance. these studies, however, have not been able to provide a meaningful and coherent view of italian planning and they throw little light on the way it can help contribute to the european and international levels. in this third phase we can distinguish two different disciplinary approaches. after fried’s contribution (1973), political scientists continue to regard the study of the planning discipline, especially in the southern regions, as a way to explain the degeneration of politics at the local level. this is the case with articles by judith chubb (1981) and percy allum (2003). the latter is a study of contemporary italian politics. different, instead, the contributions coming from planning scholars (e.g. astengo, 1952). publications in english concern scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 partial elements in various disciplinary fields which do not allow for an overall understanding and judgment of italian planning. on this element, the cited article by astengo remains valid. 2. the origins this part of the paper aims to give an account of planning legislation in order to provide the reader with the very basic knowledge to the evolution of the italian planning system. the italian nation was unified in 1861 from a number of separate states. four years later, acts were passed introducing planning and building regulations. these new tools were mainly seen in relation to the acquisition of land through compulsory purchase for public infrastructures. railways, roads, ports and channels were the main objectives but, at the local level, land for urban development was necessary. the planning tools introduced were: piano di ampliamento, piano regolatore edilizio and regolamento edilizio. the piano di ampliamento was a plan to organise centres with over 2,000 inhabitants. the piano regoltore edilizio allowed the reorganisation of existing built­up centres. the regolamento edilizio was related to aesthetic, sanitation, safety and habitability aspects of buildings and was obligatory for all municipalities. the 1865 legislation produced some impact on the preparation of plans for the major cities. by 1932 very few plans were approved. ten years later the number of communes with an approved plan was less than one hundred, with some communes having prepared more than one plan. the act no. 2359 of 1865 represented a stimulus for many communes to build up some form of town planning. in particular the regolamento edilizio could be accompanied by a more or less detailed map showing the areas (built or to be developed) to which the regulations applied. these maps represented a crude but frequent form of town planning and in the subsequent legislation they were formally introduced as "programma di fabbricazione". during the fascist period, town and country planning consolidated in different directions. firstly there were a series of different special acts relating to subjects associated with planning (eg. forestry conservation, scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 landscape protection, etc.). secondly the planning profession was in some way recognised and the professional institute was founded. thirdly, planning education had some recognition within the university system. finally a fundamental planning reform was introduced. in addition to this, a programme of "new towns" was introduced by the regime. the innovations introduced by the fascist government were considered sound and advanced experiences by european planners. there was an analogy between the so called "anti­urban ideology" of the fascist regime and the idealistic anti­ urban movements like that of the garden cities in great britain". anyway italian planners looked at the foreign experiences and mainly to the british one, as a possible source of inspiration for reform. in 1929 the conference of international federation of housing and town planning took place in rome. the subjects of the conference were: re­planning old and historic towns to meet modern conditions and methods of planning for the expansion of towns with special reference to old and historic towns. in italy, these two subjects were then strictly related to the two types of plans, piano regolatore edilizio and piano di ampliamento. the fascist regime encouraged the development of town planning in all its aspects. the strategy of the government was that of containing urban growth, mainly for ideological reasons. fascist propaganda tended to praise the rural life as the bearer of the national spirit. one year after the above­ mentioned congress of the international federation of housing and town planning, and using the remaining funds for its organization, the istituto nazionale di urbanistica (inu) was founded. the institute aimed at the spread of planning as a profession. on the other hand, planning education was delivered within university schools of architecture and civil engineering and mainly on the basis of activities left to private consultants. 2.1. the new planning legislation the action of the inu and those factions of the fascist party more sensitive towards planning brought in the town planning act no. 1150 of 1942. the fact that the regime was at that time rapidly reaching its end, was the most likely cause of this innovative legislation; being close to collapse, the regime scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 could overcome the opposition from the interests of land speculators, which in the past had influenced these matters. the town planning act addressed some of the problems encountered with the previous legislation of 1865: 1. there was to be the possibility of differentiating between the piano regolatore, as a general scheme, and detailed plans, which were to be prepared subsequently. such a principle had been already introduced in the special act for the town plan of rome of 1931. the town plan must include the whole municipality and not separate parts of it. planning should take into consideration the regional and inter­ municipal dimensions; the previous legislation did not take these into proper consideration. the need for conservation and protection of historical values, as well as a whole set of relations between architecture and urban spaces, which in those years had started to be recognised as an important element of planning. the possibility of acquiring large areas of land, both in order to provide the municipality with the necessary areas for public services and also to limit speculation in situations of excessive demand. again this principle had been already expressed by calza bini in the parliamentary speech for the act for the 1931 rome plan. 4. 5. 2. 3. 2.2. the planning system after the town planning act of 1942 the act introduced a hierarchical system of plans, organised into three levels. the first planning level was represented by the "piano territoriale di coordinamento" (ptc). its aim was to provide a framework for large areas for new large scale industry or for large residential developments. furthermore the ptc should provide the proper framework for large new infrastructures like roads, rail and electric lines. the ptc did not go beyond physical planning and, in the mind of the legislators, it was only a tool to orientate local decisions towards the strategic plans of the central government. in this general framework, the policy of new towns, started a the prg should conform to the ptc when this exists. it does not have a time limit and any changes to it follow the same procedure as for its approval. the preparation of the prg was optional, except for the communes included in special lists published by the ministry of public works. the third level of planning introduced by the act no. 1150/42 related to detailed planning: "piani particolareggiati". they were to be prepared by the municipality and to have a validity limited to ten years. during this period the municipality had to expropriate the land and implement the plan; failure to implement could allow the previous owner to claim back land which had been expropriated. exceptionally the municipality could give private land owners the possibility of implementing the plan themselves with a "lottizzazione" (parcellation) in which all the details of the works for infrastructures, housing and public services must be agreed. as will be seen later, this possibility became the trojan horse for a practice completely different from the intentions of the act no. 1150/42. there is no doubt that the new legislation was a very advanced result of a long period of pressure for town planning reform. in theory, the totality of land could be planned scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 few years before, could have been properly organised. afterwards the ptc was applied in a much wider sense, including social and economic aspects. the spatial coverage of the plan was not explicitly mentioned in the act, but it was generally assumed to be regional. the second level of the planning system was the municipal plan, called the "piano regolatore generale" (prg). the characteristics of this plan are the following: 1. it covers the whole municipality; it establishes the main road network and land zoning, including areas for residences, industry, services and so on; it establishes the main protections for landscape, environmental or historic values (integrating with those established by the central government); it should also include detailed regulations for implementation of the plan, called "norme di attuazione". 4. 2. 3. scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 by the commune, under the strict control of the central government. the fact that only some communes were obliged to prepare a prg was in some way balanced with an important improvement of the regolamento edilizio. as an alternative to the piano regolatore, smaller and less important communes had to prepare a simpler planning tool called "programma di fabbricazione" (pdf). the pdf, as set out in the act no. 1150, was only a map attached to the regolamento edilizio showing the direction of expansion of the urban centres. the approval of prgs and detailed plans was a complex procedure. as far as a prg was concerned there were several steps to be followed. after the preparation of the plan by a qualified planner (architect or engineer) it was "adopted" by the municipal council. subsequently the plan was published and then organisations and individuals can make their "osservazioni" (representations) and propose changes. the representations should be based on the "public interest" and avoid any personal or particular defence of private property. the council must respond to all the representations, either accepting or rejecting the proposed modifications. the council decisions are called "controdeduzioni" (counter­deductions). the plan, together with the representations, is then submitted to the ministry of public works. if evaluated positively, a presidential decree (with the same value as an act of parliament) was issued and the plan was definitively approved. in the case that the enquiries at local or central level are negative, the plan could be rejected entirely or modifications could be proposed and be subject to a new decision of the municipal council. 2.3. prospects for planning in post­war italy... after world war ii the italian legislative situation was undoubtedly positive towards planning. there had been major legislation reforms giving to the communes substantial powers for preparing comprehensive physical plans and there was parallel legislation about subjects related to planning, consolidated in the 1920s and 1930s. at central level, the ministry of public works had started to organise a scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 proper structure for planning controls and peripheral offices of the ministry itself were able to provide reasonable support to the implementation of the town planning act of 1942. also, planning education had started, with postgraduate courses not too dissimilar to planning courses in the economically most advanced countries in europe. the recognition of inu could be the first step for establishing a planning profession in the same way as the british town planning institute. planning experience in italy was not negligible. from 1865, with the town plan for florence (figure 2), up to the most recent "piano regolatore" for milan and for rome in 1928 and 1932, there existed a solid base for a more generalised approach. also the new towns, created by the fascist regime (figure 3), were important pioneering experiences at that time, even though their impact was vitiated by their reactionary ideological content. figure 2 – project for piazza della libertá, florence (source: urbanistica, 12, 1953). it could be argued that most of the planning legislation available immediately after world war ii had been strongly influenced by the anti­ urban ideology of fascism. on the contrary, the new political ideologies, in the new democratic state, advocated a nation based on industry and therefore on a mainly urban society. the town planning act of 1942 and the planning machinery already established could have been used to control the processes of urbanisation that the new situation necessarily required. the efforts of the promoters of the planning act of 1942 to learn from other countries must be recognised; their model now was probably british, while the french experience had inspired the earlier post­unification planning laws. scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 figure 3 – sabaudia: aerial view of the city council park (source: marconi, 1936). 2.4 ...and the post war planning policy in practice, the 1942 planning act was abandoned for several years. in 1945 the provisional all­party government decided to issue a series of acts which allowed the communes to proceed to reconstruction without taking into consideration the 1942 planning act. the decree no. 154 introduced the "reconstruction town plan". the declared intention was that of introducing the necessary modifications to the old urban pattern in order to improve urban conditions. as technical documents, the "reconstruction plans" were very poor. the approval procedures were quick and limited and, therefore, very often the results were unsatisfactory. the italian solution chosen for the reconstruction problem was the opposite of the british solution; in italy the reformed planning system was abandoned whilst in britain a new radical reform was introduced. in fact, the town planning act no. 1150/1942 was implemented again only in 1954 with the publication of the first list of the communes obliged to prepare the prg. this delay coincided with a period of large scale growth of the building sector. benevolo (1973) attributed the decision to abandon the reform to an overestimate of the war damages. according to this interpretation, the post­war all­party coalition government, and above all the leaders of the communist party (pci) and the christian democratic party (dc), considered the planning act to be an obstacle to the huge works needed for reconstruction. no precise data about the extent of damage have been produced. it is nowadays generally accepted scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 that they were important but not as catastrophic as originally estimated. a reasonable estimate is that around 17% of the residential stock was damaged, of which 6% was completely lost (figure 4). a comparable percentage of losses affected industry. even though the data support benevolo's interpretation, the political misjudgement is probably a simplistic idea. figure 4 – florence, ponte vecchio before and after war damage in world war ii (source: urbanistica, 12, 1953). other authors (scattoni, 2004) have put forward the hypothesis that the abandonment of the planning act of 1942 was mainly due to a more general strategy for the italian economy. the building sector was seen as the main economic regulator for the whole economic system. firstly the building sector did not require highly specialised manpower and was ideal to reconvert those moving from the rural sector. on the other hand the central government could have a certain degree of control through public housing, which at the time was carried out by governmental agencies. therefore housing became a privileged sector for the intervention of the state in the keynesian view of the economy, because it was found that building activity scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 could induce development in many sectors of industry (figure 5). all this was supported by huge housing deficit. on the other hand the demand was inflated by industrial development itself, attracting more and more manpower from the country into industrialised metropolitan areas. bardazzi (1984) has shown the close correlation between post­war planning legislation and the trends of the building industry. the conclusion is that the real aim of planning legislation was to support the building industry more than setting up an efficient planning system. figure 5 – low­tech building sector: engine of economic growth (source: camerini et al, 2000). 2.5. the planning profession and attempts at land reform only the planning profession tried to oppose the strategy of the national government which had the support of all political parties. the inu scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 reinforced its organisation and called for a new planning system. in the 1960s the inu used its prestige and influence in order to obtain a planning reform and new legislation for public ownership of urban land. during the seventies there is, on the one hand, the big innovation of the devolution of planning powers to the regions and, on the other hand, the attempt to improve the existing planning laws. the idea of a new general reform was abandoned, but at the same time it was thought possible to introduce modifications to the planning act of 1942, in order to make possible the public control of the development processes. in 1962 the new minister of public works, fiorentino sullo, another left­ wing christian democrat, with the direct collaboration of inu's most prominent members, prepared a new, more comprehensive bill for a general planning and urban land reform (sullo, 1964). this was to require prior public ownership of land before any development could take place. the expropriation costs were based on the agricultural value of the land if it related to expansion areas and with some correction for those ones to be included in existing built­up zones. this radical bill faced strong opposition from a great number of land owners and landlords. the right wing parties opposed the proposal on the grounds that it would have introduced a sort of collective socialist society. this became one of the main issues of the 1963 general election. the dc lost one million votes of frightened small land owners. sullo was not made minister of public works in the new cabinet, and his political fortune started to decline. also the alliance between the inu and the progressive sectors of the centre­left coalition parties came to an end. the only inheritance from the first centre­left battle for land reform was the public housing act of 1962, which introduced specific regulations for developing public housing and low cost housing schemes. however, this act remained largely unapplied, lacking the support of a more general land reform which is still to come. 2.6 the practice of planning in the 1950s and 1960s the practice of planning during the 1950s and 1960s was in marked contrast with the very advanced theoretical and political debate. the lists of scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 communes compelled to prepare a piano regolatore generale were published between 1954 and 1960. this list included all the major towns and most of the small ones with special environmental and historical values. but by 1967 very few had adopted a plan and even fewer had an approved one. the delays in plan preparation were generally attributed by planners to the weaknesses of the planning act of 1942 and to the obstacles posed by the consolidated interests of land speculation. no reference was made to the political system at local level. there is no systematic literature on the planning practice of this period in relation to urban development and only a crude idea of the system can be given through the partial literature available. one relevant exception is a ministry enquiry report on the practice by municipalities of replacing proper planning with parcellations, prepared by land owners for new residential settlements and tourist resorts. in theory such a practice was not allowed by the planning act of 1942. parcellation could be done only in the presence of a detailed plan. in practice this never happened. the parcellations were approved by the mayors of communes on the basis of "exceptional conditions" which in fact became the norm. in 1968 the ministry of public works published the results of an enquiry carried out on all the italian communes. the results showed how frequent the use of the parcellation was. in total, the parcellations potentially contained 18 million new rooms, of which one and a half million were for tourist resorts. very few muncipalities had an approved plan and therefore there was no legal or theoretical justification to proceed with such a practice. as far as the quantitative aspect was concerned the enquiry of the ministry concluded: "(...) in general the parcellations are not at all integrated into a planning context. on the contrary in most cases (parcellations) replaced the planning tools to be prepared by the communes. they could avoid the control of the local representative councils and that of the control authorities. in fact they jeopardised the possibility for an integrated urban development on a large part of the national territory. only 21.84% of the volume of the studied parcellations was disciplined by a planning tool and conforming to it". scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 22vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 2.7 the "bridge" planning act of 1967 once it was clear that political obstacles would not have allowed a drastic planning reform, the ministry of public works decided to issue temporary measures in order to make a stop to the most evident planning illegalities of the communes. therefore in 1967, the planning act no. 765, was enacted. this act is also known as the "bridge planning act" as it was the intention of the ministry that the act should work as a “bridge” between the planning act of 1942 and the expected new reform, which in fact has never taken place. however the bridge act introduced fundamental innovations. firstly, precise deadlines were set up for the preparation of the prg or the programma di fabbricazione by the communes. in a case where the commune could not meet the deadline, the central government could prepare the plan instead. in the approval phase, the ministry could introduce changes without asking the commune. the mayor could not approve parcellation plans in the absence of an approved plan and precise ratios and standards were fixed in order to regulate heights and volumes of buildings and to provide land for open space and public facilities. furthermore the abuses – that is the illegal developments ­ were to be punished more severely. undoubtedly this act was a big step forward. it implicitly assumed that a commune might not be interested in having a town plan whilst the act of 1942 idealistically assumed that the communes would have conformed "naturally'' to the law. there is no definitive study of the impact of the bridge act. certainly the central government did not proceed to substitute communes in plan preparation at a significant scale. on the other hand the communes could find ways to delay plan preparation and in any case, only three years later, the control powers were transferred from the ministry to the new regional authorities. the bridge act introduced the innovation of minimum standards for open space, schools, parking and public facilities. these standards are a guideline for new plans and for the updating of the old ones. furthermore they are a guideline for the newly introduced detailed plans, to be prepared by private landowners, called "piani di lottizzazione convenzionata". scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 23vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 because the buildable volumes were already indicated by the prg, the two parties had to agree on the investment share for the cost of the public facilities to be built. the standards were calculated per resident. 2.8 the new planning legislation and regional devolution in the 1970s the 1970s were characterised by numerous attempts to reform the planning system through separate and innovative laws. two of the most important were passed in 1971 and 1977 when the value of urban land for public expropriation was to be based on the agricultural value. however, the laws did not remain in force for very long since they were declared unlawful by a ruling of the national constitutional court in 1980. also worthy of mention is the act n. 457/1978 which strongly encouraged and favoured conservation and regeneration of the existing housing stock and, at the same, limiting urban expansion on greenfield sites. as far as planning is concerned, the regions created a structure similar to that of the ministry with technical committees established to replace the consiglio superiore dei lavori pubblici. such committees were to provide technical opinions about planning and regional projects. they were generally made up of some internal officers, along with external consultants. the original planning powers were then enriched by other powers devolved to the regions by the national parliament. during the first years of life of the regions, an all­party movement started pressures for greater autonomy for the regions. such a lobby was successful in passing an act in 1975 (no. 32) and a presidential decree in 1977 (no. 616) according to which a great number of powers were devolved mainly to the regions, but also to provinces and communes. these included planning­related powers like landscape control and environmental conservation control, which were passed to the regions. peripheral governmental offices like the soprintendenza lost most of their influence. the proliferation of regional acts, for each region, and their uncoordinated actions does not allow an overall evaluation. this means that a clear scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 24vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 difference, compared to the previous situation, is the loss of a comprehensive view of italian planning. the analysis carried out by the ministry of public works after regional devolution never reached the completeness of the pre­devolution period. nevertheless some changes from the previous period were visible. firstly the number of plans approved increased dramatically. such an achievement can be attributed to several causes. there is no doubt that the first years of life of the regions were characterised by enthusiasm. the politicians wanted to show that the new institution functioned more efficiently than the slow administrative machinery of the central government and plan approval was one of the most obvious sectors for comparison. another important factor was the simplification and sometimes elimination of administrative controls exerted on the communes by the prefectures on behalf of central government. such formal controls could delay any of the administrative steps for months. on the other hand there were other possible elements which could have speeded up the planning processes, which were never taken into consideration. the "bridge" planning act of 1967 probably started having its effects in the early 1970s. the limitations to development imposed by the act must have convinced reluctant communes to prepare and adopt a prg. a final unstudied factor could have been a certain relaxation of the quality requirements for the plans, i.e. the ministry may have required more than the regions. a second important difference between pre­ and post­regional reform was a different attitude towards devolution. whilst the ministry was really unwilling to decentralise its powers, the regions tended to transfer most of their control functions to the communes. most of the regions devolved their powers of landscape control, obtained in the 1977 act, either directly to the communes or to some inter­communal associations established under regional legislation. more recently most of the controls on detailed plans have also been given to the communes. therefore, the functions of plan making and planning control coincided. in most cases the only form of control remained that of prg approval. such a policy was justified on the grounds that devolution was, per se, a scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 25vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 positive process in opposition to centralised bureaucracy of any form. there is no extensive research on how the quality of planning and of development control was affected by such a process. the decentralisation from regions to communes diminished greatly the possibility of a general overview of the planning situation of the whole region, just as a few years before when regional reform removed such a possibility at the national level. on the other hand, in the '80s, there were attempts of a substantial deregulation in planning. the most important step towards deregulation was the so called "building condono" through a specific act (47/1985). this act concerned past abuses. those owners possessing a building which did not correspond to the planning tools at the time they were built (prg, pdf or regolamento edilizio) could regularise it by paying a fine in relation to the size of the abuse and the time it was committed (figure 6). this would cancel also any penal consequence for the owner. officially, the two main reasons for the act were to allow some order into the matter of planning abuses and to give the possibility of restarting a more effective development control. on the other side there was the possibility of revenue to finance part of the central government’s deficit. the forgiveness of planning sins can be seen in the long tradition of the "seller of indulgences" for which rome became famous in the past; the obvious and strong opposition by inu and conservationist groups could not stop the act. figure 6 – example of illegal development (source: clementi and perego, 1983). scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 26vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 2.9 the innovative regional action in the late 1990s and early 2000s in 2001 an important constitutional reform was passed. the reform produced a profound institutional change relating to legislative competence over certain matters, including planning. the subdivision of legislative competences is based upon a simple principle which identifies matters of absolute national or regional competence and matters which are defined as shared, where both the state and regions have powers to legislate. in the latter case, the reformed articles prescribe that the state should set out the basic and guiding principles for the matter while the regions are responsible for the specific regulations relating to their specific areas and contexts. planning came into this category, thus making the need for a new national planning act even more urgent. within such a general framework, the regions have sought to overcome the new challenges and meet the needs of their populations by legislating and making new regional planning laws, generally defined in the planning debate as “second generation” laws. the first region to reform its planning system was tuscany in 1995. the regional act n.5 introduced a new planning machinery, based on the system favoured at that time by the istituto nazionale di urbanistica. the new system introduced different planning documents where the master plan is to be formed by two different documents, the piano strutturale (structure plan), with the aims of setting out the general strategy and vision for the city, and the regolamento urbanistico (development plan) which is to determine and identify development areas, to be developed within a five­year time period (oliva, 2006). an important objective to be achieved through the new planning system, that emerged both from the national debate and implicitly from the new regional system, was the speeding­up of the planning process. at present half of the italian regions have followed the experience of the tuscany and have introduced new acts and planning systems. many others are working on the reform process and have it currently underway (falco, 2010). scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 27vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 summarising remarks the concise history of italian planning outlined in this paper has showed the level of planning legislation in relation to planning practice. the origins of modern italian town planning are almost contemporary with those of other industrialised european countries. planning was considered an essential tool for controlling urban development. the progress before world war ii was internationally recognised. planning education was also in line with the developments of other countries. despite the economic backwardness of italy, entering into the industrial revolution almost one century late, the disciplinary and legislative system for the post­war period were satisfactory. nevertheless, the 1950s saw the practical abandonment of planning practice, even though the theory was still developing, mainly through the contribution of the community movement led by adriano olivetti. the planning crisis has been explained firstly by an overemphasis on the need for reconstruction, and later by the strategic role of the building industry as the main economic regulator. both these aspects required some relaxation of planning constraints. obstacles to planning remained, even when the economic development of the country made these conditions obsolete. at this point all the existing explanations of the situation become partial and largely unsatisfactory and a clear gap exists in italian planning research. there are indications that an 'anti­planning' attitude grew up within local political systems. on the other hand, planning legislation continued to develop in the 1970s, reaching high levels of sophistication but the impact on practice was not as great as expected. finally the practical behaviour of the regions since the late 1970s and the subsequent national legislation have started a process of deregulation which consolidated the anti­planning attitude already evident in development practice. the 1980s and 1990s nowadays represent an important stage in the history of planning. during the eighties, the first and most important form of scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 28vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 deregulation was allowed by the state. with a specific national act (n. 47/1985) all the private developments developed illegally as not complying with the law and with planning regulations were allowed to be regularised through a simple procedure called condono edilizio (where subject to the payment of a sum of money (a fine) the development was declared lawful and the administrative and penal consequences for the owner were cancelled). as concerns the 1990s, in this period a major and most interesting feature has been the growing participation of private sector investors and stakeholders in the planning process. participation, in the decision­making process as well as in the implementation phase, has followed from the lack of financial resources available to public administrations and therefore the need to involve private stakeholders to bring forward development proposals has been increasingly high. as a consequence of this situation, several local tools and plans and forms of public­private partnerships have been introduced within the national legislation. over the years the role of these tools has grown increasingly important in the delivery of planning objectives. agenda for future research within the above described framework, italian planning shows the potential for further studies and different interpretations for italian as well as non­ italian academics and professionals. the role of the “italian journal of planning practice” is that of gathering research on italian planning from both scholars and professionals in order to further contribute to the international planning debate through the italian experience; trying in this way to place more emphasis on italian planning which is perhaps currently internationally underrepresented. it could be argued that there are several areas worthy of study which could be of great interest. firstly, there is the well­known area of heritage protection and conservation and the planning for the historic heritage which, scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 29vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 given the historical nature of italian cities, provides a considerable bulk of work where italy is at the forefront. international comparisons with italian practice should prove to be stimulating, especially when we are entering an era of reduced resources. secondly, there is the whole area of environmental and landscape planning. landscape protection and planning, being one of the main problematic areas which does not receive proper treatment in italy, offers exciting new prospects for study and is open to international contributions. similarly, environmental planning and management represents another important field of great interest and of vital importance for the future of our cities to which comparative research can positively contribute. last but not least, there remains a research area which focuses on the impact on the planning system of outdated social structures and relationships, in which criminality plays an important role. on this subject important academics have based their studies (such as judith chubb, robert fried and robert putnam). the literature on dark and gray networks offers a new scenario for the interpretation of the relationship between local politics and planning. furthermore, dissemination and exchange of research results in these subject areas should be accompanied by the analysis and understanding of changing institutional contexts, perhaps moving towards a federal model but also being increasing aware of localism, community empowerment and participation and the need for greater transparency in planning. certainly this is not a simple task that we are undertaking but we believe that this humble, passionate and enthusiastic project could make an important contribution to the spread of research on italian planning, with mutual benefits for our international colleagues. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 30vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 references aldridge, a. the case for town planning, the national housing and planning council, london, 1915, p.1. allum, p. (2003) “the politics of town planning in post­war naples”. journal of modern italian studies, 8, pp. 500­527. astengo, g. (1952) town and regional planning in italy. town planning review, 23 (2), pp. 166­181. bardazzi, s. (1984) italy in williams, r.h. (ed) (1984) planning in europe: urban and regional planning in the eec. london: george allen and unwin. benevolo, l. (1973) le avventure della città. bari: laterza. chiodi, c. (1926). town planning of milan. journal of the town planning institute, 12 (4), pp.103­107. chubb, j. (1981) the social bases of an urban political machine: the case of palermo. political science quarterly, 96, pp. 107­125. chubb, j. (1982) patronage, power and poverty in southern italy: a tale of two cities. cambridge: cambridge university press. falco, e. (2010) implications of development rights granting procedures. fourth international conference on planning, law, and property rights, dortmund 10 – 12 february 2010. international academic association on planning, law, and property rights. available from: http://www.plpr2010.tu­dortmund.de/_downloads/plpr2010_paper_falco_e.pdf.[accessed22march2010]. fried, r. c. (1973) planning the eternal city: roman politics and planning since world war ii. yale: yale university press. giordano, c. (2006) appropriating the common good by personalising social relationships – acquaintances, patronage, and corruption in low trust societies. european journal of law reform, 6, pp. 461­486. hine, d. (1993) governing italy: the politics of bargained pluralism. oxford, oxford university press. scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 31vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 lenzi, l. (1928) padua, italy. a replanning scheme: illustrated. town planning review, 13 (2), pp. 84. lenzi, l. (1929) foggia, italy. national competition for its replanning: illustrated. town planning review, 13 (4), pp. 220. lenzi, l. (1930) arezzo, italy, national competition for its replanning: illustrated. town planning review, 14 (2), pp. 79. lenzi, l. (1931) the new rome: illustrated. town planning review, 14 (3), pp. 145. oliva, f. (2006) la riforma che vogliamo. urbanistica, 131, pp. 4­6. radogna, p. (1960) adriano olivetti. town planning review, 31 (3), pp. 182. scattoni, p., williams, r. w. (1978) planning and regional devolution: the italian case. the planner, 64, pp. 38­40. scattoni, p. (1987) processes of planning and land development in italy. the case study of chiusi (unpublished phd thesis), newcastle upon tyne, university of newcastle. scattoni, p. (2004) l’urbanistica dell’italia contemporanea. roma: newton & compton. sullo, f. (1964) lo scandalo urbanistico. firenze: vallecchi. williams, r.h. (ed) (1984) planning in europe: urban and regional planning in the eec. london: george allen and unwin. figure sources figure 1 ­ urbanistica, 30, 1990. figure 2 ­ urbanistica, 12, 1953 figure 3 ­ marconi, p. (1936) (ed) atti ufficiali del xiii congresso internazionale degli architetti e degli ingegneri, roma: sindacato nazionale fascista degli architetti e degli ingeneri. figure 4 ­ urbanistica, 12, 1953 scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 32vol. i, issue 1 ­ 2011 figure 5 – camerini et al, (2000) storia sociale italiana: la vicenda della filca­ cisl. ortona: foto dell’archivio storico nazionale cisl. figure 6 – clementi, a. and perego, f. (1983) la metropoli spontanea. il caso di roma 1925­1981. bari: dedalo. scattoni, falco ­ why italian planning is worth studying ijpp issn: 2239-267x innovation in rural development: “neorural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory brigida orria, vincenzo luise 1 p hd c and id at es, u ni ver si t y o f mi la n via co n ser vato r io , 7 , 2 0 1 2 2 mila no b r ig id a. o r r ia @ u n i mi. it vi nce nzo . l ui se @ u ni mi . i t keywords: rural social innovation; neo-rurals; brand; alternative agriculture; agri-food networks. abstract this paper presents the case of “neo-rurality” in inner areas in the campania region (southern italy). inner areas are the scenery of innovative development processes, founded on structural and territorial resources, as well as on individuals and social capitals. 1 the article was conceived and discussed jointly by the two authors who have written together introduction and conclusions. brigida orria curated paragraphs ‘living now in inner areas’, ‘research design’, ‘bottom-up innovation’, and vincenzo luise curated ‘four questions’ and ‘neo-rural as brand’. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 125 mailto:vincenzo.luise@unimi.it orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory neo-rural exponents promote a new relationship between production and consumption. they are not only anti-consumerist: they articulate in a different way sustainability, visions of market relations, values and practices. neo-rurality as a narrative-based brand collects various ideals, values and marketing behaviours, representing different economic actors in a common narrative. based on fieldwork and interviews, undertaken in campania during 2015, our study points out that, through the collective narrative, farmers are constructing a “neo-rurality” brand of local quality food and promotion of territory. we highlight how neo-rural farmers propose a novel combination of economic practices and value production in alternative agri-food movements. producers promote a combined approach to local development towards increasing food quality and cultural and environmental resources of territory. furthermore, this is in line with recent studies on how agriculture and rural life have changed their role in postmodern society, and there we see also a trajectory for the future of inner areas. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 126 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory introduction the italian government’s study (uval, 2014) on marginal and central areas2 contributed greatly to design the country’s territory and future policies. this new analytical perspective prompted us to reflect on the development opportunities for inner areas. geographic maps don’t give an exhaustive explanation of the peripheral condition of these areas, while the same morphological condition of soil (whether mountains, hills or coasts) can similarly prelude a more marginal or connected area. therefore, our fieldwork research seeks to highlight processes of growth in inner areas that are connected to social and economic dimensions. in the last 10 years, a change has started in campania challenging the established capitalist food economy, where no infrastructural signs of development are given, but social ferment is on stage. in the first part of this paper, we present the concept of “neo-rural” farmers who are contributing to a sustainable rural development through different approaches to agricultural production. then we discuss how our fieldwork study sheds some light on what is going on in remote areas, in the inner areas of campania3. we considered actors based in the inner areas and also their relationship with actors of central areas, mostly based in naples. in the third part, consistent theoretical approaches to bottom-up practices are presented referring to important contributions made by constance (2014) to agri-food 2 marginalisation is defined depending on the distance from the nearest service provision centre able to provide: secondary education services; at least one grade-1 emergency care hospital (dea); and at least one “regional category” railway station. 3 back-to-the-land communes, often incorporated into the slightly broader notion of ‘intentional communities’, have generally received more academic attention than disparate individual back-to-theland initiatives. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 127 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory studies, basing on four questions on environment, soil, food and emancipation, and by bock (2012) to the rural social innovation, naming mechanism, responsibility and innovation of society. this brings us to consider analytically how neo-rurality is expressed through different examples of agriculture and food production, more connected to social networks, and through a wider conception of environment, care for health and human justice. in fact, a principal characteristic of neo-rural exponents (ferraresi, 2013) is to promote a new relationship between producers (mainly in inner areas) and consumers (mainly in central areas). neo-rural farmers measure and communicate the value of high-quality local food in a different way, bridging the gap between supply and demand in the market through a collaborative approach. this is in line with recent studies on how agriculture and rural life have changed their role in post-modern society, and there we also see trajectories for inner areas’ development. finally, we expose how the bottom-up movement is creating a new form of brand, baring neo-rurality as a label for a healthy and ethical lifestyle and food quality. living now in inner areas: new peasantries and neo-rurality migrants from cities to rural areas who attempt to achieve a predominantly agrarian lifestyle have been christened with several labels: neo-farmers (mailfert, 2007), neo-peasants (brunori et al., 2013), new pioneers (jacob, 1997), new agrarians (tregear, et al. 2007) and back-to-the-landers (belasco, 2005). “back-to-the-land” generally refers to the adoption of agriculture as a full-time vocation by people who have come from non-agricultural lifestyles or education, originating in the 1960s it situates itself as part of broader counterculture practices. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 128 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 70s is often framed in relation to general cultural currents that encouraged “dropping out” of mainstream society in search of alternatives. “multiplying fivefold between 1965 and 1970” writes belasco of communal back-to-theland projects, “3,500 or so country communes put the counterculture into group practice” (belasco, 1989, p. 76). during the 1970s, the “protestant neo-ruralism” (neoruralismo protestatario, merlo, 2006) conceives rural areas as the place where an alternative way of life can be experienced through the creation of an alternative agricultural production process. that approach refuses completely the green revolution (gr) paradigm, which promoted industrial intensive agriculture, advanced technology, using highyielding variety (hyv) and high doses of pesticides, driven by multinational interests (shiva, 2016). later, the development of alternative agricultural production was embedded in the agro-ecological paradigm, then absorbed by the global industrial system through the creation of organic certifications. such a process of integration has developed a new critical reflection on food production and market relations. then the back-to-the-land movement splits in two dimensions: ecological entrepreneurship (marsden & smith, 2005) and new peasantries (van der ploeg, 2010). the first refers to a process where farms contribute to a sustainable rural development using environmentally friendly agriculture and direct marketing to find their economic sustainability. the second is based on autonomy and sustainability from the conventional agri-food system. it promotes interpersonal relationships, independence and a new rural lifestyle. according to niska (2012) these two dimensions are in some ways complementary: “while traditional peasantry and entrepreneurship are considered contradictory or conflicting frames, new peasantry and ecological entrepreneurship are remarkably compatible framings” (niska et al., 2012, p. 457). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 129 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory according to sesto censimento generale dell’agricoltura 2010, in italy the term neo-rurality is used to identify both. neo-rurality is the frame that collects different approaches which are changing rural areas on different levels. it calls for attention to the relation between environmental issues, rural crisis and territorial issues (ferraresi, 2013). neo-rural farmers try a new model that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, protects biodiversity and promotes local quality food. in fact, production of quality food is key for the activation of practices and community relationships within the horizon of agro-ecological values. in italy pioneers of alternative movements came from different backgrounds: radical left, ecologist movement and anti-conformist or alternative movements. also, the pioneering phase was characterised by a multiplicity of regional-level and often unconnected initiatives (brunori et al., 2013; fonte & cucchi, 2015). research design and methodology the data collection process is part of the rural hub research program4 which involved three regions in southern italy: campania, apulia and calabria. given the characteristics of the rural social innovation (rsi) phenomenon (see below in the article) as bottom-up brand based on narrative, our sample is partly based on the neo-rural farmers’ definition. data collection went through two steps: an exploratory study followed by in-depth interviews (cardano, 2004; 2011). 4 the rural hub project aimed to study and support the neo-rural farmers in developing a rural social innovation business model. funded by the italian ministry of education, universities and research, research programme was under scientific direction of prof. adam arvidsson university of milan. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 130 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory during the first phase, from march to june 2015, the survey on rsi mapped rural areas characteristics, in terms of innovative actors and neo-rural farmers in southern italy, reaching more than 180 case studies. in the second phase, in june september 2015, we focused on campania’s inner areas and traced their relation with more central areas. we interviewed 26 actors, selected from our sample on the basis of two dimensions: annual sales volume and percentage of trades/self-consumption. qualitative research took place in farms or during relevant events promoted by neo-rural farmers in campania as #campdigrano-2015 and foodstock-2015. from our results the birth of neo-rural organisations stretches between the end of the 1970s and 2015, and it includes firms and organisations that changed management during that time. in line with istat statistics (2016), the highest rate of birth is around 2005 and after, a date outlining the birth rate increase in the agricultural sector in southern italy; organisational form and firm size tendency to micro or small businesses (from 1 to 5 members), often a single trader and a good figure of informal groups, associations, and food networks (recognisable as forms of peer-to-peer organisations). from a qualitative point of view, interviews show our actors involved in a variety of activities, not only productive but also organisational and educational ones. they all act moving from similar ethical considerations, differences have been found mostly in actors’ relation with market, distinguishable in two types: moderates who seek to create explicitly a new niche of market, and radicals who are ideally hostile to market and aim to introduce barter and other forms of exchange. multifunctional agriculture is key for neo-rural organisations (huylenbroeck & durand, 2003). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 131 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory figure 1 inner areas in campania region source: burc, rapporto di istruttoria (2014). bottom-up innovation, from land to practices to policies academic interest in the critiques of the negative impacts of the agrifood business economy, and on the alternative agri-food movements (aams) embraces farmers’ markets (trobe, 2011), community supported agriculture (brown & miller, 2008), food security (pinstrup-andersen, 2009), food sovereignty (patel, 2009), aafns (higgins et al., 2008), local food (starr, 2010). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 132 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory exponents of neo-rural economy, as part of aams, have promoted participation in alternative infrastructures contrasting the conventional market system, developing specific organisational forms, negotiating new forms of collaborative economy (kostakis & bauwens, 2014). rural social innovation in public opinion and in both us and european literatures (dupuois & goodman, 2005) globalization of agri-food system is conceived as the expression of the logic of capitalism in production and consumption of food, whereas localism is represented as the resistance place where food is embedded in local context. such dualistic perspective does not explain the complexity of the relation between the two. furthermore, the boundaries between local and global systems are blurred, since some alternative movements are becoming conventionalized and co-opted (friedland, 2008), and in the end “in real life local and global do not always belong to separate settings or domains” (brunori et al., 2016, p. 17). on one side the neo-rural farmers challenge the sustainability failures of the industrial food systems proposing alternative business and organisational models, on the other side they are intertwined with the global system competing in conventional markets with “local typical food”. relation between these two sides has often encountered radicalism, especially in rural phenomena, claiming localism as a normative solution to globalization. indeed, according to dupuis and goodman (2005), localism can reveal on one hand defensive politics rather than a strong turn-toquality based on organic and ecological production, and on the other hand the production of alternative standards that are vulnerable to corporate cooptation. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 133 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory neo-rural farmers adopting a more radical approach develop forms of innovation and cooperation between producers and consumers, that are bottom-up practices leading to active social innovation. our results are in line with bock (2012) highlighting correspondence between social innovation practices and rural social innovation process. three main interpretations of social innovation are distinguished: social mechanisms, social responsibility, and innovation of society. social mechanisms. innovation takes place within specific social and cultural contexts, innovations are, hence, socially, culturally and territorially embedded (fløysand & jacobsen, 2011). here, we consider the aspect of collective and creative learning which is no longer structured as a linear transfer, but becomes a shared, social and circular process, in which the combination of different sources and types of knowledge creates something new (oreszczyn et al., 2010). in this sense the rural social innovation is built on networking and communication among different actors and takes place during markets, conferences, private meetings and festivals. social responsibility. it includes the effect of innovation on society: calling upon businesses to invest in society as part of their corporate responsibility for ‘people and planet’ and not only ‘profit’ (phills et al., 2008), including processes of co-design or co-construction and collaboration with society. in our case, it happens by replacing the ‘bio-economical’, productivist modernisation paradigm with a system in which agriculture is place-based and relocated into ‘the regional and local systems of ecological, economic and community development’ (marsden, 2012, p.140). farmers no longer aim to maximise production minimising costs, but develop new products and services, such as local, high quality food, nature conservation as well as rural tourism and green care (roep & wiskerke, 2004). innovation of society. it is a prerequisite for solving pertinent problems such as discrimination, poverty or pollution (gibsonijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 134 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory graham & roelvink, 2009) regarding the socio-economic system and seeking to meet unmet public needs, creating public value where markets and common socio-economic policies have failed (phills et al., 2008). social innovation, hence, refers to society as the arena where change takes place, as well as the need for society to change. levels of action are intertwining at such point that actors feel the social and political relevance of their rural commitment, they talk as a community, as a radical producer states in an interview: “i’m talking using ‘us’ because for most producers this point is very clear. our effort makes sense because it converges in this logic. you can survive selling to consumers and building on social and political action towards the future” (radical producer 2, june 2015). four questions and neo-rural trajectories the environmental question the environmental crisis was the first dimension questioned by alternative social movements in the early 1960s. soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, emerging human health problems caused by pollution and contaminated food and fertilisers use, were some of the critiques to the unquestioning acceptance of industrial agriculture. such critiques are often reported by producers, one interviewee states: “now in italy the lawns are vanished, the farmers make hay with only one type of grass, there are no more herbs, there is no more biodiversity, they destroyed all zootechnics, there is only corn and some clover” (moderate producer, july 2015). while modernisation converted the land into a commodity and transformed it in guarantee for the credit operations, agroecology perspective (gliessman, 2014) views agriculture in terms of ecosystem where farming and nature contribute to create a sustainable and regenerative environmental system. it consists in the reijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 135 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory appropriation of ancestral peasant knowledge, based on a reflexive process of re-discovery of pre-capitalist traditions and productive techniques. such perspective is shared by neo-rurals, as the president of a radical organization reports in name of the collectivity: “we must return to be autonomous, we must recover traditions that were lost or contaminated by a “no-culture” (radical organization president, june 2015). then it represents a critical negotiation between traditional knowledge and modern ecological and natural sciences in a more sustainable relationship (snipstal, 2015). according to van der ploeg (2010) the beginning of the twenty-first century represents the turning point for a new reflection on how the land needs to be reconsidered and new ways in which the neo-rural farmers are reconstituting themselves. in other terms, land is now being considered as ecological capital. in the past, peasants had no choice in using their land as ecological capital. with the development of gr paradigm and the global agrifood system, farmers had the possibilities to use their land in a commodity perspective. today the use of the land as ecological capital reflects agency and represents a conscious choice. it also represents the possibility to reconstruct the rural local knowledge. the land as ecological capital contributes to a relative autonomy especially in the input farming (seeds, water, etc.) but it is not possible to consider it in a completely oppositional relationship with the conventional system. the agrarian question the prominent scholar and activist in alter-globalization movement vandana shiva (2016) argues that the gr and the global agri-food business have had undesirable impacts on lives of the most of rural peoples. from the uncritical adoption and diffusion of the dominant ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 136 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory model, grounded on functionalist theoretical assumptions, two types of crisis emerge: the ecological one, posed by the destruction of natural resources like water, land, forest and all ecological biodiversity, and the cultural and ethnic one, which implies the erosion of social and cultural capitals and local knowledge. thus the structure of modern agriculture affects in a negative way the quality of life of farmers and rural communities. the discourse on life conditions of peasantries emerged in the beginning of the 1970s with a critical assessment proposed by rural sociologists (havens & flinn, 1975). they questioned how development became a strategy to combat scarcity and dominate nature, generating material abundance in both rural and urban areas. then new rural sociology (newby, 1983) focused especially on political economic system and how the state and corporations maintain their control on little farmers. in countering the political-economic power of the conventional industrial system, small farmers need to create a space to promote initiatives based on local food cultures and food democracy practices (hassanein, 2003). in line with this approach, neo-rurals propose alternatives to long distribution chains, as explained by the president of an organization: “we were interested in making an alternative to supermarket foods and we started with the idea of fair trade (...) we wanted to develop an economic activity based on our territory and on healthier products” (moderate organization president, june 2015). re-localisation of the agri-food system can create social and economic benefits for farmers and their communities. indeed, the sustainable rural development relates to the innovation of socioeconomic systems, the aim to meet unmet public needs and to create public value where markets and other socio-economic policies have failed (phills et al., 2008). the importance of coherence between policies and practices, knowledge and production, is at the core of rural development in terms of agrarian question: ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 137 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory according to van der ploeg (2010) the main question is whether agricultural production is to be understood as a commodity system or as a specific form of social and economic practices. within the second dimension the relationship between local ecosystem and agricultural practice takes a variety of forms. thus aams represent the possibilities to create a diverse agricultural ecosystem based on a trust relationship among actors along the value chains, and sustainable economic and social practices based on long-term rural development. the food question there is a growing concern on food quality, health of consumers and farmers, poor nutrition, obesity and food safety. that shift from production to consumption studies is represented by the ‘quality turn’ in agri-food studies (goodman, 2003). this perspective focuses on the re-localisation of local food system toward a direct relationship between producers and consumers, and contance states that the quality turn reveals the dissatisfaction with the “impersonal ‘industrial food world’ and a concerted turn to the ‘interpersonal food world’ where quality conventions embed trust and tradition within a moral economy of place and provenance” (constance et al., 2014, p. 2). following a food regime perspective, “food from somewhere” builds on the notion of food sovereignty and the processes of re-localisation, challenging the “food from nowhere” (campbell, 2009) which is expression of a neo-liberal food system (pechlaner & otero, 2008). from the nutritional regime perspective, the agri-food system is based on two dimensions: it produces unhealthy food for masses through the global commodity chains; it gives quality-certified healthy food for the elites (dixon, 2009). the active political role of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 138 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory consumers forces the agri-food system toward the production of health and quality foods, instead of commodity foods. therefore, collaboration between consumers and producers is needed, as a farmer explains: “local markets are organised by consumers themselves. (…) thus consumers do logistics, find a place. while we care of production and alternative certifications” (radical producer 2, june 2015) political consumerism (stolle et al., 2015) investigates the use of the market for ethical, political and environmental reasons (sassatelli, 2015). security is also a key aspect: setting standards for supervision is a primary means by which public and private participants (standard makers) become new influencers in the market (bain et al., 2005, p. 71). indeed, certifications are emerging as mechanisms through which institutional and private actors (governments and alternative movements) explore new possibilities to trace the food production and its commercialisation along the value chain. in europe, eu policies set standards on production and labels, defined in the common agricultural policy (cap) reform in 1992. at the same time, bottom-up movements help developing knowledge and opening new frontiers, challenging old establishments. in fact, if in classical economics price was the main management form to set quality, convention theory argues (eymard-duvernay, 1989) that price works only if there is no radical uncertainty about quality, and, we add, if consumers’ action is not involved in the producing process. when price alone cannot evaluate quality, actors set up conventions linked to other “forms of coordination” (ponte & gibbon, 2009). the emancipatory question ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 139 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory globalisation of agriculture creates a race to the bottom that exposes farmers to global pressures, implying less social safety, global labour regimes and south/north migrations (rudra, 2008). the extensive literature on these topics explores the relation among gr's impacts on economic growth, food self-sufficiency, poverty, environmental sustainability and gender inequality. the emancipatory question focuses on the relation among agri-food system, social justice and food sovereignty. framing political economy, it remarks the role of the global agri-food system as an instrument for the benefit of rich countries over the poor people, and enquires how industrial agriculture privileges short-term profits over long-term sustainability, through externalisation of the negative impacts on ecological, economic and social dimensions (magdoff et al., 2000), like reducing production costs through legal or illegal recruitment of cheap seasonal labour (gertel & sippel, 2014). collective political action is necessary to counter the hegemony of the conventional system (mcmichael, 2014). even market-based aams rarely address the social inequality issues. “the discourse on collective rights and entitlements of citizens protected by the state is replaced by neoliberal arguments about individual responsibility and choice in the market.” (constance et al., 2014, p. 27). the case of fair trade (nicholls, 2005) represents a way in which profits are used to support small producers, it is not challenging directly the conventional system but creates a new ethical space for informed consumers and new sales opportunities for small farmers (shreck, 2005). other experiences, as in the case of la via campesina in honduras (martinez-torres & rosset, 2010), challenge globalisation through protests and creating an agri-food self-sufficiency system using local knowledge and agro-ecological principles. neo-rurals give a new value to ancient knowledge and traditions, as a farmer explains: “now capitalist modernisation has lost the sacred aura and there is ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 140 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory more space for the pre-capitalist rural pride. it may be a value that makes you look forward to experiment alternative models” (radical producer, july 2015). the global peasant’s and human rights movements created the “food sovereignty” concept, which is, according to desmarais (2007), an alternative conception of modernity, contrasting “food safety” which excludes the social justice component. food security promotes a “second green revolution” based on genetic and high-tech technologies commodity paradigm, solving the food supply problem through sustainable intensification (tilman et al., 2011) of agriculture, but “avoided discussing the social control of the food system” (patel, 2009, p. 665). meanwhile, food sovereignty is based on agro-ecological principles, local knowledge systems and social justice. “neo-rural” as brand of quality in this study we also see how “neo-rurality” as a narrative-based brand collects various ideals, values and marketing behaviours, representing different economic actors in a common narrative. the concept of “brand” includes a set of marketing and communication methods that help to distinguish a company or any productive subject from competitors, and to create a lasting impression in the minds of customers. originally brands referred to producers, as a trademark or a “maker’s mark” that worked to guarantee quality or to give an identity. now the brand, or the “brand image”, refers also to the significance that commodities acquired in the minds of consumers (arvidsson, 2005). we look at brand through practices that make it real. in our case study, we found that material practices of caring for the earth and products, as well as immaterial ones like a reinvented imaginary ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 141 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory linked to a collective ancestral imaginary, involve people to commit on different levels (productive, consumerist, narrative). practices connect behaviours, performances, and representations through a sharing of procedures, understanding and engagement (shau & muniz, 2009). first, procedures are explicit rules, principles, precepts, and instructions called “discursive knowledge”; second, understanding the knowledge of what to say and do, skills and projects, or know-how (i.e., tacit cultural templates for understanding and action); and third, engagements are ends and purposes that are emotionally charged insofar as people are committed to them (duguid, 2005; warde, 2005). the brand of “neo-rurality” creates a sense of belonging, through procedures, understanding and engagement, through practices of resources sharing and their valorisation. we assert that an emergent sense of membership and identity arises from the trajectory, or the development of practices that foster the exchange of collectively defined and valorised resources. this is consistent with prior work on communities of practice (wenger, 1998). the neo-rurality represents a meta-brand (carmagnola, 2017) which is constructed around both the ethical conception of market relationships and the collective elaboration of a cultural frame focused on local typical food. carmagnola (2017), speaking of made in italy brand, argues that identity and distinctive characteristics of a collective meta-brand have an extraordinary economic value, which is anchored on the continuous narrative production around it. indeed, bonetti (2004) argues that communication management in a coordinate way among economic actors is a key in meta-brand. instead, in the case of neo-rural farmers meta-branding is not a coordinated activity and each farmer contributes autonomously to build up and aggregate characteristics inside the neo-rurality frame. conclusion ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 142 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory our study highlights innovation in the inner areas of campania through a focus on neo-rural changes and challenges. the promotion of local quality food and of cultural and environmental resources available are key factors for rural social innovation (bock, 2012). in fact, neo-rurals are innovators for their approach to collective and shared knowledge, responsibility for environment, and the look at the planet as an arena where social change takes place. their challenge to the conventional food system fit into interstices, or around margins (maye et al., 2007). as a first result, this study suggests that not-productive participants are part of the neo-rural phenomenon too, as supporters in distribution, information and consumption aams. the “back-to-theland” concept must be rethought in light of new technologies, and new social, cultural and economic practices that connect inland people with urban areas. as a second result, innovation influences inner areas introducing technologies and organisational forms that are borrowed from the collaborative peer production economy, and affects social and cultural dimensions. it contributes to a redefinition of economic value and to set off higher standards of quality and authenticity of local food. third, the transformation takes place thanks to bottom-up practices which develop rural social innovation processes in inner areas. in this sense neo-rurals not only oppose the conventional system but actively try to overcome distortions of that model through innovative practices, recalling constance’s four analytics questions on environment, food, soil and emancipation: valorisation of biodiversity as ecological capital, self-provisioning to reduce external input in the agricultural productive process, actively constructed distance from global agri-food business, dynamic co-production with nature and among humans, resistance as rediscovery of pre-capitalist rural value ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 143 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory and the creation of extended networks through aafs and new niche marketplaces (van der ploeg, 2010). in scientific literature the neo-rural farmers are named in several ways, always referring to people passing to agriculture as vocation, often migrating from urban areas to the countryside. as emerged during our interviews, boundaries between those strictly neo-rural farmers and those who are not: the disintermediated market, that bridges the gap between producers and consumers, and new organisational forms based on peer-to-peer architectures blur the borders of categorisation. future development trajectories move towards the re-appropriation of material, cultural and social factors in the production of high-quality local food. indeed, the neo-rural economy is based on a novel combination of material and immaterial values. they communicate this value in a different way. neo-rurality is a brand through which they construct an ethical and disintermediated approach to 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(2005). consumption and theories of practice. journal of consumer culture, 5(2), 131-153. doi: 10.1177/1469540505053090. wenger, e., (1998). communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. cambridge: cambridge university press. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 152 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0192512105053784 http://www.pnas.org/content/108/50/20260.abstract https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2006.09.010 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1470-6431.2001.00171.x/full http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree_interne_eng.pdf http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree_interne_eng.pdf http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/servizi/materiali_uval/documenti/muval_31_aree_interne_eng.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03066150903498721 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2f1469540505053090 orria, luise innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory short authors’ biography: brigida orria is phd student in economic sociology and labor studies, at university of milan. her research interests are in rurality, innovation and cultural consumption. vincenzo luise is phd student in sociology and methodology, at university of milan. his research interests are in start-ups, innovation and new food economy. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 153 innovation in rural development: “neo-rural” farmers branding local quality of food and territory ijpp issn: 2239-267x coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. maria giulia pezzi post-doctoral research fellow, gran sasso science institute viale francesco crispi 7, 67100 l‘aquila, italy – giulia.pezzi@gssi.it giulia urso post-doctoral research fellow, gran sasso science institute viale francesco crispi 7, 67100 l‘aquila, italy – giulia.urso@gssi.it keywords: regional resilience; peripherality and peripheralization; community agency; local entrepreneurship; tourism in peripheral areas abstract the aim of this special issue is to present examples of how territories and regions cope with peripherality, in both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective, particularly relying on case studies that highlight the role of local agency in the development strategies of peripheral areas. in doing so, it will consider the opportunities and the constraints of peripherality and peripheralization, and the ways in which they can possibly increase or hinder the ability of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 1 mailto:giulia.urso@gssi.it pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. peripheral areas to be resilient to structural change. following a theoretical overview on the current debate on the policy implications of focusing the attention on local agency in relation to local development, this special issue will present some cases where efforts in dealing with peripherality and/or process of peripheralization are at stake. it will be evidenced that analyzing the spontaneous or induced (by a supra-local policy) local responsse is proving to be particularly challenging, as well as interesting, as it implies the application of the notion of resilience and all its theoretical (explanatory) and practical (policy) potential. the editorial will conclude by providing suggestions for future directions in research and in policy making strategies aimed at overcoming the issues brought by processes of marginalization. introduction peripherality and peripheralization are not synonyms – the former is a condition the latter is a process – but they often go along. while talking about peripherality often involves considering attributes such as geographic remoteness, out-migration, population ageing and weak economies (see pezzi & urso, 2016), conceptualising peripheralization goes beyond persistent population decline and encompasses parallel socio-economic or political processes, such as political or economic dependency (weck & beißwenger, 2014). to date, what the actual potentials and limits of endogenous strategies to cope with peripheralization are is still a debated issue (kühn, 2015). this entails investigating the constraints but also the opportunities of peripheral areas for dealing with peripherality overcoming or avoiding peripheralization. this means, in a word, looking at their resilience to structural change. the search for new paths to resilience in these regions is an intriguing research topic, from a transdisciplinary and a policyoriented perspective. investigating how places adapt to these adverse, enduring conditions will help building knowledge in a broad range of fields of study providing insights on the diversity ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 2 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. and variety of this multifaceted process, by addressing questions of what kind of resilience these areas can cultivate and by investigating the role played by institutions in it (pike, dawley, & tomaney, 2010). lacking of innovation and agentic capabilities – that is, the loss of agency of social actors and institutions (beetz, 2008) – are considered as defining features of peripheralization processes. as stated by pfoser (2017, p. 12) “emphasising local agency in relation to peripheralisation processes thus should not mean to overemphasise or even romanticise the practices of the peripheral communities”, but rather to achieve a complex and grounded picture through which better interpret the efforts made by peripheral communities in resisting marginalization. in this respect, it is worth noting that existing research has highlighted that some places have attempted to, and in some cases succeeded in, turn(ing) their peripherality into a resource (ibidem). an interesting question is therefore: do policies at all scales help these territories exert their agency, and if yes in what ways? and also, what visions of the present and future are presented in them? the ambition of this special issue is to enrich the theoretical and empirical literature on these topics, proposing papers which can help shed light on development policies and practices in peripheral areas, unfolding further research avenues: practical methodologies to define and delimit peripheral areas and the policies addressing them; the implementation of essential services in peripheral areas as a driver for development; tourism trajectories in peripheral areas, heritage-making practices and local agency; entrepreneurship and agency in relation to local productions, agriculture and leisure. different community-level/led and policy reactions to peripherality or to the process of peripheralization are questioned and related to aspects of specific local settings within this special issue. they are also addressed in this editorial: section one deals with a theorethical overview of the current debate on the future pathways of peripheral ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 3 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. areas. section two presents two fields in which the efforts of coping with peripherality and/or processes of peripheralization are at stake. coping with peripherality in theory large urban agglomerations have always been regarded by both scholars and policy-makers as the engines of economic development (world bank, 2009). this belief has informed supranational and national policies within the european context during the last decades (urso, 2016). against this academic and policy interest in the nodes of today’s globalized economy, the question of what happens to the areas “in-between” (weck & beißwenger, 2014) is increasingly pivotal by now. as the territorial agenda of the european union 2020 (territorial agenda of the european union 2020, 2011, p. 5) points out: “ageing and depopulation will bring about changes in many regions including rural and peripheral regions and lead to severe impacts for social and territorial cohesion, public service provision, labour market and housing.” it becomes apparent that due to economic downturn and demographic trends (with a progressive population decline) some places face significant challenges that pose particular threats to their future economic potential. to name but a few: limited access to services of general interest (coupled by a deterioration in their quality) and to job and education opportunities; migratory flows and more specifically a selective out-migration with young and qualified people moving to bigger cities; an over-representation of elder population groups, and accordingly the need for appropriate infrastructure and services (weck & beißwenger, 2014); reduced chances of market access of local actors; accessibility problems in terms of both transport and communication systems (digital divide). intermediate and peripheral areas are thus left in a precarious position: ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 4 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. “they neither have the internal critical mass nor the capacity to generate external contacts and networks to compete with core areas. in these circumstances, a number of theories, from endogenous growth to the new economic geography, predict the possibility of their prolonged decay (rodríguez-pose & fitjar, 2013, pp.355-356).” according to rodríguez-pose and fitjar (ibidem, p. 358), the alternatives at the disposal of low-density areas are dwindling: “they are basically left with two options. the first option is to do nothing, which would, inevitably, lead to decay and, perhaps, an eventual disappearance, while the second would imply a fight for survival, without any guarantee of succeeding.” the “do nothing” option – that means relying on spread or trickledown effects from urban cores to neighboring areas – has shown its fallacy leading to inevitable decay in the long run. the alternative to vanishing for intermediate and peripheral areas is resisting by trying to create sufficient economic dynamism so as to ensure their viability. this “fight for survival” option is producing different outcomes. some peripheral areas in europe appear to have developed effective local strategies to deal with the disadvantages of marginal location, constraints on public spending and decrease in employment in traditional natural resource-based industries or agriculture in order to retain population or create wealth (bryden & munro, 2000), while some other seem to be locked in decline1. seeking to understand the factors affecting the ability of a place to react to endogenous and continuous (slow burns) or exogenous and discrete (shocks) disturbances inevitably begs questions about what influences the endogenous development of a region and, thus, the 1 see bryden and munro (2000) for a comparative study on pairs of localities (successful vs. unsuccessful rural areas) in scotland and other european countries. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 5 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. formulation of policy and governance structures that can enable and facilitate change. hence, scientific reflection on local and regional development has recently broadened to encompass what increasingly appeared to be a missing puzzle tile within the analytical framework: the issue of resilience of territorial systems in responding to a diverse array of changes. from an evolutionary perspective (boschma, 2015; simmie & martin, 2010), resilience is conceptualized not just as the ability of a region to accommodate shocks, but extends it to its long-term capacity to reconfigure its socio-economic structure. one of the most intriguing questions is then why some places manage to renew themselves, whereas others remain “locked into” in a negative trajectory of economic development. this approach is particularly relevant when dealing with peripheral areas, that experience in most cases either a functional, cognitive or political lock-in (grabher, 1993). such places have faced enduring challenges involving long-term processes (i.e. deindustrialization, transition towards service-dominated economies, depopulation, marginalization), in other words a prolonged disturbance – as opposed to a second kind of disturbance based on a temporal distinction: shocks (like natural disasters) – that is referred to as “slow burn” (pike et al., 2010). as pendall, foster, and cowell (2010) note, slow burns or slow-moving crises are likely to erode regional adaptability capacity and tend to be corrosive of regional unity. in contrast with equilibrium-based approaches – that failed to provide convincing explanations and remedies for the persistent economic and social concerns of these areas – the evolutionary perspective can better capture the geographical diversity, variety and unevenness of resilience of places (pike et al., 2010). moreover, the emphasis that the geographical interpretation of the concepts of adaptation and adaptability puts on agents, mechanisms and sites fills a gap left empty by the existing equilibrium-based work: the issue of social agency. as stressed by pike et al. (ibidem, p. 6), “who or what is adapting or being adapted foregrounds the agency of actors and their relationships to structures.” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 6 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. following rodríguez-pose and fitjar (2013) on the policy measures implemented to combat the decay of peripheral areas what emerges is that the main solution being proposed in peripheral areas – i.e. nurturing interaction at close quarters through the promotion of local agglomeration (buzz option) – may yield limited results, as it would stifle the circulation of new knowledge and lead to or make places persist in lock-in. by contrast, the promotion of interaction outside the geographical, cognitive, social and institutional proximity (pipeline option) – that has been recognized valuable for innovation if it is not “too much” (boschma, 2005) – was contemplated more rarely, but is potentially more likely to succeed in generating interactive learning and in facilitating the generation, diffusion and absorption of innovation. for low-density and low-accessibility areas this is a crucial issue: in what may be relatively small, remote, relatively isolated environments the lack of circulation of new knowledge is likely to lead to institutional lock-in and smother productivity and growth. hence, as rodríguez-pose & fitjar point out (2013, p.356), “promoting interaction of local economic agents with agents well beyond the borders of the community, city or region may be a more viable, if not always entirely secure, way of maintaining and enhancing the dynamism of intermediate and peripheral areas.” the continuous “injection” of new knowledge into the system, through the creation of new networks, allowing local actors’ interactive learning, is deemed as essential for the survival of inner areas where the same information tends to “stagnate” in the absence of an intervention, be it internal (i.e. the initiative of a schumpeterian entrepreneur) or external (i.e. a policy). as stated by bryden and munro (2000), successful strategies in peripheral areas essentially involve enhancing and commercializing local “non-mobile” or “less mobile” (often intangible) assets as a way of capturing new markets. less tangible factors, that better account for differences between localities in similar starting ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 7 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. conditions – include local community and culture, institutional performance, networks and quality of life. more importantly, “following such strategies, local actors make full use of both internal and external networks and markets, and forge new relationships with these. the interesting issues lie around the pairs: mobile and immobile; tangible and intangible; local and global (ibidem, p. 111).” according to the authors, the explanation behind the differential in the performance of peripheral areas – that can be connected to the issue of resilience and cannot be explained either by traditional theories (core-periphery or neo-classical) nor by the ones produced within the new economic geography – lies to some extent in local capacities to develop and exploit less mobile assets, in the form of economic, social, cultural and environmental capital, as well as the synergies between these assets, and the ways in which external networks and associations are used to find new markets and resources. another suggestion put forward by the same scholars concerns the role of entrepreneurship, that we will discuss in the next paragraph: “differential economic performance between ‘localities’ is closely related to the actions of ‘entrepreneurs’. such actions can be individual or self-interested and/or collective or social.” (ibidem, p. 113). the already found complementarity between “internal”/“external” applies in this case as well. entrepreneurs “function” within a place also going beyond it, acting trans-locally, at regional, national, supra-national and global scales. however, at the local level, cultural factors (risk taking behaviours, trust, attitudes to cooperate and openness to novelty) will matter. in this respect, it is worth noting that some of the less tangible explanatory factors underpinning the differential performance of peripheral areas are closely linked to the notion of social capital (see next paragraph). a chance for the entrepreneurial activity in these territories often stems from the capability of putting in value public or quasi-public – mostly immobile – goods which are deeply embedded in those places, including the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 8 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. environment, cultural heritage, landscape, and exploiting their untapped potential. in this context, tourism, as also found in literature, frequently remains the preferred development option for the economic and social regeneration of rural communities (briedenhann & wickens, 2004), being identified as a catalyst to stimulate economic growth. the great challenge for peripheral areas relies on the fact that the supply of potential entrepreneurs confronting the threats and take advantage of the opportunities available in these localities is by no means guaranteed. this is because “those who could reasonably have been expected to perform the entrepreneurial function may well have been the first to seek to outmigrate to more inviting urban areas. thus the key economic challenge for rural areas is how can a small number of entrepreneurial individuals adjust to and exploit the characteristics of their external environment (labrianidis, 2006, p. 4).” moreover, peripheral regions are seen as lacking in favorable elements and conditions for an innovative milieu to emerge due to the presence of several barriers to innovation. this is perceived as limiting or even hindering the development of these regions (doloreux & dionne, 2008). coping with peripherality in practice policies and practices the previous paragraph has shown whether and how peripheral areas can cope with peripherality and peripheralization, from a theoretical perspective that relies on regional resilience as the conceptual framework that allows to understand the possible trajectories of local development: either “do nothing” and be destined to decay, depopulation and economic marginality, or “fight for survival” by attempting to turn the disadvantages of peripherality into the new assets of a desired inversion of the current negative trends. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 9 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. policy-wise, criticism of the use of city-centric discourses of development which seem to reiterate dependency over peripheries has given rise to a long debate over participation and compliance of territories to state control and top-down interventions (see abram, 1998; shore & wright, 2011), given that often “policy decisions have been taken at the core which are intended to reduce the disadvantage felt at the periphery.” (botterill et al., 2000, p. 23). in an attempt to provide examples of how the dialectic between existing policies and emerging community-based practices can give rise to original and innovative ways of coping with peripherality, this section presents two fields in which the issue is proving to be particularly relevant: entrepreneurship and tourism. local entrepreneurship analysing the role of the entrepreneur in regional development requires the acknowledgment of two macro perspectives respectively on the economic and on the social significance of entrepreneurship in peripheral areas. in the first case, oversimplifying for the sake of brevity, entrepreneurial behaviour is seen as economically motivated, as the result of specific structural conditions and as typical of a specific mind-set. in this sense, two systems of entrepreneurship can be distinguished: “one driven by opportunity and innovation and associated with economic growth […] and one driven by necessity” (rosa & caulkins, 2013, pp. 108-109). regarding the social significance of entrepreneurship, in a comparative study on how peripheries are perceived in spain and germany, pfeilstetter (2013) evidenced that “the entrepreneur has become one of the most popular key players responsible for socioeconomic change in small territories” (ibidem, p. 46). he follows the idea that a strictly qualitative assessment of entrepreneurship only shows one side of the coin, and therefore a mixed methodology approach to the study of the phenomenon would add up to the understanding of if and how entrepreneurship can be relevant for economic development in peripheral areas, stating that i.e. “from a socio-anthropological point of view, human motivation in general and ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 10 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. entrepreneurial behaviour in particular cannot be explained only by rational economic calculation or by psychological variables” (ibidem, p. 47). indeed, when focusing on community-based regional development, it is possible to witness an accent on factors which are not specifically economic, but that rather rely “on the idea of local societies, which constitute a microcosm of kinship, friendship, pertinence to a cultural community based on corporal and spatial proximity in neighbourhoods, quarters, districts, towns, villages, etc.” (ibidem, p. 48). the study of entrepreneurship in peripheral areas, moreover, requires to pose the attention on two aspects that highly impact on local development: family firms and in-migration. pfeilstetter identifies family projects as one of the conditions that facilitate entrepreneurship in peripheral areas, defining them as “formed and sustained by a group of people who are related through economic ties and often associated with one or two households, for example a family business” (ibidem, p. 53), recognizing in the female entrepreneur one of the core figures of family entrepreneurship, usually emerging as a consequence of maternity and the search for an occupation that is compatible for family life. according to the author such forms of entrepreneurship are usually not perceived a businessrelated, but actually as a strategy for subsistence. the role of immigrants is not less multifaceted, as indicated by labrianidis (2006) and demonstrated by caulkin’s (1992) attempt to profile figures with high entrepreneurial potential, though actually perceived as ‘unexpected entrepreneurs’ in wales and northeast england: “the ‘returning native son’ left the region for education and employment before returning to the natal region to start up a firm; the ‘life-style immigrant’ usually from the english southeast, wanted a less stressful, more rural way of life in wales or scotland; and the ‘entrepreneurial immigrant’ started up businesses in peripheral regions primarily for economic advantages, including lower labor costs and enhanced tax benefits (rosa & caulkins, 2013, p. 110).” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 11 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. understanding the role of family enterprises and of immigrants in local development could add up to the already extensive research on local development strategies and their possible overlapping with public policies, particularly in community and place-based approaches. tourism geographer g. wall (hall, harrison, weaver, & wall, 2013) has analysed the conceptualisation of the core-periphery tie in relation to tourism, through the consideration of how tourism impacts on local systems, concluding that: “it is not yet clear whether and in what form development in peripheral areas can be initiated successfully through tourism, to what extent tourism initially uses infrastructures developed by and for other sectors, and what these things might mean for development policies (ibidem, p. 86).” while several analyses (i.e. brown & hall, 2000b; chaperon & bramwell, 2013; christaller, 1963; moscardo, 2005; wanhill, 1997) evidenced that tourism seems to be particularly appealing as a viable development strategy in peripheral areas, both from a bottom-up and a top-down perspective, it is worth to take into consideration brown and hall’s (2000a) suggestion regarding the existence of two paradoxes linked with peripheral tourism destinations: 1) those attributes of peripherality which are normally perceived as negative by locals and by policy makers (ie. weak economies based on natural resources, their location away from major transport routes, low levels of population, etc.) can be turned into opportunities and assets, to the extent that “it is the very symptoms of peripherality that now suggest an antidote to the economic and social problem it causes” (ibidem, p. 3); 2) if tourism in peripheral destinations begins to prosper, they may be losing that peculiar character that encouraged their success and be considered “too touristy” (ibidem, pp. 4-5). actively involving the local community in the development and management of the tourism market seems therefore the only way to create a development tool that ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 12 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. serves as an element of diversification from other sectors of the local economy which are currently in retreat, in opposition to considering tourism as the easiest way to solve the problems usually attached to peripherality. in the wake of such premises, a number of studies has been dedicated to demonstrate that local actors are not necessarily passive in development strategies that involve the creation (or the implementation) of a tourism market in peripheral areas, and that their agency is pivotal to the tourism experience (see i.e. chaperon & bramwell, 2013). indeed, while on the one hand a certain degree of compliance to national development plans is necessary, on the other, tourism development strategies require a participative approach by the citizens (abram, 1998). in the case of tourism in peripheral/rural areas, it is therefore often necessary to turn from considering these places as geographically marginal territories that have been shaped through the years by human activities such as agriculture and pastoralism, to seeing them as “tourismscapes”, a term that “refers to the genesis of a complex of interactions between people, place, organisations, objects, all being or becoming connected in tourism related actor-network” (jansenverbeke, 2009, p. 935), although “the dilemma between freezing landscapes of the past […] and injecting new economic activities cannot be easily solved” (ibidem, p. 936). discussing the possible development paths through tourism in peripheral areas entails taking into consideration the possibilities arising from local agency and entrepreneurship, particularly in relation to heritage making (heritagisation) processes, as for example evidenced by pezzi’s (2017) study on the positive effects brought in the italian apennines by bottom-up heritage regeneration strategies. in her analysis of historical re-enactments, the author highlights that “such happenings can help develop a kind of cultural tourism based on the re-enactment of historical events and feasts, through authentic, or at least verisimilar, experiences, performances and participation, the repetition of which over the years contributes in legitimating such events on the basis that a tradition that has been (re)-invented becomes institutionalized. additionally, such events provide the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 13 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. tourists with the illusion of being able to glimpse into these areas’ back stages” (ibidem, p. 16). on the other hand, heritage regeneration reinforces the locals’ sense of belonging and reinforces collective identities, serving as a trigger for the creation, or maintenance, of high degrees of social capital based on locality. heritage-making processes and local agency to fully understand what heritagisation actually involves, and why it is relevant for development in peripheral areas, it is necessary to define how it is understood in relation to tourism. heritage-making, or heritagistation, has often been considered negatively due to being “accused” of commoditizing the local culture in terms of tourism fruition, leaving little space for local actors going hand in hand with tourismification a term that refers to “a socioeconomic and socio-cultural process by which society and its environment have been turned into spectacles, attractions, playgrounds, and consumption sites” (wang, 2000, p. 197). and it is in a very similar perspective that hall, harrison, weaver & wall (2013) explored, for example, whether and how tourism can consume places, implying that tourism in peripheral areas can possibly lead to the “loss” of the periphery due to its progressive commodification. as in pfeilstetter’s (2015) study on heritage tourism in spain, “cultural heritage as an economic-touristic resource is promoted […] through national and international policies” (ibidem, p. 217). what can be easily implied then, following folklorist bendix (2009, p.255), is that “cultural heritage does not exist, it is made”, and therefore it could be maintained that power relationships are always a central matter in heritage-making (silva & santos, 2012). besides criticism, what is important to underline is that “the process of heritage recognition can be seen as an encounter between the ownership claims or social adherence at a local level […] and an exterior construction linked to the influence of a social demand for tourism […]. analysing how heritage is selected and identified involves measuring the catalyst mechanism that spark a ‘heritage realisation’ among local actors (bessière, 2013, p. 282).” ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 14 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. in this sense pfeilstetter (2015) introduces the hypothesis of linking the concept of entrepreneurship with heritage construction processes when dealing with development paths in peripheral areas, differentiating the image of the heritage entrepreneur “from the idea of the mediator between the community and the experts or the distinction between heritage holders and heritage practitioners” (ibidem, p. 218). identifying the figure of the heritage entrepreneur aims to focus on the agency of local formal and informal actors, on the legal institutionalisation of heritage and on the political and symbolical resources of heritage making (ibidem, p. 219), allowing to overcome the idea that local actors are more often an object of tourism and heritage policies, towards the recognition of what has been defined as heritagepreneurship (lundberg, ramírez-pasillas & högberg, 2016). contents of the special issue discussing the future development prospects of inner peripheries, interpreted as places affected by slow-burn processes (pendall et al. 2010; pike et al., 2010), we see value in prompting further crossdisciplinary research on the theme of local resilience, which helps investigating the strategies these peculiar territories put in place to fight for survival. this special issue explores both policy-level and community-based initiatives to cope with peripherality and/or peripheralization in the european context. in sum, all six papers deal on the one hand with the limits of peripheral areas that at this particular time seem to be at a crossroads and on the other hand on their potentialities, be they stimulated by a policy measure or by a local entrepreneurship in response to these constraints. the papers point out policies or measures that, directly or indirectly, aim to better the living conditions in these areas (hence, the emphasis also on the improvement of the provision of essential services) and to stimulate local agency. in this regard, the success stories coming from the local community that were investigated by some of the authors provide valuable insights on the importance of innovation practices and localijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 15 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. global linkages in remote areas. the special issue begins with copus, mantino, noguera’s reflection on inner peripheries, which explores the origin of the concept and proposes practical methods to delimit and map inner peripheries in europe, while considering the potential policy implications. garlandini and torricelli in their article propose an analysis based on the indicator of “centrality” aiming to identify the “central places” of a peripheral/marginal region. the indicator proposed is built on parameters that make it useful to point out the potentials of peripheral/marginal areas in terms of services development, making use of four geo-datasets to model, quantitatively and qualitatively, the supply of local services (thirty types of private and public services were taken into account and classified in five categories), the proximity of the population to services (mean linear distance), the availability of public transport (quality of stops) and the potential connectivity of residential buildings to the internet (quality of the internet connection). the contribution by andreoli and silvestri explores the tourism development potentiality in territories involved in the italian “national strategy for inner areas” (snai) on the one hand. on the other hand, it looks at the conditions to be secured so that tourism could act as a real engine for growth. starting from the analysis of available documents produced by the pilot areas involved in snai so far, the authors classified the different territories on the basis of their emphasis on the tourism issue. marongiu and cesaro, using an analytical approach, focus on the performance and profitability of some agricultural systems in inner areas compared with those located in the centres, analysing the economic results of the holdings surveyed through the italian farm accountancy data network (fadn) during the period 2012-2014 and belonging to four types of farming: cereals, oilseed and protection crops (cop), viticulture, fruit sector, livestock. the paper highlights the difference in the most important budgetary outcomes and in a set of selected income indicators related to production factors (land and labour). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 16 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. the article by orria and luise presents the case of “neo-rurality” in inner areas in the campania region (southern italy), based on fieldwork and interviews, undertaken in campania during 2015. the study points out that, through a collective narrative, farmers are constructing a “neo-rurality” brand of local quality food and promotion of the territory, proposing a novel combination of economic practices and value production in alternative agri-food movements. the contribution by pezzi focuses on how tourism is locally interpreted in peripheral areas, taking the cue from a wider research on the implementation of snai in the marche’s apennines under the hypothesis that the creation of a tourism market in such areas requires, on the one hand, the selection of few cultural traits perceived as more “charismatic”, often enhanced through dedicated events, and, on the other hand, the creation of new potential attractors in line with the expectations of prospective rural tourists. in doing so, the intersections between craft beer brewing and tourism are analysed through the description of the “alogastronomia” phenomenon. finally, lopez, guilarte and gonzález describe the tourism implication of the jacobean pilgrimage in finisterre (spain) highlighting how the territorial changes have transformed the landscape and contributed to its local socio-economic development. moreover, the article seeks to evaluate the role of intangible heritage in the social and landscape transformations in finisterre following its reconversion to a tourist destination through the use of statistical sources and document archives from the pilgrim’s office. concluding remarks in the face of such a complex “conundrum” as the one of the viability of peripheral areas in a globalized world, no real resolving and conclusive solution could be proposed. however, all papers implicitly or explicitly suggest interesting pathways to overcome or struggle with some of the limits to the development of these areas. the role of institutions is unquestionable. therefore, regional and local institutions should be helped in developing adaptive capacities so as to be better able to read, respond and promote adaptation or ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 17 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. adaptability to change (pike et al., 2010). yet it is also difficult to see how the agentic capacity of peripheral rural areas can be strengthened without policies targeted at bolstering and implementing latent resources, such as local entrepreneurship. in absence of policies dedicated to the development of social, cultural, economic and infrastructural conditions able to support entrepreneurship in peripheral rural areas, current observations show a consistent trend towards processes of further marginalization and decay. this is particularly true the case in those areas suffering from depopulation, especially due to the exodus of the younger segments of the population. thus policies to encourage entrepreneurship need to be closely tied to improvements in the physical and social infrastructure that will make these areas more attractive places to live and work (north & smallbone, 2006), in an attempt to overcome the conceptualization of the word being divided between cores and peripheries, with the latter depending from the former, constantly exercising an attraction power in terms of human and economic capital. future research perspectives should question the functionality 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(2016). polycentric development policies: a reflection on the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 22 pezzi, urso – coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. italian “national strategy for inner areas”. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 223c, 456–461. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.275 wang, n. (2000). tourism and modernity: a sociological analysis. oxford: pergamon press. wanhill, s. (1997). peripheral area tourism: a european perspective. progress in tourism and hospitality research, 3, 47–70. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1603(199703)3:1<47::aidpth38>3.0.co;2-f weck, s., beißwenger, s. (2014). coping with peripheralization: governance response in two german small cities. european planning studies, 22(10), 2156–2171. doi: 10.1080/09654313.2013.819839 world bank (2009). world development report 2009: reshaping economic geography, washington, dc: world bank. short author biography: maria giulia pezzi is a social anthropologist. she is a post-doctoral research fellow at gran sasso science institute, social sciences unit. her research interests include tourism ttudies, economic anthropology and local development. giulia urso is post-doctoral research fellow at gran sasso science institute, social sciences unit. her research interests include local development, rural-urban relationships, cultural events. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 23 coping with peripherality: local resilience between policies and practices. editorial note. ijpp issn: 2239-267x inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? andrew copus no r d r eg io , sto c k ho l m a n d t he j a mes h ut to n i n s tit ut e, ab er d e e n. b o x 1 6 5 8 , se -1 1 1 8 6 sto ck ho l m, s wed e n, a nd r e w. co p u s @ no r d r e gio . se francesco mantino c re a-p o l icie s a nd b io -e co no m y vi a p o 1 4 , 0 0 1 9 8 ro me , f r anc es co . ma nt i no @ cr ea. g o v. i t joan noguera i n sti t ute fo r l o cal de ve l o p me nt , u ni v er s it y o f va le ncia ser p i s 2 9 , 4 6 0 2 2 va le nc i a, j o an. no g uer a @ u v. e s keywords: inner peripherality; regional development; territorial cohesion; peripheralisation; cohesion policy abstract inner peripheries remain, in many ways, territorial enigmas. their geographical distribution is unknown, and the process through which they are formed is poorly understood. little is known about how their geographical distribution has evolved over time. from the point of view of policy action, there are few examples of dedicated schemes and programs to halt or ameliorate the deprivation processes by which some inner areas become lagging and peripheral. it is fair to say that the principles and practice of policy responses to halt or ameliorate their marginalisation are poorly developed. this paper explores the origin of the inner periphery concept, proposes practical methods to delimit and map inner peripheries in europe, and considers the potential policy implications. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 24 mailto:andrew.copus@nordregio.se mailto:joan.noguera@uv.es copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? introduction this paper considers the term “inner periphery” 1 , which has until recent years been relatively neglected in the regional development and planning literature. it attempts to answer the following questions: a) what exactly does it mean? b) can we identify and map inner peripheries in europe? c) what forms of policy intervention have been used or should be developed to address the needs of such areas? at face value, the two words “inner” and “periphery” seem to contradict each other; how can a place be both “on the edge” (peripheral) and “inner”? this can best be understood in the context of the fact that the original (spatial) meaning of the term “peripherality”, associated with the economic and social penalties faced by locations at a distance from the main “hubs” of economic activity in europe, has been joined by a range of “analogous” meanings, which are to do with socio-economic “marginality” in an a-spatial sense (kuhn 2015, p.368). this opens up the possibility that localities which are not geographically remote may nevertheless constitute “peripheries” in terms of their relationship with global economic circuits and interaction. within this paper however the term “peripheralisation” is preferred to “marginalisation”, as used in the rural and regional development literature (jussila & leimgruber 1998; danson & souza, 2012), since the former draws attention to the role of interaction, whereas the latter may simply denote low levels of socio-economic development or performance, for whatever reason. this paper is organised in three parts. the first one deals with the theoretical background; the second describes the methodological 1 the content of this paper derives from a research project (profecy processes, features and cycles of inner peripheries in europe) funded by the espon 2020 cooperation programme. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 25 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? challenges and possible operational problems in implementing this concept; the third focuses on the implications for the two main fields of intervention involved in the present debate about future eu policy reform; cohesion policy and rural development policy. theoretical background the concept of peripheralisation geography versus interaction capacity our world has changed: new information and communication technologies are gradually, selectively and subtly transforming the environment within which interactions (between individuals, businesses, and institutions) take place. gradually, both within academic circles and within popular culture, we are changing our concepts of “space” and “proximity”. geographical, or “euclidean” space is still the context for flows of goods, and for service interactions which necessitate “face-to-face” contact basic physics suggests that this will probably always be so. in this sphere proximity is still measured in kilometres, travel-time, or travel-cost. however, it is also true that our economy and society are increasingly dependent upon flows of information as well. in this arena physical distance, travel time and travel cost are no longer the key constraints to interaction. information can travel across networks where other forms of “organised proximity” (social, legal, institutional) matter much more (torre & rallet, 2005; boschma, 2005). thus according to bock (2016, p.5), “whereas in the past, the main cause [of uneven development] was ascribed to geography, this has changed in the sense that the lack of resources is now explained as resulting from a lack of socioeconomic and political connections (‘connectivity’) and, hence, of relational ‘remoteness’ that is not necessarily bounded to geographical ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 26 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? location…geographical remoteness, as such, therefore does not cause marginalisation, nor does central location promise prosperity.” as a consequence of the rising importance of this second kind of networking it is now possible to conceive the peripherality of a locality on two distinct levels – in a geographical sense, and in terms of “organised proximity” (torre & rallet 2005; boschma, 2005). such a view of the world, where every locality, business, institution and individual operates within both geographical space and within aspatial networks, is the key to understanding and distinguishing the several “faces” of the concept of “inner peripheries”. in this paper, we will not attempt to establish a single definition. instead we will consider the various manifestations, explain how they relate to each other within a common conceptual framework, and then explore their implications in terms of delimiting their incidence across europe, and in terms of the intervention logic(s) for policy. the inner periphery concept which has emerged in the european regional policy discourse seems to have two “roots”. both of these originated, independently, during the 1970s and 1980s. at that time there was little interaction between them. however, more recently features of both have been incorporated into the same policy discourse, increasing its chameleon-like flexibility rather than its coherence. the first of these owed much to positivist spatial analysis, whilst the second emerged from the structuralist school. geographical peripherality during the 1980s and ‘90s considerable efforts were made to measure geographic peripherality, using various spatial models, especially one which used newtonian gravity as an analogy for “economic potential” (keeble et al., 1988; schürmann et al., 1997; wegener et al., 2000; copus, 2001; espon, 2004; spiekermann & schürmann, ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 27 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? 2014). economic potential was in many ways an indicator designed as a proxy to measure the effects of agglomeration, as described by classic regional development models of myrdal (1957), hirschmann (1958) and friedmann (wight, 1983), and more recently quantified by the new economic geography school (fujita et al., 1999). maps were produced, the parameters of the models were carefully tested, and adjusted, using different forms of transport, to explore the assumed effects of geographic peripherality on different aspects of economic and social activity. those involved in this research were very aware that such adjustments could have the effect of either accentuating continental scale differences between the outer-most regions of europe and the core regions, or of highlighting smaller scale differences within countries (schürmann & talaat 2000; espon, 2009). such “enclaves” of peripherality were particularly striking if they were identified in what is commonly known as “central europe”. however, it is fair to say that, since these analyses roughly coincided with the accession of spain and portugal (1986), and sweden, and finland (1995), the focus of the associated policy debate was very much upon the kind of peripherality experienced by the sparsely populated regions of the north and the west. as a result of this discourse, whilst the peripheral regions of the iberian peninsula qualified for designation under objective 1 of the structural funds, the better performing nordic regions were given a new designation (objective 6) and additional support, mainly on grounds of their peripherality. on the other hand, central european “enclaves” (many of them still outside the eu at this stage), received little explicit policy recognition or research attention at this time. more recently the increasing recognition of the importance of social and economic “well-being”, and the role of “services of general interest” (sgi), has shifted attention away from the notion of “economic potential”. most western countries have been affected to a ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 28 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? greater or lesser degree by sgi “rationalisation” driven initially by principles of new public management, and latterly by the demands of austerity programmes. in consequence, a new formulation of peripherality, which is nevertheless still calibrated in terms of geographic distance, has emerged, focusing upon areas which are poorly served by sgi. since the key parameter is distance from the nearest service centre, this definition of peripherality tends to identify “enclaves” within regions which, in terms of the conventional “economic potential” models, were regarded as part of the core. the modern world system and “organised proximity” the american social historian immanuel wallerstein (1976; 1991) is generally associated with the structuralist “modern world system” perspective which comprehends both modern history and the geography of development on a grand scale. the key aspect of this theory is the division of the world’s countries into three groups, the core, the periphery, and the semi-periphery. this typology is associated with the distribution of power, and processes of capitalist exploitation, whereby the core’s economic development was dependent upon cheap sources of raw material and labour in the periphery. semi-periphery countries shared in the exploitation of the periphery, and aspired to become part of the core, but lacked the freedom of action and dominance associated with the latter. the inner/internal periphery concept seems to have been strongly influenced by the modern world system theory. early applications of the term were to appalachia (walls, 1977; hanna, 1995) and lesotho (weisfelder, 1992). in a european context, nolte (1991; 2006) argued that enduring inner peripheries of southern europe owe their existence to being for many centuries in the border-region between the christian and muslim worlds. vaishair and zapletelova (2008) in their study of small towns in moravia describe sparsely populated ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 29 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? areas along national borders and where the topography is hilly as an internal periphery. they also refer to the alps as being an inner periphery “from a west european view” (p.72). similarly, in a russian context, kaganskii (2013) defines the inner periphery in terms of rural areas which are relatively close to centres of economic activity, but nevertheless lagging in terms of development. naumann and fischer-tahir (2013, p.9) have recently argued that peripheries are social constructs, rather than fixed geographical features; “we interpret ‘peripheries’ as the outcome of complex processes of change in the economy, demography, political decisionmaking and socio-cultural norms and values.” reviewing recent literature relating to rural decline in germany, the same authors (ibidem, p.17) point to “the multilayered disconnection of rural regions and their marginalization… the new peripheries as disconnected in economic terms and as areas facing rapid demographic change and population ageing. poor infrastructure, e.g., public transport, health facilities and educational services, leads to loss of quality of life for the inhabitants concerned. in concert, the media abounds with negative images, e.g., newspaper articles on ‘dying villages’ and ‘empty’ regions plagued by unemployment and alcoholism, and ‘contaminated’ by right-wing extremism.” because it is liberated from fixed geographical features, operating within socially constructed space and networks, peripheralisation as a process is extremely flexible in terms of context and scale – it can be applied to countries, regions, cities or neigbourhoods (kuhn, 2015, p.369). however, kuhn goes on to explain, this leads to a weakness – peripheralisation becomes indistinguishable from marginalisation. similarly, naumann and fischer-tahir (2013, p.10) ask “is ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 30 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? peripheralisation just another word for spatially structured political and socialmarginalization and dependency?” three types of inner periphery both in the real world, and in much of the recent literature, inner peripheries are usually hybrid in the sense that the drivers are both spatial and aspatial (copus, 2001). however, the key defining feature is the weakness of interaction, the lack of connectedness, rather than the resulting lagging socio-economic development. an inner periphery has its potential for development, or its quality of life, adversely affected by poor connectivity of some kind. this may be due to its location within “euclidean space” (as in the economic potential models), or to poor access to services, or it may be due to aspects of “organised proximity”, through which it is excluded from mainstream economic activity, and unable to derive benefits from globalisation. taking account of the above conceptual framework, combined with a general knowledge of socio-economic patterns and trends across europe we would suggest that three principal types of inner periphery may be observed: 1. enclaves of low economic potential, located between core areas with higher economic potential. 2. areas which are characterised by poor access to services of general interest, whether this is a consequence of geographic remoteness, or to changing service delivery technologies, or to austerity, or other changes in provision such as privatisation. 3. areas which exhibit low levels of socio-economic performance which can be attributed to an absence of “organised proximity” (of whatever kind), which are in some way excluded from “the mainstream” of economic activity, or which can be said to be experiencing a process of “peripheralisation”. such areas also ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 31 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? seem to be characterised by governance structures which are deficient in terms of political influence, and which therefore tend to lose out in the competition for public expenditure resources. methodological implications: operational problems and possible approaches from concepts to identification and mapping the formulation of the above three theoretical types of inner peripherality constitutes a necessary first step towards territorial delimitation, analysis, and the development of appropriate intervention responses. in this paper, we will describe the mapping approaches so far developed. the results of these four approaches remain provisional, and these will be presented elsewhere 2 after further assessment and validation. approaches to identification and mapping are of necessity conditioned by the availability of statistical information at an appropriate spatial scale. as this is the first attempt to define and characterise the concept of inner peripheries on the european scale, a pragmatic approach has been developed, which can be carried out with the statistical information available, while still providing sufficiently objective results for decision-making. before describing the approaches, it is necessary to provide some explanation regarding the scale of analysis and data constraints. the availability of harmonised statistical data covering all, or even most, of europe varies according to the level of regional detail. eurostat uses a hierarchical classification known as “nuts3”, where nuts 0 2 https://www.espon.eu/programme/projects/espon-2020/applied-research/innerperipheries-national-territories-facing 3 nomenclature of territorial units for statistics ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 32 https://www.espon.eu/programme/projects/espon-2020/applied-research/inner-peripheries-national-territories-facing https://www.espon.eu/programme/projects/espon-2020/applied-research/inner-peripheries-national-territories-facing copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? is a member state, nuts 1 is the largest level in the regional hierarchy, built up from a set of nuts 2 regions, each of which are further sub-divided into nuts 3 regions. the availability of indicators and statistics is best at nuts 0, and declines through each successive level. nuts 3 regions are the smallest, and have the least comprehensive set of harmonised indicators. this is the preferred level for research within the espon programme, the funder of our research. however, the theoretical literature about the phenomenon of inner peripherality suggests that even nuts 3 is too “coarse” a spatial framework for analysis in most european member states. many nuts 3 regions contain small areas which could be defined as inner peripheries, but which are obscured by the average indicators of their wider regional context. in addition, nuts regions are usually bounded by administrative geographies which have little in common with the functional spaces associated with the processes responsible for inner peripheries, which often “straddle” two or more nuts 3 regions. for both these reasons the identification and mapping of inner peripheries (of all types), would be best carried out on the basis of smaller territorial “building blocks”. confusingly this introduces a different eurostat terminology; “local area units”. there are two mailto:francesco.mantino@crea.gov.it exists for only a small proportion of the european territory. these constraints necessitate an innovative solution. in the first three approaches to the mapping of inner peripheries described below (table 1), accessibility models have been developed within a geographic information system (gis) environment which use a 2.5 km2 grid approximation of continuous space which is independent of the nuts and lau geographies. results are subsequently aggregated to lau 2 and nuts 3 for analytical and presentational purposes. in the case of the fourth approach, which uses mainly socioeconomic variables, the reference territorial units ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 33 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? are of necessity nuts3, the lowest level at which sufficient relevant statistical information is available. approaches to identifying and mapping european inner peripheries three of the four approaches to the identification and mapping of inner peripheries across europe derive directly from the three conceptual types described above. the first is more synthetic in its rationale. in the first three approaches, inner peripheries are identified on the basis of relatively lower, or worse, values in key indicators compared with the average values of the surrounding territories, the region or the country. this method suppresses the effect of the “absolute location” (central or peripheral) of the territories, and assesses performance relative to regional and national contexts, and thus allows for the identification of “peripherality” virtually anywhere in europe. since the work has been carried out on the basis of a relatively fine grid, the resulting delineations accurately indicate the location and shape of each inner periphery area. the fourth approach is a more conventional mapping of socio-economic indicators which, as explained above, can only be carried out at nuts 3 level. this approach must therefore be supplemented by case study investigations. the four approaches to identifying and mapping inner peripheries have been labelled as follows (table 1): 1. areas with higher travel time to regional centres 2. enclaves with lower economic potential 3. areas with poor access to services of general interest 4. areas with low interaction capacity it is important to note that the approaches to identification are unlikely to result in mutually exclusive results. that is, most ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 34 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? territories may share characteristics of different inner peripherality processes. table 1 –identifying and mapping inner periphery areas # approach description / thematic focus defining attributes 1 areas with higher travel time to regional centres regional centres (towns) considered a proxy for economic/social hubs and sgi provision points. areas with poor access to such centres are assumed to be inner peripheries. this approach takes account of the geographical distribution of regional centres, and transport networks connecting them to the surrounding territories. geographical location (i.e. location of cities) population (city size) accessibility / travel time physical factors (via transport networks) 2 enclaves of low economic potential “enclaves” of increased peripherality, which are not on the physical edge of europe, and are surrounded by areas of greater centrality. these inner peripheries have lower “economic potential” than neighbouring areas, as measured by conventional gravity model approaches. geographical location (i.e. cities, metropolitan areas, gdp) population (municipality size) 3 areas with poor access to sgi internal peripheries are areas which have less easy or affordable connections to services of general interest (sgi) than neighbouring regions. such access ensures wellbeing and helps to retain population and jobs. geographical location of the provision of each selected sgi accessibility / travel time to the closest sgi provider physical factors (via transport networks) service themes: health, education, transport, culture/ entertainment, retail, employment, business/finance 4 areas with low interaction areas which exhibit low levels of socioeconomic performance which are in some way excluded from “the population change gdp per capita/change unemployment rate/ ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 35 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? # approach description / thematic focus defining attributes capacity mainstream” of economic activity, or which can be said to be experiencing a process of “peripheralisation” change property prices/ change source: authors these four approaches to identifying and mapping inner peripheries in europe are implemented according to three guiding principles: the first principle is that the definitions should differ as much as possible, in order to account for as many factors as possible, acknowledging that not all influencing factors can be integrated within one delineation. the three conceptual types follow this logic, as each type has a specific thematic focus. comparing the results of these different definitions not only ensures that a sufficiently large number of factors are considered, but also proves that if certain areas appear as inner peripheries under all definitions, we can be quite sure that these results are statistically of high relevance. the second principle is that none of the approaches is a priori incompatible with the rest of the inner periphery types. therefore, no exclusions are made in advance of territories with specific characteristics (for example, traditional or “remote” peripheries, mountain areas, etc.). the third principle refers to the problem of the scale of analysis. inner peripheries are new territorial concepts in the scientific literature and in the main decision-making documents at european level as well as in the states and regions of europe. according to the results of the theoretical framework of the project, inner peripheries do not necessarily coincide with administrative units, but rather with functional realities, mainly on a sub-regional level. it seems that a convenient scale of analysis for the characterisation of the inner periphery phenomenon is a combination of accessibility data at grid level and socio-economic information at local level (i.e. lau 2). this combination can be achieved through the implementation of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 36 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? accessibility and gravity models. on the other hand, the lack of socioeconomic indicator data on a sufficiently fine grained territorial scale considerably limits the possibilities for mapping in the case of the fourth approach, making supplementary case study investigations necessary. some “health warnings” in relation to the identification and mapping process there is an element of trial and error associated with all four approaches to identification and mapping. thus the precise number of indicators involved in each approach, the proposed thresholds for some indicators, the inclusion or exclusion of some of the indicators or parts of the identification protocols, will be further explored through sensitivity analysis. given the multi-causality behind inner peripherality, expressed in the identification of three conceptual models of the phenomenon on a european scale, it seems quite probable that its territorial location overlaps, at least partially, with other territorial specificities (mountains, sparsely populated, declining industrial areas, etc.). for this reason, and in order to achieve an accurate identification of the spatial expression of inner peripherality, it has been decided not to exclude any territory from the analyses from the outset, since any exante exclusion is, arguably not beneficial to the process. however, two types of ex-post comparison will be carried out. on the one hand, a comparison of the identified inner peripheries with maps of “traditional” peripheries and other territories with specific features will be carried out; on the other hand, comparison between the four maps of inner peripheries will also been implemented. such comparisons will potentially pinpoint areas which are common to all approaches and others (which should be reassessed) which are identified by only one of them. this process will lead to the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 37 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? identification of a central nucleus of territories for which several approaches corroborate their inner peripherality status. the identification and geo-referencing of the different types of sgi constitute a major challenge. the challenge begins with the different concept behind each sgi definition depending on the administrative or national context. thus, the comparison of secondary schools becomes complex because in some countries secondary education (14-18 years) is divided into two sections that follow different curricula, this complicates the pattern of provision. likewise, the definitions of medical and health care are not comparable. basic care takes different forms depending on the country, the dominance of public or private services, etc., and ranges from simple “clinics” of family physicians (not much more than a couple of rooms and one doctor and nurse) to primary care centres with tens of doctors and nurses, equipped with emergency services and so on. this heterogeneity applies equally to most of the other services selected for analysis and adds to the shortcomings of some of the main sources. the task of harmonising and reviewing the available information is this very substantial. implications for eu cohesion and rural development policy for the final part of the paper we turn to consider the potential role of european policies in ameliorating the processes which lead to “peripheralisation”. the european union’s cohesion policy is essentially a regional development policy, with the objective to support all regions of the eu in reaching their full potential in terms of economic and social development. eu rural development is a part of the common agricultural policy (pillar 2) and although it technically has a wider rural remit, is primarily concerned with supporting traditional rural economic activities, especially farming. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 38 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? at first sight it might seem obvious that cohesion policy should have the lead responsibility for inner peripheries, however, since many inner peripheries are rural in character and economy, it is also important to consider whether cap pillar 2 has a role to play. the evolution of the cohesion policy is characterised by three main trends: a) a continuity in the way regions receiving the most support have been defined: being named as “objective 1” (until 2006), “convergence” (until 2013) or “less developed” (since 2014), they have been always defined as having less than 75% of the eu average of gdp per capita in pps; b) a reduction in the degree to which funding is targeted upon “needy” regions. in the 1994-99 period seven different categories of regions were eligible for cohesion policy support at different intensities. in the present period, there are just three categories of region and the most developed category is allocated less than 16.5% of total funds (ec, 2014); c) a shift to a simpler geographical coverage: for example during the 1994-1999 period objective 2 (industrial regions in decline) and 5b (rural areas with a low level of socio-economic development) were targeted at areas which could be defined at nuts 3 or lau 2 level. in the current programming period the building blocks for the three objectives (less developed, transition and more developed) have been defined from entire nuts 2 regions. the general framework of cohesion policy deriving from this evolution, although within an overall logic of financial concentration in the less developed regions, does not exclude funding allocation to more developed regions. this is important since we anticipate that the identification and mapping of inner peripheries will provide evidence that peripheralisation processes can occur even in more developed regions. in this respect, further financial concentration in less ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 39 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? developed regions does not seem helpful since it would mean the exclusion of some inner peripheries from cohesion policy support. for a more effective policy targeted to inner peripheries (and also to areas experiencing the process of peripheralisation), we suggest that territorial priorities should be strengthened in future cohesion policy programmes, through place-based policy and targeting specific regional diversity. there are several reasons justifying a major territorial emphasis. despite progress in terms of single european market integration and processes of convergence in many european countries, thanks to the effects of the cohesion and rural development policies, disparities at the sub-regional level are increasing. such disparities are neither limited to the traditional less developed regions nor to the outer-most regions of europe. as we have pointed out in the previous paragraphs, peripheralisation processes do not only originate from geographical characteristics or distance from centres of economic activities, but from socioeconomic and political drivers. this diversity of situations goes beyond the traditional spatial nature of peripherality (copus, 2001) and encompasses a-spatial characteristics such as network relations with policy-making centres. in coming years the most likely perspective is a further diffusion and the deepening of the different types of peripherality in the european context as a consequence of the following socio-economic and political drivers: a) the continuing process of ageing and out-migration will reduce endogenous human and social resources of many peripheral territories and this will impact upon their capability to generate local development processes; b) the impact of the economic crisis on employment will differ significantly between member states and regions, reflecting both the way different sectors are affected by the crisis as well as the policy responses to it. in fact, the economic crises has widened ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 40 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? regional disparities across europe, and also within single countries (ec, 2014): over 5 million jobs were lost in the eu-27 between the third quarter of 2008 and 2009, though these were unevenly spread across member states. after 2009 the capacity to respond diverged between countries and regions, with some experiencing economic recovery and others further decline; c) the financial instability of the public budget will also continue to affect the national spending capacity in public investment and the provision of essential services at the territorial level. this will jeopardise the capacity of local authorities to support job creation and access to services, both in the ordinary policy intervention and in the national/local co-financing of eu programmes. there are widespread evidences of this problem, since in the previous programming period the eu authorised a temporary increase of the eu co-financing rates (by 10%) for member states with the greatest budget difficulties. appropriate intervention priorities for inner peripheries are determined by the peculiarities of each area. ideally the optimal mix of interventions should not be established by national authorities, but rather through a multi-level governance framework and logic, allowing the configuration to respond to territorial diversity. in the enclaves with low economic potentials, for example, the most appropriate mix might be based on the promotion of economic development through projects funded by the various available european funds. in areas characterised by poor access to services of general interest, interventions should be a mix of economic development and social inclusion in order to reverse and improve demographic trends (reducing outmigration, attracting new residents, raising the birth rate). the key issue is how to pursue and implement integrated approaches to territorial development, under the perspective of slowing or reversing processes of peripheralisation. three crucial aspects should ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 41 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? be considered in designing the policy reform: a) the role of additionality within the context of eu policies; b) which territorial approaches should be used; c) the most appropriate scale of intervention. as we have pointed out, processes of peripheralisation have already taken place in all countries and are still taking place as a consequence of different socio-economic and political drivers. they need to be included in the eu framework as a specific intervention priority and also taken as a priority for national policies. the need for complementarity or “coherence” between national and eu policies is common to many fields of intervention. for example, in italy, cohesion policy is already complementing the national strategy for inner areas, which addresses the needs of territories characterised by the poor access to services of general interest (medical care, local mobility and primary and secondary education). this means that the needs of inner peripheries should be explicitly recognised within the main territorial priorities of the national partnership agreement 2014-20, earmarking/targeting national funds, national co-financing, and european structural and investment funds to these priorities. territorial approaches have been implemented through different tools in the evolution of the cohesion and rural development policy. they were all designed to take into consideration local needs and potentials and were carried out through multi-sectoral and area-based local development strategies. the most recent ones are operating within the 2014-20 programming system are: • community-led local development (clld), derived from the leader local development experience of the past decades; • integrated territorial investments (iti), combining one or more priority axes of different programmes; • territorial projects funded by inter-territorial and transnational cooperation programmes. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 42 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? territorial approaches are capable of addressing various challenges, reconciling territorial and sectoral visions, and ensuring potentially good quality strategies. however, the use of territorial approaches in 2014-20 programmes cannot be considered satisfactory. while the financial take-up of the clld and iti is above the minimum threshold required by the eu regulation, the scope for applying integrated instruments through different european structural and investment (esi) funds and in different types of areas has been quite limited in national and regional programmes. despite the original eu provisions, the clld approach is dominated by the rural fund (eafrd). rural development, in other words, continues to be the lead fund in the eu and national support of territorial approaches in rural areas in all member states, with a substantial increase of the number of financed local action groups (more than 2500). in about one third of member states the clld continues to be mainly monofund and focused on sectoral and thematic objectives (committee of the regions, 2015; bachtler et al., 2016; enrd, 2016). as regards the iti instrument, it can be a useful instrument to provide funding for integrated development actions in different types of areas (urban regions or metropolitan areas, surrounding rural regions or even inter-municipal cooperating areas) using a mix of european funds. the iti contains thematic and territorial dimensions, which imply the coordination of different sectoral policies in a particular area with specific features. most member states decided to use this tool to a greater or lesser extent in 2014-20 period. some first analyses of iti at the european level highlighted several shortcomings (cemr, 2014 and 2015). firstly, there is a general tendency to use iti for urban development. but in some cases, as in the spanish programmes, iti is also envisaged for areas with particular geographic features or economic and demographic handicaps. secondly, due to the novelty of the approach, it was not widely accepted by managing authorities and in some cases this led ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 43 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? to a slow start of implemention (e.g. in the netherlands). thirdly, financial allocation to itis does not seem to reflect a strong priority to this tool. finally, itis need relevant technical assistance to cope with difficulties in spending across separate esi funding sources and working beyond administrative borders in case of inter-municipal cooperation. all these factors are hampering the integration of different esi funds at the territorial scale and they need to be addressed in the future policy reforms. as already mentioned above in the context of identifying and mapping inner peripheries, administrative regions are not an appropriate geography for intervention. peripheralisation processes are not constrained or contained by administrative borders. they can take place within a small number of municipalities below the nuts3 level, or across a wider territory crossing regional or national administrative borders. furthermore, there may be both an “objective” definition of the territory, given by the homogeneity of the processes involved, and also a “subjective” dimension defined by the perception of actors involved in the local development strategy, sharing objectives and common interests in a collective action. the definition of an appropriate scale for the purpose of policy strategy at local level should allow sufficient space for manoeuvre, depending on the size of collective action and type of partnership. concluding remarks inner peripheries emerge as a result of changes in traditional patterns of the location of the economic activity and population caused by the emergence of new forms of connection, relationship with the environment, and access to public services and the labour market. the common feature of all these processes is the breakdown of the linear core-periphery logic, and the possibility of finding "disconnected" and / or declining territories, regardless of their ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 44 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? location in relation to agglomerations. the set of processes and dynamics that shape inner peripherality is complex and its analysis requires a combination of quantitative and qualitative tools. furthermore, as shown in this paper, inner peripherality is a multidimensional process that can be decomposed into different theoretical concepts giving rise to different approaches to identification and mapping. in this paper, we have described the characteristics of inner peripherality in its multiple dimensions, and the challenges presented by its delimitation and delineation. in addition the implications of this territorial construct have been reviewed in the light of the european cohesion policy and rural development policy. work on the identification and mapping of european inner peripheries, their characterisation, and the elaboration of proposals and strategies for their sustainable development continues within the context of the espon profecy project. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 45 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? 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(1997). accessibility indicators. berichte aus dem institut für raumplanung 39. dortmund: irpud. schürmann, c., and talaat, a. (2000). towards a european peripherality index. final report. berichte aus dem institut für raumplanung 53. dortmund: irpud. torre, a., and rallet, a., (2005). proximity and localization. regional studies, 39(1), 47–59. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0034340052000320842. vaishar, a., and zapletalová, j (2008). small towns as centres of rural micro-regions. european countryside 2, 70-81 wallerstein, i. (1974). the modern world system. new york: academic press. wallerstein, i. (1991). geopolitics and geoculture: essays on the changing world system. cambridge: cambridge university press. walls, d. (1978). internal colony or internal periphery? a critique of current models and an alternative formulation. in lewis m.h. 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(eds.). centre-periphery theory: theory and practice, sogndal. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 48 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0034340052000320842 copus, mantino and noguera – inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? short author biography: andrew copus andrew copus is an economic geographer at the james hutton institute, aberdeen, scotland, and a senior research fellow at nordregio, stockholm. his research interests lie mainly in the changing spatial organisation of the rural economy, and associated policy issues. francesco mantino francesco mantino is a researcher at crea, (consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agrarian) in rome. he has more than 20 years of experience in consulting and research activities in rural development, agricultural policies, local development, regional development and eu structural funds. joan noguera joan noguera is the director of the institute for local development at the university of valencia. his main research interest is reaching a better understanding of the processes that contribute to an effective local and regional sustainability, with emphasis on innovative forms of local governance, planning and management. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 49 inner peripheries: an oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? ijpp issn: 2239-267x from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ maria giulia pezzi p o st -do c re se ar c h f ello w, gr a n sa sso sc ie nce i n sti t ute vial e fr a nce sco cr i sp i 7 , 6 7 1 0 0 , l ’ aq u ila, i ta l y g i ul ia. p ez zi @ g ss i. i t keywords: inner areas; craft beer; niche tourism; foodscapes; alogastronomia. abstract in 2012, the italian ministry for territorial cohesion launched the ‘national strategy for inner areas’ (snai), a development strategy aimed at enhancing the quality of life and the access to essential services (health, education and transport) in areas considerably far from urban centres, which have been suffering from processes of increasing marginalisation and de-anthropisation since the 1950s. the current contribution focuses on how tourism is locally interpreted in peripheral areas, taking the cue from a wider research on the implementation of snai in the marche’s apennines carried out between 2015 and 2016. the underlying hypothesis is that the creation of a tourism market in such areas requires, on the one hand, the selection of few cultural traits ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 154 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ perceived as more ‘charismatic’, often enhanced through dedicated events, and, on the other, the creation of new potential attractors in line with the expectations of prospective rural tourists. in particular, the ‘alogastronomia’ phenomenon will be analysed, highlighting the cultural and environmental factors which have brought the local administration to create a territorial marketing strategy linked to a peculiar craft beer and gastronomic culture, and considering whether specific niche tourism can contribute to giving some kind of ‘centrality’ to areas otherwise considered as marginal. introduction this article looks at how a particular kind of gastronomic tourism, focused on the production and consumption of craft beers, is imagined and constructed in the peripheral rural/mountain areas of the marche region (italy). particularly, it concentrates on the new ‘alogastronomia’1 movement in the village of apecchio, which was the promoting municipality for the creation of a national association of beer cities, established officially in 2015. the article shows that in the latest years, it has not been uncommon for rural areas to focus on the creation of food-related tourism sectors, which, on one side, allow the conservation of local and localised food productions and, on the other, allow such areas to maintain a strong identity connotation. the creation of a so-called niche food tourism, moreover, implies taking into consideration two other coexisting dynamics, that is the tendency to put a stress on the importance of locality, which often speaks for originality and exclusiveness of the locally produced goods, and the 1 ‘alogastronomia’ is a neologism that indicates a peculiar relationship between craft beers and food, as it will be explained in later sections. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 155 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ necessity to create a demand for such products that is strong enough to sustain their existence in a ‘glocal’ market. addressing the issue of considering local products of rural areas as possible drivers for tourism development entails demarcating the concepts attached to gastronomic heritage (bessière & tibere, 2013); food as a vehicle for discovering a location (bessière, 1998); food tourism as a niche market (hall & mitchell, 2000; novelli, 2005); the experiencing of ‘tastescapes’ in gastronomic tourism (vittersø & amilien, 2011) and the importance of recognizing the related ‘foodscapes’ (guigoni, 2004). moreover, the article will provide a short analysis of the rather new phenomenon known as the craft beer revolution, highlighting the variety of multidisciplinary perspectives addressing the issue, i.e. economic geography (gatrell, reid & steiger, forthcoming; mclaughlin, reid & moore, 2014) economics, marketing and branding (see i.e. hede & watne, 2013); ethnography and anthropology (gómez-corona et al., 2016; manning & uplisashvili, 2007). the data were collected through field research conducted in 2016 as part of a research project on the ‘national strategy for inner areas in italy’ (snai). this development strategy was launched in 2012 by the italian ministry for territorial cohesion and was aimed at creating those tools likely to foster a series of improvements in access to basic services (health, transport, and education), which should lead to a desired inversion of the current negative demographic trend. as this study branches out from a wider research on the bottom-up policy implications of snai, the current contribution presents the local stakeholders’ perspective on the potentialities of entrepreneurship and their perceptions on the feasibility of the creation and implementation of a food/craft beer led tourism offer in accordance with the development trajectory chosen by the marche inner area ‘appennino basso-pesarese e anconetano’. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 156 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ the underlying hypothesis is that the creation of a tourism market in such areas requires, on the one hand, the selection of few cultural traits perceived as more ‘charismatic’, often enhanced through dedicated events, and on the other, the creation of new potential attractors in line with the expectations of prospective rural tourists. in particular the analysis of the ‘alogastronomia’ phenomenon will allow us to consider the cultural and environmental factors which have brought the local administration to create a territorial marketing strategy linked to a unique craft beer and gastronomic culture, considering whether specific niche tourism can contribute to give some kind of ‘centrality’ to areas otherwise considered as marginal. the final intent of this contribution is to show how an anthropological perspective on local tourism development can dialogue with other disciplines in the analysis of complex mechanisms, such as local entrepreneurialism and tourism marketing, in an attempt to let emerge the ambiguities inscribed in the use of dichotomies, such as ‘authentic’ vs. ‘inauthentic’, and ‘traditional’ vs ‘innovative’, in relation to gastronomic productions and food tourism. ‘the national strategy for inner areas’: setting the wider research framework inner areas are defined as ‘areas at some considerable distance from hubs providing essential services’, namely education, health and mobility (barca, casavola & lucatelli, 2014, p. 7), which feature a high degree of social and environmental capital, in addition to a high potential for local entrepreneurship and innovation, hindered by a condition of economic and geographical marginality. well aware of the existence of these dynamics, in 2012, the then italian ministry for territorial cohesion launched the ‘national strategy for inner areas’, aimed at finding an integrated approach that ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 157 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ could function as a catalyst for the creation of a development strategy to be applied to a series of selected areas during the seven years (2014–2020) of the program. the final goal of this strategy is to generate an inversion of the above-mentioned negative demographic trend2, which has been witnessed since at least the end of the 1950s. through the screening of the italian territory, on the basis of a specific indicator of proximity to urban centres (calculated through travel time) as well as on the quality and quantity of services available, it has emerged that inner areas actually cover about 60% of the country, and circa 23% of the whole italian population lives in these areas (fondazione ifel, 2015). the drawing up of snai has led to the selection of 653 areas as of january 2017, 21 of which—considered as prototypal—have already begun the policy-design process, focusing on five core innovations, if compared to the previously adopted policy-making strategies: 1) adjusting the standards of services provided in this areas through the valorisation of the natural and cultural heritage; 2) focusing on goals and results through the elaboration of specific policy documents that should emphasise the key idea behind the proposed strategy, providing a list of expected results that should be measurable over time; 3) fostering association and cooperation among municipalities of the same area; 4) concentrating human and economic resources in areas 2 according to the available data, the area has suffered from a population variation of -12% from 1971 to 2011, relatively higher than the average of marche’s inner areas for the same period, attested at -4,8%. source: http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/documentazione/ar ee_interne/marche/report_istruttoria_marche.pdf, p. 15 [accessed on 8th may 2017]. 3 the full list is available here: http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/selezione_aree_progetto/istruttoria_e_do cumentazione_per_regione/istruttoria_e_documentazione_per_regione.html [accessed on 9th april 2017]. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 158 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ where they are scarce or not very well organised; 5) using an open and participatory method to select interlocutors, actors, entrepreneurs, stakeholders, etc. (ibidem, pp. 36–39). this last feature is to be considered particularly innovative in the current italian policy-making panorama, as it constitutes one of the first examples of the implementation of a place-based approach to local development (barca, 2009), which entails the enactment of a development policy in a certain place by an outsider public actor who actively promotes innovation through the collection and the recombination of knowledge toward the building of a long-term development vision. one of the core instruments of this sort of maieutic policy-making approach is the challenging of existing networks toward the creation of new ones functional to newly established objectives, seeking to reach innovation through entropy. the main snai policy tools are three consequent strategic documents (draft, preliminary and area strategy), produced by each area with the help of technical assistance, in which they specify their chosen development trajectory in an increasingly detailed way. the drafting of the above-mentioned documents needs to follow a series of guidelines provided by the national committee on inner areas4, focusing on two main pillars: access to essential services and local development. the latter emphasises, among other elements, the possibility to rely on tourism as a ‘tool’ for development and the idea that has been positively accepted by many inner areas, among which one can find the one that serves as the object of this research. although the debate on whether tourism actually plays a role in local development and whether it weakens or enhances (or both at the same 4 accessible here: http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/documenti_di_lavoro/index.html [8th may 2017] ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 159 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ time) the pristine qualities of a nearly untouched place has been a source of debate now for decades in a variety of academic fields (see i.e. abram & waldren, 1998; brown & hall, 2000; christaller, 1963; hall et al., 2013; salazar, 2013; salvatore & chiodo, 2016; smith, 1989; wanhill, 1997), a document recently published by the italian ministry of cultural heritage and activities and tourism (mibact) titled ‘guidelines for the national strategy for inner areas’ 5 (mibact, 2016) encourages the idea that the two above mentioned pillars are complementary and sees tourism and culture as development factors that could also have an impact on essential services in an integrated approach: tourism actions, as a part of a multiform territorial development strategy, need to be transversal, to the advantage of the entire area, and above all, they need to be linked, as much as possible, to other initiatives, both on the side of local development and on the side of services (ibidem, 2016, p. 7, author's translation). mibact, though, also explicates its awareness of the dangers inherent to this approach, stating that ‘tourism is not the universal solution to the problems arising from a lack of development. it would be wrong to see in that sector the only alternative to a situation of economic difficulties’ (ibidem, p. 4). therefore any proposals should go through an attentive evaluation of the effective tourism potentialities and their impact on local economies. fieldwork and methodology 5 ‘linee guida per la strategia nazionale per le aree interne’ in italian. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 160 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ as of january 2017, five of the 21 prototypal areas have already concluded the project phase and the drafting of the three documents and are ready to start the implementation phase. one of these is the area ‘appennino basso pesarese and anconetano’ 6 , situated in the marche region, and on which this contribution is based. the marche region is located in the central area of italy and borders emiliaromagna and the republic of san marino to the north, tuscany to the west, umbria to the southwest, abruzzo and lazio to the south and the adriatic sea to the east. the land is hilly, except for river valleys and the often very narrow coastal strip. the area has submitted its area strategy in july 2016 (vvaa, 2016), which was approved shortly after. the local development trajectory chosen by the area is that of fostering local development through the creation, or the implementation, of cultural events and a culture-led tourism, levering on already existing material and immaterial heritage, on the one hand, and on agro-food productions on the other. 6 constituted by an association of districts, the unione montana ‘catria e nerone’, that includes nine municipalities: arcevia, sassoferrato, cantiano, serra san’abbondio, frontone, cagli, acqualagna, piobbico and apecchio. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 161 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/central_italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/emilia-romagna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/emilia-romagna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/san_marino https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tuscany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/umbria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/abruzzo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lazio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/adriatic_sea pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ figure 1 the marche region and the inner area ‘appennino basso pesarese and anconetano’ (in orange). source: elaboration by grazia di giovanni (gssi) the village of apecchio, in particular, has served as the main field of this research. considered by snai as the most peripheral municipality of the ‘appennino basso pesarese and anconetano’ area, situated at an altitude of almost 500 meters over the sea at the foothills of mount nerone (1,525 mt.), apecchio has one of the largest territories in the province of pesaro and urbino (ca. 100 km2) and a population of a little less 1,900 inhabitants in 2015 (source: demoistat.it, bilancio demografico, 2015), which means the population density is very low. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 162 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ despite, and to some extent thanks to, its peripheral condition, apecchio is the seat of three craft breweries, which have lately gained broad recognition for the quality of their craft produced beers: tenute collesi (est. 1870), birra amarcord (est. 1994) and microbirrificio venere (est. 2014). taking the cue from the high concentration, in relation to the total population, of local craft beer breweries, apecchio has become the seat of the associazione nazionale città della birra (translatable in english as national association of beer cities) in 2015, which includes 14 ‘beer cities’ in 4 regions, aimed at creating a network with the final goal of sustaining and fostering a craft beerbased tourism circuit. on the wave of such events, the city of apecchio has organised since 2012 what will be referred to, for simplification purposes, as the ‘alogastronomia festival’—namely the ‘mostra mercato del tartufo e dei prodotti del bosco, alogastronomia e birra’ 7 —an event that will be analysed in later paragraphs. the research on which this contribution is based was carried out since september 2015, in regard to desk analysis of the available data, and in july and october 2016 for what concerns fieldwork research. it used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, with a strong accent on the former, particularly through observation and semistructured interviews. interlocutors have been selected among local politicians and civil servants, as well as among local entrepreneurs, involved in the drawing up of the strategic documents for this area, in which they were listed as ‘relevant actors’. in regard to observation, the author has participated as an observer to the 2016 edition of ‘alogastronomia festival’, held between sept. 30th and oct. 2nd, and 7 literally translatable as ‘market and exhibition of truffles and other woods products, alogastronomia and beer’ ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 163 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ has visited the craft brewery tenute collesi in august of the same year. from landscapes to tastescapes? niche food tourism in peripheral areas food consumption is to be considered one of the core components of the tourism experience and can be generally divided into two macro groups of attitudes: on the one hand, there are tourists who seek to maintain a continuity with their eating habits and routine when travelling and do not see the need to try exotic (or ‘ethnic’) food; on the other hand, other tourists consider eating the local cuisine as a way to get a closer understanding of the local culture, as well as an unmediated relationship with local people (see i.e. brulotte & di giovine, 2014). a sub-group of the latter might even consider local food consumption as the first travel motivation, although it usually coexists with other interests, i.e. environment and architectural attractions. bessière and tibere (2013), in a study on french tourism experience in rural spaces, came to a systematisation of tourists’ attitudes toward food consumption, starting from the assumption that it indeed constitutes a driving force for a stay in rural areas. they individuated three kinds of food-tourism relationships that can help in gaining a better understating of how a food-led tourism market can serve as a factor for local development: 1) food as a vehicle for selfdiscovery, which sees local food consumption as a form of initiation and a learning experience which enriches the tourist, who ends up ‘incorporating’ the indigenous culture; 2) food as a vehicle for discovering the ‘other’, which entails a process of acculturation through the discovery and appropriation of local cultural features as a consequence of direct contacts with producers; 3) food as a vehicle for discovering a location, which is linked with the possibility to gain enough information on the traceability and genuine character of local ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 164 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ products, that reflects in the possibility to ‘know’ a territory and of developing a feeling of familiarity with its produced food (ibidem, pp. 3420–3422). rural areas, generally speaking, are getting more and more engaged into (re)defining their rural identity on the demands of the tourism market. these areas, in fact, are often associated with tranquillity, with more genuine tourist-local encounters, with authenticity, with material and immaterial heritage conservation, with traditional customs and craftsmanship, etc., although it is worth noting that ‘present day rurality cannot be associated with the former “peasant” society’ (bessière, 1998). as a consequence of two interdependent processes—the quests for authenticity by tourists and for local and economic development by locals—it is not uncommon to see such rural-peripheral areas relying on gastronomic tourism, since ‘gastronomy meets the specific needs of consumers, local producers and other actors in rural tourism’ (ibidem, p. 21), a process which bears certain degrees of ambiguity. local food products and the linked gastronomy—a word etymologically derived from ancient greek, meaning ‘the art of regulating the stomach’—constitute part of the cultural heritage of a location in its broader sense: food consumption involves the knowledge and the preservation of traditional food production methods and the linked craftsmanship and production chain’s knowhows, as well as customs and beliefs, to the extent that one could speak of culinary heritage as a form of cultural preservation. in her study on food as a tourist attraction, bessière (1998) offers a hypothesis, which finds many similarities to the premise under which this research was conducted, as indeed she states that the promotion or ‘valorization’ of culinary heritage encourages independent and collective initiatives and is seen as a process by which local action and appropriation cater for the development of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 165 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ rural tourism. in an ever-changing environment, the evolution of rural space is focused on common memory and the transmission of skills. heritage may play a major role in declining areas (ibidem, p. 29). as it is known from folklore and heritage studies (adell et al., 2015; bendix, 1989; kirshenblatt-gimblet, 1998; kirshenblatt-gimblett, 2004), heritage can be defined as a ‘production of the present that takes recourse to the past’ (bendix, 2009, p. 256). outlining heritage as ‘production’ presupposes the consideration of the processual component of heritage-making, deriving from complex courses involving the—often arbitrary—(re)appropriation, selection and renomination of certain cultural elements at the expense of others. bessière (1998), again, provides more insights into the topic, talking about ‘heritage building’ as the actualization, adaptation and reinterpretation of elements from the past by combining conservation and innovation, stability and dynamism: ‘this way, heritage elements would produce and reproduce identity’ (ibidem, p. 27). food tourism and local products, indeed, constitute good leverages for the creation of a tourism niche market by establishing closer relationships between local producers and tourists-consumers. in fact, ‘rural areas with their specific history, traditions and eno-gastronomic heritage seem suitable for the development of successful food niches’ (sidali, kastenholz & bianchi, 2015, p. 2). robinson and novelli (robinson & novelli, 2005) define niche market as a group where the individual members are identifiable by the same specialised needs and, consequently, have a strong desire for related products on offer (ibidem, p. 5). hence, niche tourism can be defined as a market ‘breaking down into still relatively large market sectors (macro-niches—i.e. cultural tourism, rural tourism, sports tourism, etc.), each capable of further segmentation (micro-niches— ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 166 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ i.e. geo-tourism, gastronomy tourism, cycling tourism, etc.)’ (ibidem). hall and mitchell (2000), finally, define food niche tourism as ‘the visitation to primary and secondary food producers, food festivals, restaurants and specific locations for which food tasting […] is the primary motivation factor for travel’ (ibidem, p. 308), and although it does not constitute the major motivation for rural tourism in general, it becomes a relevant part of the attraction power of a location. talking about local food products, though, requires further specifications, as the site of production and the site of consumption play a role in the way they are conceived. vittersø and amilien (2011) propose a fundamental categorization, implying that one needs to distinguish between ‘local food products’ and ‘localised food products’. the former are short-travelled products featuring a close relationship between consumer and producer. the latter, instead, are ‘products from a particular geographical area in which they have strong spatial and culture roots’ (ibidem, pos. 3), which can serve as added values in the scope of tourism marketing. following urry’s the tourist gaze (2002), and more generally paraphrasing the theorization of the existence of ‘-scapes’8 by appadurai (1996), the authors imply 8 a. appadurai, in his book modernity at large (1996), suggested the use of the suffix ‘-scape’ (typically accompanied by either of these five prefixes ethno-, media-, techno-, financeand ideo-) as a framework to examine the ‘new global cultural economy as a complex, overlapping, disjunctive order that cannot any longer be understood in terms of existing center-periphery models’ (p. 32). therefore, the terms with the suffix ‘-scape’ indicate that they ‘are not objectively given relations that look the same from every angle of vision but, rather, that they are deeply perspectival constructs, inflected by the historical, linguistic, and political situatedness of different sorts of actors: nation-states, multinationals, diasporic communities, as well as subnational groupings and movements’ (p. 33). ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 167 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ that due to the many senses involved in the tourist experience (such as sound, smell, taste, etc.), which produce ‘sensed environments’ within the tourism industry, talking about ‘landscapes’ necessarily involves considering the existence of the relative ‘soundscapes’, ‘smellscapes’, ‘tastescapes’, etc. (vittersø & amilien, 2011, pos. 16), which constitute further declinations of ‘foodscapes’ as analysed by guigoni (2004; 2009, p. 166). this process of ‘gaze’ specialization, or of the creation of tourismrelated ‘-scapes’, may include developing new products, where ‘the localness of local food is not only a question of locality but also a question of definition and marketing’ (vittersø & amilien, 2011, pos. 40) that has strong links with agricultural and tourism policies as well as with the preservation (and/or creation) of cultural identity(ies). the following section will be, indeed, dedicated to providing more insights on how such heritage and locality-making practices are fully embedded in the creation of tourism niches, particularly the foodgastronomy sub-niche, and if and how they do mirror already existing, or policy-driven, development processes. before addressing the issue, though, a more in-depth analysis of the peculiarities of the craft beer industry, which serve as a basis for this research, is necessary. the craft beer industry in a nutshell: making sense of locality and authenticity in recent years, the craft beer industry has experienced a steady increase in the making of local craft beers, particularly by small producers and local entrepreneurs who have seen in the craft beer industry a way to rediscover traditional products and to ensure economic sustainability through the use of innovative production and branding strategies. the so-called craft beer revolution (emerging in the us in the ‘70s and in italy since the early ‘90s, see fastigi, esposti & viganò, 2015) has been a topic of research for some years already ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 168 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ from a variety of perspectives and through different research approaches: economic geography (mclaughlin et al., 2014; reid & gartell, 2015; reid, mclaughlin & moore, 2014), particularly in regard to the us case; economics, marketing and branding (i.e. hede & watne, 2013, and in regard to the italian case, fastigi et al., 2015); ethnography and anthropology, as in the case study on mexico presented by gómez-corona et al. (2016) or in the study of the postsocialist rebranding of beers in georgia by manning & uplisashvili (2007). the common thread along all these studies is that the craft beer industry seems to be facing two opposite, although equally strong, forces. the first one pushes toward a hyper-specialization of craft beer products, which normally embodies the high degree of differentiation among the localities of production; the second force is constituted by the need to place such products on a niche market, which has to be sufficiently small to be perceived as exclusive but large enough to provide the benefits of a scale economy. additionally, a third element to be taken into consideration is that to ensure the survival of such small enterprises (the scale of which often allows talking about microbreweries), their products need to be placed on markets which are much larger than the local beer-tasting opportunities on the site of production, to the extent that some of them seek to maintain their ‘local’ connotation though being available for purchase in the global market. these three elements, which characterise the craft beer industry, pose further issues if considered in relation to tourism and the feeling of place attachment consequent to the tourist experience. first of all, one needs to emphasise the link between craft beer and locality, as mclaughlin et al. (2014) maintain in relation to the so-called neolocalism movement: ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 169 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ the concept of neo-localism has also been invoked to explain the increasing popularity of craft breweries. […] a number of authors have argued that many craft breweries are utilising naming and labelling to create such a sense of place and thereby a connection to the local community (ibidem, p. 137). the nexus between nature, place and identity has been identified also by gatrell et al. (2017) as one of the possible causes for the recent growth of the craft beer industry. moreover, the authors stress that the craft beer brands need to be embedded within, we would argue, a shared socio-spatial landscape that is simultaneously a link to place, region, and the dynamics that promote sustainability. authenticity and authentic geographies […] are critical to the success of long term strategies, policies, or branding initiatives (ibidem, p. 5). the reference to authenticity is particularly relevant to this study, as it allows a wider reflection on the experiential view of the tourist experience. first, because tasting local food in a context of proximity with the site of production enhances ‘place attachment and correspondingly destination loyalty’ (sidali et al., 2015, p. 12). secondly, because, as cohen (1988) maintains in his classical study, authenticity can always be negotiated and is often the result of the process that makes the tourists come to terms with their own experiences: recreational tourists, whose concern with authenticity is relatively low, may well accept even a substantially staged product and experience as ‘authentic.’ this would not be necessarily because they have been misled by the staging but because even the faintest vestige of, or resemblance to, what experts would consider an ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 170 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ ‘authentic’ trait of the product may suffice for them to play the make-believe game of having an ‘authentic’ experience (ibidem, p. 379). taking authenticity in consideration also implies the reference to a temporal component, which usually entails the favouring of cultural elements that can be attributed to an either near or distant past but, usually, hardly comes to terms with contemporary times. one linked declination to be considered is that of the ‘emergent authenticity’, a concept that finds its legitimation in the belief that authenticity is always negotiable and socially constructed and so is the conception of what heritage is. according to cohen, in fact, ‘a cultural product, or a trait thereof, which is at one point generally judged as contrived or inauthentic may, in the course of time, become generally recognised as authentic’ (cohen, 1988, p. 379). we’ll see, though, that the case of craft beer brewing in apecchio requires us to go beyond the usual dichotomies of authentic vs. inauthentic or traditional vs. innovative because it shows such dyadic oppositions can, and need to, be deconstructed in order to be able to grasp the complexity of such tourism identity construction processes. ‘alogastronomia’: between local entrepreneurship, innovation and craft beer tourism there is only one street that leads to apecchio, and that’s the county road departing from the village of acqualagna: thirty kilometres in the countryside, mountains and hairpin turns that suddenly open on small little-inhabited valleys, until the street goes through apecchio and then continues, far from major transport routes, toward umbria, first, and then tuscany. the feeling is that one cannot just end up in ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 171 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ apecchio; one needs to have a reason to go there. nevertheless, just outside the centre, the visitor can spot two welcoming boards that inform them the village is actually part of two gastronomy-related networks: it’s a ‘beer city’ (that is, it is a part of the national association of ‘beer cities’, of which apecchio is the leading municipality) and a ‘truffle city’ (meaning it’s a municipality that adhered to the national association of ‘truffle cities’), the latter being one of the biggest tourism attractors in the area for the last three decades. this fact can be considered representative of the effective possibility of considering food as a vehicle for discovering locations, implying they can at all effects be ‘tasted’ and ‘experienced’ through their typical flavours. moreover, although apecchio is a peripheral village, it is not left out of rural tourism routes and actually attracts a certain number of tourists, particularly from northern europe. since 2012, the public administration of apecchio has started developing a territorial marketing project called ‘apecchio città della birra’ (apecchio the beer city) based on the fact that the village’s territory is the seat of three craft breweries: tenute collesi, birra amarcord and microbirrificio venere. the city councilman m.c. recalls the birth of the initiative as follows: these craft breweries present on our territory have brought jobs, have brought movement, and then we thought … since all our neighbour municipalities invest on truffles, and do not seek to innovate anymore, let’s try to do something new. […] so we tried to start this new project ‘apecchio città della birra’. first, we started putting together two craft breweries which had similar features—because they export all over the world, and they make quality products—but the main common feature is that they both use mount nerone’s spring water, which has important characteristics for the kind of beer they make. this is ‘apecchio città della birra’, but from the very beginning, it was not meant to ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 172 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ be a commercial product. it’s not the kind of beer that you drink while eating pizza; it’s a cultural element … beer creates culture, beer creates tourism, this is our motto. there are many kinds of tourism and tourists; we have decided to aim at beer tourism. it’s difficult, but we’re trying [m.c., city councilman, interviewed in august 2016]. combining beer with culture and tourism has made explicit the need for the creation of a niche-tourism market, something that would perfectly embody the apecchio-ness of craft beer production and, particularly, of its consumption: given the fact that these craft beer brands already existed, the necessity to construct a location’s brand emerged. as a consequence of this awareness, the neologism alogastronomia was created (and is now a registered trademark) from the merging of two words: ale, a kind of fermented beer, and gastronomy, which we have seen means the art of regulating the stomach. m.c. explains the motivations behind this choice: we focused on this neologism. we’ve created this word, and we registered it with the aim of reuniting the whole territory thanks to craft beer. alogastronomia does not only refer to beer, but it refers more broadly to the territory, so it becomes a container for many things. in the same way, the alogastronomia festival is not a feast in itself; it is a container, but also a window. in that moment, you can put yourself on display, show tourists what you have to offer [city councilman, interviewed in august 2016]. the alogastronomia festival has come to its 4th edition in 2016 (sept. 30th–oct. 2nd) and, according to the apecchio public administration, could count on about 4,000 visitors in the three days of the festival [source: personal communication]. its focus is that of creating a ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 173 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ syncretism between an experiential tourism approach and cultural intimacy: the events are organized along the streets of the medieval citadel and include cooking shows, concerts, live music, trattorias offering the chance to taste craft beers while eating local food cooked using products from neighbouring cities and villages, and particularly the truffles from acqualagna, bread and cherries from cantiano, ham from carpegna, cheese from urbino, olive oil from cartoceto, mushrooms from piobbico. the posters created to advertise the festival (see below) perfectly show this view of apecchio’s craft beers as a unifying element, featuring a photo of the above-mentioned local products with a glass of beer in the middle, also implying the centrality of apecchio in this territorial marketing strategy. moreover, this approach seems to be demonstrative of the fact that diversity, if properly marketed, can be an economic asset that can generate sustainable and inclusive forms of development (see i.e. jenkins, 2000), and the above-mentioned local and localised products seem to rightly serve this purpose. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 174 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ figure 2 the flyer to the 2015 edition of the ‘alogastronomia’ festival source: associazione nazionale apecchio città della birra (used with permission) one needs to underline, though, that craft beers are actually not historically a local product of apecchio, in the sense that its production officially does only date back to 2007, when tenute collesi (est. in 1870), which until then had only produced spirits, particularly gin and vodka, decided to enter into this new market. a factory worker explained the genesis of craft beer production at tenute collesi with what resembles a true founding myth: a german visitor, after having tasted their produced vodka, realized that the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 175 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ calcareous water from mount nerone would have been perfect for beer brewing and talked the owner of tenute collesi to get into this new business [man, interviewed in august 2016]. nevertheless, craft beer brewing in apecchio and alogastronomia show that traditional and innovative productions do not mutually exclude each other in the creation of food-niche tourism but actually reinforce each other in the promotion process. while asking oneself the question of whether craft beer can be considered as authentically typical of apecchio, the embeddedness of its production in the local economy demonstrates the legitimacy of seeking to deconstruct the dichotomy authentic vs inauthentic, on the one hand, and that of innovative vs. traditional on the other, as it shows that such processes are interested by complex dynamics that cannot be reduced to strict categories, which instead should be seen as negotiable aspects of the tourism identity construction of the whole area. it is then easy to understand that although situated in an inner area, and therefore suffering from economic and geographical marginality as well as population ageing and depopulation, apecchio is the seat of peculiar bottom-up initiatives that in the long term could be successful in providing a new centrality to an otherwise fringe area and turning apecchio from an inner area village to the craft beer capital. simultaneously, though, there is another element that needs to be taken into consideration: the very peripherality, genuineness and ruralness of apecchio that work as the main attractors for prospective tourists are all attributes that relate to ‘centrality’ in a problematic way. the local public administration, so far, has been positively involved in providing a unitary view on the development path to be undertaken and has seen peripherality as a plus value rather than a limitation, as the mayor of apecchio has clearly stated: ‘we are in the inner areas, and we are the most peripheral municipality, but we are also the ones ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 176 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ that can turn distance into the core element from which our qualities can me exalted’ [v.a. c., mayor, interviewed in october 2016]. one other interesting view on the matter of being involved in the snai strategy has been also evidenced by m.c.: ‘i believe [snai] will be our safety, inner areas seen maybe as incubators, as startups … indeed, now that you make me think of it, inner areas are to be considered as a startup. i mean … they kick you off to create a project, then it’s the cooperative, or the society, etc., that need to pull something valuable out of it’ [city councilman, interviewed in october 2016]. this quote seems to suggest that snai could positively work as the fuse for processes that already existed in potential but had not yet received the necessary energy to kick off. m.c. concluded our talk by stating ‘snai can be our turning point, if it really manages to trigger such a mechanism that … otherwise, it’ll be over’. the selection of charismatic cultural elements, such as a wide gastronomic heritage that speaks for cultural richness and vitality, enhanced through dedicated events and a consistent branding strategy, could indeed be successful in triggering sustainable development processes, which, considering their current small scale, could well insert themselves in the new-localism movement and in a dedicated food niche tourism market. conclusions the gastronomic heritage of an area is often anchored with peasant traditions in relation to the ways food is produced, to the ways it is consumed and to the meanings and beliefs culturally attached to it. therefore, it can be considered one of the elements that create the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 177 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ strongest sense of place and place attachment on the basis of the fact that ‘foodscapes’ and ‘tastescapes’ contribute to the identity construction of a locality, not only individually but also in the sense of a ‘collective sense of territoriality’. it has been shown that craft beer brewing, if considered in relation to prospect tourism development, can be considered simultaneously as a cause and as an effect of the creation of a food tourism-niche, since on the one hand, it is characterized by an aura of exclusivity and, on the other, is sufficiently ‘unrestricted’ to be available for mainstream tourists. one aspect which cannot be left understated, though, is the relationship between tradition and innovation when it comes down to analyse products like craft beers in apecchio, which although they do not have a long history, are considered local productions because of the strong linkages with the territory. if the question is whether a ‘new’ product deserves to become a part of the food heritage of a specific area, then the answer, in this case, is probably positive, provided that new products can be filled with other culture relevant elements. related events, as for example the ‘alogastronomia festival’, certainly concur to this process through their cyclical repetition that not only constitutes the basis for the building of a collective identity but also provides historical continuity, inscribing apecchio simultaneously within a territorialized and a globalized identity, in a constant tension between global homogeneity and local heterogeneity. in the case of craft beers in apecchio, moreover, one cannot talk about revitalisation but rather of recreation of gastronomic heritage, which is produced, packaged and marketed as a local product of the territory that is able to provide a genuine tasting experience, thanks to alogastronomia. the invention of this neologism manifests that peripheral areas do maybe find themselves in a condition of geographical marginality but do also experience peculiar states of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 178 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ local agency and entrepreneurship that can lead to innovative solution attempts to old problems. it could be maintained that in the case of the marche’s inner areas in general, and of apecchio in particular, their inclusion into the snai project has implemented the awareness of being situated into a system of relations that functions at a much bigger scale than the basic territorial one: a periphery only exists in relation to a core. and yet, in this case, a peripheral area seeks to become a tourism core, implying not only the coexistence of two parallel modes of being but also a processual approach to the implications of peripherality. the selection of those heritage elements that should constitute the primer for tourism is definitely a process that depends on cultural, political and economic factors as well, as maintained, for example, by guigoni (2009), who affirms that such heritagisation processes also entail the commodification of immaterial elements, the pricing of emotions, tastes and gazes linked with certain landscapes (ibidem, p. 174). this makes it possible that some elements might be picked up at the expense of others on the basis of their potential, thanks to the presence of actors, entrepreneurs and stakeholders and know-how able to provide particular kinds of agency. it would be interesting to analyse, in the longer run, whether the craft beer industry in apecchio will effectively work as a trigger for a more generalised, yet sustainable, local development. future research perspectives should be aimed at investigating whether such ‘endogenous’ practices lead to resignifying processes by the local inhabitants in relation to their identity and to the possible positive and negative outcomes, in terms of life quality, of the creation of a tourism market so conceived in the area. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 179 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ references abram, s., & waldren, j. 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(1998). destination culture. tourism, museums and heritage. in p. l. pearce (ed.), festival management and event tourism (vol. 5, pp. 243–244). http://doi.org/10.3727/106527098791784448 kirshenblatt-gimblett, b. (2004). intangible heritage as metacultural production1. museum international, 56(1–2), 52–65. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1350-0775.2004.00458.x manning, p., & uplisashvili, a. (2007). “our beer”: ethnographic brands in postsocialist georgia. american anthropologist, 109(4), 626–641. http://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2007.109.4.626. mclaughlin, r. b., reid, n., & moore, m. s. (2014). the ubiquity of good taste: a spatial analysis of the craft brewing industry in the united states. in m. patterson & n. hoalst-pullen (eds.), the geography of beer: regions, environment, and societies (pp. 131– 154). springer science+business. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-0077787-3. mibact. 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(2005). niche tourism: an introduction. in m. novelli (ed.), niche tourism: contemporary issues, trends and causes (pp. 1–11). oxford, amsterdam: elsevier. salazar, n. b. (2013). imagineering otherness: anthropological legacies in contemporary tourism. anthropological quaterly, 86(3), 669–696. http://doi.org/10.1353/anq.2013.0045. salvatore, r., & chiodo, e. (2016). aree interne e “tourism transition”: nuove pratiche turistiche e riorganizzazione dell’offerta in funzione della rivitalizzazione. agriregionieuropa, 12(45). sidali, k. l., kastenholz, e., & bianchi, r. (2015). food tourism, niche markets and products in rural tourism: combining the intimacy model and the experience economy as a rural development strategy. journal of sustainable tourism, 23(8–9), 37–41. http://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.836210. smith, v. l. (ed.). (1989). hosts and guests: the anthropology of tourism (2nd ed.). philadelphia: university of pennsylvania press. urry, j. (2002). the tourist gaze (2nd ed.). london: sage. vittersø, g., & amilien, v. (2011). from tourist product to ordinary food? anthropology of food [online], 8. retrieved on september 18th 2016 from http://aof.revues.org/6833. vvaa. (2016). asili d’appennino: le dimore della creatività nelle ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 184 pezzi – from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ alte marche. retrieved march 13th 2016 from http://www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/opencms/export/sites/dps/it/docu mentazione/aree_interne/strategie_di_area/strategie_di_area /marche/f_marche_asili_appennino_def.pdf. wanhill, s. (1997). peripheral area tourism: a european perspective. progress in tourism and hospitality research, 3, 47–70. short author biography: maria giulia pezzi is a social anthropologist, post-doc researcher at gran sasso science institute, italy. her research interests include tourism studies and local development. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. vii, issue 1 2017 185 from peripheral hamlet to craft beer capital: apecchio and the ‘alogastronomia’ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 1vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 barbara pizzo issn: 2239­267x the role of public space for risk mitigation and urban redevelopment and the role of environmental disasters for re­ assessing the ‘space of the public’. phd ­ researcher and senior lecturer in town and regional planning barbara.pizzo@uniroma1.it dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma giacomina di salvo architects, phd in town and regional planning research group on urban planning & seismic risk prevention of dipartimento design, tecnologia dell'architettura, territorio e ambiente (coord. prof. m. olivieri) ­ sapienza università di roma margherita giuffré piera pellegrino abstract this paper stems from long­lasting research dedicated to urban risk reduction through a planning approach. it focuses on public space, proposing an inversion of the usual perspective: instead of considering public spaces for risk mitigation and urban redevelopment, here the ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 2vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters imperatives of environmental safety and urban resilience can be instrumental for exploring the meaning and role of the public space from a different, rather compelling point of view. instrumental for exploring the meaning and role of the public space from a different, rather compelling point of view. one starting point is the concept of sum, strategic urban structure (or framework), from the italian “struttura urbana minima”, which has been introduced in order to set out the contents of urban risk reduction in local administration agendas and particularly into ordinary planning processes. the sum has been conceived both as an analytical and a normative/planning tool. public spaces are the backbone of both urban structure and of the sum. from their features, localization, distribution within the settlement, and their systemic characters, largely depend the capacity of a town to positively react to a seismic event. six case­studies of small and medium­size historic towns in the umbria region (one of the many italian regions with a high level of seismic risk), help to understand the complexities and problems related to seismic prevention within historical centres, and the conflicts between conservation of the heritage and the imperatives of environmental safety. in order to overcome possible criticalities identified in a sum, it is necessary to provide alternatives to its functioning through redundant elements. the concept of redundancy, which is strictly related to that of uncertainty, is very interesting and promising in this field of research. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 3vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters summary a. the main objective. to consider public space, urban policies and the city through a concept, which became a planning tool for seismic risk prevention at urban scale: the strategic urban structure (sum); the problem. the ‘ineffective importance’ of public space in urban transformation processes: some unsolved questions in dealing with public space in italy; our approach. changing perspective to make use of the topic of risk for analysing and re­defining the ‘public city’ and public space; b. c. our argumentation. reflecting on case studies and field experiences;d. conclusions. what we can learn through the sum and its relationship with public space: functionality, identity, safety. the promising concept of redundancy. e. a. the main objective: to consider public space, urban policies and the city trough a concept, which became a planning tool for seismic risk prevention at urban scale: the strategic urban structure (sum) this contribution stemmed from the common reflection of a research group in the dept. of planning, design and technology ­ university la sapienza of rome1 which, for more than a decade, has been working on the issue of the reduction of urban seismic risk through planning methods and tools. this potential) of their research activity in the field of urban seismic risk prevention in terms of public action and public space. this means that the paper intended as a whole and in its general conception is a common work, while barbara pizzo wrote paragraph a, b, c; piera pellegrino referred about the case studies of città di castello, gubbio and amelia; giacomina di salvo about those of nocera umbra, montone and vallo di nera. graphic elaborations belongs to margherita giuffré, which contributed also in deepening the part about redundancy. the authors belong to a wider research group of the dept. of planning, design and technology, (formerly – dptu) coordinated by prof. m. olivieri, and composed by: m.s. benigni, f. de girolamo, a. de rosa, g. di salvo, f. fazzio, f. fiorito, m. giuffré, r. parotto, p. pellegrino, b. pizzo. this paper is the result of an intense exchange between the four authors on the meaning (actual and1 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 4vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters research has been commissioned mainly by umbria region, thanks also to eu projects and funding. it has been addressed toward the definition of a method for the reduction of urban vulnerability, that is based on the identification of the ‘strategic’ components of the urban structure. they are chosen for their strategic meaning and role within the urban structure, and particularly in the perspective of prevention from seismic risks, of the management of the post­ seismic emergency, and of the following re­start of urban activities. these components and their reciprocal relationships are interpreted as a system, and conceptualized as the strategic urban structure (from now on: sum, from the italian: “struttura urbana minima”) ­ see box 2. thanks to our long­lasting field experience we had the chance to put into practice the meaning and potentialities of the sum concept for urban seismic risk management, turning a planning concept into a planning tool. this happened particularly through the publication of ‘guidelines for the definition of the strategic urban structure (sum) within urban plans’2, to be available for local administrations. this is very important in a country, such as italy, where local administrations are in charge of urban planning3. the guidelines have been incorporated within the legislation of the umbria region, and are regarded as a straightforward and useful tool for planners and decision makers working at urban and regional level. within the guidelines, the strategic urban structure (sum) is defined as ‘the network of routes and pathways, open spaces, buildings and urban functions intended as a system, which play a strategic role in case of emergency as well as for the re­starting and the maintenance of ordinary urban activities università di roma: f. fazzio, m. olivieri (coord.), r. parotto, b. pizzo (eds.), linee guida per la definizione della struttura urbana minima all’interno del prg – parte strutturale (2009). por­fesr (2007­2013) funded research: ‘linee guida per l’individuazione della struttura urbana minima e le valutazioni di vulnerabilità urbana’. cfr. regione umbria – dptu, dipartimento di pianificazione territoriale e urbanistica, sapienza2 (see: art. 3, comma 3, punto d), which defines the sum as the fundamental tool for reducing urban seismic vulnerability. this goal must be realized through both the “levels” in which the urban plan is articulated (“prg ­ parte strutturale”, and “prg ­ parte operativa”), and also through the other planning tools (e.g. sectoral plans). the guidelines are intended to help public administrations at local level to actually reach this goal. the guidelines can be interpreted normatively as the implementation of the regional law 11/20053 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 5vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters (that is to say, socio­economic and relational), after a seismic event’. it can be imagined as a sort of ‘reduction’ of the urban structure into its prime and fundamental components. the sum constitutes the essential system for keeping the urban structure alive and active, also if and when collateral events, or side­effects, occur (such as fires, explosions, landslides, floods, etc.). the very definition of sum implies that it cannot include any secondary or subsidiary element: but just what is strictly necessary, so that the loss of one of its components puts the whole urban structure at risk. the sum has been conceived and defined as both an analytical and a normative tool: it sets out what can be expected from the urban structure in case of a seismic event or because of another kind of ‘natural’ catastrophe, but it can be changed, considering the planned and the on­going urban transformations, with the aim of increasing its functionality. in this sense, its content is normative and anticipatory. this paper is a first reflection on the experience which has been gained, aiming at opening a broader perspective on the relationship between ‘extraordinary policies’ dedicated to safety and emergency at urban level, and ordinary urban policies. what we wish to clarify here, is that through relating the issue of risk and seismic prevention to the city, and particularly through the concept of sum and its site­specific definition (considering the results of the different case­ studies in which we already applied this concept and method), it is possible to talk about public space, urban policies and the city in a new perspective. when talking here about the ‘public city’ and its space, we intend this to represent the place where different meanings and values concentrate, belonging to different ‘domains’: functional, relational, that of identity, and also that of ‘safety’ (watson, 2008). the starting point of our reflection is that, if it is true that a recovery of the importance of the ‘public’ dimension (public and collective spaces and functions) always follows a ‘natural’ catastrophes, this understanding, which emerged due to the tremendous and even tragic experiences that italy has had, should be used to re­assessing, and also to ‘re­orienting’, ordinary urban policies, and to give new attention to the collective and public domain, and particularly to public space. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 6vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters in our view, while the ‘public city’ and public action are at stake for their capacity to respond to the needs of security and safety, after an environmental disaster particularly, their rediscovered importance can lead to a new attention to the public and collective city in more general terms. b. the problem: the low level of importance attributed to public space in urban transformation processes / some unsolved questions in dealing with public space in italy our argumentation about the public city and the public space, in its relation to dealing with seismic risk, starts from some problems that often emerge in the debate as “shared understandings”. many territorial transformations in italy happened through individual initiatives, often not arising from planned or shared decisions: the number of ‘variants’ from what was initially planned, particularly at regulatory plan level, is rather astonishing, while other transformations are illegal. it can be said that it is not the public actor, nor the ‘public space’, which generates and or guides spatial transformations at urban scale. we may say that the same ‘one­by­one’ approach often characterizes public intervention in italy: until now, public policies have been not able to overcome the emergency approach and the logic which sustained it (see box 1). from a planning perspective, prevention policies and actions for the so­ called ‘natural disasters’ have been mostly lacking. while discussing the characteristics of the public space, no attention is paid to the features it should have in order to positively respond to seismic or natural risks, and the general perception of what constitutes the public space does not take into account the topic of environmental safety and only in the past decade has some attention been given to “social safety” ­ and environmental safety is not considered as part of its fundamental quality. the big gap between the high level of environmental risk and the high recurrence of environmental disasters (mainly earthquakes, landslides, floods) in italy, and the lack of public policies and action addressed to prevention, is almost paradoxical. nor are ordinary planning policies aimed at territorial care, which would represent a major improvement in public action, in its efficacy and cost­efficiency. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 7vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters but, notwithstanding the idea of a diffuse and general distrust in the public authority as a weak actor, it is precisely the public which is advocated after any kind of ‘natural’ catastrophes. in our view, this contradiction represents a chance to better understand what “the public” is expected to be, and what public action is expected to do, which means also, what the public and public action can actually be. looking at practices, and at the actions which are actually performed, it emerges that territorial care is not a primary issue in policy agendas, to be fulfilled through a strong commitment from the part of both the public and private citizens. this inevitably had a strong territorial impact, also from an economic point of view. but these considerations need to be better articulated and also differentiated in the different regional contexts. in fact, for example, the umbria region sustains a policy of prevention from territorial disasters since long. this is thanks to some regional laws, and particularly through the regional law 11/2005 which prescribes that prevention objectives, as well as the seismic risk reduction interventions, have to be included within urban plans (both at structural and operational levels, according to the regional planning legislation). these aims should be reached also through the implementation of sectoral plans and programmes. the general aim is clearly to render actions of territorial care, of prevention and risk reduction, as part of the ordinary process of territorial planning and management. even if planning in itself cannot be considered as the guarantee of implementation of declared goals, it must be considered that umbria region fulfilled these objectives through an articulated and integrated policy addressed to increase territorial sustainability, where urban planning is a tool among many others. within the guidelines mentioned above, it is the collective, and the public space, intended as the system of squares and green spaces, playgrounds and emergency areas, together with the network of streets and pathways, which assumes the role of main physical and functional structure, the back­bone which constitute the sum. it is the public space that connects those urban functions which are of vital importance during the post­seismic emergency. from it mostly depends the rapidity of intervention of public officials after an event, managing the ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 8vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters emergency and also organizing the re­start of urban activities; it assures the relationship among the different part of the city, provides reference points, escape routes and safety spaces. but the same space provides relational spaces, places for meeting and exchange where a community recognizes itself, generating a sense of belonging and of identity. after a catastrophic event it assumes a particular and fundamental meaning for the re­start of urban life and activities. the citizens’ interest in public space is mainly related to its functional and representational role within the city; sometimes it demonstrates an aesthetic sensitivity; more recently it can be addressed to social safety, but usually its relationships with risk reduction and safety from environmental risk are missed. moreover, we think that despite the globalization discourse, a relationship between a place and a community still exists and has a profound sense, re­emerging particularly after catastrophic events. overcoming an “ideological” conception of the public and the public space, we can come to a renewed understanding of what they actually are, looking at their behaviour as well as at the reaction capacity of different towns and territories in different contexts after a seismic event. c. our approach: changing perspective. making use of the topic of risk for analysing and re­defining the 'publilc city' and the public space our approach tries to reverse the perspective in looking at the relationship between public space and environmental safety. if we look at the actual conditions of italian cities, and particularly those which have been struck by an earthquake, we may say that the topic of safety, and particularly that of risk prevention, did not lead to acceptable outcomes, and that the public space together with the very concept of the public, is subjected to an increasing erosion. this same public actor sometimes contributes to this process4. the earthquake in l’aquila (which consisted in providing individual houses away from their original locations, whose settlement scheme ignores the community structure) erase the very concept of “public space”. we must say also that only a couple of years later, the case of emilia romagna demonstrated a rather different approach. as an example, it is quite significant that one of the fundamental decisions that has been taken after4 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 9vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters in focusing on the public space in its meaning for environmental safety (which is or should be one of its fundamental meanings) we point out its criticalities. in order to do that, we think it is necessary to overcome ideological positions as well as abstractions, and to refer to those practices which actually developed after a ‘natural disaster’ such as an earthquake. these practices can change perceptibly (as they changed, in fact) in different geographical contexts and in different times. they differ for their approach and their timing (how the different phases of emergency and post­seismic re­ start, in the short and mid­long terms, have been managed). anyway, what we want to establish is that the two topics of environmental safety and risk reduction at urban scale, and that of the public city, have to be programmatically associated in order to reach more satisfying results. italy has always been subjected to recurrent catastrophic events, such as landslides, flows, earthquakes, etc. these events always determine a change, sometimes a radical one, in the way the settlement, and the public space in particular, is collectively perceived. in most cases, each person’s home and living environment changes from the most familiar and safe place into something recognized as insecure and even dangerous. this change is a shared feeling, so that the concept of ‘landscape of fear’ has been introduced (tuan 1979). the collective and the public dimension became central again because the fear for these events is experienced collectively, and because the public actor, notwithstanding its increasing weakness, is still expected to give help and to find and provide solutions in these situations. this is true, even if with some particularities, in all socio­cultural contexts. we may say that there is a re­discovery of both the collective dimension and of a public dimension, and that the two spheres, which in other situations seem to proceed in different directions, here are still linked together. after a catastrophic event a new need of being together, to help and to sustain each other emerges, maybe in a way never experienced before. in these events, the importance of public space emerges and is recognized rather instantly and in a very spontaneous way by all the people involved. everyone runs away down in the street, looking for an open place to be safe, where first aid and help can be then provided, and trying to meet and to stay together, to give help to others too. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 10vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters in this sense, it is clear that what is newly discovered is not just the importance of public spaces for safety, but much more what we refer to as a public and a collective ‘dimension’, where the ‘sense of community’ is rooted. after the experience of post wwii reconstruction, a well known example of collective engagement is what happened after the flood of florence in 1966. on that occasion, volunteers from all over the world offered their help in many different ways, for saving what was (is) perceived as a common patrimony. as we can derive from direct accounts and evidence, such as documentaries, what happened there was hardly imaginable in ordinary conditions. the earthquake which destroyed friuli (a region in the north­east of italy) in 1976 showed how a catastrophic event can draw the attention to the importance of the collective and the public dimension. the reaction to the earthquake’s destruction consisted in an increase of the participation of the inhabitants and local authorities toward common goals. they were all deeply engaged in reconstructing not just each one’s home, but their whole built environment as well, with historical centres and public and collective spaces and functions, considered for their historic and identity value. their experience was quoted as an example for years, and was also instrumentally used as a comparison with different experiences (such as that following the strong earthquake of irpinia in 1980), to feed the political discourse on the weak role of the public (the state) in the southern regions of italy. among the case­studies carried out by our research group, that of nocera umbria (a small­mid size historical centre in the umbria region), which we worked on after the seismic event of 1997, is of particular importance. in fact, it can demonstrate two related issues: the re­discovery of the collective dimension, and the sense of belonging to a particular place, which is the town centre with its system of public spaces and functions, which emerged after the whole town centre was declared as fully inaccessible for public safety reasons (as happened also in l’aquila, after the earthquake of 2009). in the most recent case of l’aquila, in fact, the whole town centre was closed, and its inhabitants have been forced to move away, sometimes to different towns. the inhabitants have been deprived of their homes, but also of their main public space (which in this case was represented by the city centre as a whole), almost the only place where it was possible to find high quality public spaces, and where all public and collective functions were ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 11vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters located. because of the particular form of territorialization, a lot of neighbourhoods and smaller towns in the surrounding areas, lived their collective life in the city centre of l’aquila. this means that its closure slowed down or even blocked the re­start of urban activities and of the whole urban life of almost an entire province. it is possible to say that this case demonstrated the strict relationship between space and society, from the most theoretical to the more actual point of view. the convergence towards common intentions and goals, and the related reduction of conflicts during a post­catastrophic time which is demonstrated through the experience of many towns and regions throughout italy, have also a theoretical basis. in 1967 catherine bauer wurster observed that post­ war time was characterized by an unusual convergence toward a common goal, that of reconstruction, which became the undisputed priority – a condition which was hard to imagine in different times. this can be related to the wider issue of the public choice, of how public choices are formed and taken, and how the democratic deliberative process works. a fundamental reference is arrow, and his “general possibility theorem”, also known as “arrow's impossibility theorem”. the theorem states that, in case of non­restrictive (or non­dictatorship) conditions, it is impossible to obtain a stable outcome from the preferences expressed by the majority (the so­ called “voting paradox”). what bauer wurster pointed out can be related to that theorem, observing that emergency conditions can be interpreted as an example of arrow’s “restrictive condition”, as experiences actually demonstrated. in the bauer wurster discourse, attention seemed to be focused particularly on efficiency: the temporal gap between choice and action is much less than in ordinary conditions. a review of the italian history of “natural disasters” in a public choice perspective is very interesting, since italy is negatively known for its use of “emergency policies”. what results is that, in a country with no strong political agency, nor a well­recognized political­institutional authority, and where there is no clear distinction between “technical” and “political” decisions or, better said, where technical decisions are subordinated to short­ term political­administrative mandate, emergency situations, notwithstanding their controversial nature, have been often an important causal force and justification for public action to be actually implemented. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 12vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters in this sense, we can say that the constant call for overcoming the “logic of emergency” can be assumed as the demonstration of the distance between political discourses and governmental action. there is a high risk of democratic weakening in considering interests and values, both of a community and of its individuals, when subjected to the higher necessity imposed by an emergency, and we just mention that the use of emergency as a main justification of public choice and as a political tool tends to maintain the present political order. (for the relationship between democracy and emergency power see: dryzek, honing and phillips, 2008; pasquino and ferejohn, 2004; benigno and scuccimarra, 2007; european commission for democracy through law ­ venice commission – 1995. see also: foucault, 2004, swyngedouw, 2011). we cannot deepen further this debate here: what we can do is to notice that even the policies and the experiential background developed in managing post­catastrophic phases remain largely ignored and are not (even critically) reviewed for subsequent emergencies. as an example, we can refer to some laws which have been introduced for managing the reconstruction process (see boxes 1 and 3), and which have been positively judged for their potential efficacy, which remained rather unobserved and then, after a new event, replaced with new ones, without ever being fully implemented. in our view, this is enough to demonstrate the unwillingness to turn emergency policies into ordinary governing practices. anyway, a low effectiveness is the general assessment of policies and actions addressed to seismic prevention and management. now, we consider this evaluation together with an assessment of the actual conditions of the physical public space in its quantity ­ which means also its distribution and localization within the town; and its quality ­ which means also configuration and functionality. to treat the two questions together is a necessity, considering the potential role of the public space for facing the problems of environmental risk. d. our argumentation. reflecting on case studies and field experiences assuming the sum (mainly composed by public or collective spaces and ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 13vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters functions) for treating the problem of urban safety, it will become the tool for re­organizing the settlement in the emergency phase, in the post­seismic reconstruction, for the re­start of urban activities, and also to create better towns. we propose a reconsideration of public space as a system of places, spaces and functions which have different meanings and potentialities: 1. for an efficient response to a catastrophic event (starting from the emergency phase); for providing the community with a common ground for re­ constructing their living environment and their identity in the post­ emergency phase; for increasing the urban quality and assuring a more efficient urban structure (through the sum) also in ordinary conditions. 2. 3. to be brief, we wonder why attention is only given to public actions and public space when responding to emergency needs, and not to recognise that such attention would produce better and more resilient cities in everyday life, improving the public sphere. in our field experiences (small and mid size towns in the umbria region), our primary goal was that of contributing to reducing urban vulnerability through the use of a planning approach and tools, and mainly through the development and the testing of the concept of sum together with vulnerability assessment methods. now we propose to use the needs and imperatives related to safety to pay new attention to the public city and to consider the two issues in their reciprocal relationships. we will reassess what we learnt from our cases in this different perspective, starting from two of them which have been struck by earthquakes and which had to actually face emergency and post­emergency management. in the case of vallo di nera the earthquake happened in 1979, while our activity started in 2009: 30 years after the event, so that we had to refer also to indirect sources. vallo di nera is a small town in the val nerina, a river­valley in the south­ west of umbria. it is composed of two separate parts: the historical centre at ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 14vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters the top of a hill, which maintained its medieval structure, and a sort of suburb in the valley, also of ancient origin, named piedipaterno. when our research started, the post­seismic reconstruction was fully completed, so we could see the results of post­seismic plans and policies. the planning tool which was adopted was a ‘piano di recupero’, a plan addressed mainly to restoration. the results of the post­seismic plan and policies consisted in the restoration of all the buildings (now used mostly as holiday homes) and a widespread change toward residential use, while all urban functions (town hall, school, post­office, and a few commercial, leisure and touristic facilities) moved out, mainly to the suburb of piedipaterno. the main goal was the conservation of the historical centre as a whole, also because of its landscape value, and as a mark of territorial identity. we defined the sum according to the urban structure: it is composed of two main parts, connected by a road. from this case particularly derived a specific attention to questions of dimension and scale as related to the concept of sum. more specifically, examining the case of vallo di nera where all the public and the strategic functions are outside the historical centre, to be able to define a ‘minimal’ dimension of the urban structure it is necessary to look at a broader territory, extending beyond the urban scale5. this means that to be able to use the sum as a tool for seismic risk prevention, it could be necessary to change the scale, from the historic centre to the whole settlement, or even to a larger territory. some questions arise: is there a ‘minimum’ and a ‘maximum’ in the dimension of a town so that the sum can be defined and usefully used without losing its very sense and meaning? which are the operational and theoretical implications of this change? it is possible (how and why) to think of the sum in some kind of multi­scalar perspective? it is clear that these considerations have some important consequences on the articulation and the organization of public spaces, and on the relationship double­scale for the definition of the sum, so that we had a sum defined at the town­ scale, and another one defined at the territorial scale (stm, from the italian “struttura territoriale minima”). they were obviously related, but were defined through a so­called “telescopic” approach (a very simplistic one, where one scale is imagined to be part of the other, as a magnification ­ or the other way round). differently, from the case of vallo di nera it emerges that sometimes the sum cannot but be defined at the territorial scale. in a first phase of our research, and precisely in the case of nocera umbra, we adopted a sort of5 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 15vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters between public spaces and the whole town. certainly we can say that the urban complexity corresponds to a complexity of the urban structure and particularly of the sum, and that, to be a useful technique and tool, the sum must be defined and designed considering different scales. another important result of our reflection on this case study is that the private space can contribute in the maintenance of a town centre only partially, while it is not able to keep it alive, maintaining its very “urban” role. the historical centre of vallo di nera, mainly constituted by private properties and residential functions, was the object of protection and conservation policies that determined the restoration of the built environment for its historical, architectural and landscape values, but its capacity to provide what we define as a “urban answer” to the seismic or natural risk is low. it is part of the sum only for its historical and identity values, causing important implications at a different (larger) scale. in such a case, the fundamental difference between the reduction of vulnerability at the building scale and that at an urban scale becomes much clearer. this difference, in fact, rather than being considered as a question of approaches, methods and tools, is related to the very ‘matter’ it is expected to treat. in the first case, its object are the buildings, which, in some sense can be considered as “containers”; in the second case the object is even more than the whole “settlement”, it is the city, which implies that the attention shifts (also) to the “content”: to the complexity of urban functions, their localizations and their relational system, to the local community and society. figure 2 – vallo di nera ­ frazione di piedipaterno ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 16vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters figure 1 – vallo di nera the case of nocera umbra represented a privileged field of research on the urban response to a seismic event. the medium­size settlement, whose centre is located on the top of an hill along the via flaminia, was struck by the earthquake of 1997. because of that, the whole historical centre, where all the urban and public functions were localized, and where all the public and collective relations took place, was declared inaccessible and then closed for security reasons. this decision, which has been accepted in the emergency phase, was afterwards strongly criticized. in this way, the town was deprived of its main chance to collectively respond to the seismic event. the closure of the historical centre lasted years, and the related reconstruction process started very slowly some years after the event, affecting the restart of urban activities. when our research project started, the historical centre was largely as it was immediately after the earthquake: this permitted us to better understand the seismic effects, both at building and urban scale, and to be able to follow the process of re­organization of urban life in emergency and post­emergency conditions. this has been possible through the siting of all public and collective functions in ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 17vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters temporary structures outside the historical centre. it was an efficient solution, but it caused a sense of impermanency, disorientation and uprooting to the inhabitants, who lost their spatial and relational references. a comparative analysis of these two cases, in which the historical centre which had been the public space par excellence but lost its potential role in the post­seismic urban reconstruction process, can be of major interest. in the case of vallo di nera, the reconstruction of the built environment shows that interventions in order to make it safe represent only a partial solution, not completely satisfactory, if they do not bring about the restart of public and collective functions, and or a shared re­definition of the whole urban system and of its functioning, if necessary at a different scale. nocera umbra represents a different, even an opposite case: the displacement of all the public functions and activities outside the historical centre, where they formerly were concentrated, together with most of collective values, determined a profound change in the organization as well as in the very perception of what the town is, showing its weakness, and the necessity to have towns more capable to adapt themselves to rapid or unexpected changes. from these cases we may argue that an urban structure with diffused or, to be more precise, some kind of polycentric organization of public spaces and functions could be much resilient than other functional models, while the complete relocation of those same spaces and functions outside the historical centre risks the destruction of its fundamental content, which is that of a public and communal space. this is a solution which can have sense in a very narrow civil protection perspective, but cannot be considered as a urban planning solution. as to the other four case studies, our reflections derive essentially from what we learnt from defining and designing the sum in different contexts. montone has a small and rather simple urban structure. it consists of a top­ hill historical centre, surrounded by walls, and with some small residential and rural settlements, most of them of historical value too, distributed along the road system at territorial scale. a rather important industrial suburb is positioned at one of the main cross­roads. the most important urban functions (commercial and public or collective ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 18vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters facilities), face the main square or the main urban streets. some major buildings of public or collective importance (e.g.: former religious buildings whose use have been changed though the time), are localized on the inner side of the town walls. accessibility from the outside is rather low, inner distribution and mobility is also reduced to pedestrian pathways. furthermore, these pathways are strictly related, and also strongly subjected, to the very structure of the settlement and of the buildings which surrounded them, determining their physical characters, in quantitative/dimensional and qualitative terms. their width is very narrow, their course is mostly irregular, there are many vaulted passages and underpasses, and their slope is often steep with stairs. access for cars is limited to small areas around the town gates, where there are also the few car parking spaces. more recent suburbs are generally similar to the historical centre from a quantitative and dimensional point of view, and they are adjacent to it. the sum for montone covers its historical centre, because it is there that all the public spaces and functions are localized. it also includes the roads which connect with the civil protection structure near perugia, determining a shift from the local to the territorial scale. the functioning of the sum in this case is very much conditioned by the extremely low accessibility and by the few strategic urban functions. amelia is a middle size historical town, surrounded by huge walls of high historical value. there is a first suburb (from a temporal point of view, but also in terms of importance) which developed in direct connection with the historical centre, and many further expansions, while most of urban functions and spaces are located within and near the historical centre, as well as along the main roads. the industrial areas are peripheral to the town. the sum is composed of a main road which represents the basic and strategic connection of the historical centre to its broad territory and, conversely, the main access to the town centre from the outside. there are just a few accesses to the historical centre, through gates. the car mobility within the historical centre is limited to a double pathway which connects strategic buildings and spaces: the town hall, the hospital and a couple of schools. from it starts a network of smaller pathways whose width is narrow ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 19vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters or very narrow, while their routes are mostly irregular and characterized by steps, slopes and also built obstacles, sometimes with “cul­de­sac” endings. the morphology of the historical centre determines also the particular character of the system of open spaces (yards and small green fields, used as collective or private gardens), which have a low accessibility, and an irregular morphology. there is only one open space which can be considered as a safe space in a risk mitigation perspective, between the town hall and the hospital. it is used for car parking, so it lost also its relational role in the ‘ordinary’ or daily conditions. outside the historical centre, streets and open spaces seem to have a more clear structure and functioning, and a kind of recognizable hierarchy. there are some strategic buildings and functions (such as the armed forces, health services and facilities, schools). in a strictly risk reduction perspective, a more positive general assessment could be given, due first of all to the flat and more regular morphology of the area, and also to the more recent origin of the buildings. from a different point of view, that is to say considering together risk reduction, resilience, and ordinary life quality, this configuration does not represent a satisfactory answer to the urban complex needs. first of all, it does not relate the strategic buildings reciprocally. moreover, considering that the external suburbs are mostly residential, it does not provide public or collective spaces. these are just two among many criticalities. for these reasons, it is the historical centre which (as very often in italy), represents the main component of the sum. it is there that most of the meanings (from a functional, historical and artistic point of view, as well as relational and symbolical) are concentrated. it is the place where the double objective of risk reduction through a planning approach, considering together the emergency and the restart of ordinary activities and the reconstruction of ordinary conditions, can be pursued. but the problem of the particular configuration of the historical centre remains, and so the structure of amelia was regarded as rather critical. this means that some steps have to be made in order to have it safer, considering that the actual chances to transform and to have safer public spaces within the historic centre are rather low; that the areas outside the historic centre are not always easily accessible; often they are not in strict relation with strategic buildings, and do not connect the strategic buildings ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 20vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters together, so that they do not constitute a ‘system’. moreover, outside the historical centre there are no public spaces in proper terms, but mostly semi­ private spaces. all these considerations make clear that there is a fundamental ‘rigidity’ (as an antonym of resilience) in the sum of amelia, which imposes some changes to improve the resilience of the town in risk reduction perspective, and in ordinary life perspective. the system of public buildings and function should be directly connected to that of public spaces and pathways, and possibly they should belong to the same rank. were it impossible to have these connections guaranteed, it should be necessary to consider relocating some functions, starting from the most strategic ones in terms of emergency, in order to have them directly related to the system of safe spaces and pathways. it is important to notice that this option should be explored in all its potential implications. in fact, it could empty the historic centres of their high­ranking functions, with results that would be similar to other case­studies presented here (e.g.: vallo di nera, and montone). a good example, in the case of amelia, is that of the location of the new hospital. this will open outside the historical centre, directly connected to the mobility system at territorial level. this solution is important because it does not respond only to risk reduction imperatives, but it has been taken (and considered as relevant) also in a broader planning perspective. figure 3 – amelia ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 21vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters città di castello and gubbio are the more complex among our case­studies, in dimensional, structural and functional terms. a last step in our argumentation will be made through these two examples. città di castello has a quasi­linear structure, which developed from a valley floor route. it is possible to distinguish three main parts of the settlement: the historical centre, the residential expansions, and the industrial expansion. about the historical centre, its ancient morphology is still very clear. it is surrounded by walls, and outside we find a system of avenues which work as ring roads and broad green spaces. because of these characteristics, it is possible to clearly distinguish the settlement’s expansion. going east, there are the main residential suburbs, rather heterogeneous from a morphological, typological and street­plot point of view. their figure 4 – amelia ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 22vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters connections with the historical centre are strongly influenced by an old, unused, railroad (the ‘ferrovia centrale umbra’). the mobility system has a primary and strategic role within the sum of città di castello. most of the public functions are inside the historical centre, including cultural and leisure activities, as well as commercial and productive activities, and many inhabitants. it is there that we find most of the collective values in terms of relational and symbolical meanings. because there are some important functions outside the historical centre too, the efficiency of the road­system in connecting the different parts of the settlement is fundamental in a risk reduction perspective. in the outer part of the settlement, there are the major green areas such as parks and gardens, but also rural areas and lawns, which are of fundamental importance from a civil protection point of view. but because the entire historic centre is a fundamental part of the sum the open spaces around the town walls are of strategic importance: in fact, they can be used as safe spaces during or immediately after an emergency. gubbio has a broad historical centre, surrounded by walls, with most of the urban functions (town hall, sanitary services and facilities, armed forces, schools, religious and cultural structures, accommodation facilities and commercial activities…). most of the suburbs outside the town centre are residential, with some public or collective functions and spaces heterogeneously distributed. the complexity and articulation of the urban structure considered as a whole, as well as the diffusion of functions throughout the whole territory was at the base of the definition of the sum of gubbio. the sum here is structured on two main strategic connections belonging to two different levels or scales: the first one provides connections at territorial level; the second one provides access to the historical centre, and connections at urban level. the system of open spaces and pathways is articulated into two parts: the inner part and the outer part of the historical centre. within the historical centre we find many public spaces, but because of their average size and the presence of buildings with a high vulnerability level, the system as a whole cannot be considered as safe. however, just outside the town walls, we find public open space with high potentialities in terms of environmental safety. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 23vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters in these two last cases of città di castello and gubbio, we had more complex and articulated urban structures, with productive functions which are of primary importance for the maintenance of urban life, and for its re­ start in case of an environmental disaster. public and collective spaces and functions are more diffuse, and even if also in these cases public collective functions and meanings are predominant in the historical centres, both the sums result more balanced than the other cases presented here. figure 5 – gubbio ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 24vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters conclusions what we can learn through the sum and its relationship with public space: functionality, identity, safety going back to the aim of this paper, which was to assess the possibility of using the imperatives of environmental risk reduction to rethink urban structures and their transformation processes, to give new impulse and importance to the ‘public city’ and to re­construct the public sphere, we may say that the six case­studies presented here permit us to draw some conclusions. we learnt many things about the role of public spaces in case of a seismic event, but also for the ordinary functioning of a town. generally speaking, to say that a town which has a good functioning in ordinary conditions can provide also a better reaction in case of a disaster sounds obvious, but looking at the history of natural catastrophes in italy demonstrates that it could be worth reaffirming. the concept of resilience, which is assuming a central position in planning debates, can help in understanding these phenomena. each space and each function should be able to answer to changing needs and to changing conditions. we may say that a public space, both in ‘ordinary’ conditions and in case of an environmental emergency such as an earthquake, could have three fundamental requisites, related to functionality, identity and safety. from the case­studies we analysed, we can say that we rarely find these three requisites simultaneously. our case­studies show that it is often the historical centre which include the most important urban functions and provides relational spaces. it tends also to represent the entire town, becoming the public space par excellence. but its vulnerability, related to its age and conservation conditions, is often high. diversely, urban expansions and suburbs, which are generally more safe, are characterized by a minor complexity: they provide a lower number of public and collective functions, they are often weaker also from a relational point of view, and so, generally speaking, they are said to have a weaker “identity”. the main problem which emerges from our reflections can be presented as a tension between two opposite and extreme situations, which can be co­present: ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 25vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters • the historic centre is still the predominant part of the town, including most of the functions, as well as historic and socio­cultural values. but it has a high vulnerability because of the general conditions of its buildings, and the actual chances to improve the safety level are subjected to many practical and theoretical difficulties and criticalities. • outer expansions and suburbs, of more recent origins, are generally less vulnerable and more safe, but they often have fewer public spaces, and even fewer with high urban and relational quality, so that they are often subordinated to the historical centre considering both the facilities, and the way of using and living the town. with respect to the trinomial of functionality, identity and safety mentioned before, emerges the problem of finding safe public spaces within the historic centre (which is a problem related mainly to emergency), and that of finding public spaces with higher level of functionality and identity outside the historical centre (which is a problem related mainly to the re­start and or the maintenance of ordinary urban activities in post­emergency phases). in the recent history of the earthquakes which struck italy, this led to unbalanced management decisions and situations; to the inhabitants, the loss of their historic centre (as in nocera umbra, but also in l’aquila, after the earthquake of 2009) provoked a sense of displacement and impermanency. because of that, it seems more difficult even to re­start the activities in the outer part of the town, which means that there is still a strong predominance of the historic centre on the settlement considered as a whole. this inevitably corresponds to a rather rigid urban structure, a structure with a low resilience, which strongly influenced the capacity to change spatial and functional organization (also for reasons which can be other than just those of risk reduction – e.g. socio­economical). this unbalance means that, in case of a seismic event, it is not just the historical centre which loses its functionality, but the entire town. cases such as amelia and montone, where the sum is particularly unbalanced towards an historical centre with a high vulnerability level, show that it is necessary to progressively change the functioning of the town, the way the people use it – since it is impossible for a local administration to provide interventions for vulnerability reduction for all the buildings. from one side, it seems that improving a diffusion of functions and spaces could ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 26vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters represent a solution. from the other side, moving all the main urban functions out of the historical centre risks completely emptying it, in its meaning of ‘public space’. we think that the topic of environmental risk stresses urban and territorial planning from many different points of view, and toward many different research directions. the centrality that the concept of resilience is recently assuming is a sign of this interest. we briefly mentioned the highly problematic relationship between emergency and deliberative processes, which is surely worth developing. the influence that emergency policies related to territorial management have had in italy is under­investigated, as is also an in­depth assessment of their costs. as to the specific issue of the risk reduction at urban level through a planning approach, the reflections which followed the case­studies analysis, bring us to understand some issues which need to be further explored, such as: 1. the concept of redundancy and the role which it could play for urban risk prevention and mitigation. (we already introduced the concept of redundancy within our research experiences: some results are shown in the case­studies boxes); the relationship between the concept of redundancy (intended as “something more than the minimal requirements”) and that of sum as we conceived and presented it here; the problem of scale and of the dimensions of a settlement, as related to resilience and environmental safety, and the question of a ‘minimum’ (and ‘maximum’) dimension of the settlement and the related sum. 2. 3. the governance of environmental emergencies, and particularly the relationship between the state (also through the civil protection service), and the local administrations, which can be articulated into two directions: inconsistency between the management of recent emergencies and the process of devolution and decentralization power which is highly claimed; and the relationship between civil protection plans and urban planning. 4. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 27vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters case study of nocera umbra adriana de rosa _phd student in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma region municipality population last earthquake umbria (italy) nocera umbra (perugia province) 6.175 inhabitants 1997 urban structure nocera umbra is a middle­size settlement located along the ss 3 ­ via flaminia, at the eastern edge of the province of perugia, near to the marche region. its town centre is on the top of an hill. the territorial system is characterized by a predominant linear conformation of the settlement and its mobility system, which is due to the particular shape of the valley. the historic centre is characterized by the concentration of all public functions and spaces, together with all the historical, cultural, architectonic and identity values. sum (main character): ­ concentration of functions and public spaces within the historical centre post­seismic solutions: ­ public functions relocated outside in temporary ­ closure for security reasons ­ change the use of the city: lacks flexibility in response to catastrophic events. main critical issues of the strategic urban structure nocera umbra, as well as the town of vallo di nera, having direct experience of an earthquake (1997), provides an example of the need for redundancy for risk prevention and mitigation, and for providing flexibility and adaptability to the town. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 28vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters after the earthquake of 1997, the whole historical centre where all the urban and public functions were localized, and where all the public and collective relations took place, was closed for security reasons. the closure lasted many years, and all public functions were moved outside (in temporary structures), demonstrating of the lack of adaptability to the “unexpected” event and, more particularly, of the total “un­balance” of the public city that was concentrated in the town centre. the comparison of this case to smaller and larger ones allows consideration about the problem of historic centres containing all public functions, highlighting the importance of articulating and differentiating spaces and functions, as regards to type and location, both for the emergency response, and for the recovery, but also in an “ordinary” planning perspective. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 29vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters case study of montone maria sole benigni _phd student in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma region municipality population last earthquake umbria (italy) montone (perugia province) 1.675 inhabitants 1997 urban structure montone is a small town in the north tiber valley with a relatively small and simple urban and territorial structure. the urban structure is gathered around a small­sized historical centre surrounded by walls, on top of a hill; along the main territorial road system there are several residential and rural areas, and a significant industrial / manufacturing area. public functions, services and activities are all placed around the historical centre, where accessibility is limited and reduced. most of the “strategic urban structure” (sum) corresponds to the historical centre, therefore it is quite rigid. ­ lack of public spaces, especially outside the old town walls; ­ need better balancing of the public spaces system, connecting and giving functionality to the external open public spaces, in order to deal with various emergencies; ­ lack of redundancy concerning the territorial connections between the centre and the manufacturing area, and lack of accessibility to this zone. main critical issues of the strategic urban structure it is recommended to set a structured and differentiated network of public spaces and functions in order to improve the balance of the urban structure and to facilitate the identification of redundancy's elements, which are of fundamental importance for the sum. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 30vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters case study of amelia maria sole benigni _phd student in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma region municipality population last earthquake umbria (italy) amelia (perugia province) 12.000 inhabitants 1997 urban structure amelia is structured around a middle­size historical centre surrounded by walls, around which we find its former urban growth, while further expansions (residential and industrial /manufacturing) developed along the main roads. in the town centre are located the most relevant public functions and services, with the exception of some open public spaces which are outside the walls, and some public facilities (health and education). the “strategic urban structure” is organised around a main and strategic connection route, linking the territorial context with the town centre. even if some the sum is particularly rigid and critical because of: ­ the concentration of urban functions inside the old town, and the unsafe accessibility system through gates; ­ lack of open public spaces inside the old town (where there are only private spaces); ­ weakness of accessibility and connections between the main strategic roads outside the historical centre. main critical issues of the strategic urban structure the lack of redundancy in the mobility and accessibility system, highlights the need to re­organize the system of public functions and spaces relocating some of them outside the ancient walls. this should be done in order to increase connections between strategic buildings, spaces and paths, improving the urban functioning in ordinary conditions as well as in during an emergency. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 31vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters case study of vallo di nera adriana de rosa _phd student in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma region municipality population last earthquake umbria (italy) vallo di nera (perugia province) 428 inhabitants 1997 urban structure vallo di nera is a small town in the valnerina (a river­valley in the south­west of umbria). it is composed of two separate parts: the historical centre at the top of a hill, which maintained its medieval structure (it appears as a fortress, entirely surrounded by walls and towers, built on a hill on the left side of the river nera); and a sort of suburb in the valley, named piedipaterno, where all the main urban functions are located, in more direct connection with territorial infrastuctures. after the public functions moved outside, the town centre turned toward monofunctional use, which is residential. this leads to a bipolar structure. therefore, to define the strategic urban structure it is necessary to look at a broader territory, going beyond the urban scale. the earthquake in vallo di nera happened in 1979, while our research dated from 2009: 30 years after the event. when our research started, the post­seismic reconstruction was completed, so we could see the results of post­seismic plans and policies. the main goal was the conservation of the historical centre as a whole, also ­ relocation of public functions and development of commercial activity in the valley; ­ increasing the capacity of the bipolar structure to respond to the earthquake; ­ the bipolar system is structured on a main and single connection, which has no redundancy; ­ the basic dimension of the 'urban structure' is necessarily the territory. main critical issues of the strategic urban structure because of its landscape value, and as a mark of territorial identity. despite the fact that this structure is rather problematic for the everyday life of the few inhabitants, it has been adopted for a more efficient response to the earthquake. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 32vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters starting from the identification of weaknesses of the sum in different contexts, it is possible to identify those characters (and, possibly, those actions) required in order to increase its efficiency. urban structures are examined in relation to their "propensity to flexibility", in relation to environmental catastrophes but also to ordinary conditions. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 33vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters case study of citta' di castello flavia de girolamo _phd student in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma region municipality population last earthquake umbria (italy) città di castello (perugia province) 40.000 inhabitants 1997 urban structure città di castello is a middle­size town in the tiber valley. by analyzing its whole urban structure, it can be noticed that the historic centre has a decentralized position. the historic centre is well preserved and surrounded by boulevards following the ancient city­walls. the business districts developed towards north. to the east of the old town we find the main residential areas, characterized by lack of homogeneity and of morphological relationship with the historic centre. ­ the main territorial and urban connections play a strategic role in the urban structure; ­ the main public functions are unevenly distributed in the external settlements; ­ the open spaces surrounding the ancient walls can be safe places in case of an earthquake; ­ some urban functions are situated in the suburbs; they can play a strategic role for the recovery of socio­economic and urban activities after a seismic event. however, the strategic urban structure overwhelmingly corresponds to the historic centre, because of the concentration of main critical issues of the strategic urban structure public functions, public spaces and historical­cultural values; ­ lack of redundancy concerning the territorial connections between the centre and the manufacturing area, and lack of accessibility to this zone; ­ lack of redundancy (ways and nodes) between the historic centre, the suburbs and the strategic buildings (elements that are necessary for the functioning of the city and the restart of urban ordinary activities after an earthquake). ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 34vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters case study of gubbio flavia de girolamo _phd student in urban planning dipartimento design, tecnologia dell’architettura, territorio e ambiente ­ sapienza università di roma region municipality population last earthquake umbria (italy) gubbio (perugia province) 33.000 inhabitants 1997 urban structure located on a hill, north of umbria region, gubbio is a medium­size town with a large historic centre surrounded by ancient walls. the system of mobility is structured on two territorial roads (ss19 and ss318).within the city walls are the main urban functions (administration, health facilities, civil defence, schools, theatre, churches, banks, shops, architectural and artistic heritage). the main urban connection runs all along the city walls, and influences the entire mobility system (radial and parallel streets), connecting the residential suburbs. in the suburbs we find public facilities and public spaces, commercial and productive functions. three wide business districts are located outside the ring road and a big cement factory is positioned south. ­ strategic connections must be considered at two different levels: territorial and urban; ­ wide public open spaces may be used as safe places in case of earthquake; ­ the main critical aspects of the strategic urban structure are the complexity and the articulation of the urban system; furthermore, the territorial diffusion of urban functions and the presence of many unsafe spaces represents a critical issues; ­ however, these aspects can be solved through the redundancy, which provide the flexibility and adaptability of the settlement in case of an earthquake. main critical issues of the strategic urban structure ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 35vol. iii, issue 1 ­ 2013 references arrow k. 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(eds.), understanding the city: contemporary and future perspectives: blackwell. available at: 10.1002/9780470693582.ch3 pizzo et al ­ earthquakes, public spaces and (the social construction of) environmental disasters microsoft word prisco_mobility final version.docx ijpp   issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 50 italian phd students abroad exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies marilena prisco p h d s t u d e n t , d i p a r t i m e n t o d i a r c h i t e t t u r a u n i v e r s i t à d e g l i s t u d i d i n a p o l i f e d e r i c o i i v i a t o l e d o , 4 0 2 8 0 1 3 4 n a p l e s , i t a l y – m a r i l e n a . p r i s c o @ u n i n a . i t abstract global changings in higher education as well as the internationalisation of european education and research institutes have occurred during the last decades deeply affecting the italian phd system. the mobility of phd students has become an important issue to take into account both for its impact on the evolution of the italian academia and for the job market. the study presented here aims to have an insight into the consequences of the internationalisation process. it is based on a two-step data collection (a data enquiry and a survey) on phd students of urban studies who were hosted by non-italian universities during their doctoral course between 2002 and september 2015. according to data, phd students of urban studies could represent a great potential for the internationalisation process of the italian academia even though both doctoral students and institutions do prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 51 not seem to be completely aware of this and to fully invest on it yet. furthermore, the gathered data has shown that experience at a foreign university proves valuable for phd candidates, who state they had thus improved or acquired considerable skills and opportunities. the study revealed also that part of phds who participated in the survey is currently in the research field, both in academia or in the public or private research sector. introduction during the last two decades the phd system has been affected by the main changes in higher education that were occurring all around the world. the part of the population accessing higher education during the second half of the 20th century has massively increased (altbach, 1999). furthermore the modern society has been transformed into the so-called 'learning society' in which a substantial part of the population is “more or less continually engaged in formal education of one kind or another” (trow, 2005; p.275). these phenomena raise the question of what a phd title means in western countries and globally today. questioning the role of phds becomes even more important considering the almost rampant increase of phd titles which occurred in many countries between 1998 and 2008 (cyranoski et al., 2011). the ongoing debate about the importance of phd courses to foster the generating of specific figures for the academic or the research field has become a main issue in the us and other countries, where the system of phd education is in dire need of a shift to avoid the future collapse of development of the job market and the impending lack of economic resources due to a generalised crisis (taylor, 2011). between the late 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, european universities were asked to take on an active role to face the challenges of globalisation and to promote a more interlinked education system (european commission, 2003). the eu internal cohesion became fundamental to co-ordinate single national efforts in the field of research to become more competitive (banchoff, 2003). prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 52 this study focuses on italian doctoral students in urban studies, mainly in disciplines of urban and territorial planning and policies. even though an exhaustive reconstruction of the european education policy evolution is beyond the scope of this paper, the study has been conducted on the background of the main innovations that have been introduced in the italian and european higher education system in response to the global phenomenon. the aim is to gain an insight into doctoral students as part of the current italian academia and of the future job market. it is based on the data collection from phd students of urban studies. most of them studied in planning and policies programmes and all were involved in mobility activities to foreign universities during their doctoral course between 2002 and september 20151. thus, the attempt is to answer three main questions: • does the mobility of phd students of urban studies foster cooperation between italian and international academia? • does the mobility of those students in international academia result in additional skills and results for phds? • are their international experiences of value to entering the research job market as phds? the paper is structured in four sections. in the first section, the consequences of the main reforms of the italian phd system for urban studies are introduced, based on the background of the european process of internationalising the fields of education and research during the last two decades. in the second section, the methods of the research work, the institutions involved for the data collection and the phd programmes selected are presented. in the third section, the results of the survey are reported. the sample of forty-nine doctoral students, who participated in the survey from nine selected italian higher education institutions, is presented and the mobility is investigated in terms of their destinations, motivations and the 1 the period 2002-2015 was selected according to data availability. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 53 economic aspects related to the experiences at foreign universities. feedback on their research stay is collected to provide information about the outcome of their experiences. the job opportunities for phds are also analysed as focusing on italian phds who had international experiences during their studies. furthermore, the career choices they made afterwards and the opportunities they were offered are further investigated. in the final section the results of the study are discussed in order to answer the three main questions on which it focuses. background two main steps, the promulgation of the bologna declaration (ehea, 1999) and the institution of the eu’s lisbon research agenda (2000), characterised the european main innovation which also influenced the evolution of italy's higher education system. the former ‒ a milestone in the process started in 1988 ‒ was mainly directed towards transforming degrees into comparable titles and was supported by the european commission. the latter focused on the research policy for growth and occupation, attributing a fundamental role to universities. reforms and innovations on the two levels – of education and research – continued during the following years and the european commission expanded its role in reforming the higher education system (keeling, 2006). in 2010 the european higher education area (ehea) was finally formally instituted to promote the necessary european dimension in higher education as the bologna declaration had affirmed eleven years before. in addition, the european research area (era), whose aim is to support the knowledge-based economy on a european scale and an “internal market” in research (european commission, 2005), enabled a major turning point. since the beginning of the bologna process a more interconnected global system of higher education is emerging (robertson and keeling, 2008). a big effort has been made in italian academia and within institutional contexts to understand the role of universities in what was later named the ehea. the institution of the italian phd, formalized through the presidential decree 382/80 in 1980, has been prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 54 deeply influenced by the european framework and by the bologna process. phd programmes have followed the adaptation strategy to the new european standards by introducing a credit-based system and fostering cross-border exchange and cooperation. nevertheless, the italian national reforms of the phd system of the last years have not always been mutually coherent, especially in recognising the importance of phd courses through an adequate economic support and national support in terms of the creation of specific positions for phds (avarello, 2012). the italian higher educational institutions, including institutions of urban studies, were deeply involved in that process. phd programmes were reorganised several times in just a few years2 and educational institutions of urban studies made the effort to revise their educational programmes and to strengthen international relationships as the national policy frame had required. furthermore, phd courses in planning, policies and other fields of the territorial and city transformations had to face many challenges in the attempt to redefine the identity of the discipline. nonetheless both the administrative reorganisation of the phd system as well as the decrease of resources prevailed within the cultural project of phd courses (bianchi, 2012). in this frame, the mobility of students of urban studies is linked to the process of constitution of the ehea, as much as the creation of a relevant number of associations between european academics such as the association of european schools of planning (aesop), the foundation of the european research area and the institution of many eu research and innovation programmes3 inside the era. in this study it is argued that mobility in higher education, as part of 2 for a complete reconstruction of the evolution of the italian phd system, see cappa (2009) and mecca and perrone (2014) in the list of references. 3 for instance the recently introduced horizon 2020, instituted with the aim to foster interdisciplinary and international partnerships both among european universities and within the private research field, thereby representing the evolution of the lisbon strategy (european commission, 2009). prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 55 the “evolutionary process” of internationalisation (knight, 2015), is mainly connected to multidirectional material flows of students and researchers that can be categorised in three groups: entry flow, exit flow and cooperative flow. in this frame, phd students are considered a consistent part of both the exit flow and the cooperative flow. research methods this study was conducted in two phases. during the first phase, twenty-three phd programmes of nine institutes were selected from programmes active after the bologna declaration. table 1: list of the phd programmes selected for the first part of the study (according to the cineca database). phd programme institute department cycles (activated) p.1 pianificazione urbana, territoriale e ambientale* polytechnic university of milan architettura e pianificazione (from the 20° cycle) 16°-23° p.2 spatial planning and urban development* polytechnic university of milan architettura e pianificazione 24°-28° p.3 governo e progettazione del territorio* polytechnic university of milan architettura e pianificazione 24°-28° p.4 urban planning, design and policy polytechnic university of milan architettura e studi urbani 29°-30° p.5 ambiente e territorio curriculum in pianificazione territoriale e sviluppo locale* polytechnic university of turin ingegneria del territorio, dell'ambiente e delle geotecnologie 21°-25° interateneo e territorio 26° interateneo di scienze, progetto e politiche del territorio 27°-28° p.6 urban and regional development polytechnic university of turin interateneo di scienze, progetto e politiche del territorio 30° p.7 pianificazione territoriale e politiche pubbliche del territorio* iuavhigher institute of architecture of venice pianificazione (from the 19° cycle) 15°-24° 25°-26° iuav per la ricerca 27° 28° p.8 urbanistica* iuavhigher institute of architecture of venice urbanistica (from the 19° cycle) 15°-24° 25°-26° iuav per la ricerca 27° 28° prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 56 phd programme institute department cycles (activated) p.9 architettura, città e design – curriculum in pianificazione territoriale e politiche pubbliche del territorio iuavhigher institute of architecture of venice 29°30° p.10 architettura, città e design curriculum in urbanistica iuavhigher institute of architecture of venice 29°-30° p.11 progettazione della città del territorio e del paesaggio curriculum in progettazione urbanistica e territoriale* university of florence urbanistica e pianificazione del territorio 26°-27° p.12 progettazione della città, del territorio e del paesaggio curriculum in progettazione paesistica* university of florence urbanistica e pianificazione del territorio 26°-27° p.13 architettura curriculum in progettazione urbanistica e territoriale university of florence architettura 28°-30° p.14 urban studies gran sasso science institute 29°-30° p.15 pianificazione territoriale e urbana* sapienza university of rome pianificazione territoriale e urbanistica (from the 19° cycle) 15°-25° design, tecnologia dell'architettura, territorio e ambiente 26°-28° p.16 pianificazione, design e tecnologia dell'architettura curriculum in pianificazione territoriale, urbana e del paesaggio sapienza university of rome pianificazione, design, tecnologia dell'architettura 29°-30° p.17 politiche territoriali e progetto locale* roma tre university studi urbani 19°-28° p.18 urbanistica e pianificazione territoriale* university of naples “federico ii” urbanistica (from the 19° cycle) 17°-24° p.19 progettazione urbana e urbanistica – curriculum in pianificazione urbanistica e territoriale* university of naples “federico ii” progettazione urbana e urbanistica 25°-28° p.20 architettura – curriculum in pianificazione urbanistica e valutazione (section of pianificazione urbanistica) university of naples “federico ii” architettura 29°-30° p.21 pianificazione urbana e territoriale* university of palermo citta' e territorio (from the 18° cycle) 13°-24° p.22 analisi, rappresentazione e pianificazione delle risorse territoriali, urbane, storiche-architettoniche e artistiche curriculum in pianificazione urbana e territoriale* university of palermo architettura 25°-26° p.23 architettura, arti e pianificazione curriculum in pianificazione urbana e territoriale university of palermo architettura (darch) 29°-30° *phd course currently inactive all the involved institutes (see table 1) were asked to support the prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 57 study by providing data about the number of students from the selected programmes and the number of students among them, who visited foreign universities for study and research purposes during their phd course. in four cases the administrative offices could not provide all the data required due to the absence of dedicated databases or due to the long process of elaboration. then an indirect reconstruction for sapienza university of rome and university of naples “federico ii” was attempted with the support of phd students and researchers. in the case of polytechnic university of milan and partially in the case of iuav, both the data enquiry and the indirect reconstruction did not succeed, consequently affecting the statistic. according to data, 51,7% among the students enrolled in the listed programmes went abroad (see tab.2). this percentage could probably be even higher for polytechnic university of milan and iuav. in fact most of the participants in the second phase of this study are from those two institutions. table 2: students enrolled in the selected phd programmes compared with the number of the students eligible for the survey. institute programmes (ref. tab.1) selected cycles n. of total students n. of students in foreign universities polytechnic university of milan p.1 18°-23° na na p.2 24°-28° na na p.3 24°-28° na na p.4 29°-30° na na polytechnic university of turin p.5 21°-28° 26* 9* p6 30° 12 0 iuav higher institute of architecture of venice p.7 20°-27° na na p.8 22°-27° na na p.7 + p.8 28° 14 34 p.9 + p.10 29°-30° 27 university of florence p.11 + p.12 26°-27° 6 1 p.13 28°-30° 8 1 gran sasso science institute p.14 29°-30° 21 4 p.15 21°-23° na na sapienza university of rome p.15 24° 6 1 p.15 25° na na p.15 26°-28° 20 7 p.16 29°-30° 10 2 roma tre university p.17 19°-28° 43 35 prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 58 institute programmes (ref. tab.1) selected cycles n. of total students n. of students in foreign universities university of naples “federico ii” p.18 22°-24° 8 4 p.19 25°-28° 10 7 p.20 29°-30° 7 1 university of palermo p.21 20°-24° 26 19 p.22 25°-26° 8 7 p.23 29°-30° 7 2 259 134 na data not available * calculated as arithmetic average of the aggregated data about six curricula during the second phase, the online survey was conducted between august and september 2015 using the google form free platform. the administrative offices of the involved instituted were asked to pass on a link to attend an online questionnaire in italian (see annex 1). the survey counts forty-nine valid entries from fifty-one total participants. seven students among them (14,3%) were still abroad in september 2015. results of the survey the profile of the participants the forty-nine students sample is presented in figure 1a and the thirty-two destinations of their visit are indicated in figure 1b. according to the data collected, 68,6% of the total number of participants 4 were hosted by universities inside the eu or by countries not officially in the eu but on its borders like in the case of albania and turkey, and it is worth mentioning that 21,6% of all participating students went to the uk; 17,7% of the attendants indicated as their destination a city located in central or south america against 13,7% of them who chose a university in us or canada. figure 1a: detail of the sample of the participants in the survey. 4 a double destination of two participants was taken into account. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 59 prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 60 figure 1b: the map of destinations. they were also asked how long their experience lasted. from the collected data it was ascertained that medium duration visits are preferred to short visits (16, 3% say their visit lasted less than three months) and long visits (12,2% of the experiences went on for more than one year). among the ones who stayed for a medium visit period, 38,8% chose the option of 3-6 months and 32,7% chose the option of 6-12 months. all in all, a total of 83,7% of students spent more than 3 months abroad. the reasons that took the participants of this study abroad were investigated through a set of questions with multiple choice answers. they were asked to define their experience alternatively as an obligation, a free choice or a necessity (see figure 2). 43% of them indicated the free choice option. alternatively, 28,5% said that they had to go abroad because of their specific research project and 28,5% mentioned that an international experience had been strictly prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 61 recommended/required by their university. figure 2: how the participants defined their experience abroad. furthermore, the participants were asked to specify the modality they used to select the foreign university (see figure 3). 57,1% stated to have made a selection in a completely independent way by autonomously choosing the destination, individually collecting information about the hosting institution and by consequently submitting an application to be accepted as temporary visiting students. a considerable 30,7% were directed in their choice by a professor; almost half of these (16,4%) were actively supported by the same professor who also established a first contact with the respective institution, in contrast to the remaining ones (14,3%) who directly contacted the suggested institution themselves. only a small part of 12,2% says to have chosen the destination because of an institutional agreement between their italian home university and the foreign university. summarised, the percentage of students who established a contact outside of formalised and pre-constituted agreement, shows a very relevant 87,8%. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 62 figure 3: how the participants selected the destination. financial aspects were also taken into account during the survey to consider how relevant the monetary support is to foster international experiences of phd students (see figure 4). 73,5% were supported by an individual scholarship and among those, 67,4 % says the scholarship was increased by the sending institution to cover the expenses related to the visiting period. 20,4% of all students attending the survey say to have been self-financed and not recipients of any scholarship during their three-year course. the remaining 6,1% of the participants received economic support through a financial programme or a specific agreement such as the recently introduced eu programme erasmus+. figure 4: the monetary support to the phd students abroad. intentions and results of travelling abroad during the phd in the section ‘b’ of the survey, participants were asked to give a feedback on their experience as part of their phd education. here, intentions, actual gained competences and main problems of the phd prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 63 students were central to take stock of their experiences. question with multi-item scale answers and additional open questions were used for this section of the survey. the most important collected information is that a notable 91,8% of participants gave the experience they had gained at the foreign universities a mark of 4 or 5 (on a 1 to 5 scale), thus evaluating the experience as indispensable or at least very important for their phd education. this number goes up to 98% if we include the ones who gave a mark of 3, still recognising a certain relevance to the experience. secondly, a question regarding the specific aims that characterised their experience with five possible answers were given. the participants had to assign a judgment to every answer on a scale of five levels of importance going from “not relevant” to “priority” (see figure 5). the option that was indicated as “priority” from the greatest number of participants (59,2%) is to study a case directly located in the country they were going to, while the number goes up to 79,6% if we also consider who marked this intention as “very relevant” or “relevant”. in second place, the answers that gained the highest marks (from “relevant” to “priority”) are “to interview foreign expert” (71,5%) and “to gain knowledge and competencies for a future career in italy” (69,4%). it is worth to report that the participants were asked how important “to get new institutional international contacts or strengthen existing institutional contacts with foreign institutions” was for them, only the small part of 2% among all the participants selected it as a “priority”. 61,2% were interested in the exploration of international academia for a possible future transfer (they selected the options from “priority” to “relevant”). prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 64 figure 5: aims of the experience abroad. the participants were also asked which skills and results they had gained thanks to the international experience (see figure 6). a threegrade scale was provided to evaluate every option (a “yes-partiallyno” scale). the most notably data is that 79,6% indicated they certainly had clearer objectives, improved methods and outcomes regarding their research project at the end of their international experience while a small percentage of 6,1% got awarded an international label or a specific international title (e.g. a title related to a joint phd programme between an italian and european university or the label of doctor europaeus). a considerable percentage of participants do not link their experience to having a clearer idea about the role of the professional figure of a phd (47% found it not helpful against 30,6% who considered it helpful while 22,4% found it partially helpful) and most of the participants found the experience important in order to consider new options for their future career (36,7% found the experience helpful and 49% partially helpful). summing up the results from the answers given by the participants, the experience at a foreign university is mainly important for their individual phd research projects in terms of defining the objectives, methods and outcomes of the project; in terms of better presenting and communicating it (65,3% yes; 22,5% partially); to receive feedback from foreign professors on their individual projects (67,3% yes; 20,5% partially). at a lower stage, there are general aspects like improving their methodology knowledge for research work (59,2% yes; 32,6% partially) and improving organisational skills, like the ability of structuring a research work or identifying consequential steps of a research work prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 65 (49% yes; 28,6% partially). during their international experience, the foreign language skills were also improved by 67,3% of all participants and partially improved by 18,4% of them. figure 6: skills and results the participants gained. the last question was about identifying the main problems the phd students had during their visit to a foreign university, once more via a “yes-partially-no” scale (see figure 7). the given options were grouped in six categories comprising communication problems, different approaches/methods in research activities, lack of tutoring and guidance in the hosting institution, problems in reaching the pre-established aims due to time limits, the change of some objectives of their research project during the visit and difficulties to identify tutors and professors to talk about their specific topic. all of these categories were evaluated as not related to their respective personal experience by 26,5% of participants who declared to not have experienced any of these difficulties during their visit. a limit in interaction due to the foreign language was listed as less important (2% “yes”; 12,3% “partially”). the necessity to revise the objectives of their research projects during the visiting period (most frequently selected) involved 20,4% and partially involved an additional 18,4%, meaning that 38,8% of all students changed some prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 66 parts of their project while having direct contact with a foreign academic environment. figure 7: main problems of the experience abroad. international profile and job market the last section of the survey was composed of five questions aimed at finding out what happened to the participants when they had completed the stay, their phd course and had entered the job market. this issue was examined in terms of specific additional skills useful in the job market and linked to the international experience which they supposedly would not have gained in italy, to verify if the connection with the hosting institution continued or not after they had come back to italy, if the experience had a direct or indirect influence on the doctors' careers, if the doctors moved to a foreign country for research purposes after having completed their phd course and if they are currently working in the italian or international research field. participants between a range of 69,4% and 89,8% linked or partially linked four of the proposed skills to the international experience they had had, meaning that they think they gained organisational skills (83,7%), basic knowledge (69,4%), effectiveness in pursuing a specific aim (71,4%) and communication skills (89,8%) through this contact with a foreign university (see figure 8). only one of the prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 67 suggested skills has not been recognised by the students as dependent on their international experience which is the ability to work in a team (73,5% answered ‘no’). it has to be noted that additionally, open answers were also possible for most of the questions of the survey. 18,4% decided to give more details about which skills they gained through this experience for which some recurrent answers were given, the most recurrent one referring to learning methods and methodology (8,2%) or to learning how to focus pragmatically on specific aims and objectives (6,1%). figure 8: valuable skills for the job market the participant gained. forty-two participants of the survey had already completed their visiting period when they filled in the questionnaire (85,7%) and their experiences are considered to investigate how stable the international connections created through the phd students are (see figure 9a and 9b). half of the sample (49%) had no more contacts with the hosting university after the students had come back to italy. 36,7% said they had more contacts: 20,5% received formal invitations from the hosting institution for post-doctoral programmes, conferences and other research activities; 12,2% of participants state that researchers and students from their former hosting institutions later came to italy for teaching or research purposes linked to the respective italian university; 2% are directly involved in research projects between the home and the hosting institution. the remaining 2% say that more students from the same italian university have been received by the international hosting institution after they came back. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 68 figure 9a: contact with the guesting university after the experience. figure 9b: detail of the ‘yes’ answers. the number of participants who had completed their doctoral course in september 2015 is thirty-seven and their answers might provide information related to work opportunities for phds with an international background gained during their study course (see figure 10). 59,2% of all participants who have already been awarded the title of doctor of philosophy confirmed that the experience they had is directly or indirectly relevant for their career. among them, there are 18,4% who state that they have had job opportunities directly linked to their visiting experience while 40,8% say that the skills gained through the visit are indeed very useful for their professional career. 16,3% do not state a particular link between the utility of the experience and their post-doctoral career. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 69 figure 10: the participants who gained work opportunities. thirty-four participants who had completed their doctoral course declared to be already active in the job market (69,4% of the sample); half of them did not move abroad to work in the research field (32,6%) while 10,2% tried to move abroad by sending some applications which have not been accepted; 8,2% worked abroad in the research field and later decided to come back to italy and 18,4% of them are still in a foreign country (see figure 11). figure 11: the phds who worked abroad in the research field. furthermore, 44,9% are currently active within the field of research in september 2015: 28,6% work in italy as researchers (16,3% in academia, 8,2% are researchers or consultants for public institutions and 4,1% work in the private research field) while 16,3% work abroad (10,2% in academia, 2% are researchers or consultants for public institutions and 4,1% work in the private research field). prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 70 among the thirty-four phds who are active in the job market, 18,4% are not in the research field at the moment and 10,2% are not continuously in the research sector or do not have a regular contract (see figure 12). figure 12: current occupation of the phds. discussion and conclusions the whole higher education system has been influenced by phenomena occurring on a global scale during the last century such as, first of all, a wider access to higher education and to phd titles globally. since the bologna process started, the european union has supported the internationalisation of academic institutions. the cooperation among universities of european countries has been promoted as a strategy and knowledge has become a main issue to cope with the current challenges and to be competitive on a global scale. italian universities have also been involved in the internationalisation process. in this study the mobility of phd students has been considered as a key issue to be investigated, for the eventual role of creating connections between italian and foreign universities. at the same time the study investigated the specific skills, results and work opportunities directly derived from the phds experience abroad. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 71 the mobility of italian phd students and international co-operation the results of the data enquiry which involved twenty-three phd programmes of nine italian institutes reveal that the number of phd students guested by a foreign university during the last two decades is consistent (more than half of the students enrolled in a phd programme). the number might probably be even higher5. most of the participants were directed to europe and, surprisingly, none of the participants indicated as their destination australia, or africa and asia, where a very relevant part of the nowadays urbanization process occurs. according to the results of the study and to the structure of the listed phd programmes, there is an emerging trend in the italian phd system to encourage students to do an internship or a research period abroad at foreign public or private institutions. in some cases, it is specifically required to obtain the title of phd in italy6. in fact 28,5% of participants also confirmed the international experience had been recommended or required by their phd programme. the study also reveals that italian phd students can be a powerful element in establish, improve or strengthen the connections between italian and a high number of foreign universities (as shown in figure 1b). this is more evident if we consider that most participants autonomously chose the destination for their period abroad and independently established a first contact with the hosting institution. nonetheless, the high percentage of students who established a contact with the guesting institution outside of formalised and preconstituted partnership could reveal both a lack of pre-existing formalised agreements between italian departments of urban studies 5 as mentioned before, data about the students of the polytechnic university of milan and iuav were not available or partially available. a lack of data for sapienza university was also detected. furthermore it has to be considered that some students currently enrolled in a phd programme will probably be guested by a foreign university during the next months. 6 for example, it is explicitly required by the phd programme in ‘urban planning, design and policy’ of the polytechnic university of milan. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 72 and foreign universities and, probably, a sign of a general lack of connections between the italian research field in urban studies and the international one. a more certain fact is that more than four out of five phd students who participated in the survey did not take part in any official mobility programmes or agreements. the phd mobility in urban planning does not seem to have been fostered by such agreements yet. it is also worth laying emphasis on the fact that only half of the participants stated that their experience was aimed at foster international co-operation. a not substantial percentage considers it as a priority or in other words seems to feel an essential part of the process. furthermore, half of the sample stated that the contacts established between the sending institution and the receiving university did not become a durable connection, e.g. through official co-operation or international research projects. the connections the students created between italian and foreign universities unfortunately do not seem to be that consistent or permanent. this shows that even if italian phd students represent a great potential to foster international relations between universities, institutions do not still take sufficient advantage of it. in addition, the fact that more than one out of five participants were self-financed confirms a lack of investments in the internationalisation of the italian phd system as its candidates are not all supported by institutions, in some cases restricting the access to international stay only to them who can afford it by themselves. additional skills and results for phds to answer the question related to acquired skills and final results, we may consider that 83,7% of participants spent more than 3 months abroad illustrating that stay in international academia is an important step for students during the conventional 36 months of their phd study course. it is worth mentioning that 85,7% of participants related the experience abroad to gain language skills. this is a relevant piece of data if we consider that most of italy's phd programmes listed in tab.1 and currently active suggested, recommended or required for the prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 73 doctoral students to participate in international activities. spending a period of time abroad seems to be a useful way to prepare themselves for the interaction in international contexts. this is particularly important if we take into account that most of the listed phd programmes are still mainly based on the italian language, even if some exceptions exist7. furthermore, an impressive 91,8% of the sample affirmed the experience abroad is a necessary or important step to complete their phd education. the participants mostly agreed that they had not relevant problems during the experience. it was for most of them an important step in order to improve or to gain different skills for their phd education, both for their individual project and research work. a lower but still relevant number of participants stated they gained useful skills for their future career, apparently impossible to be acquired through a solely italian postgraduate education. nonetheless, in most of the cases the stay did not result in a specific title or label, e.g. a label of doctor europaeus. the low number of students who got a specific certification could probably point to the tendency in italian academia in the field of urban studies to not make any distinction in terms of title or labels between the phd students with international experiences and the ones who had no experience abroad. one of the most notably findings emerging from the survey is that the visit seems to be a very individual experience that does not overly encourage or help with learning how to work better in a research team. this result would have to be analysed in further studies. the research job market for phds concerning their post-doctoral career, there is a relevant percentage 7 this is the case of polytechnic university of turin where the new phd programme of “urban and regional development” shifted to using english and for almost all of the lessons; or the case of polytechnic university of milan where all of the lessons of the actual phd course of “urban planning, design and policy” are given in english. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 74 of participants who professionally entered the research field afterwards, and a consistent part entered the italian or international academia. at the same time the percentage of participants who stated the international experience influenced their career is very high among them who completed the phd course. nonetheless, the participants who gained job opportunities related to their experience at a foreign university are a lower number than the students who gained indirect opportunities (one out of two). so, we can allege that there is a link between international experience at foreign institutions and their professional career. nonetheless, we could maintain the research stay is important mainly in terms of fostering skills to become a researcher than in terms of opportunities directly connected to the experience abroad. furthermore 61,2% of participants linked the experience to a long term perspective (they selected the options from “priority” to “relevant”), stating that they had been interested in the exploration of international academia for a possible transfer. the remarkable percentage of participants who declared to currently work abroad, have worked abroad or have applied for a post-doctoral position at a foreign university suggests that mobility can also encourage phds to consider wider options for their future career, even if a certain percentage of participants still firmly declared to have never considered a possible move. acknowledgements the author wishes to thank an anonymous referee for his useful comments and enzo falco to discuss an earlier version of this paper; filippo schilleci, camilla perrone, francesca gelli, umberto janin rivolin, giovanna bianchi and luca gaeta for their help and information on phd programmes, phd administrative offices and contacts; the phd administrative offices of the politecnico of turin (daniela belloni), the politecnico of milan (marina bonaventura), the iuav (paola francini), the university of florence (grazia poli), roma tre (francesca porcari) and the university of naples (maria cinzia reale) for the official data elaboration and for inviting prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 75 students to attend the survey; anna attademo from the university of naples and valentina alberti from the sapienza university of rome for the indirect reconstruction of the number of phd students who attended phd programmes and the number of students who went abroad to a foreign university; francesco chiodelli and maddalena falletti for facilitating contacts with the phd administrative office of the politecnico of milan; alessandro rinaldi for the contacts with phd students of sapienza university of rome; sara caramaschi for the contacts with the phd administrative office of roma tre. furthermore, the author wishes to warmly thank the volunteer participants in the survey for sharing their individual experiences. references altbach p. g. 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(2008). stirring the lions: strategy and tactics in global higher education. globalisation, societies and education, 6(3), pp.221–240. doi: 10.1080/14767720802343316. taylor (2011). reform the phd system or close it down. nature, 472(7343), p.261. available at: <http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110420/pdf/472261a.pdf> [accessed 23 july 2015]. doi:10.1038/472261a. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 78 trow (2007). reflections on the transition from elite to mass to universal access: forms and phases of higher education in modern societies since wwii. in: j. forest and g. altbach (eds.). international handbook of higher education. doordrecht (the netherlands): springer. pp. 243-280. webreferences of the phd programmes [last access 10 october 2015] cineca database http://cercauniversita.cineca.it/php5/dottorati/vis_dottorati.php?titol o=&radiogroup=e&ciclo=0000&universita=00&settore=ica r%2f20&area=0000&vai=invio http://cercauniversita.cineca.it/php5/dottorati/vis_dottorati.php?titol o=&radiogroup=e&ciclo=0000&universita=00&settore=ica r%2f21&area=0000&vai=invio gran sasso science institute http://www.gssi.infn.it/education/urban-studies-education/doctoralprogramme-social-education iuav http://www.iuav.it/scuola-di-/dottorati/dottorato/pianificaz/index.htm http://www.iuav.it/scuola-di-/dottorati/dottorato/urbanistic/index.htm polytechnic university of milan http://www.dottorato.polimi.it/en/phd-programmes/phd-programmeswith-closed-enrolment/spatial-planning-and-urbandevelopment/ http://www.dottorato.polimi.it/en/phd-programmes/phd-programmeswith-closed-enrolment/territorial-design-and-government/ http://www.dottorato.polimi.it/en/phd-programmes/active-phdprogrammes/urban-planning-design-and-policy/ prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 79 polytechnic university of turin http://dottorato.polito.it/urb/it/presentazione https://didattica.polito.it/pls/portal30/sviluppo.scudo_new.dott?li= it&cod=115&sez=curricula roma tre university http://architettura.uniroma3.it/?page_id=977 sapienza university of rome https://web.uniroma1.it/pdta/dottorato-pianificazione-territoriale-eurbana/dottorato-pianificazione-territoriale-e-urbana http://www.uniroma1.it/didattica/dottorati/2015/pianificazionedesign-e-tecnologia-dellarchitettura-0 university of florence http://www.dida.unifi.it/vp-120-progettazione-della-citta-delterritorio-e-del-paesaggio.html http://www.dida.unifi.it/vp-376-progettazione-urbanistica-eterritoriale.html university of naples “federico ii” http://www.scudo.unina.it/flex/fixedpages/common/informazionicor so.php/l/it/c/23/s/0008/d/108 http://www.scudo.unina.it/flex/fixedpages/common/informazionicor so.php/l/it/c/26/s/0008/d/127 http://diarc.unina.it/index.php/il-dottorato-in-architettura university of palermo http://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/diarchitettura/dottorati/analisirappr esentazioneepianificazionedellerisorseterritorialiurbaneestoric hearchitettonicheeartistiche/attivitaformative.html http://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/diarchitettura/.content/documenti/p rogramma-formativo_curriculum-3.pdf prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 80 annex 1 questionnaire section a 1) do you confirm you were involved/are involved in mobility activities in a foreign university during your phd course? 2) from what university did you obtain/are you obtaining a title of phd? 3) what is the phd programme you participated/are participating in? 4) state what phd cycle you were/are enrolled in. 5) how many months in total did you spend/are you spending abroad as phd guest student? (choose only one option between the followings) • more than 12 months • between 6 and 12 months • between 3 and 6 months • less than 3 months 6) where did you go for your experience as phd guest student? (country) 7) in what city is the hosting university located? 8) what university did host you/is hosting you? 9) how did you select the hosting university? (choose only one option between the followings) • a pre-existing agreement between the sending institution and the hosting institution. • following a suggestion of a professor of my university who contacted the hosting university at the beginning. • following a suggestion of a professor of my university but i contacted the hosting university by myself. • i selected and contacted the hosting university by myself. 10) did you receive any funds from the sending university during your visit? (choose only one option between the followings) • yes, extra funds from the sending university in addition to the grant awarded by the same university / yes, funds for expenses. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 81 • yes, extra funds for the participation in a research project or extra funds for an institutional agreement, e.g. erasmus+. • no, but i was/am a recipient of a study grant awarded by the sending university for phd students. • no, i was/am self-financed. 11) having an experience in a foreign university was: (choose only one option between the followings) • a necessary requirement to obtain the phd title. • a necessary requirement to develop my individual research project. • my free-choice related to my personal interest in the international research environment. section b 12) you visited a foreign university aiming at: (assign a judgment to every answer choosing between five options: “priority”, “very relevant”, “relevant”, “not so relevant” or “not relevant”) • to conduct a case study located in the country of destination. • to interview experts in the field/topic of my interest. • to acquire new contacts with foreign institutions for the sending university / to strengthen existing contacts with foreign institutions for the sending university. • to consider a possible transfer abroad after obtaining the phd title. • to gain knowledge and skills to compete for a future position in italy. 12+) according to your experience, are there other elements\reasons to take into account? 13) thanks to the experience in a foreign university i… (choose one option between “yes”, “no” or “partial”) • better defined objectives, methods and outcomes of my research project. • improved the presentation and the communication of my research project. • received feedback on my research project. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 82 • improved my organisational skills, like the ability of structuring a research work or identifying consequential steps of a research work. • deepened my knowledge about research methodology. • improved my foreign language skills. • considered new options for my future career. • had a clearer idea about the role of the professional figure of a phd. • gained specific additional title/labels, e.g. by cotuition. 13+) according to your experience, are there other opportunities\outcomes to take into account? 14) the main problems i had during my visit to a foreign university are… (choose one option between “yes”, “no” or “partial”) • a limit in interaction with teachers/students due to the foreign language. • difficulties due to different approaches/methods in research activities. • lack of tutoring and guidance in the hosting institution. • problems in reaching the pre-established aims due to time limits. • the necessity to revise the objectives of research projects during the visiting period. • difficulties to identify tutors and professors expert in my specific topic. 14+) according to your experience, are there other problems\difficulties to take into account? 15) how important was the experience you had gained at the foreign universities to complete your profile as a phd? (give a mark on a five-level scale from 1-“not relevant” to 5“indispensable”) section c 16) during your stay in the foreign university, what additional skills useful for your career did you improve and you could not have improved in italy? (choose one option between “yes”, “no” or “partial”) prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 83 • organisational skills. • basic knowledge. • how to work in team. • effectiveness in pursuing a specific aim. • communication skills. 16+) in your opinion, are there other skills you gained through the experience that have been useful for your career? 17) did the connection with the hosting institution continue after you had come back to italy? (choose only one option between the followings) • yes, more students from my italian university have been received by the international hosting institution after i came back. • yes, i received formal invitations from the hosting institution for post-doctoral programmes, conferences or other research activities. • yes, i was/am directly involved in research projects between the home and the hosting institution. • yes, because researchers/students from the hosting university were invited to italy for teaching/research purposes by my italian university. • no. • i have not concluded the experience abroad yet. 18) in your opinion, did the experience impact (oppure had the experience any influence on) your professional career after the phd? (choose only one option between the followings) • yes, in terms of job opportunities. • yes, indirectly, in terms of gained skills useful for my current professional career. • not really. • i have not obtained the phd title yet. 19) have you had experiences in the international research field after the phd? (choose only one option between the followings) • yes, i went abroad where i am currently living. prisco – italian phd students abroad. exploring the mobility of phd students in urban studies ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. v, issue 1 2015 84 • yes, i worked abroad for a period but later i preferred to come back to italy. • no, i applied for a research position but i did not obtain the job. • no, i have never considered that option. • i am not a phd yet. • other (specify) 20) in what area of the research field do you currently work? (choose only one option between the followings) • i do not work in the research field. • i do not continuously work in the research sector or i do not have a regular contract. • i work as a researcher in the italian academic field. • i work in italy as a researcher/consultant in the public field. • i work in italy as a researcher/consultant in the private field. • i work abroad as a researcher in the academic field. • i work abroad as a researcher/consultant in the public field. • i work abroad as a researcher/consultant in the private field. • i am not active in the job market yet. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 24 innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study paolo scattoni associate professor, department of architectural planning, design, and technology, sapienza università di roma, pscattoni@uniroma1.it marco lombardi msc student , department of architectural planning, design, and technology sapienza università di roma via flaminia, 72 00196 rome, italy marco.lombardi.rm@gmail.com marco pini italian union chambers of commerce, rome roberto turi ministry of labor and social policies 5 keywords: startups, location determinants, urban planning, fab lab, coworking. abstract the aim of this paper is to analyze innovative startup localization determinants, taking into account a range of factors related to town planning subjects, too. we also focused on the role played by the fab labs and coworking as well as on startupper characteristics (e.g. age, previous employment status, business motivation, etc.). the analysis is based on a dataset including information deriving from a survey on 127 innovative startups located in the city of rome at a district level, linked to other business register (administrative archive) data in addition to geo-referencing analysis. our findings are that logistics are the main determinant of innovative startup localization for older startuppers in particular while younger startuppers pay more attention to real estate costs and proximity to home. the presence of fab lab spaces and coworking is the second determinant, especially for innovative startups located in the city center. furthermore, our analysis also reveals that the mailto:pscattoni@uniroma1.it mailto:marco.lombardi.rm@gmail.com scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 25 majority of startuppers are people who have previously worked as employees, professionals, etc. on the basis of know-how acquired during their working careers. moreover, the results suggest that social relationships and the family are the main two contexts in which people develop an entrepreneurial spirit. finally, policy implications for the town planning agenda linked to entrepreneurship theme are also discussed. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 26 introduction company start-up is a topic which is closely bound up with innovation and knowledge spillovers (minniti, 2005; vittoria and lubrano lavàndera, 2014; vivas, barge-gil, 2015) influencing the economy at a territorial level with reference to urban areas as well. the aim of this paper is to analyze the features of italian innovative startups, focusing on localization factors and considering the case of the city of rome. moreover, the paper also aims to test current thinking on the birth and evolution of innovative startups empirically. the italian law which legally recognized innovative startups was passed five years ago (law 221/2012, conversion law of decree law 179/2012 called decreto crescita 2.0) 1 . it set out specific measures to sustain their competitiveness and growth. a substantial dataset exists on this phenomenon. the italian startup register contained more than 6,500 firms in early 2017. the academic literature (anderson, 2012) sees the birth and evolution of a startup developing essentially via four steps. the first is a purely playful dimension. nowadays, easy access to low cost technologies allows universal and widespread use of these in a recreational dimension. for example, the maker faire exhibition has been taking place in rome since 2013 2 , demonstrating the rapid growth of technological applications in quantity and quality terms. in this respect, rapid and widespread dissemination of the microcontroller arduino has been the developmental backbone of this technological dissemination over the last decade. once the first, essentially creative step has been taken, the second step requires costly equipment available usually in specific spaces called fab labs (fabrication laboratories) (gershenfeld, 2012) where simple hunches can be transformed into real projects 3 . the second step is closely linked to the third step which relates to coworking: open spaces where aspiring startuppers can make use of many other collateral services such 1 http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/moduli/dl_181012_179.pdf 2 http://www.makerfairerome.eu/it/ 3 for more detailed explanation of the meaning of fab lab, see e.g. vittoria and napolitano (2017). scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 27 as administrative assistance and consultancy. finally, the fourth step is setting up a firm at which point the project enters the economic sphere and competes in the market. it is generally believed that startuppers are entrepreneurs who followed all the steps referred to above: one of the aims of this paper is precisely to assess whether this is really the case in italy, with the help of the rome case study. in this respect we will look at startuppers’ previous status, the environment in which their entrepreneurial spirit develops and the role of fab lab and coworking experiences. as far as the spatial perspective is concerned, the localization factors behind startup creation, especially with regard to the role played by fab labs, has been little studied. thus, a further purpose of this paper relates to innovative startup localization determinants within rome: we also carried out counterfactual analysis comparing young and less young startuppers. moreover, we also used specific geo-referencing analysis to verify potential spatial clusters. the analysis as a whole is based on the results of a survey of 127 innovative startups in rome, supplemented with information on startup structural characteristics supplied by the innovative startup register held by the chamber of commerce. therefore, considering innovative startup features and their localization determinants, this paper attempts to provide useful information for urban planning policies in consideration of the influence of the startup phenomenon on the local economy: attracting both financial and human capital; effects on the logistic and infrastructure field; urban requalification and so on. the remainder of the paper is structured as follows. section 2 presents the institutional background with an overview of italian innovative startup law and the literature, highlighting the gaps this paper aims to fill. section 3 illustrates data and methodology. section 4 analyzes the empirical results and section 5 provides discussion. background institutional framework scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 28 over recent years italy has developed a range of policies to sustain innovation. one of these relates to innovative startups which are legally recognized in an ad hoc law (221/2012, conversion law of decree law 179/2012 called decreto crescita 2.0). in italy all firms are filed in a business register held by the chamber of commerce. innovative startups are also registered in a special section of this register set up by law 221/2012 to monitor the phenomenon more accurately. the law views innovative startups as limited companies, in common with cooperatives, based in italy, or another eu country but with a branch in italy, whose object clause is «the development, production and trade of innovative goods and services of high technological value». the aim of innovative startup regulation is to boost sustainable growth, technological development, entrepreneurship and employment, attracting talent, innovative enterprise and capital from abroad. more specifically, the law has drawn up a set of requirements which a start-up must respect to be considered innovative. they must: a) have been set up no more than 60 months ago; b) have their main business center in italy; c) have a yearly production value not in excess of 5 million euros after their second year of business; d) non-profit status e) have as an exclusive or prevalent object clause development, production and trade in innovative goods and services of high technological value; f) not originate from business split-ups or mergers; g) fulfil at least one of the following sub-requirements: g1) r&d expenditures greater than 15% in comparison with the highest amount between the cost and the total production value; g2) one third of the workforce (employees and independent workers) with a phd or studying for a phd or two thirds of the workforce with tertiary education; g3) a startup owner with sole rights (inventions, processing software, etc.). to boost innovative entrepreneurship, the law has set up many incentives for innovative startups which relate to: bureaucratic procedure simplification; lower administrative costs at launch; potential to pay partners through stock option schemes and external service suppliers (e.g. lawyers, accountants, etc.) with work for equity schemes; investment tax scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 29 breaks; crowdfunding introduction; easy access to credit; internationalization support. literature review following marshall (marshall 1891) and jacobs (jacobs 1970; 1961), innovative and entrepreneurial clusters have been widely studied (porter 1990, 1996 1998; p; glaeser 1999; 2000; glaeser 2001; audretsch 2003; feldman and audretsch 1999; florida 2002, 2005, 2006, 2012a; feldman and florida 1994). nevertheless, the role played by location determinants in attracting startups have been studied for the last 15 years. at a macro level, scholars have underlined many factors such as economies of scale, urbanization factors (gries and naudé, 2008), social capital (birley, 1986; davidsson and honig, 2003), knowledge base and networking (technological universities, skilled labor, etc.), industry specialization as suitable preconditions in startup set up and success (beise and stahl, 1998). in addition, potential startup funding financial sources is a further important precondition (wach, 2008). moreover, florida (2002) has pointed out place related factors because firms based on creative ideas require specific local conditions. “the boulder thesis” (feld, 2012) is also worthy of mention as it identifies four determinant factors in startup success: i) an ecosystem made up of universities, investors, government, companies and media; ii) leaders with long-term commitment; iii) a startup community inclusive of anyone wanting to participate in it; iv) ongoing startup community activities to stimulate links between members and enhance value-creation activities. in the recent digital revolution fab labs represent an important expression of community and open innovation, playing a potential determinant role in startup creation and location (tech et al., 2016; gershenfeld, 2012; west and lakhani, 2008). nonetheless, few empirical analyses on fab labs exist4 consisting, in italy, of case studies by 4 for first empirical research on fab labs see troxler and schweikert (2010) which analyzes northern europe. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 30 menichelli and ranellucci (2014), bianchini et al. (2015), and vittoria and napolitano (2017). focusing on the local level, the majority of early studies documented a business and startup shift in the us, including for highly technological firms, from city centers to suburbs, to office and industrial parks dubbed “nerdistans” (kotkin, 1997, 2000; florida and kenney, 1988), such as california’s silicon valley, the route 128 beltway outside boston, etc. more recently, over the past two decades, town planners based on jacobs (1970, 1961) have underlined an inversion, dubbed by ehrenhalt (2012) “a great inversion”: innovation and entrepreneurial activity develops in the cities where people, talent, and companies are concentrated. thus, several recent, once again us studies, (silicon valley, etc.) have highlighted a shift from the suburbs to cities (florida 2012b; 2013; 2014; florida and mellander 2016; guzman and stern, 2016; frey 2012, 2014). thus, cities are incubators for new ideas and innovation boosting startup creation (glaeser, 2007; glaeser and resseger, 2010). recently, florida and king (2016) and florida and mellander (2016) analyzed us venture capital investment and startup activity at a highly detailed local level using zip-code or metro based data: their findings confirm a shift to urban neighborhoods. thus, on one hand, few recent studies exist on startup localization determinants especially at a local level, taking into account the role of the fab labs and, on the other, the literature underlines the importance of the city in attracting startups. in this respect the aim of this paper is to fill this gap, analyzing startup localization motivations in rome at a submunicipality level (districts) highlighting the role of the fab labs too, and to identify differences between young and older startuppers. furthermore, we will analyze other important startupper features, too, such as business motivation and previous status (student, employee, etc.). scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 31 methodology database our data source is a survey of rome innovative startups carried out in march 2017. the survey’s reference universe was 543 innovative startups registered in early 2017 in the national business register’s special section (innovative startups) held by infocamere, the chamber of commerce it firm. firstly we divided the archive data into four groups according to age (young and non-young5) and phone number availability, also using other public firm archives. the results were as follows: group 1: 72 youth startups with available phone numbers; group 2: 82 youth startups with no available phone numbers but available email addresses (generic or certified); group 3: 155 non-youth startups with available phone numbers; group 4: 234 non-youth startups with no available phone number but available email addresses (generic or certified). startups in groups 1 and 3 were interviewed using cati methods (computer-assisted telephone interviewing). startups in groups 2 and 4 were interviewed using cawi methods (computer assisted web interviewing) via emails and one reminder where required. the survey was done by a professional contractor with an ad hoc help desk to support startuppers in the compilation of a questionnaire designed to gather both qualitative and quantitative information at firm level. taking the two methods together, 129 startups were interviewed in total with a response rate of 23.8%. as two questionnaires were missing a considerable number of answers, we considered a dataset of 127 innovative startups: 47 youth innovative startups (37% of the total) and 80 non-youth innovative startups (63%). finally, by applying the record-linkage method we built a database (with reference to 127 startups) which gathered both survey and business register related information. specifically, the entire dataset included: i) survey data on startupper characteristics (educational attainment level, entrepreneur’s previous status, business motivation, type of environment 5 youth startups are those in which the entrepreneurs or the majority of business partners are under 35 years of age. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 32 in which entrepreneurial spirit developed), the role played by the fab labs and co-working in firm set up and localization (at a district level6) and its determinants; ii) while the business register’s special section offers a large structural statistic database, such as activity sector, legal form, size class, share capital class and also r&d, highly educated staff and ownership of sole rights characteristics (required by law). this dataset was analyzed statistically (the results are reported in the next section) based on frequency distribution. empirical results structural statistics table 1 displays the structural features of the innovative startups interviewed. representing the most advanced segment of entrepreneurship, almost half (40.9%) of the innovative startups studied operate in the information technology sector. the r&d sector accounts for 15% of the total and one third is accounted for by other service activities. finally, 11% of the total works in the industry sector. by size class, around 90% of the innovative startups studied are micro firms (fewer than 10 employees), almost equally distributed between 1-4 employees (44.9%) and 5-9 employees (41.7%). as an effect of their small size, two thirds of the innovative startups (exactly 66.1%) have a share capital of 10,000 euros or less whilst 22% have share capitals of 10,000-50,000 euros with only 11.8% over 50,000 euros. the most widespread requirement fulfilled is r&d expenditure at 78.7% of the total. while the highly educated workforce criterion is less achieved (32.3%) and this is even more the case of sole rights (16.5%). moreover, a large majority of innovative startups (78%) fulfills only one of these three requirements with just a few cases in which all three requirements (5.5%) or two requirements out of three (16.5%) are respected. as we have seen, youth innovation startups represent over one third (37%; 47 out of 127) of the total startups interviewed. another interesting feature is startupper educational attainment level: a large 6 rome is divided up into 15 districts. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 33 majority are graduates (84.3%) and a significant percentage of these are postgraduates (over half of those with tertiary education). thus, only 15% stopped at higher secondary (including post-secondary) school and 0.8% a lower secondary education. localization and its determinants table 2 presents localization data. a majority of innovative startups are located in municipality no.1 (‘the city center’): almost one third (30%) of those reporting a municipality basis. in such cases the “youth factor” is significant because youth innovation startups in the city center account for 25.6% as against 32.8% non-youth (the appendix geo-references startups by age class). identifying the reasons behind this difference requires analyzing startup localization determinants (table 3). first of all, the first factor affecting choice of startup localization is logistics (indicated by 25.2% of the total) followed by another three factors concerning: the presence of coworking spaces, fab labs and business accelerators (18.9%); proximity to home (18.1%); and real estate benefits such as rental costs, physical spaces, etc. (16.5%). for youth innovation startups two factors predominate in choice of location as compared to non-youth startups: real estate benefits (27.7% versus 10%) and proximity to home (27.7% versus 12.5%). both factors are linked to costs, which is more significant for young people. from a geographical point of view, two factors relate to differences between city center and other areas of the city: the potential for coworking, fab labs and business accelerators, which are more significant in the city center (31.3% versus 14.7%), and real estate benefits which are probably more determinant in others areas of the city where rent prices, for example, are lower (20% versus 6.3%) (table 4). 4.3 fab labs and coworking fab labs are still not a widespread phenomenon with only 3.9% of innovative startups originating in a fab lab and no significant differences between young and non-young startuppers (table 5). coworking is more widespread, since 25.2% of start uppers emerged in a coworking context, a figure which is slightly higher for youth as scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 34 compared to non-youth firms (27.7% versus 23.8%) and in graduate startuppers (28%; only 10.5% in the case of upper secondary school). coworking experiences play a determinant role for firms because almost all startups (90.6%) which have this type of experience evaluate it quite or very important to their development, as do those emerging from a fab lab context (95.5% of the total of the startups with a fab lab experience), though the latter is much less common as we have seen. it is interesting to underline that startups originating with coworking experiences are linked to a greater extent to highly educated workforce requirements (37.5% fulfill this condition) as compared to the others (30.5%). previous status, business motivation and environment other startupper features enquired into include the previous status of the startuppers (table 6): the majority were professionals (33.1%), followed by employees (22%) and former entrepreneurs (18.9%). a small percentage were researchers (10.2%) and even fewer professors (3.9%). students looking for their first jobs were very few (4.7%). thus innovative startup usually involves people with work experience. what drives people to set up in business? in accordance with the above, the most widespread motivation is giving value to know-how acquired during a professional career (indicated by 29.9% of startuppers) (table 7). the second also relates to giving value to know-how but in this case it is a question of course of study related know-how (24.4%). thus, innovative startup stems from an ambition to take advantage of one’s know-how. in fact, the third motivation is a question of taking advantage of one’s knowledge of the market (12.6%). the fourth is financial and personal ambition (11.8%). our analysis by age highlighted a number of differences: younger as compared to less young startuppers are more driven by a desire for personal and financial success (19.1% versus 7.5%) and by dissatisfaction with their previous jobs (10.6% versus 3.8%). furthermore, where do startuppers generally develop their entrepreneurial spirit? the social context is the best environment, signaled by over one third of the total (37%) with the family coming scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 35 second (16.5%) and coworking third (11.8%), thus confirming its importance in the development of the innovative startups phenomenon. at the same time, it is important to underline the academic environment, which accounts for almost 20% if we add up postgraduate studies, ventures with researchers and professors and educational labs (table 8). lastly, innovative startups show considerable international openness with 66.1% having relationships with foreign countries (table 9). more specifically, these relationships mainly concern project development (signaled by 35.4% of those with international relations), and sale of goods/services (32.3%) contrasting with purchases (11%). discussion this paper enquires into innovative startup localization determinants and analyzes how they originated. special attention was paid to the differences between young and older startuppers and the role played by fab labs and coworking. we studied the city of rome by means of the results of a survey linked to other information available from administrative archives. our findings provide useful information for city planning policies, too. logistics emerged as the main determinant of innovative startup localization and thus town planning action should take this into account in their agendas as logistics impact on business appeal, particularly with reference to suburb requalification where there are fewer innovative startups. moreover, although the existence of fab labs and coworking is the second determinant, we found that only a few startups emerged from fab lab experiences. nevertheless, startuppers from fab labs and coworking recognize the important role played by this accelerator. thus, urban policies aiming to foster area development through business attraction should also consider this aspect and define spaces dedicated to fab labs and coworking at a local level. at the same time we also need to raise awareness of the potential of these business accelerators. our analysis also reveals that the majority of startuppers are people who previously worked as employees, professionals, etc. it is no coincidence scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 36 that the main business motivation cited is giving value to know-how acquired at work. thus, innovative startups are not only young people on their first jobs, probably with fab lab or coworking experience, as is underlined in the thinking on the makers. finally, we found that social relationships and the family are the main two environments in which people’s entrepreneurial spirit develops and the role of university is also significant. these two aspects can be considered simultaneously because developing networks between academic world and society can sustain innovative entrepreneurship. as far as our findings are concerned, industry 4.0 industrial policy could potentially play an important role in supporting urban policies through a stronger connection between town planning, logistics infrastructure, business accelerators and universities. since few studies have been conducted on the startup phenomenon (including for italy), especially from the town planning point of view and with reference to the role of the fab labs, our contribution is a first step in filling this gap. its main limitation is naturally the circumscribed scope of an analysis limited to the city of rome. further studies might be the following: similar studies in other italian towns; an in-depth examination of the role of the fab labs and coworking spaces to understand their strengths and weaknesses; an analysis of the determinants of innovative startup performances, for example by localization or startupper origin. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 37 statistical appendix table 1. structural features (distribution %) economic sphere industry 11.0 information technology 40.9 r&d services 15.0 other services 33.1 size class 1-4 employees 44.9 5-9 employees 41.7 10 and over employees 13.4 share capital up to 5,000 euros 16.5 5,001-10,000 euros 49.6 10,001-50,000 euros 22.0 50,001 and over 11.8 requirements* r&d 78.7 highly educated workforce 32.3 sole rights 16.5 age class under 35 (youth startups) 37.0 35 and over (non-youth innovative startups) 63.0 educational attainment level primary, primary and lower secondary education or less 0.8 higher secondary education 15.0 tertiary education 84.3 total 100.0 * the total is over 100% because startups can fulfill more than one requirement. source: own elaboration of survey data. table 2. localization: differences between youth and non-youth innovative startups (distribution %) youth startups non-youth startups total i (city center) 32.8 25.6 29.9 ii 9.4 4.7 7.5 iii 4.7 2.3 3.7 iv 4.7 0.0 2.8 v 1.6 7.0 3.7 scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 38 vi 1.6 1.6 4.7 vii 1.6 9.3 4.7 viii 4.7 0.0 2.8 ix 7.8 7.0 7.5 x 0.0 4.7 1.9 xi 3.1 7.0 4.7 xii 4.7 4.7 4.7 xiii 0.0 0.0 0.0 xiv 4.7 2.3 3.7 xv 7.8 2.3 5.6 outside roma capitale 10.9 18.6 14.0 total 100.0 100.0 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 3. localization determinants: differences between youth and non-youth innovative startups youth startups non-youth startups total logistics 4.3 37.5 25.2 existence of fab labs, coworking and business accelerators 17.0 20.0 18.9 proximity to home 27.7 12.5 18.1 real estate benefits (rental costs, etc.) 27.7 10.0 16.5 proximity to universities and research centers 12.8 8.8 10.2 presence of similar firms (e.g. technological districts) 2.1 3.8 3.1 demand for innovative goods/services 6.4 0.0 2.4 other 2.1 7.5 5.5 total 100.0 100.0 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 4. localization determinants: differences between city and suburb based innovative startups municipality i (city center) other municipalities total logistics 21.9 26.3 25.2 existence of fab labs, coworking and business accelerators 31.3 14.7 18.9 proximity to home 15.6 18.9 18.1 real estate benefits (rental costs, etc.) 6.3 20.0 16.5 proximity to universities and research centers 12.5 9.5 10.2 presence of similar firms (e.g. technological districts) 0.0 4.2 3.1 demand for innovative goods/services 3.1 2.1 2.4 other 9.4 4.2 5.5 total 100.0 100.0 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 5. dissemination and importance of fab labs and coworking startup developed in a fab lab yes 3.9 scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 39 no 96.1 the importance of fab lab experiences in startup progress quite/very important 95.5 not very or not important 4.5 startup developed via coworking yes 25.2 no 74.8 the importance of the coworking experience in startup progress quite/very important 90.6 not very or not important 9.4 total 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 6. previous status of startuppers professional 33.1 employee 22.0 entrepreneur 18.9 researcher 10.2 students looking for their first jobs 4.7 professor 3.9 manager 2.4 worker 1.6 other 3.1 total 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 7. business motivation: differences between youth and non-youth innovative startups youth startups no-youth startups total to give value to know-how acquired during professional career 19.1 36.3 29.9 to give value to know-how acquired during education 23.4 25.0 24.4 potential for knowledge-ofthe-market based opportunities 10.6 13.8 12.6 financial and personal ambition 19.1 7.5 11.8 dissatisfaction with previous job 10.6 3.8 6.3 potential to act as supplier to previous occupation firm 2.1 5.0 3.9 potential to take advantage of subsidies and incentives 4.3 3.8 3.9 need to find employment 0.0 2.5 1.6 other 10.6 2.5 5.5 scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 40 total 100.0 100.0 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 8. entrepreneurial spirit development environment total social relationships 37.0 family 16.5 coworking 11.8 university: post-graduate studies 7.1 university: ventures with research and professors 7.1 university: educational labs 3.9 higher secondary school 1.6 other 15.0 total 100.0 source: own elaboration of survey data. table 9. startup internationalization total international relationships yes 66.1 no 33.9 total 100.0 type of international relationship* project development 35.4 sale of goods/services 32.3 partnerships 26.0 fairs 15.0 goods/services purchase 11.0 * the total is over 100% because the question was multiple choice. source: own elaboration of survey data. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 41 scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 42 map appendix map a1. startup distribution in rome (all 127 cases) source: own elaboration of survey data. maps a2. startup distribution in rome (class birth year: age <35 “blue”, >35 “green”) source: own elaboration of survey data. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 43 maps a3. startup distribution in rome (class birth year: age<24 “red fox”, >24<35 “blue”, >35 “green”) source: own elaboration of survey data. scattoni, lombardi, pini, turi – innovative startup localization determinants and origin: a rome city case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 – 2019 44 references anderson, c. 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practice 119 alessia ferretti issn: 2239­267x research associate dipartimento patrimonio architettonico e urbanistico (pau) ­ università degli studi mediterranea di reggio calabria vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 alessia.ferretti@gmail.com an experimental evaluation in toscana and sardegna. abstract historic towns and cities are a distinctive element of italian settlements. despite their strategic role in structuring the italian territorial framework, over the last few years they have been troubled by widespread abandonment and decay. while a major transition from preservation to regeneration policies has taken place, it has become evident that a crucial aspect is the evaluation of achieved goals and final success. against this background, the main purpose of this study is to highlight the need to provide a crosscutting and fully accessible set of indicators for measuring regeneration strategies for historic towns, and to develop a methodological proposal helping local authorities in ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 120 introduction since the early ‘60s, italian academic debate about architectural and heritage conservation of historic towns and cities has been extremely lively and it has produced a number of in­depth researches. indeed, historic towns and cities are the larger part of italian settlements and they are proper to this country: they are part of the historic character of italy; they tell the story of its unique development and give a sense of place, continuity and cultural identity; they support a diversified local economy based on the high quality of their natural, cultural, agricultural and manufacturing resources. however, over the last few years, rapid economic, demographic and social changes have caused a widespread abandonment and decay of historic towns: they have lost their primary functions, their territorial viability has faded away, cultural and social connections have been shattered. extensive academic research has unanimously pointed out the need to oppose these phenomena of decay (savarese and valentino, 1994; bonamico and tamburini, 1996; ricci, 2007; rolli and andreassi, 2008), but the italian approach to planning practice has undergone some important changes over the past fifty years: from the early ‘60s to the end of the ‘90s, the architectural conservation of historic settlements through carefully planned interventions prevailed. then, after a prolonged conflictual relation between conservation and development, a major transition from preservation to vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities assessing the effectiveness of their development strategies and supporting the possible rescheduling of interventions while raising the interest about the use of indicators. an operational tool – the set of indicators for historic cities – is proposed based on the analysis and the selection of indicators adopted internationally. the conceptual structuring of indicators is explored with a discussion of the selection process and the definition of a scoring framework. the case­study analysis is also reported – indicators being applied to toscana and sardegna to test the extent and the validity of the proposed indicators. conclusions are drawn concerning potential benefits and the applicability of the set of indicators for historic towns. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 121 regeneration finally took place. regeneration strategies explicitly intend to integrate social, economic, physical, ecological, demographic and financial issues. indeed, one of the most important challenges dealing with regeneration is to foster increasing productivity making the city or town more competitive (relatively to the surrounding region or the closer metropolitan area), at the same time paying attention to environmental issues, fighting social exclusion and promoting social cohesion, attracting new employment opportunities, renewing the deteriorating housing stock, facing crime and safety concerns (andersen et al., 2003). since regeneration strategies aim at expressing a «shared policy responsibility» (andersen et al., 2003, p. 80) and at encouraging a wide mobilization of individual energies and social resources as well as economic resources, they are generally based on partnerships among private stakeholders, associations, public authorities and local institutions. at the same time, regeneration strategies arise from an area­based approach: the concerted actions they consist of, aim at counteracting local conditions of blight and decay. due to the comprehensiveness of the urban problems they face, and because of the varied local conditions and the changeable social forces operating as part of the regeneration process, no pre­established solutions, repeatable models or recurring methods are possible – if not compromising the success of the regeneration itself. indeed, when dealing with regeneration strategies, it is important to respond quickly and appropriately to changeable goals, resources and opportunities, eventually re­programming the interventions and re­defining the partnership. therefore, a crucial step is the assessment of the effectiveness of the initiatives undertaken, that is the proper evaluation of the goals achieved, of the unexpected factors, of the final success or the inevitable failure of the strategy (hemphill et al., 2004). «when evaluations are used effectively, they support programme improvements, knowledge generation and accountability» (undp, 2009, p. 127). indeed, a well­balanced evaluation process can lead to more effective actions by simplifying and clarifying the planning process and making aggregated information available to policy makers, at the same time incorporating physical and social knowledge into decision­making, providing vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 122 an early warning to prevent economic, social and environmental setbacks, and encouraging the communication of ideas, thoughts and values (undesa, 2007). although extensive academic research has explored contents and practice of architectural conservation of italian historic cities and towns (di stefano, 1979; ferrari et al., 1980; sanfilippo, 1983; gabrielli, 1993; aristone and palazzo, 2000; ricci, 2007), and despite the great number of studies about urban regeneration (andersen et al., 2003; audit commission, 1989, 2007; uk parliament, 2003), much less and more recent research has paid attention to the assessment of both the previous questions. indeed, a review of the literature and of the existing sets of indicators reveals that scant research has focused on the evaluation of regeneration for historic cities. moreover, even though the evaluation approach has been growing more and more important in the last decade, and although many indicators have been drawn up, some theoretical inconsistencies persist, making it more difficult to assess programmes, initiatives and actions unanimously and unambiguously. as a matter of fact, the general quality of the evaluation design and the reliability of the final assessment can be negatively affected by differences in definitions, as well as diversified indicators for the same issue; lack of sufficient rigor and clearness in the methodology applied; scant or not­ homogeneous data; not­unanimously approved interpretations of the outcomes. against this background, the main purpose of this study is to highlight the need to provide a crosscutting and fully accessible set of indicators and to develop a methodological proposal for the evaluation of regeneration strategies for small historic towns and minor historic cities, while reconsidering the conceptual categories which define their territorial role. more specifically, the contribution of this work is to identify a flexible evaluation process and consequently to build an operational tool – the set of indicators for historic cities – based on the analysis and the selection of indicators adopted internationally. the proposed set is intended as a tool to investigate how actions, programs and projects are implemented and to assess the effects they produce. as part of the process aiming at achieving improved performance, it aims at supporting local authorities in assessing the effectiveness of their development strategies while encouraging more effective actions and better vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 123 decisions; at the same time, it aims at encouraging a prompt corrective action and the possible rescheduling of interventions in order to prevent setbacks or unfavourable outcomes; finally, it aims at contributing to the decision­making process while raising the interest of those involved in spatial planning and urban regeneration about the use of indicators. the investigation process has been supported by both an historic and descriptive approach (analysis of the literature, legislation and the most significant experiences, not only with respect to regeneration strategies for historic towns, but also with respect to evaluation methodologies) reported in the first part of this article. given that this paper is primarily focused on the selection of local indicators and the appropriate scoring framework, a significant investigation of evaluation principles and methodology has been carried out. therefore, a possible listing of indicators has been identified based on five performance categories which, in their totality, are considered to contribute to urban regeneration. the second part of this work is intended to describe the case­study analysis (the set of indicators for historic cities being applied to toscana and sardegna). conclusions are drawn on the validity of the indicators, the versatility of the scoring framework and the potential to identify best practices. from architectural conservation to regeneration of historic cities in italy historic towns and cities are one of the major features of the italian territorial framework due to their large number, to their numerous resident population and to the important heritage they house. historic cities or towns are distinctive settlement showing a lively urban culture, whose historic character is determined by the large number of adjustments in uses and activities and in the forma urbis – while the original traditions, rules and processes that led to their formation have been preserved. they are unique for formal, typological and planning features since they are unmistakable testimony of the historic, anthropological, cultural and artistic process determining their own existence (di stefano, 1979; ferrari et al., 1980; sanfilippo, 1983; gabrielli, 1993; aristone and palazzo, 2000; rolli and andreassi, 2008). undoubtedly, the concept of vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 124 historic city does not refer exclusively to a specific urban context, but to the area where it is located, that is the system of signs which the community recognizes (savarese and valentino, 1994; ricci, 2007). the expression minor historic settlement is a crucial specification. initially, the adjective minor was adopted because of a distorted interpretation of the relationship between “predominant” and “subordinate” patterns of settlement and in order to implicitly justify why major cities were wiping out local cultures and marginal settlements (terranova, 1982). as a matter of fact, such a terminology has to be traced back to purely quantitative considerations: minor does not express a reductive antinomy with celebrated and remarkable cities, but it rather refers to a place where urban culture found its congenial expression in small size and slow processes1 (bianchi, 1994; musacchio, 1994; bonamico and tamburini, 1996; maietti, 2008). the planning concern with historic cities dates back to the '50s, when rapid changes in italy and europe made clear the need to protect the original settlements and to give them a new conceptual identity (choay, 1995). although in italy many laws had already been passed to encourage the protection of monumental assets, a proper turning point in the planning approach was the carta di gubbio, a declaration for the preservation of historic and artistic assets (ancsa, 1960). this document initiated a lively academic debate and an enthusiastic operational research, but it determined controversial and not fully positive experiences. actually, while advocating a general preservation of historic cities as a whole (even impeding new buildings), the carta di gubbio was focused on a strict conservation and on a rigorous protection of the city’s monumental assets and historic features (janin rivolin, 1994). due to the simultaneous diffusion of a zoning­approach, which in italy led to the adoption of dm 1444/19682, the historic city was then reduced to a vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities as for the italian settlement, minor historic towns include “minimum” settlements (up to 2.000 population inhabitants), which usually are too small to take part in a truly effective development, and “minor” settlements (from 2.000 to 10.000 inhabitants). 1 d.m. april 2, 1968 n. 1444, limiti inderogabili di densità edilizia, di altezza, di distanza fra i fabbricati e rapporti massimi tra spazi destinati agli insediamenti residenziali e produttivi e spazi pubblici o riservati alle attività collettive, al verde pubblico, al verde o a parcheggi da osservare ai fini della formazione dei nuovi strumenti urbanistici o della revisione di quelli esistenti, ai sensi dell’art. 17 della legge 6 agosto 1967, n. 765), gazzetta ufficiale 16 aprile 1968, n.97. 2 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 125 rigid perimeter (the zona territoriale omogenea a) subject to restricted regulation. the most obvious consequence was the segregation of this part of the city: often coinciding with the urban fabric inside the old city­walls, the a zone was basically set apart from the ordinary planning process (a detailed plan was required in order to allow any intervention) and placed in a rather ambiguous prescriptive status. indeed, the long and sometimes farraginous planning procedure hindered local authorities from drawing up the required detail plans, so impeding any transformation for lack of the proper regulatory status in the a zone – basically no interventions were carried out within the historic settlement. at the same time this hampering regulatory condition encouraged a frantic (and sometimes illegal) planning and building activity in areas other than the a zone, where no restrictions or constraints were in force – the whole settlement being spoiled by widespread and uncontrolled interventions. this paradoxical situation accelerated the urban decay within the a zone, the latter being affected by a general abandonment and a quite widespread lack of maintenance, while major demographic and social changes determined an increasing depopulation of the historic settlement and the interventions in the surrounding areas changed significantly the historic town’s primary functions. the disappointing experiences carried out over the years showed that simply architectural conservation and purely physical transformation of historic fabrics were not sufficient to stop these rapid changes and that a more comprehensive goal of revitalization was due. the need for a radical innovation in planning policies for historic cities then emerged. the second carta di gubbio (1990) marked another important turning point – it definitively shifted the general concern towards a comprehensive goal of development for a whole “historic region” and its specific cultural identity (ancsa, 1990; di biase, 1991) – while a new awareness of the relationship between local and global dynamics and a new consideration of social issues emerged (dematteis and governa, 2005; governa, 1997; magnaghi, 1990, 2000, 2007; vinci, 2005). at the same time, the major transition from a regulatory to a negotiated approach taking place in the ‘90s (salone, 1999; bobbio, 2000) reinforced the idea that effective solutions for historic cities have to be based on a solid integration of actions, procedures and vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 126 interventions and on a well­balanced partnership of actors and stakeholders3. the aforementioned evolution of approaches for historic cities – from preservation of monumental assets to a broader concept of revitalization; from the initial interest on physical aspects to a wider interest on social issues and economic development – led to more comprehensive and concerted regeneration strategies. refusing the idea of a sole economic growth, urban regeneration deals with a more competitive development of local resources and intangible assets. the main challenge is to allow historic cities to compete with stronger areas by strengthening the economic performances while improving the quality of life and facing crime and safety concerns; by attracting new functions and new employment opportunities while delivering better public services; by renewing the deteriorating housing stock while paying attention to environmental issues; by managing any territorial change or development while strengthening the social connections and the private­sector investment opportunities (andersen et al., 2003; odpm, 2003; audit commission, 2007). «regeneration policies need to be all­encompassing, looking beyond the purely physical and economic agendas of the 1980s, with equal importance being placed upon the economic, environmental and social objectives» (hemphill et al., 2004a, p.731). they should be based on concerted actions (strengthening of social capital; building restoration and environmental conservation; enhancement of public spaces; improvement of mobility; support to tourist, commercial, recreational, cultural activities), on a solid partnership of varied stakeholders (public authorities, but also private developers and actors), on diversified funds (regeneration typically involves a series of discretionary funding programmes, operating in parallel to public funds). due to the many aspects involved, the expected development results can be partially missed or their appropriateness can be negatively influenced by impedimental local conditions; by the lack of a clear planning or the vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities such a transition in the planning approach determined a real change in planning tools for historic towns and cities: from detailed plans and rehabilitation plans to the more recent negotiated tools and integrated programmes (programma di riqualificazione dei centri storici minori, region of marche; programmi integrati per i centri storici, region of sardegna; quadro strategico di valorizzazione, region of umbria). 3 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 127 adoption of pre­determined conventional processes not taking into account the many local demands; by the often small scale of funding or the unsuitable partnership supporting the whole strategy. indeed, some authors have questioned the effectiveness of regeneration strategies and it has even been argued if they do always provide a positive return (tyler et al., 2013; basle’, 2006). against this background, there is increasing interest in evaluation. indeed, effective feedbacks about the ongoing activities and appropriate evaluation of the achieved results contribute «to improving development policies, programmes and practices by providing policymakers with the relevant evaluation information for making informed decisions» (oecd, 2001a, p. 3). evaluation plays a major role in enhancing the effectiveness of any planned strategy since it establishes a «clear links between past, present and future interventions and results» thus extracting «relevant information that can subsequently be used as the basis for programmatic fine­tuning, reorientation and planning» (undp, 2002, p. 5) – in this sense, contributing to greater accountability and better learning (oecd, 2001a; undp, 2009). at the same time, evaluation makes it possible to judge if the planned strategy went in the right direction, possibly assessing its replicability in other settings; whether success could be claimed; how future efforts might be improved eventually considering alternatives (undp, 2002, 2009). evaluating the achievements of urban regeneration for historic cities as briefly mentioned, evaluation plays a critical role in assessing the performance of programmes and projects – it reviews the achievements of a project against planned expectations, and it uses experience to improve the design of future projects and programmes, the decision­making process, the financing model, the public­private partnership (oecd, 1993, 2001b; undesa, 2007; european commission, 2011). the increasing development of indicators has been helping decision makers in shaping effective programmes, therefore it seems a worthy effort to extend evaluation to strategies tackling urban decay in historic towns and cities – thus setting new standards for regeneration. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 128 a thorough analysis of the literature about evaluation shows some peculiarities. evaluation is internationally considered critical to support programme improvements and to plan strategically while contributing to make evidenced­based and informed decisions, and there is widespread consensus on the importance of early, persistent and rigorous evaluation (alexander, 2006; baer, 1997; coombes et al., 1992; hemphill et al., 2004; linchfield et al.,1975; oecd, 1993, 2001a; patton, 1990; robson et al., 1994; the world banck, 2010; tyler et al., 2013; undesa, 2001, 2007; undp, 2002, 2009; uneg, 2007;wholey et al., 2010). the european commission is also quite engaged in promoting «a culture of results­orientation, learning, inquiry and evidence­based decision making» (undp, 2009, p. 127) – therefore it has produced or encouraged numerous studies (basle’, 2006; detr, 2000; european commission, 1999, 2005, 2011; eurostat, 2009; oatley, 1998; uk parliament, 2003; wong, 2000). conversely, evaluation has entered the italian academic debate more recently and local authorities are still unaware of its potential. indeed, in italy evaluation is not yet considered a necessary step in the planning­ monitoring­evaluating process, which is elsewhere unanimously recognized as «a broad management strategy aimed at achieving improved performance and demonstrable results» (uneg, 2007, p. 2). as a matter of fact, at the end of the ‘90s, when the italian debate about evaluation took its first steps, most studies were basically related to social services, and to the assessment of efficiency and accountability in health and education sector. the many innovations taking place in the ‘90s determined the emergence of a new “planning perspective”, with many academics asking for broadening evaluation beyond the ordinary use in order to extend it to planning procedures, local development and territorial policies (patassini, 1998). new forms of representing diversified interests and the involvement of a plurality of actors within urban and territorial initiatives; deep changes in the role of local authorities and the wide involvement of private stakeholders in public policies; the innovative approach to negotiation, and the varied forms of public/private partnerships and inter­institutional cooperation within the planning process; the increasing attention to high standard of performance and high competitiveness of any territorial strategy; the need to seize diversified funds; all these aspects fostered the still lively italian debate on vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 129 evaluation within the planning process (bezzi, 2001, 2010; bezzi et al., 2006; bezzi et al., 2010; ferrero, 2004; florio, 2006; leone et al., 2002; moro, 2011; palumbo, 2000, 2001; palumbo et al., 2009; stame, 1998, 2001, 2007; urbani, 2010; vergani, 2013; vertecchi, 2003). many authors have investigated the extent of evaluation of local development and regeneration strategies (curti, 2001; laino, 2001; micelli, 1995; ministero delle infrastrutture e dei trasporti, 2002; patassini, 1999, 2006; sumiraschi, 2010) and there is a certain consensus on the idea that evaluation cannot be reduced to the mere measuring of impacts, effects, direct or indirect outcomes, but it should contribute to make possible coordination of diversified projects and programmes, with a wider goal of “territorial consistency” of the initiatives undertaken within a specific context (palermo, 1998, 2002). despite the ongoing debate, some important questions remain as for the practice in evaluation. indeed, some problems still affect the way evaluation is carried out in italy: deep differences in concepts and general terms; not comparable set of indicators; multiple methodology applied; difficulty in finding data (statistical data sets available are mostly concerned with demographic and economic issues, lacking quality of life indicators). moreover, methods and techniques are not always consistent and the adopted approach is not always dynamic – thus it is often difficult to assess initiatives taking place in complex and diversified contexts, as well as to comprise the strategic dimension of the initiatives while measuring their efficiency and effectiveness (carmona, 2003; governa, 2004). at the same time, since regeneration policies are concerned with social and territorial objectives as well as economic ones, measuring the outcomes can be uncertain – issues such as quality of life or territorial balance are less susceptible to quantification than economic growth. finally, most of the existing sets of indicators are developed at the regional level, therefore they are affected by a certain fragmentation of information or by deep differences from region to region. against this background, the need to create a unanimous, crosscutting and accessible set of indicators to evaluate regeneration strategies seems to be worth discussing. the following paragraphs describe how existing indicators have been analyzed and consequently structured within a univocal set of vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 130 indicators for historic cities. the selection of indicators as mentioned before, evaluation consists in the systematic and objective measuring of a project, a program or a policy – to assess if the initiatives undertaken to achieve a general interest have produced the expected effects according to the stated objectives; to evaluate their relevance, efficiency, effectiveness; and to describe the unexpected outcomes thus contributing to the eventual rescheduling of interventions (oecd, 1993, 2001b; stame, 1998; european commission, 2011). most frameworks for evaluation follow an indicator­based approach by including contextual measures to identify the baseline assessment of the area, the conditions within which the strategy is operating and the effects of policy actions (european commission, 1999; wong, 1995, 2000; audit commission, 2002, 2005). indicators are measurable units – nor necessarily numbers, but operational information or parameters – used to define (beyond what is directly associated with the indicator itself) not otherwise investigable phenomena in order to contribute to the improvement of policies and actions (oecd, 1993; bossel, 1999). the selection of appropriate indicators for regeneration strategies has proved difficult, given to many reasons. first, local social structures and economy often extend far beyond the area where regeneration takes place, making indicators quite sensitive to locational factors (coombes et al., 1992). secondly, the appropriateness of indicators depends on the difficult balance between high level of comprehensiveness and their necessary synthesis (european commission, 1999; detr, 1998b) – due to the great number of thematic and specific sets of indicators adopted internationally (dealing with environment and sustainability, quality of life, infrastructures, demographic issues, crime and safety concerns, etc.), it has been laborious to avoid double, inconsistent, or ambiguous parameters while selecting descriptive enough indicators. finally, the assessment of regeneration strategies requires socio­economic indicators: although they have been used to inform policy decisions since the mid­‘60s, their application has been long delayed because of conceptual and methodological difficulties (carley, 1981) – they might highlight strengths and weaknesses of regeneration practice but in vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 131 most cases they are not able to explain possible negative performances or indirect outcomes. furthermore, even though it is possible to set parameters for mostly quantitative regeneration outputs, it is difficult to extend the same rationale to more specific criteria (quality of life, sustainability, other qualitative phenomena). the indicators proposed in the present work have been selected based on the four­step procedure designed by coombes and wong (1994). as a preliminary step, the conceptual consolidation and the investigation of issues related to regeneration of minor historic cities have been necessary, as well as the effort of clarifying the basic concepts of evaluation and the analysis of comparable information, previous research and existing indicator­based methods. even if not directly related to historic towns and cities, diversified set of indicators have been considered to refine the selection of appropriate and previously tested parameters: economic and sustainable development and quality of life indicators (audit commission, 1989, 2005; detr, 2000; undesa 2001, 2007; eurostat, 2009; undp, 2009; the world bank, 2010), local deprivation indicators (detr 1998a), environmental indicators (oecd, 1993; eurostat, 2008), social cohesion and human development indicators (oecd 2001c; australian bureau of statistics, 2004). secondly, the analytical structure where the indicators can be organized has been provided. as argued before, regeneration of historic cities includes diversified contents, as well as numerous quantitative and qualitative aspects, therefore setting out the precise list of issues to be covered and providing the rationale for the selection of indicators have been crucial. when dealing with historic cities and minor historic settlements it is necessary to consider not only local resources and economic features, but also spatial competitiveness, intangible assets and identity – the latter being a multifaceted concept including the territorial rootedness, creativity and local culture, the political background, expectations of the community, human and social connections. camagni (2009) has resumed such a diversified content into the expression “territorial capital”: it includes “hard” and “soft” elements, goods and services, knowledge and skills, but also geographical location, nature and environmental resources, traditions, informal rules, social connections, everyday life and human activities vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 132 (oecd, 2001b; european commission, 2005). although partially questionable (intangible assets are not properly assessable and they do not represent economic forces), the economic concept of capital is used to identify the set of resources in which local stakeholders invest to promote development and which require maintenance charges, operating expense and hidden costs. each asset may be considered an accrued and marketable stock with the potential to produce profit and to undergo wiping out processes, enhancement, depreciation (bourdieu, 1983; camagni, 2009). aiming at describing all the driving forces part of the aforementioned “territorial capital”, at the same time being due to provide an accessible analytical structure for the proposed set of indicators, a “five capitals model”4 has been considered: from a bottom–up perspective, five key factors have been identified representing the issues required in a well­balanced regeneration policy – human, social, infrastructural, physical and manufacturing capitals. consequently, 55 indicators, deriving from a thorough selection of existing set of indicators and previously tested parameters (all of them adopted at present by international, european and italian agencies) has been organized within the aforementioned “five capital” structure. in the following paragraphs, a short description of the main contents of each “capital” is provided (see the annex for the detailed list of the indicators). vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities • human capital studies on human capital point out the strategic relation between school and work experience of the population and social and economic development (becker, 1962, 1975; schultz, 1959, 1962; sen, 1997, 1999; arrow et al., 2010). indeed, human capital is the set of knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes embodied in individuals that facilitated the creation of personal, social and economic well­being (coleman et al., 1994; oecd, 2001c) allowing the achievement of a high territorial competitiveness. in order to provide a complete sets of indicators of human capital, not only parameters related to education, competences and skills of the population, basic demands, working conditions and job opportunities initially proposed by the organization forum for the future in order to describe stocks and flows related to a sustainable development, the five capitals model includes natural, social, human, manufactured and financial capital. 4 ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 133vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities have been considered, but also demographic indicators, parameters related to number and quality of facilities and related social services, programmes and initiatives addressing human capital, etc. • social capital social capital is a system of actual and potential resources and social elements – trust, social connections, institutions, customs – affecting the quality and quantity of social interactions (bourdieu 1980, 1983; coleman et al., 1994; putnam 1993, 2000). it enables individuals to act collectively in the most effective way to pursue shared goals while reducing delays and illegality (cersosimo, 2001; bagnasco et al., 2001). in order to provide a complete set of indicators, social cohesion and social inclusion have been considered, as well as forms of participation and association, density of organizations, density of facilities supporting social development. • infrastructural capital infrastructural capital consists of assets that, while not directly used in the production process, provide services and improve the quality of life (basic facilities, resources and goods, public services, but also communication and distribution of energy, procedures and policies, financing systems). it generates positive externalities affecting the spatial competitiveness and it plays a significant role in the development process determining the accessibility of a certain area, therefore the potential to establish connections, to encourage innovation and to determine growth opportunities. • physical capital physical capital is a set of durable goods, assets and stocks that increase individual and collective productivity and make possible the provision of services. it includes natural and environmental systems and urban assets, as well as the relationship forged with the physical resources and land­use planning component of urban regeneration (carbonaro and d’arcy, 1993; detr, 1998c). in order to provide a complete set of indicators, environmental elements, as well as historic and cultural assets and main features of the located housing stock have been considered. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 134vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities • manufacturing capital manufacturing capital expresses the economic characteristics and the productive features strictly related to the development processes. it consists of stocks, activities, services, and private and public investment essential to the economic dynamics of a community. two case studies: toscana and sardegna two case­studies have been selected to test the validity of the set of indicators for historic cities – the province of grosseto (toscana) and the province of nuoro (sardegna). they are representative of the strategies that italian municipalities put in place to achieve a well­balanced regeneration and they share the same basic characteristics as for size and scale of the related territorial framework, occurrence of regeneration efforts addressing historic towns, indicator coverage – although at the same time they give the opportunity to investigate different approaches to regeneration: while tuscany has long supported its development by "indirect" and deeply embedded measures, more recently sardegna has been promoting a direct policy of regeneration of its historical settlements. • the province of grosseto 12 municipalities in the province of grosseto have been considered (arcidosso, castel del piano, castell’azzara, cinigiano, manciano, pitigliano, roccalbegna, santa fiora, scansano, seggiano, semproniano and sorano – 1.631 sqkm, about 40.000 inhabitants). most of them are very small towns with a low population density, and four of the selected can be considered "minimum” towns – less than 2,000 inhabitants; manciano is the only municipality with more than 7,500 inhabitants. two different but complementary systems of towns might be identified within the case­study area. on one side, manciano plays a leading role for the surrounding towns (pitigliano, sorano, castell'azzara) thanks to its central position in the infrastructural system, but also because of the spatial attraction it exerts. on the other side, the inward area is led by two strongly­connected municipalities (arcidosso and castel del piano), whose central role is based on the provision of public services and facilities for the surrounding towns. because of a significant infrastructural seclusion, this area is troubled ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 135vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities by serious problems of abandonment and depopulation, but at the same time it preserves high and unique environmental values. all the case study area has been concerned with varied and numerous development initiatives, with significant public and private investments, and a solid and effective partnership of diversified stakeholders. a supporting role in the regeneration process has been played by the regional planning (piano di indirizzo territoriale regionale and piano territoriale di coordinamento of the province) and by some european programmes (especially interreg iiic); by the financial support to the manufacturing resources (regional law n. 28/2005, codice del commercio; regional law n. 53/2008, norme in materia di artigianato); by a well­balanced marketing campaign. • the province of nuoro 20 municipalities in the province of nuoro have been considered (aritzo, atzara, austis, belvì, desulo, fonni, gadoni, gavoi, mamoiada, meana sardo, ollolai, olzai, ortueri, ottana, ovodda, sarule, sorgono, teti, tiana and tonara – 1.018,2 sqkm, about 34.000 inhabitants). all of them are very small towns, with an extremely low population density (most municipalities have less than 2,000 inhabitants, six of them have less than 1,000 inhabitants). also in this case, two different systems of towns might be identified. on one side, fonni and mamoiada play the leading role for the surrounding towns (gavoi, ollolai, olzai, ottana, ovodda, sarule) thanks to the strategic provision of public services and facilities, but also because of the spatial attraction they exert on tourist, environmental and manufacturing resources. as for the other municipalities, they are part of a solid and balanced network of minor towns, where no leading role is played: even if tonara and aritzo exert some attraction by providing facilities, all these towns are part of a homogeneous settlement, sharing infrastructural seclusion, dramatic problems of abandonment, but at the same time high and unique environmental values. the selected municipalities have been concerned with numerous initiatives, with significant public investment, and effective partnerships of diversified stakeholders. the recent regeneration effort ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 136vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities in the province of nuoro has been mainly focused on the strengthening of physical and social resources, with a strong public support for the restoration and the enhancement of building stock and public spaces (regional law n. 29/98 ­ tutela e valorizzazione dei centri storici della sardegna; bando civis ­ rafforzamento centri minori ­ por sardegna 2000­2006; bando domos ­ proposte di programmi di valorizzazione dell’edificato storico della sardegna, 2006; bando biddas: proposte di rete con programmi integrati e interventi di riqualificazione urbana dell’edificato storico dei comuni della sardegna, 2008; bando saltus ­ interventi di recupero, riqualificazione e valorizzazione dell’architettura degli insediamenti rurali storici extraurbani, 2009). in facilitating the comparison of the selected case­study areas and in order to allow the proper assessment of the regeneration efforts, a series of points need to be allocated to each indicator in accordance with its performance, as highlighted by coombes and wong (1994) about the need to determine a scoring system as part of the evaluation process. for the specific purpose of this work, a scale of 0–5 has been adopted, where 0 represents no contribution or unsatisfactory contribution to regeneration and 5 represents the maximum level of contribution for each indicator. the use of such a numerical scoring system is intended to enable the comparison of quantitative data with a regional benchmarking, identifying how the performance of each municipality differs from the regional performance and whether it can be considered the spur for improvement or an example of how to achieve good practice (audit commission, 2000; hemphill et al., 2004b). on these premises, data and information have been collected and analyzed for each municipality with reference to the indicators listed in the annex, then the assessment for each indicator has been formulated based on the comparison with the regional benchmark. the first result of this step is represented by 55 scores, one for each of the proposed indicators. the allocation of these indicator­based scores has been influenced by the importance of the phenomenon/action described by the indicator and the strategic contribution of the undertaken initiatives to the final regeneration; ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 137vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities by the consistency of the intervention with potentials and weaknesses of the area; by the possible integration of actions or phenomena and on the virtuous or repressive impulse of individual or collective participation; by the unexpected impact of planned or spontaneous actions. consequently, a resuming score has been drawn for the five indicator groups by working out the average of the points allocated to the 55 indicator. this intermediate scores, based on the comprehensive range of indicators employed and the extensive nature of data collected, are expected to allow each “capital” to be individually weighted in terms of its contribution to the achievement of the expected regeneration, possibly pointing out specific weaknesses in the strategy. finally, an overall numerical score – worked out as the average of the five intermediate results – has been used to enable the comparison of different municipalities in the same area (as shown in figure 1 and 3) and therefore to make possible a thorough discussion of the individual performance achieved. at the same time, the overall score permits the analysis of each case study against the theoretical maximum score and it enables to consider the standard to be attained in the pursuit of effective regeneration while considering the possible curbing contribution of the municipalities. the overall and thematic results of evaluation have been summarized in results maps (as shown in the following figures), which contribute to identify each major problem or outcome of evaluation by stating each score as clearly and concretely as possible. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 138vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities figure 1 – the province of grosseto: case­study area and evaluation results figure 2 – the province of grosseto: intermediate evaluation results ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 139vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities figure 3 – the province of nuoro: case­study area and evaluation results figure 4 – the province of nuoro: intermediate evaluation results ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 140vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities conclusions the planning concern with historic cities has undergone important changes: from the early ‘60s to the end of the ‘90s a major transition from preservation to regeneration took place. as briefly highlighted in this work, the use of evaluations and related performance indicators within the planning process has become increasingly significant. indeed, a well­balanced evaluation process can support programme improvements while contributing to measuring outcomes and results, it enables to illustrate what performance should be attained, it can lead to more effective actions while increasing accountability and prevent possible setbacks. although extensive academic research has explored conservation of italian historic cities and towns as well as contents and practice of urban regeneration, and although there is international consensus on the importance of early, persistent and rigorous evaluation within the planning process, much less of the italian research has paid attention to the assessment of regeneration strategies addressing historic towns and cities. the main purpose of this study was to highlight the need to provide a crosscutting and fully accessible set of indicators and to develop a methodological proposal for the evaluation of regeneration strategies for small historic towns and minor historic cities. by identifying a flexible evaluation process and the consequent operational tool – the set of indicators for historic cities, based on the analysis and the selection of indicators adopted internationally – this work was intended to describe to which extend evaluation can be part of the italian planning process. at the same time, it was intended to test the utility of a comprehensive evaluation tool, against the thematic fragmentation and sectorialism of existing set of indictors (dealing with environment and sustainability, quality of life, infrastructures, demographic issues, crime and safety concerns, etc.) and despite the lack of homogeneous data and deep differences from region to region. on these premises, the application of the proposed set of indicators for historic cities to two case studies has been necessary not only to test its versatility – that is the possibility to extend its use to areas different in scale, territorial framework, planning background – and to try the comprehensiveness and the required synthesis of such an evaluation tool, but it has been indispensable ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 141vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities in order to test the availability of homogeneous and clear data, as well as the availability of the required benchmark scores (of regional or national level). the attempt of evaluating the regeneration strategies put in place in the proposed case studies by applying the set of indicators for historic cities allows some considerations – apart from specific remarks about the case studies themselves. some weaknesses have emerged, partially related to the problematic aspects of evaluation. the selection of indicators has been deliberately conducted using well established techniques and making reference to set of indicators adopted internationally, thus dealing with widely agreed concepts and using statistical data sources that are frequently and readily available. nonetheless, using the set of indicators for the selected case studies has been partially hindered by the scantiness of available information for some of the indicators or some of the selected municipalities. indeed, being the italian academic debate about evaluation quite recent and being many local authorities still untrained about the evaluation practice, in italy data fragmentation is quite widespread. in addition, even though the lack of qualitative data for evaluation has been filled in some regional and subregional attempts, often there is no coordination from region to region (indicators of “physical capital” have proved to be more sensitive to unhomogeneous data). evidently, data fragmentation makes the assessments less reliable, and duplicity or mismatching in the choice of indicators or deep differences in terminology and definitions interfere with the required relevance of evaluation. as for the general convenience of the selected indicators, they have proved to be technically robust, easily measurable and capable of being regularly updated – most of them have been long in use in other countries and they have been tested with varied approaches. nonetheless, some of the selected indicators have proved to be not so sensitive to change in the initial planning or to specific local conditions, while others cannot easily highlight virtuous or curbing conditions to the planned regeneration strategies. in this sense, indicators within the “human capital” category are the most ambiguous, since it is often quite difficult to establish a clear connection between regeneration initiatives and demographic changes – the latter being ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 142vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities influenced by many conditions with no bearing on regeneration. conversely, they have proved to be the most reliable as for data availability. at the same time, spontaneous contributions to the regeneration of historic towns are basically impossible to be measured or clearly defined based on the proposed set of indicators. indeed, methods and tools used in the practice of evaluation are not always able to assess the specific contribution of integration within the regeneration strategy – integration of policies, general quality of partnerships between diversified stakeholders, concerted actions – or to properly interpret the delicate balance between development initiatives and actions to oppose urban decay. against this background, further research on evaluating regeneration of historic cities seems to be useful, while a wider acceptance of assessment at institutional level and a suitable training effort are required. ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 143vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 144vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities undertake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 145vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities undertake ijpp ­ italian journal of planning practice 146 references alexander e. r. 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(2000), “indicators in use: challenges to urban and environmental planning in britain”, in town planning review, 71 (2), pp. 213–239. vol. iv, issue 1 ­ 2014 ferretti ­ an indicator­based approach to measuring regeneration of historic cities ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 1 ambiguous memorial landscapes in postsocialist cities: the case of tirana’s pyramid peter nientied re sear c h er , p o li s u n i ver s it y / p er ma n e nt w o r ks ho p o n t er r ito r i al go v er na n ce co -p l an i n st it u te fo r h a b itat de ve lo p me nt, t ir a n a, alb a n ia nie nt ied 1 @c he llo . nl eranda janku1 le ct ur er , p o l is u ni ver si t y, t ir a na, alb a n ia e r and a_ j a n k u @ u ni ver si te tip o li s. ed u. al keywords: memorial landscape, memory, identity, post-socialist city, tirana abstract this article is a descriptive study that narrates the history of the socalled “pyramid” since 1991 and explores why it was never either restored or demolished. the pyramid is a memorial landscape in tirana, constructed to commemorate former socialist leader enver hoxha. the pyramid became a landmark building in tirana and has been recurrently discussed. the pyramid has survived all discussions, decisions, and plans, but is now in decay. generating clear answers regarding the continued existence of the pyramid proved to be arduous, as the pyramid has been subject to overlapping discourses around architecture and urban design, politics, history, memory, and identity. 1 the authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this article. they also wish to thank the organizers of the conference ‘[co]habitation tactics’ tirana architecture week, polis university, where the pyramid case was presented. mailto:nientied1@chello.nl mailto:eranda_janku@universitetipolis.edu.al nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 2 the first main conclusion of the study is that the pyramid is hardly recognized as a memorial landscape. a second is that various governments have developed ideas, discussed, and quarrelled, but political parties could not reach an actionable conclusion – refunctioning of the pyramid is apparently too complex. a survey was carried out to understand what the general population thinks about the pyramid. most respondents indicated that their attachment to the pyramid is not very strong and they are in favour of redevelopment. the paper concludes with recommendations for adding elements of a memorial landscape to the planned redevelopment of the pyramid. introduction throughout central and eastern europe (cee) the change from socialism to market economies and democracies in the early 1990s was marked by an immediate and public rejection of socialism. the new model was western, and most cee countries regarded a dismissal of socialism and a ‘return to europe’ as different sides of the same coin (light and young, 2015). all countries that had socialist regimes in cee have maintained their architectural, planning, and landscape legacy of the former period. this legacy includes large objects such as icons with high symbolic significance (czepczyński, 2010). after the transition, the berlin wall was torn down, statues of lenin and presidents were removed in many cee countries, and streets were renamed, among other things, to do away with artefacts and memorials from the past that did not fit into the new identities that post-socialist societies were creating (ira and jiří, 2018). most artefacts built during the socialist period have been kept of course (lisiak, 2009), and served new functions. indeed, many buildings with a public function could be adjusted to the new system. “the same time, very pragmatically, only a few iconic constructions and buildings were mimetically communist enough to be destroyed of the course of cultural landscape cleanings in post-communist europe,” concludes czepczyński (2010, 73). some of these mimetically communist buildings were just too complicated and/or disputed to be destroyed. perhaps the most dramatic example is the casa populori in bucharest, which is a detested symbol of the ceausescu socialist period (light and young, 2013). other icons outside of cities did not bother the population and were simply left, such as sofia’s abandoned buzludzha monument (valiavicharska, 2014). built landscapes of cities are held to be nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 3 important in the construction of political identities, especially during times of crisis and/or rapid political change (light and young, 2013; diener and hagen, 2013), while icons outside of cities receive less attention. in tirana, the so-called pyramid, a memorial landscape to commemorate former dictator enver hoxha, has survived all public and political discussions, although the structure is currently in a rather poor state. the pyramid is an unusual socialist icon to survive, hampering the creation of an urban landscape that reflects and projects a new european capital identity, and withstanding the work of consecutive albanian governments (nientied and aliaj, 2018). in bulgaria, the empty building of the mausoleum of georgi dimitrov, the secretary of the comintern and the head of the bulgarian state for the first several years of socialist government, was successfully demolished in august 1999 (valiavicharska, 2014); but its counterpart in tirana has survived until the present day. figure 1 museu enver hoxha (pyramid) in 1988 source tirana tourist guide 1990 the pyramid has a set of features that, when taken together, are rather particular. notably, it has a remarkable shape (photo 1). it has functioned for only a few years as a memorial landscape honouring former communist leader enver hoxha, who died in 1985. the building opened in 1988, not long before nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 4 the change of system in 1991. it is a large structure, but not colossal like the casa populori in bucharest. the pyramid is in the heart of the city (see map, appendix 1) and the 17,000 m2 of land framing the memorial landscape is valuable. popular demands for preserving the pyramid have been modest. in other words, there seem to be no major motives for keeping the pyramid. however, the pyramid is still there. this paper explores the context of why the pyramid was never restored (it has had only temporary use) or torn down. the pyramid has been discussed in political and academic circles, while architects, planners, and media commentators have debated the pyramid. this debate is reviewed below. additionally, citizens have been consulted in person and online to gather their opinions about the pyramid. ambiguous socialist icons the case of the pyramid is treated from the angle of memorial landscapes and is informed by dwyer and alderman (2008), light and young (2013), lisiak (2009) and nientied and aliaj (2018). memorials are important symbols, expressing a version of history and casting legitimacy onto it (dwyer, and alderman, 2009, 167). memorials – be it buildings, statues, street names or landscapes – affect citizens’ everyday life. they make the past tangible and familiar. memorials are also a representation of power; the political elite decides what is worth remembering. as krzyżanowska (2016) points out, commemoration is a key tool of symbolic power and enacting symbolism, a tool that creates an identity for a place and provides various tools for its redefinition and re-construction. memorials are part of identity formation, as they can be seen as symbols of historical constructions that are constantly being reconstituted according to a “presentist” agenda (osborne, 2001), i.e. viewing the past with a set of attitudes and beliefs somewhat limited to the present-day. place identity develops along these lines as well (nientied, 2018). big monuments or memorial landscapes can serve as highly visible markers of change. colomb (2011; cf. light and young, 2013; begić & mraović, 2014) suggests that in post-socialist cities, the nature of the reshaping of the landscapes has been influenced by several overlapping discourses around architecture and urban design; politics; history; memory and identity; and the changing political economy. re-shaping of landscapes is complex and is usually contested. lisiak nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 5 (2009) points out that in central european cities, memories and material histories of socialist regimes remain particularly difficult to address and incorporate into the new democratic present. the remnants of the socialist past such as prefabricated apartment blocks exist side by side with modern office buildings and brand-new war memorials, thus creating a fragmented as well as aesthetically and historically diverse urban landscape (lisiak, 2009, 449). in many cee cities, ‘city-texts’ have been constantly reimagined and rewritten, and the same buildings or squares play diametrically different roles under various political regimes (ibid.). by giving new functions, the structure remains but identity changes and memories tend to vanish. dwyer and alderman (2008) give three main approaches or metaphors for studying memorial landscapes: text, arena, and performance. in comparison to the more elaborated set of metaphors used by nientied (2016) for an urban icon with a developmental function, dwyer and alderman’s basic set of metaphors is appropriate for memorial landscapes. the memorial landscape as text suggests analysing the landscape as a symbolic system that is written and rewritten, read and erased by ‘authors’ and ‘readers’ within their own specific socio-spatial context. in this view, landscape is not imbued with meaning once and for all, but meaning is produced and revised, in a dynamic ‘rewriting’ process. the memorial landscape as arena refers to the politicized nature of collective memory and to political struggles and debates that revolve around the representation of the past through the landscape. the memorial landscape as performance directs attention to the ways in which the memorial landscape serves as a stage, literally and figuratively, for a range of performances. the performance and display of collective memories can constitute, shape, and add significance to memorial landscapes. examples of such performances include national parades and re-enactments of historic battles. performance can also be the commercial exploitation of the memorial landscape, to cover costs, develop, or make profits. in the present study of the pyramid, the metaphors of text and arena are relevant. the pyramid was only a stage for the purpose for which it was built for a short period. in this sense, ‘landscape as performance’ has not been applicable since 1991, as the activities in and around the pyramid are no longer a stage for further strengthening the memory of former dictator hoxha. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 6 the pyramid memorial landscape as text and arena a changing plot in 1988, the enver hoxha museum was opened in tirana as a memorial landscape and museum of the heritage of enver hoxha, the long-time leader of socialist albania who died in 1985. the museum had a very remarkable appearance in a country that did not have many architectural icons.2 klement kolaneci and pranvera hoxha, the son-in-law and daughter of enver hoxha, respectively, designed the monument along with two other architects. space in the city centre was created through clearing a housing area (manahasa & manahasa, 2014). kodra (2017, 218) states “and here comes the paradox of the “pyramid”: on the one hand, thanks to artistic experimentation, the most modern architectural monument of tirana was built on the boulevard; and on the other, it is the clearest example of a political power representative’s monumentalization (enver hoxha). due to the particular conditions created for a group of architects to work freely an extraordinary apologetic monument to dictatorship was erected.” communism ended in albania in 1991 as did the interest in a museum celebrating the life of a former dictator. the museum’s objects were removed and the building was renamed ‘pyramid of tirana’. in the first years following the change of system, no decision was taken about the pyramid and it was left to be dealt with at a later date. the plot (of the script in the making, so to speak) of the memorial was completely changed in 1991 with the transformation of the communist system. the symbolic meaning of the memorial shifted after 1991 from ‘an icon of the beloved leader’ to ‘waste of funds on the memory of a former dictator’. it was inconceivable in 1985, when plans were made for hoxha’s museum, that collective memory would have such short expiration date. soon after 1988, the term ‘hoxha’s mausoleum’ was often used in tandem with hoxha’s museum. the first ten years of the transition in albania were very problematic. in this period, the name of the pyramid was changed but a decision regarding the new status or function of the pyramid area was not a priority. albania had been more isolated than other cee countries (it has been labelled as the north korea 2 see iacono and këlliçi (2016) for details on the history of the pyramid. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 7 of europe) and building a democracy and new institutions were difficult tasks during the 1990s in a context with minimal state authority and, at times anarchistic conditions. during the turmoil of 1997, the government fell and a civil conflict resulted in the loss of 2,000 lives. in a multinational un mission, 7,000 soldiers helped to restore order. the priorities of the (weak) government were getting basic political, bureaucratic, and market institutions working as well as pursuing its own interests, leading to widespread corruption.3 it was not concerned with the potentially sensitive issue of the hoxha museum. the spatial context and connections to the environment the pyramid is located in the city centre, along the main north-south axis (see map, appendix 1). it is close to ministries, hotels, the prime minister’s office, embassies, and new commercial developments. the parcel of the pyramid and surrounding park is 17,000 m2 and has substantial value. over time, the pyramid area became dilapidated and the pyramid building now stands as an abandoned structure, on expensive ground, next to government buildings in the city centre. as a public space, it has been clearly ‘under-managed’, resulting in neglect and degradation (pojani & maci, 2015). activities and commerce the pyramid has been used on an ad-hoc basis for various purposes including an exhibition hall, a night club, and a conference centre. currently, a tv broadcasting station has been occupying the office buildings of the pyramid. during the kosovo war in in 1999, the pyramid even served as a temporary nato base. during the last decade, it has been used occasionally for exhibitions and gatherings. hanging out the pyramid attracts other activities such as young people hanging out and climbing the pyramid (photo 2). the structure was listed on the website of dark tourism, which reads, “time required: not long, maybe 15 minutes or so to walk around it to view the structure from all angles, and maybe even climb 3 see the research work of mathisen (2003) and kajsiu (2013). nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 8 to the top. most normal tourists and locals alike spend no more than a few seconds glancing at it, shaking their heads, or ignore it altogether.” 4 figure 2 the pyramid, september 2015 source: photo eranda janku visitors experiences the pyramid is no longer open to the public, but hosted several events in the past, from exhibitions to book fairs. the inside of the building is not associated with communism any more. in addition, because of the peculiar shape of hoxha’s mausoleum, the outside is not reminiscent of the brutalist, socialist architecture that was popular in the balkan region.5 visitors who have been inside the pyramid on various occasions and at different times all agree including the authors of this article) that the pyramid is an unusual building and that it does leave a strong impression.6 4 www.dark-tourism.com/index.php/15-countries/individual-chapters/89-hoxha-pyramidtirana-albania#b 5 see stojiljković and trajković (2018). 6 a video was posted in 2016 on the inside of the pyramid, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvkubrp7i-m nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 9 plans the pyramid has been the subject of long political discussions that have not reached a conclusion about whether to demolish, improve, or redevelop it. more accurately, conclusions were reached but they were not implemented. the first plan was to turn the pyramid into an opera. in 2005, the then berisha government proposed to repurpose the pyramid into a national library, but a year later the same government stated that the pyramid would serve as the international cultural centre pjeter arbnori, named after the late parliamentary speaker and political prisoner who died that year. in 2008, berisha’s government changed its mind again and asked the ministry of culture to transform the building into a pantheon that would host a theatre, a music auditorium, an art gallery, an underground library and a youth centre. in 2003 the pyramid had been placed on a protected cultural heritage list and in 2009 the pyramid was declared a cultural monument. in some countries, the status ‘monument’ has consequences – the owner may have to restore the building, keep the building in its original form, or seek local government permission to make changes to the building. in albanian society however, the monument status is not that consequential. in 2011, plans were proposed to demolish the pyramid and use the space of the memorial for a new parliamentary complex. the government launched a design competition, a winner was selected,7 and a law to tear down the pyramid was passed (which led the opposition to boycott the parliament). authors and texts there is no lack of opinions and viewpoints of the pyramid. after the 2011 plans were initiated to knock down the pyramid and build a new parliament on the spot, the pyramid area was an especially hot topic of debate. the debate revolved around politics rather than on the repurposing or the preservation of socialist heritage, i.e. the meaning of the pyramid in the urban landscape. 7 it was architects coop himmelb(l)au, cf. www.dezeen.com/2011/04/01/parliamentarycomplex-of-the-republic-of-albania-by-coop-himmelblau/. [accessed 24-10-2018] also architectural competitions by themselves are debated – and outcomes translated as ‘corruption’. see for example http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/socialists-see-red-overalbania-s-new-parliament [accessed 26-10-2018] nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 10 opponents of the demolition demonstrated and submitted a petition signed by 6,100 people. these opponents came from circles of architects and historians, and from political opposition parties. their main point was that it was not correct to erase the country’s recent past. shtylla (2014) discussed the proposal to demolish the pyramid and use the land for a new parliament. he claims that the initial intention (a memorial) and the shape explain why all projects that aimed to transform the interior into offices, a theatre, a library, or exposition area never worked. the pyramid was created as a memorial and cannot change its character. for shtylla (2014), the pyramid is a symbol of the communist ideology and was built in the past as a memorial of the regime. shtylla suggests that it should be demolished and the new symbol of a parliament as a house of democracy be built. fuga (2014) also claimed that the pyramid does not represent nor symbolize the communist period or the communist leader. he argued that the huge construction, after it was built, served as a museum only for three years. it was never associated with the hoxha objects inside. during the late 1980s the people of tirana were observing how the government was preparing to leave the ideology, and how, during the then severe economic crisis, the government still had money to waste on a colossal infrastructure. the pyramid should not be considered as cultural heritage from the past, fuga (2014) further stated, since there is no memory inside the pyramid itself – the pyramid has no relation with dictatorship. he concludes that the pyramid is a space for redevelopment. it is a discourse over the land on which the object is built, the object itself has little or no meaning, fuga claims. domus authors stefa and cantoni (2011) wrote after the announcement of the berisha government (in power during two terms until the socialist party of rama took over government in 2013) that the pyramid would be destroyed and replaced by a new parliament. “…, the pyramid becomes an innocent victim (the target) of a political decision, which somehow failed to see the mass of concrete and glass as the physical image of a constantly changing people. it is as if the narcissist power that generated it to exalt the figure of a man and celebrate his memory were raising its head again, decades later, in an attempt to bulldoze what has today become a receptacle of shared values, a place that belongs to the albanian people without them being the owners.” they add, “re-enacting the functions and significance, contemporary albanian society, therefore, proved to have metabolized its own history, conscious of the nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 11 dominating complexity of this process, but even more aware of the impossibility of building a future that did not have a past.” after a brief account of what the pyramid meant in the daily life of albanian citizens, commentator iva gjoni wrote a small piece in 2013 in the paper illiria: “in the 90s, the pyramid was attacked by little scoundrels in rags, some were gypsies that climbed to the top and slid to the bottom on the slanted walls. all the pictures of the dictator, together with the clips on the tv screens, were tossed into an old storage facility. the pyramid’s belly was emptied. outside, in the fancy gardens positioned between marble stairs and fences, a new tradition was begun: hanging out. the youth crowded the marbled steps — girls just emerging from communism, boys wearing tight blue jeans (brought as gifts from the west or bought at the new market that sold used western clothes). that was it. the pyramid had become a meeting place. … the pyramid now symbolized nothingness, some kind of life that had nothing to do with death any longer.”8 dyca (2011, 7), then a student, writes: “as the debate about the pyramid proceeds, one can’t help but start considering the pyramid as a symbol of what it represents for the albanian society today, rather than as just decayed, dysfunctional and distasteful”. student myhrberg (2011, 54-55) claims that in the comprehension of communist heritage changes, there is a tendency to appreciate them in a different, less rejecting manner. one of her informant’s pointed out the lack of self-analysis or self-criticism in the albanian society over the communist period. the generation born after 1991 grew up in a period in which albania wanted to forget the painful communist period, and therefore has a limited understanding of what happened and what the significance and history of the pyramid were. manahasa & manahasa (2014) indicate that the pyramid should be preserved because it is the human, mental, and manual work of the albanian people. they suggest that it has construction value (the best construction from the communist period) and that it has been built by volunteers.9 at the time of the debate about whether the pyramid should be demolished for a new parliament, glass (2011) collected several conflicting 8 illyriapress.com/a-pyramids-life/ 9 opinions on voluntarism during communism vary – most people narrate from experience that ‘volunteers’ work’ was forced by the state. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 12 opinions. politics, heritage, identity, and other themes, are mixed together during the discussions. in 2014, the albanian ministry of culture, in collaboration with polis university, 10 organized an open international design competition to gather concepts and project ideas from students and young architects for the pyramid in the framework of the tirana architecture week. the goal of the competition was ‘to provide a strategy for harmonizing the layers of history into an actively functioning, attractive, and distinctly contemporary space by re-envisioning the pyramid square as a part of an active system within the city,’ according to the brief. it continues, ‘the international competition for pyramid square is also part of the strategy of the ministry of culture to re-activate the ghost spaces of the communist past.’ a winner was announced, but the proposal was not followed up upon; the competition was meant as ‘an activity to open a debate about the pyramid, and raise awareness for both society and government, that it is time to take a decision about the future of the pyramid, in order not to ignore it further’. as photo 3 shows, the process of decay continues four years after the design competition. figure 3: pyramid entrance, march 2018 source: photo peter nientied 10 see the special issue of forum a+p, ://issuu.com/polisuniversity/docs/forum_a_p_vol_08 nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 13 isto (2016, 26) suggests that the current rhetoric and projects of the prime minister edi rama and tirana’s mayor has been one of renewal: his reforms since entering office are referred to as ‘rilindja’ or ‘re-naissance’. according to isto, the reforms are without an understanding of history, since everything must be ‘new’. during the last two years, more debates followed about prime minister rama’s preference for modern design. in these recent debates on various ‘re-naissance’ projects, politics, planning, architecture, culture, memory, and identity are conflated. in early 2017, an event was organized in the pyramid around the question of its future use. the building was cosmetically improved, and an interesting exhibition was opened that featured various architectural and urban projects and strategies by two italian architecture schools. tirana’s mayor erion veliaj, a former minister under rama, announced intentions to transform the pyramid into an international cultural centre in june 2017, which would promote young artists.11 since 2016 the pyramid has been under municipal jurisdiction, which makes decisions easier since they no longer need to be taken in the parliament but now fall under the responsibility of mayor. after the elections of 2017, the socialist government obtained a majority at both the national and municipal level. if veliaj and rama agree on a new option, developments can take place. a new plan was announced in march 2018, and further explained in may 2018, turning tirana’s pyramid into a multi-functional centre for youth, focusing on digital education, art, and culture. the architectural office mrdv put the plans for the initial design on their website one day after the may 2018 presentation.12 conclusions so far three main themes of scholarly and popular discourse on the transition from socialist to post-socialist urban identities, suggested by diener and hagen (2013), may serve to draw some conclusions on the discussion so far. their first theme is ‘active forgetting and selective remembrance’. the demolition of 11 albania daily news (://www.albaniandailynews.com) 30 june 2017 and 9 november 2018. 12 see: www.mvrdv.nl/en/projects/tirana-pyramid. this a merely a concept – detailed plans and cost estimates have not been made as yet. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 14 socialist icons is an example of this. the persistence of the pyramid shows that policies of active forgetting have not been actively applied in this case. selective remembrance is illustrated by the fact that the name of the structure was changed from a museum for enver hoxha into ‘pyramid’ soon after 1991. fostering selective remembrance was not really needed since the pyramid lost its memorial status soon after the inauguration, although the building remained an unignorably landmark in the city. the second theme of ambiguous spaces and banal practices is relevant for the pyramid. diener and hagen (2013, 503) write “… socialist relics permeate the urban landscape, but their ideological foundations are largely forgotten amid the banal routines of everyday life and localized identities.” in other words, in everyday life, people tend to forget the origin of monuments or memorial landscapes and, as time passes, the intended meaning of memorials ceases to exist. the pyramid became a place for youth to hang out and for sporadic events. the third theme of diener and hagen (2013) is globalized identities and cultural hybridities. post-socialist urbanism has featured efforts to reconcile traditional notions of local and national identity with new customs of regional and global integration. cities were to become attractive places for foreign investment. this theme is also clearly visible in tirana (nientied and aliaj, 2018). given this trend, it is remarkable that the pyramid memorial landscape has never been repurposed and has been left to fall into decay, which shows how difficult it is to settle this issue. for over 25 years no decision has been reached about the pyramid’s redevelopment that has led to more than temporary use (with the exception of the tv channel occupying the office part of the building). no simple explanation can be given for the surviving icon. during interviews conducted with various informed people, a wide range of accounts and opinions were expressed. these interviews confirmed to the researchers the observation of coulomb (2011) that, in tirana, the debate on the pyramid is influenced by several overlapping discourses around architecture and urban design; politics; history; memory and identity; and the changing political economy. albania’s governments, like other cee governments, have not been very sensitive to albania’s history in the 20th century – erasing the communist past was a leading practice. only recently has the albania’s past been appreciated again by opening museums of the socialist period (isto, 2017), but some claim that this is for tourism rather than the genuine recognition of the country’s socialist past. what tirana’s citizens think and feel about the pyramid is not nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 15 very clear. iacono and këlliçi (2016) conducted a survey between december 2013 and february 2014, partly online and partly face to face, among 360 respondents. the results show that in that period, over 75% of the respondents were against the demolition of the pyramid and that more than 75% of the respondents older than 60 years, felt attached to the pyramid (45% even ‘very attached’; 61% for the whole group of respondents). older people tend to associate the pyramid with enver hoxha and younger people to the city of tirana in general. the researchers do not explain why attachment (a positive emotion) among senior citizens is high while sentiments regarding the socialist period are mostly negative. the authors of the present article decided to conduct a survey with a short questionnaire, asking opinions from people on the street next to the pyramid before inviting inputs through social media. firstly, the pyramid is hardly seen as an element of the communist regime, because soon after its opening the system changed. moreover, the structure was distinct – a significant structure in the city and very unlike the buildings that were typical for the communist period. everyday life goes on and everyday practices substitute the memories of hoxha. secondly, governments, practitioners, and academics have developed ideas, discussed, and quarrelled, but the ruling political parties have not been able to reach an actionable conclusion. the pyramid has been a theme for political disagreements, promises, and designs without follow-up. the result of such long, drawn-out discussions may be that citizens don’t seem to care very much anymore, as life goes on and politics are not effective. a third point is that the structure is in a bad shape and temporary use has become impossible. survey to compare these points to tirana’s citizen’ opinions, the authors of this article organized a survey that was conducted in march 2018. first, a face-to-face survey was done (100 respondents interviewed on four afternoons opposite the pyramid), followed by an on-line survey (183 respondents). a four-point likert scale was used to tabulate results. table 1 shows the statements and the average score on the scale of 1 – 4, according to age group. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 16 table 1: average score per age group on survey statement (n = 283) statement 18-25 y (n=108) 26-40 y (n=128) 41-60 y (n=33) 61> y (n=14) average (n=283) 1 the pyramid reminds me of former leader enver hoxha 2.4 2.6 3.3 3.4 2.6 2 the pyramid is an important symbol for albania 3.4 3.7 3.2 3.1 3.5 3 i feel attached to the pyramid, it should be kept 2.3 2.9 2.2 1.5 2.5 4 the pyramid should be replaced by commercial use (offices, housing, hotel, etc., at the cost of congestion) 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 5 the pyramid should be improved and turned into a park (at public cost) 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.7 6 the pyramid should be improved and serve as a touristic attraction 3.7 3.8 3.4 3.9 3.7 7 the pyramid and the pyramid square should be sold to the highest bidder 1.6 1.5 2.0 2.1 1.6 explanation: 1 = fully disagree; 2=disagree a bit; 3 = agree a bit; 4 = fully agree. such a survey cannot give more than an impression of opinions of the general public since the sample is not well balanced. the number of respondents of the face-to-face survey was limited to 100; in practice, 135 people were addressed but 35 people did not want to co-operate since they were in a hurry or not interested. the non-reply increased with age. the on-line survey offered via social networks resulted in 183 responses. the online survey has, compared to the face-to-face street survey, a bias towards the 26-40 years old group, and a bias towards an audience of interested people on-line. because of these inherent limitations in terms of representation, no statistical analysis was carried out – the figures merely give an indication of what the selected public thinks. the broad tendencies in the table are outlined below. regarding the statement about whether the pyramid reminds people of the former leader enver hoxha, the average score increases with the age of respondents. it can be deduced that older respondents in particular have stronger associations of the pyramid with the former regime. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 17 respondents think that the pyramid is quite an important symbol for albania. at the same time, the answers to the statement on attachment to the pyramid show lower averages. attachment tends to decrease with age. the answers to the statements on what should be done with the pyramid (questions 4-6 in table 1) indicate that the responding public thinks that something should be done. scores on these questions are closer to ‘fully agree’ than others. however, the authors prefer to interpret the answers as further from ‘fully disagree’ rather than closer to ‘fully agree’ responses, since the public is not very outspoken regarding what must be done with the pyramid area. differences between the answers to the last four statements in the table are limited, though these statements present quite different options. the respondents largely agree that something should be done. these answers reveal that what will be done is less important than improving the pyramid and turning it from a blot on the landscape into an attractive building. respondents did not think that the pyramid area should be sold to a highest bidder. differences in answers between men and women was minimal, as were answers from respondents of varying educational levels and length of residence in tirana. this survey comes to somewhat dissimilar results than the those in the study of iacono and këlliçi (2016), that showed that people felt attached to the pyramid and were against demolition. the present 2018 survey comes to other, less outspoken results. perhaps another four years of seeing the pyramid decaying further has changed people’s thoughts and feelings about it. tirana’s pyramid a memorial landscape in 2017, prime minister edi rama opened a new main square in tirana. rama stated that the new square should serve as a national symbol, linking past, present, and future (nientied and aliaj, 2018). irrespective of their appreciation of the new square, most citizens of tirana would agree that the new modern square does not stimulate a reflection of the past. various authors on postsocialist cities have described that in many cee countries the attitude towards the socialist past has gradually been changing from rejection to a more ambiguous attitude and they call for a re-appraisal of monuments and memorial landscapes. for example, begić & mraović (2014, 34) suggest with regards to socialist monuments “by their mere presence they constantly remind of the nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 18 historic fact that a different social order once existed and make palpable the possibility of an alternative social organization. to symbolically erase that past, one would have to either erase or otherwise mute the symbolism that these structures carry. alternatively, one could incorporate these monuments as markers of a period that has now passed but that still represents a part of one’s personal history as well the history of one’s nation, however undesirable or unappealing it may seem.” czepczyński (2010, 77) argues in a similar fashion that “the attitude towards post-socialist landscapes mirrors precedent humiliations and dictatorships, as well as present acceptance and reconciliation with own history and can be seen as an explicit indicator of political and cultural transformations.” trying to wipe out the socialist past because it was an inconvenient period that society does not want to be reminded of does not provoke the much needed, 21st century skills such as analysis and reflection. rather, it leads to a societal shirking of responsibility for the past and an inability to take away lessons that can be useful for the present and the future. the pyramid can function as a ‘vehicle of memory’ (young and light, 2015) and can tell the story of the oppression, human rights abuses, and suffering inflicted by the party. it can also play a role for visitors, including international and especially domestic tourists, in educational formation. younger people can ask the uncomfortable questions, such as how it is possible that everybody seems to be a victim of the past socialist system but that nobody was responsible for it, except for enver hoxha, in front of whose memorial visitors stand. one of the elements of a post-socialist society addressing past injustices is to develop a narrative of the socialist past. the public is not very attached to the pyramid in its current state and wants something to be done. currently, plans are being made to restore and repurpose the pyramid. based on the line of thought above, it is recommended that a small but significant part of these new plans develop the pyramid area as a memorial landscape in order to create a memory of the socialist past, an account of what happened during that period, and an educational opportunity from which lessons can be learned. the pyramid area as a memorial landscape could be combined with another, new function. the narrative to be developed could include that the building has been repurposed to serve youth and enhance 21st century skills like digital literacy, creativity, arts, and critical thinking, among others. this restoration and repurposing could offer an answer to the nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 19 past socialist period in which the pyramid area was used for the memory of a leader who tried to stop people from critical thinking and creative expression. developing a landscape identity that stimulates citizens and visitors to reflect on the past and look to the future is far from easy. it requires a transdisciplinary approach, public participation, the integration of multiple methodological toolboxes, and a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods for a better understanding of underlying processes (cf. ramos et al., 2016). the pyramid, irrespective of the future function of the building, can become a memorial landscape. indeed, whatever the outcome of the current initiative to create a modern, multi-functional facility for digital education, art, and culture, the genesis of the pyramid and the socialist period that governments have tried to actively forget should receive adequate consideration. in that way, the past, present, and future can be aligned. references begić, s., & mraović, b. (2014). forsaken monuments and social change: the function of socialist monuments in the post-yugoslav space. in: moeschberger, s.l.,& dezalia, r.a.p. (eds.) symbols that bind, symbols that divide. cham, place springer international publishing, peace psychology book series. pp. 13-37 colomb, c. (2011). staging the new berlin. place marketing and the politics of urban reinvention post-1989. london, routledge. czepczyński, m. (2010). interpreting post-socialist icons: from pride to hate towards disappearance and/or assimilation. human geographies 4(1), 67-78. diener, a. & hagen, j. (2013). from socialist to post-socialist cities: narrating the nation through urban space, nationalities papers, the journal of nationalism and ethnicity 41(4), 487-514. dwyer, o. j. &.alderman, d.h. (2008). memorial landscapes: analytical questions and metaphors. geojournal 73, 165-178. dyca, b. 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(2016). metaphors and urban studies – a crossover, theory and a case study of ss rotterdam. city, territory and architecture, 3(21). nientied, p., & aliaj, b. (2018) the public in search of identity – new symbolism in urban spaces, a study of central squares of balkan capitals. in: finka, m., & jaššo, m. (eds.) the role of the public sector in innovative local economic and territorial development in central, eastern and south eastern europe. cham, spingerverlag. pp. 203-238. pojani, d., & maci, g. (2015). the detriments and benefits of the fall of planning: the evolution of public space in a balkan post-socialist capital. journal of urban design, 20(2), 251-272. ramos, i.l., bernardo, f., carvalho ribeiro, s., & van eetvelde, v. (2016). landscape identity: implications for policy making. land use policy 53, 3643. shtylla, a. (2014). piramida midis simbolit të së shkuarës dhe së ardhmes. forum a+p polis university tirana, 8, 108-109. stefa, a., & cantoni, g. (2011). beyond narcissism. domus, 2-2-2011 ://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2011/02/02/beyond-narcissism.html. [accessed 3-3-2018] stojiljković, d., & trajković, r. (2018). semiotics and urban culture: architectural projections of structuralism in a socialist context. social semiotics, 28(3), 330-348. valiavicharska, z. (2014). history’s restless ruins: on socialist public monuments in postsocialist bulgaria. boundary special issue on second-hand europe 41(1), 171-201. young, c., & light, d. (2015). public memory, commemoration and transitional justice: reconfiguring the past in public space. in: stan, l., & nedelsky, n. (eds.) post-communist transitional justice: lessons from twenty-five years of experience. new york, cambridge university press. pp. 233-251. young, c., & kaczmarek, s. (2008). the socialist past and postsocialist urban identity in central and eastern europe, the case of łódź. european urban and regional studies, 15(1), 53-70. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 22 short author biography peter nientied is researcher and teaches at polis university, tirana, and at ncoi university of applied sciences, hilversum (nl). his research interests include the post-socialist city and place identity. eranda janku is lecturer, department of urban planning and management, polis university, tirana. her research focuses on spatial planning and urban-rural territorial dynamics. nientied, janku – ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 23 appendix – map of tirana city centre source: eranda janku, 2018 ambiguous memorial landscapes in post-socialist cities: the case of tirana’s pyramid figure 1 museu enver hoxha (pyramid) in 1988 the pyramid memorial landscape as text and arena a changing plot in 1988, the enver hoxha museum was opened in tirana as a memorial landscape and museum of the heritage of enver hoxha, the long-time leader of socialist albania who died in 1985. the museum had a very remarkable appearance in a country that did not h... communism ended in albania in 1991 as did the interest in a museum celebrating the life of a former dictator. the museum’s objects were removed and the building was renamed ‘pyramid of tirana’. in the first years following the change of system, no dec... the first ten years of the transition in albania were very problematic. in this period, the name of the pyramid was changed but a decision regarding the new status or function of the pyramid area was not a priority. albania had been more isolated than... the spatial context and connections to the environment the pyramid is located in the city centre, along the main north-south axis (see map, appendix 1). it is close to ministries, hotels, the prime minister’s office, embassies, and new commercial developments. the parcel of the pyramid and surrounding par... activities and commerce the pyramid has been used on an ad-hoc basis for various purposes including an exhibition hall, a night club, and a conference centre. currently, a tv broadcasting station has been occupying the office buildings of the pyramid. during the kosovo war i... hanging out the pyramid attracts other activities such as young people hanging out and climbing the pyramid (photo 2). the structure was listed on the website of dark tourism, which reads, “time required: not long, maybe 15 minutes or so to walk around it to view... figure 2 the pyramid, september 2015 plans the pyramid has been the subject of long political discussions that have not reached a conclusion about whether to demolish, improve, or redevelop it. more accurately, conclusions were reached but they were not implemented. the first plan was to turn ... authors and texts there is no lack of opinions and viewpoints of the pyramid. after the 2011 plans were initiated to knock down the pyramid and build a new parliament on the spot, the pyramid area was an especially hot topic of debate. the debate revolved around politi... shtylla (2014) discussed the proposal to demolish the pyramid and use the land for a new parliament. he claims that the initial intention (a memorial) and the shape explain why all projects that aimed to transform the interior into offices, a theatre,... fuga (2014) also claimed that the pyramid does not represent nor symbolize the communist period or the communist leader. he argued that the huge construction, after it was built, served as a museum only for three years. it was never associated with th... domus authors stefa and cantoni (2011) wrote after the announcement of the berisha government (in power during two terms until the socialist party of rama took over government in 2013) that the pyramid would be destroyed and replaced by a new parliame... after a brief account of what the pyramid meant in the daily life of albanian citizens, commentator iva gjoni wrote a small piece in 2013 in the paper illiria: “in the 90s, the pyramid was attacked by little scoundrels in rags, some were gypsies that ... dyca (2011, 7), then a student, writes: “as the debate about the pyramid proceeds, one can’t help but start considering the pyramid as a symbol of what it represents for the albanian society today, rather than as just decayed, dysfunctional and distas... in 2014, the albanian ministry of culture, in collaboration with polis university,9f organized an open international design competition to gather concepts and project ideas from students and young architects for the pyramid in the framework of the ti... figure 3: pyramid entrance, march 2018 tirana’s pyramid a memorial landscape in 2017, prime minister edi rama opened a new main square in tirana. rama stated that the new square should serve as a national symbol, linking past, present, and future (nientied and aliaj, 2018). irrespective of their appreciation of the new square,... ijpp issn: 2239-267x territorial innovation in the alps. heterodox reterritorialization processes in trentino, italy bruno zanon as so ci ate p r o fe sso r , dip a r ti me nto d i i n ge g ner i a ci vi le, a mb ie n tale e mecca n ica, u ni ver si tà d e gl i s t ud i d i t r ento , i tal ia b r u no . za no n @ u ni t n. it keywords : reterritorialization processes; inner areas; fragile areas; social capital; trentino, italy abstract recurrent attention has been paid to regional disparities, and specific european, national and regional policies have been activated to reduce differences. in this framework, mountainous regions are usually considered ‘peripheral areas’ per se, but in the alps a variety of conditions coexist because of the presence of many urban centres and innovative activities. large parts of the alpine regions can be termed ‘inner areas’ and some parts are ‘fragile areas’ in that they are not only set apart but are characterized by complex morphological conditions and by social weaknesses ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 1 mailto:bruno.zanon@unitn.it zanon – territorial innovation in the alps reflected in deterritorialization processes. in this context, there are interesting examples of innovation based on the activation of new links between local communities and the involved space. the article sets out the results of an inquiry into three cases of locally-based development in trentino, in the italian alps, which are not centred on the role of firms and are not dependent on public policies. the presence of some leaders made it possible to start innovation processes making new use of generic resources and leveraging on the ability of the community to learn and adapt, to construct new coalitions, and to establish new institutions. the paper proposes a theoretical framework within which to analyse innovation processes in inner areas and in fragile mountain areas, and it illustrates the main results of the research, showing that territorial innovation processes can take place also in heterodox ways. alpine areas: set apart, but on the move1 recurrent attention has been paid to regional disparities, and specific european, national and regional policies have been activated to reduce differences in terms of economic development, social services and urban opportunities. a variety of definitions express the spatial dimension of the issues at stake: ‘peripheral areas’, ‘inner areas’, ‘remote regions’, ‘less favoured regions’. in italy, a “national strategy for inner areas” has recently been activated (barca et al., 2014) to foster the development of territories covering more than 60% of the national surface area and comprising around 23% of the total population, but which are often 1 the article is based on research funded by tsm – trentino school of management, trento, directed by bruno zanon, with the assistance of giuditta berloffa. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 2 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps forgotten by public policies. the strategy, which is part of the 2014-2020 programme for european structural funds, was drawn up under the direction of fabrizio barca. it embodied the placebased approach advocated by the report which he compiled to innovate the eu’s cohesion policies (barca, 2009; servillo et al., 2016). the strategy testifies to a renewed territorial approach in issues often addressed only by sectorial public policies. in fact, the concept of ‘inner area’ (area interna) was propounded some decades ago within development policies for the mezzogiorno – the mostly rural and mountainous southern regions of italy – characterized by persistent weakness (dematteis, 2013), and it is now re-proposed within a renovated methodological framework. the problem of regional and local development is not a new one, in fact. spatial-organisational aspects, together with social and institutional ones, are considered when analysing conditions and advancing proposals: geographical and environmental features, demographic density and trends, distance from urban centres, quality of the infrastructure, public services provision. in recent times, the presence of human capital, the level of social capital, and the efficiency of the public administration have been considered assets crucial for driving change and innovation. most of the less favoured regions are mountainous areas. the perception of them is often influenced by a notion of ‘geographic causality’ whereby mountain places are considered to be ‘naturally’ weak and can only engage in old-fashioned ways of life and production because local resources (agricultural land, forestland, settlement networks) can no longer be used profitably. but mountains deserve a different consideration, because their geographical and morphological characters are endogenous resources which can be opportunities for incepting new activities (dematteis, 2013). in fact, not only are many mountain sites characterized by up-to-date equipment and activities, but there are ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 3 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps also cases of innovative initiatives and firms that are competitive in the larger market. as concerns the alpine regions, here many areas have been invested by development processes, and some places have become centres of economic growth. however, a caveat is required in regard to the alps, because in many eu documents and strategies (among others, the recent eusalp), the metropolitan areas at the borders of the alpine arc are included in the definition. on the contrary, large parts of the alps are “inner areas” in the sense given to the term by the national strategy, considering their distance from major urban centres, and the low level of services provision. moreover, some parts of the alps can be considered “fragile areas” (governa, 2008; corrado, 2010) due to their morphological features and social weaknesses reflected in the deterritorialization processes (raffestin, 2012) that have taken place in recent decades. such conditions require territorial innovation. by this is meant a change in how resources are used, places are organised, and networks are operated. potentials in this regard consist only partly in material factors, while a new role can be played by immaterial values (emotional landscapes, beauty of nature, sense of belonging, local knowledge) or by relational conditions (social capital, in particular). in fact, in the territories considered, not only is it not possible to use local resources in the traditional ways but also in many cases they can no longer be considered resources. at the same time, new activities (not only tourism) can begin, and new products can be offered, in particular ‘niche’ goods incorporating local values and taking advantage of the positive image of the landscape (wine from a terraced valley, organic fruits, hand-made products, etc.). innovation is therefore necessary to preserve the values of territories for long inhabited but at risk of depopulation. this entails spatial reorganisation. ski resorts (built on northward places, at high altitude) provide a good example of the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 4 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps reterritorialization processes (not always positive) generated by a new use of resources, such as snow and steep slopes, which were once insignificant because settlements were at lower altitudes and on the sunny sides of mountains. most development theories consider innovation to be closely bound up with the role and presence of firms. but in mountain areas there is no space (physical, but also socio-economic) for large enterprises, since their plants are ‘footloose’ and sited according to advantages which cannot be offered by areas located outside the major infrastructure and urban networks. what can ‘innovation’ mean for inner and for fragile areas? in such territories, public policies seek to improve the infrastructure, to provide urban facilities, and to support sectors like tourism, forestry and agrofood, in many cases taking advantage of eu funds (servillo et al., 2016). but results are not automatic. ash amin (1999, p. 365) put it thus: “[u]ntil recently, regional policy has been firm-centred, standardized, incentive-based and state-driven”, but it failed to encourage a “self-sustaining growth based on the mobilization of local resources and interdependencies”. this statement well describes also outcomes in the less favoured regions of italy. the hypothesis formulated in this article is that innovation paths require not only the inception of new economic activities but also the activation (or re-activation) of strong links between the local communities and the space involved. its theoretical bases consist in the trd – territorialisation-deterritorialization-reterritorialization – model developed by raffestin (2012), which stresses that human communities continuously transform space to satisfy their needs. this entails the emergence of an individual or a collective actor, the use of appropriate knowledge (tacit and technical), the ability to manage relationships with other actors, as well as the capacity to deal with power relationships concerning the control of space and resources. in this framework, representations are crucial, since they ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 5 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps concern both the interpretation of reality and the devising of a future prospect: “there is really no action without prior representation” (raffestin, 2012, p. 133). reterritorialization implies, in fact, both a social re-appropriation and an oriented physical transformation of the space (zanon, 2014). the article reports the results of an inquiry into three ‘success stories’ consisting in ‘heterodox processes’ of locally-based innovation in trentino, in the italian alps. they well represent cases of innovation not centred on the role of large firms, or on networks of small enterprises operating in synergy within ‘marshallian districts’, because innovation came about through activating processes based on a novel use of local resources, leveraging on the local knowledge, the ability to learn and adapt, the social networks and the availability of social capital. the experiences described regard only part of the change that has taken place over recent decades in the areas involved, but nevertheless represent distinctive innovation processes which mobilized the local societies. the main question addressed is why some territories are able to develop successful innovation processes by making use of resources and potentialities which do not seem particularly different from those of other places. other questions concern how innovation can start, what actors can play a central role, what social networks must be activated, and what role institutions can play. the intention is not to develop a policy approach, in search for innovation in political processes and public actions, but simply to look more closely at some intriguing experiences which followed new paths. on the basis of an interpretative framework, the analysis reported in the article was developed by reconstructing the cases and by conducting a series of semi-structured interviews based on the interpretative framework elaborated with key actors well representing those who took part in the elaboration of the novel ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 6 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps ideas, in the inception of the processes, in the management of procedures. they were chosen on the basis of a preliminary inquiry, and then involving additional interviewees on a step-bystep process, when the crucial role of other actors emerged. also some critical observers were interviewed. all in all, fifteen interviews were conducted. innovation and territory ‘innovation’ has become a buzzword. it is a term frequently used to refer to a variety of actions in different fields, from science to economics, social sciences, and european union policies. how can it be connected to the spatial dimension or, better, to the ‘territory’? territory is the space produced and inhabited by the local societies mobilized by specific driving forces, in pursuit of peculiar objectives, and operating on the basis of their own culture, know-how and social organization. governa and salone (2004), citing claude raffestin, state that “territorialisation” means appropriating and transforming the space by means of material or immaterial actions. another author to be quoted is giuseppe dematteis (1985), who affirmed that the territory is formed by a combination of “vertical” relationships (which are “ecological” in that they connect activities and local resources) and “horizontal” relationships (of an economic kind, supporting exchange among places and activities). what emerges is a dynamic concept of ‘territory’, which is not only a repository of natural values and historical facts, but the living space of the local communities, the basis for their collective action (dissart, 2012). the above-cited tdr model well represents the ability of the actors (in particular local communities) to take advantage of local resources to construct their living space, or to re-construct territorial relationships after a loss of consolidated functions. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 7 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps as regards resources, these are material (fertile soil, natural products), positional (crucial in a mountain landscape characterized by strong differences across short distances), spatial-relational (enforced by ‘spatial fixes’ such as the infrastructure and collective equipment), and immaterial. in recent years, close attention has been paid to the latter resources, which are difficult to quantify, but are nevertheless of pivotal importance. in short, some aspects are related to the socio-economic sphere (human and social capitals), others to the socio-political ability to mobilize the local society (“institutional capacity”, “institutional thickness”: amin and thrift, 1995; healey, 1998), and yet others to the assignment of values to the environment (rarity, beauty, bio-diversity) or to the historical and anthropological heritage. recognition of such values can support some economic activities (tourism, in particular) and is the ‘glue’ connecting the local societies to space (sense of belonging and environmental responsibility), as stated by the european landscape convention. a second, connected, consideration concerns the concepts of “generic resources” and “specific resources”. while the former, even when locally generated (raw materials, labour force), are not spatially bounded, “specific resources” are generated by the interactions among the local actors (dissart, 2012). moreover, many territorial resources are “latent” and can be detected and used only when a group of actors, operating within the local society, takes action in a development perspective (corrado, 2004). considering the mountain environment, it should be borne in mind that many traditional resources are now obsolete: fields, pasturelands, even large parts of woodlands cannot be used profitably by activities competing in the larger market. as a consequence, while many traditional spaces and structures characterizing the landscape are now useless – testifying to the deterritorialization process different spaces and conditions acquire new values and can support new activities. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 8 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps as regards innovation, to be stressed is the distinction between growth and development drawn by schumpeter, on which a vast literature which cannot be recalled here has been produced. while growth is a continuous phenomenon of progressive adjustments, development implies discontinuity (trigilia, 2007), which means innovation. this is usually considered a condition which provides the firms involved with “a competitive advantage determined by a (temporary) monopolistic situation thanks to a ‘more advanced product’ (product innovation) or a ‘more efficient production system’ (process innovation)”. in other words, it is a “positive capacity to do something ‘new’, ‘useful’ and ‘exploitable’ that competitors are not able to do” (dotti, 2014, p. 4). put otherwise, innovation requires motivation to change in order to gain advantages by creating new conditions in terms of better products to be offered, more efficient production processes or more effective marketing methods, or by contributing to a more appropriate socio-economic environment. it therefore means that an actor (a single person or a collective actor) must be motivated to modify the usual way of operating, changing the consolidated frames of reference by subverting the rational thinking connected to the usual processes and routines. therefore, innovation needs leadership, intuition, vision, capacity and determination (trigilia, 2007). a connected issue regards the critical balance between individual agency and collective action. in fact, motivations to change usually rely on a single actor’s interest in improving its own benefits, but require an appropriate environment characterized by a basic endowment of equipment and services, the presence of diffuse knowledge, conditions of trust and safety. a mix of competition and cooperation usually boosts innovative actions because actors are stimulated to change and to improve their condition (“local rivalry is highly motivating”: porter, 1998, p. 83), but at the same time they can rely on appropriate support when taking risks. in short, innovation is ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 9 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps interactive in nature, in particular as concerns learning processes, and it requires appropriate institutional routines and social conventions able to reduce uncertainty and to provide trust. this is the expected benefit of the common good termed “social capital” (morgan, 2007). such considerations are particularly relevant to ‘inner areas’ and particularly to ‘fragile mountain areas’, which are characterized by a dearth of such key resources as financial capital, agglomeration effects, and infrastructural nodes. potentials can therefore consist in the presence of networks of actors operating in a climate of trust and reciprocity. the concept of “social capital” (coleman, 1988; putnam, 1992, 2000; trigilia, 2001) and the connected one of “territorial capital” stressing the cognitive processes (camagni, 2007; espon, 2007) highlight the collective good locally produced and maintained by the presence of social networks. social capital must be interpreted not as a generic human attitude or as the effect of accumulation processes, but as the result of the (collective) ability to continuously weave social relationships on the bases of common goals and interests. this requires a shared perspective in the form of an operational project of change (physical, organisational), leveraging on the consolidated experiences and the operating social networks, but becoming an occasion for the development of new knowledge and know-how, the activation of new social relationships, the selection of leaders (zanon, 2014). the processes of knowledge production and diffusion are particularly important. they are characterized by an unstable balance between continuity and change, because knowledge is cumulative, but innovation requires jumps and breaks in the accumulation process; and this entails intuition, openness, and links to the wider world. spaces, actors and networks ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 10 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps what are the conditions and the factors hindering or supporting local development? innovation relies on a number of spatial conditions and local assets, which have been differently considered by regional development theories and, more generally, by spatial economy scholars. in short, place-based development processes are explained by considering on the one hand geographical factors (localization, elevation, climate, specific features of places, etc.), the endowment of natural resources (raw materials, fertile soil, etc.), and the spatialorganisational conditions such as the presence of equipment and infrastructure (defining accessibility), and the connections with the urban networks. on the other hand, the socio-economic system is considered, in particular as concerns the presence of agglomeration processes (interaction among firms, in the marshallian tradition), and of urbanization effects, meaning the presence of urban opportunities, availability of information, proximity to educational and research institutions, supporting interaction among diverse sectors and innovation. some authors have described the role of the localized factors differentiating between geographical proximity (spatial dimension) and organized proximity (ability of an organization to make its members interact) (torre and rallet, 2005, p. 49). the term proximity is extensively used by boschma (2005), who summarizes the different factors intervening in spatial economy by listing five types of proximity (cognitive, informational, institutional, social, geographical). they will be recalled later on, when formulating the interpretative framework. over time, diverse interpretative and policy models for regional and local development, centred in general on the role of the firm, have been developed. to be recalled in particular are: industrial districts, innovative milieus (aydalot, 1986, becattini, 1990), and clusters (porter, 1996). other models proposed have stressed the role of knowledge and learning processes within a region (cooke, 1996), or ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 11 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps the potential of close university-industry-government cooperation, allowing formation of a “triple helix” (etzkowitz and leydesdorff, 2000). such models cannot be really applied to territories characterized by a lack of firms, research and educational centres, and by a weak institutional system. a different approach is represented by the integrated area model (moulaert and sekia, 2003), aimed not only at enabling a local or a regional market economy, but also at giving space to non-market economic activities and, more generally, at empowering community life. this “community approach” introduces “more agency principles, in addition to economic efficiency and competitiveness” (moulaert and nussbaumer, 2005, p. 52). similarly, the eu’s proposed “community-led local development” approach requires that “people who were previously the passive ‘beneficiaries’ of a policy become active partners and drivers of its development” (soto and ramsden, 2014, p. 9). a community-based perspective, intervening in a low-density environment and oriented to making use of local (and often weak) resources, requires subverting the consolidated frames of reference. according to the new institutional economy approach (amin, 1999), what is required is a collective attitude to “learn and adapt”. this is the application of the concept of “adaptive efficiency” (north, 1990), i.e. “the willingness of a society to acquire knowledge and learning, to induce innovation, to undertake risks and creative activity of all sorts…” (rodríguez-pose and di cataldo, n.d., p. 5). the problems to be addressed, in fact, are not only technical, but social at large (dotti, 2014). a good use of local knowledge together with openness to external stimuli – in order to “access supra-territorial flows of knowledge” (dotti, 201, p. 22) – is needed. the consideration of human and social phenomena and factors is crucial, but it must be borne in mind that they define an unstable balance between conservation and innovation, lock-in conditions and ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 12 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps change, path dependency and rupture of the consolidated frames of reference. in this regard, social networks emerge as the collective actors oriented to defending consolidated positions or to change. morgan (2007, p. s148) claimed that “‘markets’ and ‘hierarchies’ do not exhaust the menu of organizational forms for mobilizing resources for innovation and economic development”. in fact, other social relationships can play an important role by combining expert and tacit knowledge, overcoming individual rationality and personal interest. more generally, formal and informal networks and institutions must be established. in particular, when public authorities are weak, informal institutions can help to boost place-based economic activities by providing knowledge and cooperation networks, which reduce transaction costs. conversely, formal institutions must support the informal networks, thus establishing a cooperation environment which fosters the development of ‘institutional thickness’ (amin and thrift, 1995). an interpretative framework an interpretative framework of the potentials of inner areas and of fragile areas requires assuming a point of view strongly linked to the place, considering that firms can play a secondary role. the issue addressed regards how a mountain community can take advantage of the opportunities of a post-industrial society to continue to inhabit the place chosen by the ancestors. the attention paid to the local level and the ‘community’ is not intended to emphasise the role of shared values or of familial bonds, but rather to stress that market mechanisms operate within a variety of human relationships, and that the sense of belonging can be very important (moulaert and nussbaumer, 2005). the framework proposed is built on the bases of the approaches, theories and experiences above summarized and critically analysed. it ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 13 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps is certainly not intended to be a new theory, but simply to define a frame of reference helping to better analyse the cases described. as concerns ‘territorial innovation’, this occurs when a deep change, or a ‘sharp turn’, takes place in a specific environment in relation to: the use of local resources (taking advantage of the ‘specific resources’, in particular); the activation of new economic processes; the construction of social networks connected to new activities; the creation of ‘institutional thickness’. the framework can be further explained by focusing on three interrelated aspects of local development: the geographical-territorial conditions (the place), the interaction mechanisms (proximity), the process. the place geographical conditions must be read not as determinants but as prerequisites, which obviously can hinder or support uses and activities, considering that the local scale is connected to the wider spatial dimension and the socio-economic environment by the infrastructure, as well as by institutional, social and economic networks. contradictory conditions characterize inner areas and fragile mountain areas: many places, which provided living opportunities until few years ago are now very difficult to inhabit. at the same time, a new use of generic resources and the ability to enhance specific resources have emerged. interaction mechanisms: proximity the different conditions and factors intervening in the localisation of activities have been recently re-analysed in light of the concept of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 14 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps “proximity” (torre and gilly, 2000; torre and rallet, 2005; boschma, 2005; lagendijk and lorentzen, 2007). in particular, this term considers that interactions have a spatial and an organisational nature, and they involve both the economic and the social dimensions. boschma (2005) articulated the concept into different kinds of proximity: cognitive, organisational, social, institutional, and geographical, highlighting the opportunities generated by sharing, on the one side, a space; on the other a social, economic or institutional network. this articulation, at the same time, makes it possible to consider the drawbacks caused by socio-economic environments characterized by lock-in phenomena and lack of openness. starting with the last notion, ‘geographical proximity’ means first of all physical closeness, and therefore easy (but not automatic or positive) connections because of the short distances. it does not produce agglomeration effects, however, although many economic relationships are locally embedded because they are based on interindividual relations (torre and rallet, 2005). geographical proximity refers also to accessibility, in particular easy connection to a ‘central place’ from the rest of a territory that is the ‘periphery’. this is a consolidated centre-periphery view of spatial organisation (pezzi and urso, 2016), but a relational interpretation highlights that a network of bilateral connections structures the inhabited space, central places included. the issue to be addressed concerns the extent to which physical proximity is required when a distance interaction, supported by current technologies and practices, is operating. in other words, is an urban environment (characterized by a dense web of material and immaterial interconnections) needed, or can a more dispersed, lowdensity settlement system provide ‘proximity’ factors? can peripheral areas become ‘extended cities’, reversing the usual (uneven) centreperiphery balance? as regards ‘cognitive proximity’, the concept refers to the (social) conditions which support intense interactions, sharing and ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 15 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps accumulating tacit knowledge within a local community, as well as exchanging knowledge and developing competencies within communities of practice. a caveat has been advanced, however, on the risk of uncritically considering (tacit) knowledge flows as closely correlated with physical proximity (torre and gilly, 2000; torre and rallet, 2005; lagendijk and lorentzen, 2007). spatial and social conditions do not automatically overlap. ‘organisational proximity’ refers to the organisation of production, to the presence of networks of firms, and to a system of formal relationships characterizing a developed society and economy. obviously, it is a weak point of inner areas, although some sectors (tourism, niche agriculture) can rely on well-organised professional and economic networks. ‘social proximity’ is defined as the “socially embedded relations between agents at the micro-level” (boschma, 2005, p. 66), being based on the “logic of belonging” (torre and rallet, 2005). it is a collective good defined by rich informal relationships, presence of high levels of trust and confidence, a number of social networks and associations. it is strictly connected to what has been termed ‘social capital’, which can be an asset for mountain communities characterized by a long tradition of self-government, cooperation and rural autonomy. this is the case of many valleys of trentino-alto adige, which has been accredited with the highest level of social capital among the italian regions on the basis of the number of associations and social networks, as well as of co-operative companies (sabatini, 2009). this is in part the heritage of the historical administrative organisation in this region, where local communities were assigned competence for many issues of local interest and were (and still are) responsible for management of the commons in particular woodlands and pasturelands. however, attention should be paid to the risk that the prevalence of ‘bonding’ links will activate lock-in phenomena, so that the ‘strong ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 16 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps ties’ within the community may endanger the “weak ties” (granovetter, 1973) connecting the local communities with the wider context. last, ‘institutional proximity’, based on the “logic of similarity” (torre and rallet, 2005), refers to the ability to devise and apply appropriate rules and norms, and to manage change processes by means of complex instruments. it is “a sort of ‘glue’ for collective action because [it reduces] uncertainty and lower transaction costs” (boschma, 2005, p. 68). this concept, in particular, raises the issue of power relationships because “the difference between ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ is basically a difference of power” (lagendijk and lorentzen, 2007, p. 462). and “processes of peripheralization are indeed directly linked to exclusion from networks and from political power in decision-making” (pezzi and urso, 2016, p. 9). nonetheless, locally-based processes can create new power relationships, when change perspectives are devised and a new cohesion among local actors is constructed. the process the focus on the process stresses that different paths can be followed in place-based development, and that interaction among actors, ability to learn and cooperate, establishment of institutions are combined over a time period. in short, a local development process can start because some ‘innovators’ propose or activate initiatives which can change the current conditions. what characterizes such innovators are, besides their personal motivations, openness, ability to learn, and a propensity to take risks. such personal features become collective experience when innovators become leaders and the conditions of the social environment are positive. but nothing is automatic. a shared local history, an attitude towards social contacts, the presence of trust and ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 17 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps confidence are not sufficient as appropriate conditions for change. there must be a common vision, a shared perspective, and in many cases a concrete representation in the form of a project (physical, organisational). there are risks, however, because the distance between a feasible project – one able to change conditions – and a utopian one – which cannot be pursued – is very short. lastly, in local development processes, institutions (local authorities, in particular) can play a positive role by providing certainty concerning the rules of transactions, or they can have a conservative role by imposing traditional procedures and refraining from innovating rules and behaviours. three cases of territorial innovation the case studies regard territories in the province of trento (trentino), in the italian alps, where the available resources were, apparently, not particularly different from those elsewhere in the alpine arc. although the territories considered are in general ‘inner areas’, they are not really distinct ‘fragile areas’ suffering from deprivation, because in the 1960s a variety of public policies started to modernize the infrastructure and to develop a diversified local economy. the changing role of local resources and the fragility of the socio-economic system foretold, at that time, an uncertain future. during recent decades, successful innovation experiences have profoundly changed the traditional ways to use resources and manage activities, supporting new socio-economic activities. the processes described in the case studies were part of the larger development processes on-going and were chosen because of their distinctiveness, being based on social networks constructed around niche or sectorial activities, and which supported territorial (i.e. spatial, social and economic) innovation. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 18 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps the analysis, developed on the basis of the analytical framework described above, and synthesized in table 1, enables interpretation of the different innovation processes and aids understanding of what have been the drivers of change, the resources used to start territorial innovation, and the processes initiated, by whom. a first case is the ‘marcialonga’, the famous cross-country skiing competition held in the valleys of fiemme and fassa. a second case concerns the change in the tourism supply and organization during recent decades in the area adjoining the northern shore of lake garda (locally named ‘alto garda’). a third case regards the development of the arte sella land-art event in the woods of sella di valsugana. marcialonga the marcialonga is a cross-country ski race, well known at the international level, taking place in the valleys of fiemme and fassa. it was started as a bet 45 years ago on the initiative of a small group of friends, but it rapidly became a successful event, and currently involves some 8000 participants every year. the race, while being an innovation factor for the territories involved, has rapidly become a component of the local tradition. the key question concerns how a sport event modelled on the vasaloppet ski race in sweden could be successfully developed in the alps, and how it could boost networking processes between the local society and the economy. the valleys of fiemme and fassa currently boast a good level of socio-economic development, but the small municipalities involved are classified by the national strategy for inner areas, in terms of peripherality (which does not automatically mean weakness), partly as “intermediate” (4th degree on a scale of 6), but mostly as “peripheral” (5th degree), considering their distance from major urban areas and upper level services. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 19 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps the inception of the event, in 1970, was due to the initiative of a group of amateur cross-country skiers in a valley where this practice had a long tradition, as testified by the local champion franco nones, who won the 30 km race at the grenoble winter olympics in 1968. however, this activity was not based on a specialised infrastructure and did not play an economic role. the marcialonga, whose name derives from the local dialect, was not started with the intention of creating a new sport or tourism product, but rather as a popular event, a ‘non competitive’ race, which in a matter of a few years has become an internationally recognised competition. in parallel, the organisation – based on voluntary participation – had to be stabilised and reinforced. the competition has been a sound basis for establishing cooperation between the event’s organisation and a number of associations, tourism operators, and local authorities. in particular, it has been able to benefit from the presence of two police schools active in winter sports, as well as from contact with experts possessing specialized knowledge on the various aspects of a complex international sport event. a continuous learning process has made it possible to take up other challenges, in particular the use of updated technologies, innovation of the race itself over the years, diversification of the event with cycling and running competitions, and the organisation of other international-level events, i.e. three editions of the nordic world ski championship. the race has also required coordination with other events and activities, interaction (and cooperation) with the local downhill ski resorts, and resolution of conflicts over the use of land and infrastructure, considering that the provisional track interfered with many fields and roads and required progressive stabilization. in conclusion, the marcialonga is an established event which has generated extensive economic, social, and organisational effects. it is the locus of an aggregation of actors, of development of a new conception of the territory, of diffusion of the image of the valleys at ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 20 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps the international level, attracting skiers and tourists. it is also an instrument for the acquisition of know-how which is disseminated to other sectors and activities, reinforcing social and economic networks. there are some problems, however. in particular, an international event requires continuous innovation, and this places a strain on the organization. in particular, the social networks on which the marcialonga has been built are fragile because the number of volunteers is decreasing and it is not easy to keep their motivation alive; institutional relationships imply a heavy workload. finally, the infrastructure of the ski track, although reinforced, needs to be completed and maintained, while meteorological uncertainty must be considered against the backdrop of climate change. alto garda tourism the second case concerns a tourism area long celebrated by travellers and visitors from northern countries: lake garda. its northernmost part, flanked by perpendicular cliffs, lies in trentino, and is locally called ‘alto garda’. it was the first mediterranean landscape encountered by northern tourists on entering italy, as testified by goethe’s famous poem on the “land where lemon trees blossom”. the municipalities involved are classified by the cited national strategy as “peripheral” (4th degree). until a few decades ago, tourism was a traditional activity oriented to german travellers, who appreciated the impressive scenery of the vertical walls of the mountains emerging from the lake. unfortunately, soon after noon a strong breeze springs up on lake garda, impeding full enjoyment of the lake and making sailing dangerous. in the 1970s, the yachts and motorboats started to be disturbed by a new water sport: windsurfing. at the beginning there were some conflicts between the ferries and the motorboats, on the ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 21 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps one hand, and the windsurfers on the other; but there was increasing awareness that a change was necessary. in fact, a law prohibiting motorboats on the lakes of the province was issued, thus re-orienting tourism towards sport activities and younger generations. soon afterwards, other activities started, in particular free-climbing on the cliffs overlooking the lake and the valley, mountain biking, and even base-jumping. the question concerns how the local tourism economy and, more generally, the territory, were able to convert a traditional tourism supply oriented to middle-aged germans into a system of outdoor tourism based on wind-surfing, climbing, cycling, mountain biking, and the like. such activities seemed to cover only niches of overall tourism, while they have demonstrated their potential by giving new value to insignificant resources such as the wind, the cliffs, steep mountain tracks, etc. the innovation was partly introduced by external users and pioneers, partly by local actors, and it required not only changing a consolidated economic activity but also converting places and parts of the infrastructure in an area where tourism is pivotal but must cohabit with a specialized agriculture and certain industrial activities. the places involved are riva del garda and torbole, which are on the shore of the lake, and are places dedicated to wind-surf, and arco, some kilometres north, which was a place whose mild climate allowed the location of a number of tbc sanatoriums and, more recently, for other health care practices, and now has become a ‘mecca’ for free climbing. the results of the change are impressive. they consist in an entirely new tourism system now based on sport and leisure activities, with new facilities, updated hotels and retail networks. a combination of local knowledge and expert knowledge related to new sport practices has been necessary, and this has meant openness to innovation, and giving space to new actors. in fact, the conversion to what is also ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 22 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps locally called ‘outdoor tourism’ has entailed re-organising the accommodation system and services, constructing new cycle paths and trails, landscaping the lake’s shores and many other areas, resolving conflicts among the various practices (cycling and hiking, sailing and surfing, etc.). the ‘tourism machine’ has required communication of a new image and new offers to potential tourists by interacting with international media. it has also required managing international events (rockmaster, which needed a ‘climbing arena’; bike festival; sailing and wind-surfing races, etc.). coordination of the various actors involved has implied intense networking, and the establishment of new institutions, in particular an agency (garda trentino, comprising 400 actors-shareholders) responsible for the management of ‘outdoor park garda’, and interaction with the local authorities. as regards still unresolved problems, apart from the need to continuously innovate proposals and manage the introduction of new practices (kite surfing, foiling sailboats, e-bikes, even wingsuit base jumping), it must be considered that in the area there are urban functions connected to some 30,000 inhabitants. this implies competition, and sometimes conflicts, regarding the use of spaces and resources, urbanization processes, collective equipment provision, landscape preservation rules and actions, or simply people’s behaviours. arte sella the third case regards a location, valle di sella, with scant resources. it is, in fact, a hanging valley over valsugana, where meadows, pasturelands and woods were frequented during the summer by the peasants of the neighbouring villages and, more recently, by middleclass families in some holiday periods. the municipalities involved are classified by the cited national strategy as “peripheral” (4th ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 23 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps degree). here, in 1986 a group of intellectuals and artists (namely, enrico ferrari, emanuele montibeller, carlotta strobele) with strong local, national and international relationships promoted a land art event, inviting artists to create temporary installations on the property of one of the promoters and in the neighbouring woods. the novelty of the proposal was evident, and the quality of the artworks impressive, furnishing new emotions as visitors walked in the woods. both the direct experience of the visitors and the pictures of the installations started to spread knowledge about the initiative. after a slow start, the event consolidated with the support of the local administrations, and today it attracts nearly 100,000 visitors per year. the progressive reinforcement of the initiative required formalisation of the association, which over time evolved around the key person of the director. the personnel acquired competencies in managing a cultural event of international level, which attracts a large number of visitors. a turning point came when the exhibition exited the small initial private place and started to display art works in the municipal woods. another change happened when the artist carlo mauri was invited to create a “vegetal cathedral”, which soon had great resonance, also because a famous pop singer used it as the location for a video. this installation required changing the use of a public pastureland, in agreement with the municipality, meaning that a traditional place was given a new use, provoking discussion (and opposition) in the community. in sum, the success factors reside in the quality of the proposal, in the ability to make innovative use of generic resources such as the woods, the natural materials, the silence of a hidden place, the changing lights and colours of the seasons. the economic impact is not great because, apart from a ticket for entry to the visit trail, and some restaurants, no important economic flows are generated. this is a critical point in the local community’s support for the initiative, but the territorial effects can nevertheless be appreciated because arte ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 24 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps sella has changed the image of the place, reverberating across the villages and towns of valsugana. the environmental features make the event apparently replicable almost anywhere (and there are a number of places now promoting land art), but the key role of the promoters makes it very difficult to copy the initiative with the same level of quality. risks are connected with the fragility of a cultural event whose continuity depends on the quality of the proposal and, therefore, on the ability of the leading group. there are no large facilities and important financial flows to be managed, and the economic effects are small. the challenges therefore regard the ability to innovate proposals and the organization itself. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 25 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps table 1. comparison of three territorial innovation processes marcialonga arte sella alto garda the space a valley with a mix of traditional activities (fiemme) and a winter sport-oriented valley (fassa). simple infrastructure required: provisional ski track. initially weak infrastructure and difficult external connections. marcialonga track progressively consolidated. mountain site without stable settlements. weak infrastructure. high environmental quality (woods, pastures). weak infrastructure and external connections. no urban and accommodation facilities. northern part of lake garda; impressive cliffs; two towns (12000 inhabitants each) and small villages. lengthy external connections. traditional tourism equipment & abilities. the process informal informal start. informal start of a formal art event. informal process of adaptation. formal progressive formalization of the process. progressive consolidation of the infrastructure. progressive formalization of a light organization. formalization of single initiatives, not of the innovation process. specialized infrastructure. leadership shared leadership by a group of people able to renovate itself. olympic champion testimonial. small group of leaders. lengthy innovation of the leadership. no central leadership. networked leadership. learning and knowledge continuous learning. training of people involved. support for new initiatives based on acquired know-how. knowledge focused on art products, artists’ environment, and event management and communication progressive adaptation. imitation/ competition /cooperation mechanisms. proximity spatial easy local and lengthy area set apart, but cultural easy local and lengthy ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 26 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps external connections. sport event connecting to the world. the valleys have been ‘put on the map’. pole at the international level. cultural event connecting to the world. external connections, but place ‘on the map’. sport events connecting to the world. cognitive mixed expert & local knowledge. learnt from external experiences. stimulation of a new vision of a local traditional activity (cross-country skiing). ability to invent and develop a novel activity. expert knowledge central (organisers & artists). progressive adaptation to new activities coming from outside. invention of some new initiatives (rock master). different kinds of knowledge connected. organizational network of volunteers, formal organisations and local administrations. crucial role of a small formal organisation. ‘network of networks’ connecting organisations of specific activities. social strong social relationships (trust). involvement of local people in voluntary work. reinforcement of local identity. strong (evolving) links within the leading group. partial involvement of local communities. new image of the place. innovation of the image of the places involved. involvement of local communities in new activities. institutional progressive institutionalization of the initiative and connection with local authorities. progressive institutional recognition; ‘light institution’. informal rules for actors’ coordination. plurality of institutions and administrations involved. source: author’s own elaboration discussion the cases analysed can be defined ‘heterodox reterritorialization processes’ because they regard innovation of the relationships between the local communities and the inhabited territories, not based on public policies or a central role of the firms. the places involved are characterized, like many others in the alps, by distinctive natural landscapes, a long history of human presence, the heritage of traditional settlements with a basic infrastructure, and vast tracts of abandoned fields and pasturelands. connections with the external areas were – and in part still are – weak, but such conditions did not ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 27 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps impede the development of attractive activities and relationships at different scales. at the local level, the short distances and the consolidated traditions of interaction supported easy and intense relationships among the actors. what happened in the cases analysed is not the result of ‘strategic plans’ or marketing actions undertaken to define ‘new products’, requiring consensus building by means of formalized participation processes, but rather the effect of a mix of spontaneous initiatives and coordinated actions. however, a number of ex post analyses and documents testify that the actors involved are fully aware of the features of the processes activated, as well as of the potentials and weaknesses of the experiences. in general, resources which supported the lives of local communities for centuries are now used in a totally different way, but the real resources for the inception of the new paths have been the presence of innovators able to detect new opportunities, and the social capital – meaning both the consolidated social relationships and the new formal and informal networks required by the new proposals – which made it possible to meet the challenges by innovating collective practices. the leaders were only in part charismatic people; in most cases they were single operators or members of the communities able to devise and experiment with new proposals, to stimulate imitation, to construct new coalitions, and to activate new relationships. networks were the main protagonists of change, allowing to coordinate actors operating in different fields and sectors. their structuration required some ‘soft institutions’, which over time had to undergo renovation processes to guarantee continuity in their action. as regards social proximity, the local communities showed internal cohesion but also openness, being able to make new uses of the local resources and spaces; this did not mean an absence of oppositions or conflicts, but the sharing of new visions and strategies conveyed by operational projects, as well as the ability to discuss and decide. it ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 28 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps was not simply a generic attitude towards cooperation that was involved, but the ability to leverage on the existing associations and economic networks to establish new forms of collaboration. cognitive proximity meant activation of learning processes – individual and collective, formal and informal – able to combine local and specialised knowledge. innovation required a profound change in the frames of reference, as well as the ability to learn and adapt. innovators and leaders gave new stimuli, in many cases transferring external expertise, but knowledge was locally re-elaborated to produce effective know-how. and this ability enabled continuous innovation by proposing something new every year in order to update products and to improve processes. as regards organisational aspects, in the cases of the marcialonga and arte sella, the initial groups of volunteers had to establish formal and specialised organisations (larger in the former case, smaller in the latter) able to master administrative and economic matters and communicate appropriately with a wide audience. in the case of alto garda, a ‘network of networks’, involving professionals and operators’ associations, is the backbone of the system, because a central pole does not exist, and a more fluid system of relationships is operating. in all three cases, the involvement of the local society was a pre-requisite for sharing a new vision of the territories involved, and a means to overcome conflicts. as regards the institutional aspects, in general no strategic planning documents were produced to devise perspectives and to construct shared visions, although formal decisions in terms of zoning have been taken in order to support some of the initiatives. local administrations have anyhow played their part, following an adaptive approach, by which is meant a step-by-step decision-making process to update regulations and planning documents. the construction of the ‘institutional thickness’ has regarded in large part cooperation between local authorities and a variety of actors, the activation of ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 29 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps informal networks, and the establishment of associations and agencies, which took care of collective interest issues. last, the success of the initiatives, the presence of new actors and leaders, the consolidation of new cooperation networks implied also the redefinition of the power relationships between peripheral areas and the centre, represented by the provincial government, the local institution controlling key competencies and financial resources. conclusions the critical conditions of the ‘inner areas’, and the small dimensions of the ‘fragile mountain areas’, in geographical terms as well as in population, together with their history of decline and deprivation, make it difficult to start ‘endogenous development’ processes, which require innovation (andreoli and silvestri, 2016). also many alpine areas must face similar conditions, but the experiences analysed have demonstrated that it is possible to take action, and the result can be a profound change, in particular when goals extend beyond a ‘growth and development’ approach aimed only at gdp increase. in fact, the economic processes activated in the three areas considered (in some cases very modest) are not the main result, because social networking – reinforcing the local relationships or supporting specific activities – together with the learning processes activated, can be recognised as the sounder effects, for they make it possible to take advantage of some ‘generic resources’ of a mountain territory. in fact, in the experiences analysed, traditional resources for mountain communities (meadows, woodlands, mountain tracks, etc.) have been used in new ways, while ‘latent resources’ (snow, wind, cliffs, but also emotional sceneries) have been valorised thanks to the ability of some ‘pioneers’ who elaborated new visions and promoted new actions. proposals were appropriate to the territories involved, which were weak in economic terms but rich in social capital and exhibited a collective ability to learn and cooperate. development ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 30 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps meant not only an increase in economic wealth, but the construction or reinforcement of social relationships, an innovated sense of belonging, and a higher quality of local communities’ life. these are the effects partly of the new economic activities supported by the new initiatives, but also by the networking processes required and by the new external and internal image of the territories. to conclude, the following lessons have been learnt. the concept of ‘territory’ emerges as the appropriate definition of the outcome from the complex interaction among the local society, the physical features of places, and immaterial forms of capital. it has been affirmed that this is a “specific intermediary space”, a construction produced by the interactions between local and non-local actors (torre and gilly, 2000). the notion, in fact, includes socio-cultural values and historical legacies of a community whose members are linked by economic, cultural and historical values, and are interested in cooperating to give the community a future. in this framework, proximity, in physical terms, does not automatically yield advantages. territorial innovation cannot simply be activated by the availability of material resources. it can start when these are included in new value chains, taking advantage of spatial and non-spatial proximity factors. some key actors are needed, ones able to devise opportunities, connect the local dimension with the external one, activate knowledge interchange, develop strategies and projects, create coalitions, promote or innovate institutions. leaders can be single pioneers or a group of activators, but they need to operate in accordance with an informal/formal organisation. a local attitude to social networking, together with an ability to learn and adapt, to make tacit and expert knowledge interact, and to select and promote leaders, are needed. what emerges is that social capital is not simply an inherited asset; rather, it is the effect of the ability to propose projects, which are appropriate for the specific territory, and to build consensus by ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 31 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps involving large parts of the local society. institutions must play their part, overcoming usual bureaucratic procedures, and cooperating with the informal networks. a crucial aspect regards the image of the territory produced by innovation. and this concerns both the local communities – which obtain a sounder basis for the construction of a future-oriented identity – and the external world, because some of the places considered have been ‘put on the map’ for the first time. for instance, ‘marcialonga’ has not only given visibility to the mountain valleys involved, but the term has become popular, in italy, to define long and fatiguing processes. as regards tourism in ‘alto garda’, the territory now has a strong sporty image, where young people can engage in a number of exciting activities. and this is important not only for the people really involved in such sports, but also for most tourists, who gain the impression of being in a place where ‘things happen’. references amin, a. 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(n.d.) quality of government and innovative performance in the regions of europe. papers in evolutionary economic geography # 14.06, utrecht university, urban & regional research centre utrecht. available at: http://econ.geo.uu.nl/peeg/peeg1406.pdf. accessed march, 24, 2017. sabatini, f. (2009). social capital as social networks: a new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences. the journal of socioeconomics, 38 (3), pp. 429-442. servillo, l., russo, a.p., barbera, f. and carrosio, g. (2016). inner peripheries: towards an eu place-based agenda on territorial peripherality. italian journal of planning practice, (6)1, pp. 4275. soto, p. and ramsden, p. (2014). guidance on community-led local development for local actors, brussels, commission of the european community. available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/informat/2 014/guidance_clld_local_actors.pdf. accessed march, 24, 2017. torre, a. and gilly, j.p. (2000). on the analytical dimension of proximity dynamics. regional studies, 34(2), pp.169-180. torre, a. and rallet, a. (2005). proximity and localization. regional studies, 39(1), pp. 47-59. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 36 zanon – territorial innovation in the alps trigilia, c. (2001). social capital and local development. european journal of social theory, 4(4), pp.427-442. trigilia, c. (2007). la costruzione sociale dell’innovazione: economia, società e territorio. firenze: firenze university press. zanon, b. (2014). local development in fragile areas: reterritorialization processes in an alpine community. international planning studies, 19(3-4), pp. 335-358. short author biography: the author is associate professor of spatial and urban planning at the university of trento, italy. his research interests regard urban dynamics and spatial planning, with a particular focus on the alpine area. he has published books and articles in international journals, in particular: european planning studies, international planning studies, land use policy, planning practice and research, urban research & practice. ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 37 territorial innovation in the alps. heterodox reterritorialization processes in trentino, italy ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 103 describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study daniela de leo as si st an t p r o fe sso r , sap i enz a u ni v er s it y via fla mi n ia , 7 2 , ro ma , d ani ela.d eleo @ u nir o ma 1 . it irene amadio p hd , sap ie nza u ni ver s it y via fla mi n ia , 7 2 , ro ma , a mad io ir e n e @ g mai l.co m 5 keywords: deprivation; marginality; neighbourhood development plans; peripheries; policies; regeneration abstract even though they have been considered out of fashion for years in the mainstream public debate, research practices and urban policies, the peripheries of the big cities are still a problem in italy. due to the economic crises and its effects at the urban scale, especially in terms of urban poverty and social exclusion, the problems of these areas are clearly increased without appropriate mailto:amadioirene@gmail.com de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 104 tools. moreover, the spatial effects of the spread of urban marginality have not been sufficiently included in urban planning practices, neither in the deprived areas of the inner city nor in the outskirts. nonetheless, the claim for “policies for the peripheries” does not indicate the intention to develop a sector of specific policies, but the need to identify and integrate more effective actions and strategies for these fragile urban environments. in this framework, the paper presents and discusses, first, the deficiencies of the italian debate and the consequent inadequacy of public urban policies, and second, some relevant approaches coming from the british context that could be useful for better intervene on our territories. de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 105 introduction italian planning theorists and practitioners who are concerned with ‘peripheries’ generally agreed on three definite points, even though they not always list them in the same order: a) peripheries are central theme to urban issues; b) there is not an exact definition of ‘periphery’; c) not enough is being done for them. as it has been recently observed, in italy, the discussion on this subject is therefore “badly settled" (ombuen et al., 2017), while clarifying, at the same time, that peripheries is not a geographical concept, but a social one and cultural; and they are inside the outskirt, suburbs, widespread urban areas, and historical centres (ibidem). some years ago, g. paba (1998, p.73) observed: “the old periphery has been transformed and the further expansion of the city has produced something else, which is no longer the periphery in good terms or bad”. e. salzano (2000, p.355) dates the turning point to an earlier time, after which the peripheries lost their identity: “things changed, violently and dramatically, on the cusp of 1950”, determining the structural conditions of the transformation as well as the “degradation of the city in its entirety”, and c. bianchetti (2002, p. 39) said that it was only “until the end of the 1980s that there was a sufficiently clear idea of what the periphery might be, of what the centre might be, of what was valuable and what was not”. de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 106 however, italian debate has always been ambiguous because a number of inadequate descriptions prevailed during long periods of inattentive silence, whereas frequently, public opinions and media have just named peripheries by agreeing to a set of problems such as degradation, hardship, marginalization, insecurity. currently, recent definitions include the observers’ points of view although clearly no one definition has been agreed upon. so, today, there is still a need to change how peripheries are defined and described, especially, since the phenomenon has in itself changed a lot. we can speak about ‘peripherality’ as one of the most prevalent features of the contemporary ‘urban’. in the era of global suburbanization, actually, it is going to increase in intensity not only in its spatial aspects, but also in its socio-economic ones. in other words, together with the expansion of the urban surface (the urbanization of green-fields sites), there is also the growth of social polarization and economic inequality. in order to consider together the spatial and functional dimension with the socio-economic one, the research presented here, can been placed within an interdisciplinary debate which deals, rather, with the theme of 'marginality', as a complex experience, spatial and not, caused – according to the widely accepted explanation – by the combination of globalization with information technologies and the formation of a new economy. de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 107 from this point of view, we look at marginality as something that is among the poor (individuals), in the deprived areas (places: areas of marginality, marginal areas…) and in the dynamics (processes) of social exclusion and/or spatial segregation having effects (including formal or informal, intentional or accidental effects) on society and on space in general (de leo 2015). for these reasons, the first part of the paper reconstructs the main features of the ‘peripheral question’ by considering some useful interpretations from the past, which define a field of what has been consider ‘periphery’, and by proposing a shift in perspective with the purpose of underling the linkage with the sphere of actions. in fact, emphasis is laid on the overall lack of adequate and ordinary urban policies considering that new, “special” or temporary measures could consolidate difficulties rather than solving them. in this context, assuming that the inadequacy of theories around what we can call ‘marginality’ – as a nomadic condition widespread and few spatially confining except for hotspots – has been able to influence the ineffectiveness of the measures designed to combat it, in a scenario that received insufficient attention, the second part of the paper aims at presenting a different framework from which we can deduce a set of alternative approaches. so, with the aim of changing the current italian ways of analysing and studying the multidimensional issues linked to peripheries and acting on them, the articulated concept of “deprivation” and the de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 108 established idea of “regeneration” coming from the united kingdom are useful to discuss about the consequences of the degrading of focus over the last years even where a solid theoretical (and practical) background exists. thus, by considering the new challenges and old failings in an environment with a wide history in urban planning for deprived areas, the recent experiences known under the name of “localism” offer the opportunity to look at the weak points that can be find in the empowerment of communities. in this regard, the city of bristol represents an interesting exception; therefore, it is a valiant case study, presented in the last section, through which is possible understand how we can tackle marginality at the lowest level of the local government – in absence of a more structured policy at a national level – with a smart use of all the analytical available tools (to find it) and the support of an experienced lpa-local planning authority (to deal with it). the italian peripheries: different framings for places and policies peripheries are still seen as an ambiguous tertium between city and countryside or as an area of conquest and experimentation: this approach has determined a singular and differentiated production of standards, regulations, projects and plans. in fact, as bianchetti (2002) has put forward, periphery has been a place full of de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 109 metropolitan effervescence – connected to the catholic thinking on the subject of poverty (starting from the 1950s) – and a sort of gymnasium for creating and building a tradition in the sectors of architecture and town planning”. in this sense, on the basis of the relationship to urban planning regulations or procedure, salzano (2000) identified five different types: • “public city” or “local housing estates peripheries”, the result of socially orientated programmes, in areas pre-purchased by the public authorities, according to a well-defined, clear project. • peripheries which are the result of the 1960s speculations, which were built according to the layout of town planning projects like those of the cities in previous decades, but over an area a hundred times the size and with ten times the housing density. • peripheries which have been created by more modern property developers, according to the rules of the funded parcelling introduced by the ‘interim legislation’ (legge ponte), with better quality, but cut off from the rest of the city. • peripheries which have been developed without planning authorisation: they are examples, both of the arrogant and wretched absence of, and of contempt for, the common rules of civilisation (e.g. the informal settlements born on the outskirts of rome – and in the cities of the southern italy as well – later subjected to government amnesties (called “condoni edilizi”) for the infringement of planning regulations); de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 110 • “diffusive city” peripheries, the peri-urban clusters houses, cottages, villas, little villas and terraced houses resulting from lax regional legislation, or from the interpretation of its implementation so that they can be bent to “develop agricultural areas” and urban sprawl. to sum, a convincing synthesis has been offered by paba (1998) with the combination of two kinds of descriptions: “conventional” and “unconventional”. the “conventional description” corresponds to “a world of distance and separation, a long way from the centre: maybe from the physical centre of the city, but above all from its symbolic and cultural centre. the periphery is the abstract world of uniformity and rationalisation: the quantitative universe of everything that is standard, the banal geometry of buildings, a horizontal vision of a city which is divided into different zones and spaces, (...) constructed on the basis of presumptions about the average social and biological status of its inhabitants, of functional stereotypes, of an abstract idea of what is normal and necessary” (ibidem, p.73). the “unconventional description” describes peripheries as: “(…) materially and morphologically stratified, with a relatively profound recognisable architectural history, which contains natural or semi-natural areas, free spaces which are available for change or for common use. they are socially differentiated and demographically articulate, attached to minor historical centres which are not yet fossilised, although they might de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 111 be weak, and sunk into an undifferentiated architectural landscape; characterised by an evolutionary dynamic regarding the diversification of activities and functions, the background for an experiment into the new solidarities of the networks of social interaction, as well as the formation of a new emotional structure, of localised territorial affections, of new identities” (ibidem, p. 79). however, these interpretations are belonging to the relatively out of date production of books and essays on the topic. nowadays, the general limited recognition the scientific community gives to the subject is confirmed by the inadequacy of the existing descriptions due to the fact that the peripheries have grown and become geographically differentiated and clearly affected by the economic crises. the processes linked to globalisation and the economy have ended up by modifying the “dimensions” of the problems to a great extent, their limits, the definitions of in and out, of what is included and what is excluded, thus increasing distance and disparity although seemingly reducing them. in this regard, the category of ‘marginality’ seems useful to analyse the multidimensional nature of what we can call ‘pockets of marginality’: areas where the phenomenon can have five forms related to three different dimensions that are commonly used to study the “urban question”. in the physical and structural dimension: de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 112 • geographical marginality’ provoked by the geographical distance from the new and old polarities; • ‘functional and relational marginality’ caused by habitat degradation (in terms of: poor public space and facilities, poor infrastructures and transit networks, etc…); • ‘morphological marginality’ produced by the presence of urban margins that can prevent the access, the crossing and the communication among urban areas; in the economical dimension: • ‘economical marginality’ caused by the economic differentiation processes. it means that an area can be marginalised if it is excluded by the economic interests, or it is far from transformation processes, or if the investments are disastrous. in the social dimension: • ‘social marginality’ produced by the alienation of the populations. here, marginality means inequality – due to lack of opportunities – and in some case, it means social exclusion. the combination of the above-mentioned typologies and dimensions of marginality generates other composite configurations of marginality. no typology exists alone, but all of them can be linked to each other resulting in typical forms. therefore, by adopting this theoretical framework, we propose to abandon the ‘urban core/suburb’ dual scheme, which has de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 113 dominated both the epistemological debate and the urban policies and practices in italy – as is shown in the following section. the marginality of urban policies ‘for the margins’ in italy the faced problem here is if and how far the different meanings attributed to the peripheries have been developed and if these are reflected in the multiple and varied policies which, ever since the 1990s, have been discontinuously implemented in italy. for sure, the inadequacy of urban policies and practices developed for these areas ‘at the margins’ (in physical and social terms) in the last twenty years could be linked to an interpretative mistake. even by remembering that italian urban policies have been implemented more recently than in the other european countries, the first weak point we can underlined is in the identification of the problem to face. starting from this assumption, we can recognise how most of the policies seem to be construed to promote the ‘integration’ of peripheries with the rest of the urban fabric – as much as with the procedures, the vitality and the stimulating flow of non-marginal neighbourhoods – rather than to promote the integration of the several approaches needed to solve a complex issue. in some cases, the trend seems to be a move towards activities that will create “normality”, with the risk of standardizing at the expense of the diversity and multiplicity of the “worlds” and their identities. in fact, while it is possible to identify a distinct physical character, rarely a sufficient de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 114 space to those aspects that are not strictly linked to architecture and town planning – but commonly closer to the sphere of social policies – has given, by establishing a kind of implicit distinction (tosi, 2000). as a matter of fact, no matter how well put together and well set up integrated urban policies might be, they do not necessarily respond to the social aims of the social policies and it is not even said that they deal with the same requirements of sociality which are pursued by integrated social policies. in this framework, the experiences of social intervention as economic aid and mentoring are considerable an exception: a sort of integration to the integrated projects, to focus on non-material and social aims. for exemplum, in cases of extreme poverty and exclusion, generally associated with structural unemployment, financial supports were supplied as a minimum precondition within the framework of interventions, which are aimed at regenerating an area, or as a support in isolated conditions of poverty and discomfort or distress 1 . 1 as well as tutoring projects (i.e. in turin the so called social accompaniment) a very good and poorly replicated project outlined four kinds of social mentoring which summed up the main forms of intervention that some programmes provided for: • practical help to aide recovery together with social techniques involving management, mediation and communication; • activities with positive influence on the context through a body of functional interventions on public spaces and buildings; • project for completing the regeneration trough the activities of social relevance for when recuperation started and which would complete, although not be strictly those of town planning and housing; • interdependent component of a process of local development: thanks to urban regeneration to reveal hitherto undiscovered (rei, 2001, p. 34). de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 115 during and after the so-called “programmi complessi” season (italian for: “complex programmes”), these kinds of policies have not been used so much and for long time, and the marginal areas are shamefully disappeared from the public debate and the public actions. indeed, more recently, the italian government – with the decree of the president of the council of ministers of 15 october 2015 – launched some initiatives regarding regeneration and urban innovation for deprived urban areas; and similarly, the 2016 stability law (paragraphs 974-978) and the announcement of the “peripheries projects” in 2016. even these recent initiatives are financed by public funds, they speak different languages from the most recent eu call on deprived neighbourhoods. in fact, the european call uses words like innovation, experimentation, measurability (the results), participation, partnership, portability and scalability. while the decree unclearly refers to improve (the quality of the urban decor and the social and environmental fabric), retraining, upgrading, adaptation (public or private property). at the same time, the stability law combines without any distinction in terms such as rehabilitation, regeneration, maintenance, decoration, re-use, re-functioning, territorial security, urban resilience and urban welfare. it confirms the widely held view that peripheries are “problem areas”, in spite of their gradual acceptance in the use of the plural, which refers to their many meanings. de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 116 in any case, the deficiency of policies used (when they took place) shows how the approach to the ‘peripheral question’ has mostly been tentative, unstructured and almost “accidental”. moreover, the mentioned recent initiatives “confirm the lack of any intent, ignorance of important policy lessons, and the lack of cultural and methodological references” (calvaresi, 2016). in italy, it is not possible to talk about a targeted policy, but rather about “a body of instruments which have come into being over time, with extraordinary characteristics: there has been no continuity, each programme has been an episode, followed by a programme, with different procedures, even within the framework of common elements” (governa & saccomani, 2002, p. 21). thus, by considering the need to provide new knowledge and addresses for tackling marginality through urban planning, this work looks at the holistic concept of ‘regeneration’ behind the english area based policies. in doing so, taking into account the link between interpretation and action existing in the uk context – and related tools developed for the purpose – the bristol’s experience represents a valiant case study to improve our understanding and our ways to deal with the numerous and varied pockets of marginality on our territories. area-based policies for urban regeneration in the uk in the last thirty years, the main policy approach to urban de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 117 regeneration in the uk has been based on the area based initiatives (abis) in a broad neoliberal political framework. in fact, since the conservative urban policy, initially addressed to attract private-sector developments for economic and physical interventions (known under the name of ‘thatcherite’), and then shifted towards a more holistic perspective with the idea of multiple actors – community, private sector and various state agencies – and the competitive bid-based mechanism for allocating resources, the abis have constituted the starting point of what will be called ‘urban regeneration’ (jones and evans, 2008). on these last principles, the ‘new’ labour government elected in 1997 laid the foundations for its area-wide programme, with a specific focus on combating social exclusion, renewing deprived neighbourhoods and involving communities (imrie & raco, 2003; smith et al., 2007). according to cochrane (2007), during the new labour period there was a deep change in the policies’ attitude: from a mainly physical or property-led regeneration to a social or community-led regeneration. «regeneration» became a wider notion applied to a selection of priority areas usually classified in a national ranking, whose meanings fit with the general objective of tackling deep-rooted socio-economic and environmental inequalities. however, the conditions that determined the successes in the urban regeneration processes in the late 1990s and during the 2000s until the credit crunch – such as a growing national economy, cheap credit and high levels of public spending – are no longer present and it de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 118 seems very difficult to predict a return to certain positive previous dynamics. in this scenario, the coalition government that came to power in 2010 rejected any kind of ‘keynesian’ strategy promoting the concepts of the ‘big society’ and ‘localism’ in a renewed regime of austerity (jones and evans, 2008) 2 . in this sense, in the ‘localism act’ (2011), the current ‘localist’ approach proposes initiatives to encourage local economic growth and new freedoms and flexibilities for sub-regional authorities in order to launch regeneration practices. this situation presents similarities with the italian context, where: the economic growth is mainly demanded to the private sector; the cuts in the public spending reflect on welfare; the political instability is represented by a coalition government; and, the reforms of governance are experienced with the introduction of new forms of intervention. from this point of view, is relevant to analyse the ‘neighbourhood planning’ (np) initiative in england, which aims at opening planning up to local stakeholders. it can be considered the flagship idea of the new urban agenda 3 in which ndpsneighbourhood development plans are the fundamental component of the 'community-led' regeneration whose task is designing the interventions in relation to the specific needs of each community. 2 a significant example of the cuts in the public spending has been the so-called ‘bonfire of the quangos-quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organisations’. 3 the localism agenda provides a suite of new planning tools through which local community groups can become the designers of the plan they want: neighbourhood development plans (ndps); neighbourhood development orders (ndos) and community right to build orders (crbos). cfr. localism act (2011). de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 119 neighbourhood development plans if in the past the local authorities engaged communities in planmaking processes, the neighbourhood planning initiative provides that those communities are today called upon to: recognise the need for a plan, define its perimeter, organise its production, and finally, for the first time in the english planning history, produce a statutory plan in general conformity with national policy and local plans, with the authority’s collaboration (by following the procedure shown in figure 1). in this context, a neighbourhood development plan is a communityled planning tool designed for defining the future development and growth of an area, which sets out visions, goals and policies related to the use of land and associated social, economic and environmental issues. in order to incentivise neighbourhood planning, since 2011 the government has introduced several forms of aid, both in technical and financial terms. initially, a multi-agency approach was used to provide professional advice and assist those groups (and the related lpa-local planning authority) involved in np, but to date, just one consortium that is led by locality with planning aid england/rtpi exists. regarding the financial support, instead, in the period 20112018, the dclgdepartment of communities and local government has dedicated funds for both lpas and the communities interested in np programme. from 2012 to 2014, each local de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 120 figure 1 the process of neighbourhood planning source: authors’ elaboration (dclg, 2015a, p. 19). planning authority could claim up to £30,000 for each neighbourhood plan in three steps, according to the plan-making de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 121 progress 4 . in addition, for parish councils, neighbourhood forums and communities’ groups, np grants were deferred in three tranches following different procedures and budgets: a) ‘neighbourhood planning front runners scheme’ (2011-2012); b) ‘neighbourhood planning support programme’ i (2013-2015); c) ‘neighbourhood planning support programme’ ii (2015-2018) 5 . in these years, the resources allocated focused for building plans (mainly for training, advice, engaging a planning expert, undertaking surveys, advertisement, etc.) and not for implementing the plan’s objectives. in this perspective, an incentive with the cil-community infrastructure levy (amendment) regulations 2013 (si 2013/982) occurred: a percentage of the cil collected in a certain place could be used for np physical projects. neighbourhood planning is today at the centre of the politicians’ and planners’ debate. the emphasis about its potential could be summarised in a short sentence by steve quartermain – chief planner at the dclg – told during the ied-institute of economic development annual conference: np “should be the bedrock of the future planning system”. 4 cfr. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/23-million-to-get-moreneighbourhood-plans-across-england 5 in the last period, each group can apply for up to £9,000 in grant and those groups facing a range of complex issues are eligible to apply for further support (£6,000). cfr.: http://mycommunity.org.uk/programme/neighbourhood-planning/?_a=funding http://mycommunity.org.uk/programme/neighbourhood-planning/?_a=funding de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 122 obviously, since the neighbourhood planning system has been adopted, an articulated criticism has grown rapidly around it (haughton & allmendinger, 2013; clarke & cochrane, 2013; davoudi & madanipour, 2013). among the raised issues, there is the thought that ndps are not completely adequate to solve the marginalization problems experienced by many areas all over the country. according to some critical observers, there is a sort of lack of emphasis on what is meant by deprivation in england. ndps in the territories of deprivation according to the theoretical background defined by townsend (1979, 1987, 1993) in england, we can equalise the concept of deprivation with marginality in order to develop an operative suggestion. therefore, we started by conceiving both of them a nomadic state that can be found in fragmented portions of land even in contexts that might seem very different from each other and difficult to compare. in doing so, we look at the area-based model of multiple deprivation used in uk as an analytical resource (a small area-level measure) in prioritising funds and supporting policy making and delivery for targeting disadvantaged areas. in this way, it presents a valid method for estimating and locating the current socio-spatial differentiations that are more complex than the well-known ‘centre-periphery’ dichotomy. in an early study about the relationship between the imd-index of multiple deprivation and the np applications during the first five de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 123 waves of ndps ‘front-runners’, vigar et al. (2012) shown that, as usual, wealthier neighbourhoods were more likely to initiate the planning process6. in 2013, these findings were confirmed in another work reporting the low percentage of applications (10%) and approvals (8%) in the most deprived 20% of areas nationally according to the 2010 imd (geoghan, 2013). finally, in a more recent study, parker (2015) states how initial concerns can be justified: the distribution of qualifying bodies as much as the number of those groups capable of reaching referendum is mainly concentrated in the less-disadvantaged areas. in fact, looking at the lower (and most deprived) two quintile groups (q4 and q5) of the 2010 imd quintile group ranking, only a few (9 of the 80 np to referendum) areas reached referendum and less than 23% of qualifying bodies of the country can be recognize by august 2015 (parker, 2015). the reasons why an uneven geography of neighbourhood planning processes is being developed can be certainly found in the innate problematic nature of the deprived areas, but at the same time, in the structure of the policy, which seems not be designed for facing social justice’s questions. considering all these problems, from april 2015, 6 the ‘english indices of deprivation’ measure relative levels of deprivation in the so-called lower-layer super output areas (lsoas), that are small areas or neighbourhoods, in england. they “are based on 37 separate indicators, organised across seven distinct domains of deprivation which are combined, using appropriate weights, to calculate the [imd-]index of multiple deprivation” (dclg, 2015, p.2). de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 124 an important step in this direction has been set up by directing specific funds to some ‘priority areas’. the latter orientation is quite different from the previous ones because it identifies parameters to class the ‘complex groups’ that will be able to apply for additional technical and financial support and the 2015 imd scores are used to determine the areas of deprivation (locality, 2015)7. the bristol city council started to experiment this rout since the beginning of the np initiative and even before the national ‘neighbourhood planning support programme’ (2015-2018). thus, it offers one notable example in promoting new tools in the areas with the highest level of deprivation by integrating them in a wider and coordinate regeneration strategy. the ndps in bristol bristol is well-known for its vibrant civic culture as much as for the broad experience of engaging with communities in plan-making. the bristol’s np activity started in 2011 when the localism act was still at localism bill stage, once that the council invited three communities to take part in the ‘neighbourhood planning front runners scheme’ (2011-2012): lockleaze; redcliffe and bedminster 7 «if 30% or more of your neighbourhood area has an imd score of 1 or 2 the area has a high level of deprivation, regardless of the area’s overall score. if less than 30% of your neighbourhood area has an imd score of 1 or 2 the area is not classed as having high levels of deprivation, even if there are pockets with higher scores» (locality, 2015, p. 7). de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 125 (myrtle triangle). if the first received funds from the national pilot programme and have continued into the main scheme, the third test area did not have the same fate. however, following the enactment of the localism act, the local planning authority has actively promoted the opportunities of np through its own programme articulated in two separate moments: although during the first edition (october 2012march 2013) three further neighbourhood planning areas and forums were designated (lawrence weston, old market and knowle west) and they were able to bid funding provided by locality. during the next edition (which is still open), there have been just one new designation (hengrove and whitchurch park). to date, bristol city council has six neighbourhood planning area designations and five neighbourhood planning forums pursuing ndps 8 . even if the spirit of the localism act perceives np as an optional process which should be undertaken by neighbourhood forums (or by parish councils, where they exist), giving the power to the lowest level of the local government; as sarah o’driscoll (2016) – the service manager city planning – says, in bcc «no unexpected applications have been received». in other words, in the light of a collaboration pre-dating the localism agenda, the lpa has encouraged some local groups to apply for the programme, leading 8 this is because on august 2015, knowle west neighbourhood development forum decided to close. however, the designated area remains in place. although few applications were received during the last edition, it nevertheless needs to be said that applications for neighbourhood planning can be made at any time. de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 126 them in focusing the attention on few particular areas and not in others. in this sense, contrary to some cities where ndps are used to identify the sites for inclusion in the local plan (that is what is happening in cities such as leeds), in bristol the whole city is covered by statutory planning (local plan) and the ndps are an integral and strategic part of the overall regeneration strategy (figure 2). in fact, bcc has prioritised scarce resources promoting a tiered system of support which aims at stimulating proposals for the areas with greatest potential for regeneration, as identified in the ‘site allocations and development management policies’ (2014), and areas with the highest level of deprivation in bristol, according to the current imd scores 9 . in this way, by looking into the range of criteria used to determine how much help a community needs and, at the same time, to the designated areas for ndps, it is clear the council’s attention to the most disadvantaged parts of the city. even though bristol remains one of least deprived of the english core cities based on the imd 2015, it still «contains some areas of socioeconomic deprivation which are amongst some of the most deprived areas in the country yet are adjacent to some of the least 9 the areas with high levels of deprivation are those where one or more lower level super output area (lsoa) are in the 20% most deprived in england for multiple deprivation and when they represent the majority (i.e. more than 50%) of the deprived areas which is proposed for neighbourhood planning (bcc, undated). de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 127 deprived» as it is stated in the ‘core strategy’ 10 (bcc, 2011, p.7). for this reason, “priority areas for change” are here set out and the policies bcs 2 and 3 cover the ndp areas: all of them are effectively characterised by significant and heterogeneous pockets of deprivation falling within the most deprived 10% to 30% of areas in england 11 (bcc, 2015). redcliffe and old market are in a central location, playing an important role in the business of the city; lawrence weston, lockleaze, hengrove and whitchurch, instead, are essentially examples of the social housing estate located on the edge of bristol. in a different way, they are the place where inhabitants have to face with problems linked both to the living environment deprivation (such as traffic, connection and transports difficulties, lack of maintenance of buildings and open spaces, homogeneity of residential demand, etc…) and to socio-economic circumstances (such as low income, unemployment, low skills and educational attainment levels, etc.). 10 the ‘core strategy’ (2011) is the primary document in the bristol development framework (bdf). ‘secure reductions in deprivation’ is one of the key targets and the indices of deprivation are among the indicators used to monitor whether the policy is being implemented successfully (bcc, 2011). 11 according to the ‘multiple deprivation scores and ranks by ward’, lawrence hill (redcliffe, old market), kingsweston (lawrence weston) and lockleaze (lockleaze) – where the four ndps are fallen – are respectively ranked as 1st, 6th and 8th most deprived ward out of 35 wards in bristol (bcc, 2015, p. 49). moreover, the instant atlas mapping tool can be found here: http://ias.bristol.gov.uk/ias/dataviews/report?reportid=1346&viewid=1066&geor eportid=5316&geoid=408&geosubsetid= de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 128 innovation in the ndps plan-making in bristol as we said earlier, the bcc was already bringing forward consultation before the enactment of the localism act especially whereby deprived groups were interested in having a development plan for their area. that is very important for helping the launch of the planning process because having pre-existing community plans (not land-use plans) means having already identified the community needs and having experienced plan preparation and people engagement. moreover, the cooperative actions of civil society and figure 2 bristol’s statutory planning context source: bristol central area plan (p.3.) de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 129 the local authority in bristol is also proved by the ‘neighbourhood planning network’, which is a network of “independent, voluntary [residents’] planning groups working to get better community involvement in planning decisions” in operation since 2006, that is today the only example in the whole england 12 (npn, online ). in short, thanks to a sort of “advocacy planning”, it is possible to recognise a coordinated approach to neighbourhood planning which allows a bottom-up approach to the local plan (vigar et al., 2014). although a distinctive civic culture is a surplus value (strength) in plan-making, np initiatives regularly clash with weaknesses and threats of the community groups or policy itself. the main obstacle for communities in areas of deprivation is the limited amount of skills and financial resources to draw up their own plan. they have to face the challenge of local capacity to carry out some of the fundamental processes involved in doing a ndp (e.g. design or drafting skills, chairing meetings, programming work effectively, etc.). they have to spend their time for a voluntary work, which is address to solve the neighbourhood’s difficulties rather than their individual problems. moreover, the lack of parish structure – that is a typical situation in an urban area – means that there is no independent source on finance for the project and all the activities are dependent on grants or local fund raising. therefore, the final product varies according to the 12 cfr.: http://www.bristolnpn.net/ and also an article written by farnsworth (2011) about npn in bristol. http://www.bristolnpn.net/ de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 130 “community’s capacity” to plan (norton et al., 2002; gunn et al., 2015). moreover, another kind of enemy in this kind of process is time. as the bristol’s planning officers said in an interview, if on one hand the procedure might be too long to allow an active engagement from beginning to end (“because people want results along the way”), on the other hand a longer time should be spent in making people ready. in addition, it is not always possible to satisfy the aspirations held by neighbourhood planning forums because they are not always in conformity with national policy and other local plans; this is a cause of “consultation fatigue” (bromilow, 2016). this power shift in plan making highlights a latent assumption in the ‘localist’ approach: the idea that all the communities are able to develop statutory plans. however, despite the legislation asks for a ‘light touch’, the task required to make a plan with a legal status seems effectively too complex for citizens. therefore, what is happening is that npfs are engaging private consultants to draw up plan for them, albeit it is expensive to manage it and they are not resourced. in this scenario, paradoxically, among the np areas, the old market quarter is a very interesting case. it is the only area without a preexisting community document with the highest concentration of multiple deprivation (2015 imd). it is the only example where the professional support has been found inside the neighbourhood (thanks to an ‘architecture forum’ that avoided the risk to engage private de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 131 experts); and it is the first ndp to be subjected to a referendum (25th february 2016) 13 . by studying the bristol’s approach, it is also possible to recognise the opportunities of np in a context where the local government plays a great role. here, building relationships between the city council and the local groups has meant creating a condition in which is possible to manage the inevitable conflicts deriving from the decision-making processes. in fact, in order to ensure that communities have identified what they want for their area and are capable of influencing development and encouraging new land use and change, in a positive way, bcc has adopted several original strategies that, in a sense, go beyond the usual np recommendations. the tiered system of technical support not only represents an effective and innovative move to prioritise the opening efforts in areas in real need, but it has been a source of advice during all stages of plan preparation. in so doing, the authority has provided workshops and other occasions for local groups to engage with each other and to discuss procedures and contents. in particular, the neighbourhood planning network, which has quarterly meetings with the council, has organized appointments and seminars in order to develop capacity among the npfs. by sharing knowledge and 13 the referendum returned an 88% vote in favour of the proposal: “do you want bristol city council to use the neighbourhood plan for old market quarter to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?” de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 132 experiences related with planning matters, the successful capacity building element in the network has transformed neighbourhoods from purely consultative bodies to active participants (vigar et al, 2014). bristol’s approach to np is also known for the effective stakeholder involvement at an early stage of any project: the npn has helped developers engage communities in accordance with the ‘pre application community involvement’ (pre app ci). this protocol provides that the community is able to be involved before planning application stage. in short, before the developers apply to the local planning authority for specific proposals, they take part to a series of discussions together with the members of the community to exchange ideas about development in the area, by making to meet supply and demand 14 . moreover, in order to make up for the budget deficit of the work programme, bcc has addressed the groups in raising funds, giving that there is no capacity to raise a local tax to support this work. so far, through the planning and sustainable development division, it has provided start-up funding to all neighbourhood planning forum. in addition, it has encouraged engagement with the neighbourhood partnership structure that would give the groups access to additional support and advice (e.g. the neighbourhood partnership covers the 14 http://www.bristolnpn.net/news-and-reference/pre-application-process/#toc-whatis-the-advantage-of-this-new-preapplication-involvement-process de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 133 25% of the costs needed for the referendum of the old market ndp) 15 . finally, the council has also provided finance to a central charitable organisation in bristol – “quartet community foundation” – that manages the ‘community planning fund grant’ through which is possible to direct grants to who is interested in engaging in np processes. lessons learned the bristol case study shows how, in a context of deregulation and streamlining of planning, following 2007-08 financial crisis, small interventions at the local scale can have a huge prospective in urban regeneration. moreover, in bristol, innovation and success can be summarised in a process in which by starting from the empowerment of communities – thanks also to the great experience in people and stakeholders’ engagement and networking – they tried to apply good planning, by promoting a bottom-up approach, in priority areas, in a way that is relatively new. by looking at the bristol’s practice is possible underline what are the innovative and successful factors so far have lead towards a progressive localism. it is an important exception because in contrast 15 neighbourhood partnerships are “about decision-making and getting things done at a local level, so that local residents and community groups can work together with bristol city council, the police and local businesses to shape and influence their neighbourhood”. each (of the 14) partnership allocates significant resources to benefit their local community. cfr. https://www.bristol.gov.uk/neighbourhoodpartnerships/neighbourhood-partnerships-toolkit de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 134 with the early national policy and in order to intervene in the disadvantaged areas of the city, bristol adopted a multi-level strategy of support by encouraging them to operate. so, contrary to expectations – due to the structure of the policy and the innate problematic nature of the deprived areas – this practice reveals how the innovative potential of these kinds of initiatives begins to express right in the vulnerable contexts. in particular, in front of the diffusive ‘deficiencies’ in places of multiple deprivations, bcc has promoted several experiments of social action teaching that by building civicmindedness through the constant relationship between citizens, experts and representation, the process works and “legal” plans come into force. nonetheless, this was possible, however, by ignoring (or by reconsidering) the principle of the ‘autonomy’ which is on the basis of np: if the legislation believes that the unconditioned protagonist should are the local communities, the local government has here played a fundamental role, by helping them and by coordinating the process during all the stages, in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation. ever in this sense, the developers and the landowners are challenged to take part too in the consultation process as soon as possible; that is one of the important aspects and the only way to achieve a good negotiation and good outcomes . to sum, under this lens of what we can called ‘progressive’ (or ‘experimental’) localism, we can better understand that where there are no “place-based” national policies for tackling marginality, that de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 135 issue is dealt with just according to the sensitivity of the las. therefore, if on one side, the ‘community-led’ initiatives are nowadays a relevant part of the planning system, on the other side, it would be good do not forget that they can surely support, but never replace, the strategic (general) planning. in this perspective, also the claim of better “policies for the peripheries” in italy, it does not suggest to develop specific sector policies, but the need to deeply identify and integrate actions falling within a descriptive and interpretative hypothesis that is coherent with the emerging and more influent theses about the changes of the ‘urban question’. this is something already proposed from the national calls about the “complex programs” (1990s) whose task was to promote requalification, local development and regeneration on neighbourhood level. however, the outcomes revealed how these projects were based on an outdated thinking about the topic. in this regard, we can argue that the question of ‘definition’ and ‘identification’ of the ‘problem’ remains unsolved. indeed, the calls opened not only give freedoms to proposers in the phase of application in relation to the transformation hypotheses, but also in the selection phase of the target areas that, in fact, are not chosen by means of one standard and unambiguous scheme. in connection with this point, critical points are the decision-making procedures, the choice of stakeholders and financial actors. in light of the exacerbation of the inequalities, and with the aim of de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 136 superseding the traditional “urban core/suburb” divide that has long anchored italian epistemological debate and practices, appropriate strategies should be plan by taking into account the lessons learned from uk. in conclusion, we can summarise as follows: • challenging the process of ‘area definitions’ for policy purposes, on the basis of a specific conceptual framework through which understanding the marginality issues of each area (by using a set of indicators and indices); • channelling the resources on priority areas for change to reduce the polarization of richness and poverty of places and individuals; • experimenting the “capability approach” (sen, 1999) as an alternative approach to local welfare economics in crisis, both in the socio-economical and physical/structural dimension, in order to trigger transformative mechanisms from latent potentialities ; • promoting integrated policies oriented to abandon the ritual and instrumental sides of ‘participation’ in favour of the ‘empowerment’ of communities without scarifying the role of local governments and strategic (general) planning. such activities and policies enable us to understand different point of views by experimenting alternative approaches for integration and inclusion, by interpreting the breakdown of social bonds and the particular role of the city in forming pockets of poverty and distress from a number of different perspectives. de leo amadio – describing and treating marginality in the italian peripheries. some advice from a uk case study ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. viii, issue 1 2018 137 references bcc-bristol city council (2011). bristol development framework core strategy. retrieved from 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(2014). success and innovation in planning: creating public value. rtpi research reports, 8, 1-53. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 96 challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (20162017) chiara oggioni ui c sch o o l o f ar ch i tec tu r e, car r er i m m acu l ad a 2 2 , 0 8 0 1 7 bar ce lo n a. lorenzo chelleri * i n ter n at io n al un iv er si ty o f bar c elo n a ui c – sch o o l o f ar ch i tectu r e an d ur b an re sil ien ce r es ear ch ne t ( u r net) , i m m a cu l ad a 2 2 , 0 8 0 1 7 , bar c elo n a ( sp ain ) giuseppe forino t6 eco sy stem s, via au r el ian a 6 3 , 0 0 1 9 5 , ro m e ( i t aly ) * co r r e sp o n d in g au th o r ( lch el ler i @u ic.e s) keywords: temporary housing; earthquake; central italy; predisaster strategic planning; post-disaster reconstruction abstract the purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges and opportunities of pre-disaster strategic planning in supporting temporary housing provision, using as a case study the earthquakes occurred in italian central apennines in 2016 and 2017. the paper explores such challenges and opportunities in several municipalities along four affected regions. primary data were retrieved from fieldwork conducted in march 2017 in some affected municipalities, supported by interviews to relevant organizations oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 97 and stakeholders involved in emergency and reconstruction in the affected areas. findings report that in the assessed municipalities delays occurred in temporary housing provision due to both technical and governance aspects, undermining the possibility to satisfy local needs in a timely way. therefore, the paper sheds new light on the role of pre-disaster strategic planning in temporary housing provision. the paper discusses and supports the advances of international practices for pre-disaster strategic planning. it also calls for embracing mechanisms able to avoid delays and lock-ins embedded within the socio-political context-specific factors. introduction in post-disaster reconstructions, a variety of actors at different scales, and with different priorities, perceptions and interests, need to quickly address short-term recovery goals (ismail et al., 2017). these goals could potentially conflict with long-term trajectories of reconstruction that aim at accommodating community expectations (chang et al., 2010; 2011; cheng et al., 2015). indeed, any decision taken during the emergency phase can affect the recovery path for decades (jha et al., 2010; yi and yang, 2014). one of the major challenges within post-disaster reconstruction processes stands in framing the right compromise between maximizing the speed of decision-making processes while being able to support a collective and strategic vision about the future redevelopment path (olshansky et al., 2008; cheng et al., 2015). housing provision plays a key role within this challenge (jha et al., 2010; lizarralde et al., 2010; bilau and witt, 2016). according to davis and alexander (2015), in the aftermath of a disaster, there are three main modes of shelter and housing: oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 98 1) provisional shelters: spontaneous or provided shelters for people displaced within hours from the disaster, and for short time (from few hours to overnight). spontaneous shelters can be repaired shelters, stays with host families, or be provided by remittances or by purchasing building materials. provided shelters can be hotels, caravans, mobile homes, containers, tents, plastic sheeting, or donor shelters. 2) transitional shelters: shelters that can be temporary or can evolve into permanence, provided within few days or weeks after the event. 3) permanent dwellings, that can be built by users or contractors in the same place as before or in a different place, to be ideally provided within few years after the event (davis and alexander, 2015). the duration of each phase depends on the existing overlaps between two or more phases; however, the clear distinction among these three phases relies in the everyday activities and routines, which usually are lost during the sheltering living, and recovered within the housing provision (quarantelli, 1982, 1995; félix et al., 2013; 2015). meanwhile, the decision-making and implementation of each phase, as well as the quality of materials, design and locations of sheltering and housing vary according to a series of factors, including: i) preparedness activities in the affected areas (nigg et al., 2006), ii) the social processes emerging after the hazardous event (bolin and stanford, 1991), and iii) the adopted organizational and technical solutions (johnson et al., 2006). for temporary transitional shelters, the etymology of the adjective temporary defines a way of living in a house that is limited in time, allowing people to be provided with a protected, secure, and oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 99 comfortable space for returning to their everyday life (félix et al., 2013; 2015). however, temporary shelters and housing are still a contested issue within post-disaster recovery debate (oliver-smith, 1990; olshansky et al., 2008; johnson, 2007a; rafieian and asgary, 2013). worldwide evidences from cases of temporary housing provided by governmental and non-governmental agencies have demonstrated that sometime housing provision has been unnecessary, too expensive, late, not sustainable, and thus shifted away relevant resources from permanent reconstruction, or became a source of socio-environmental concerns (lizarralde et al., 2010; rafieian and asgary, 2013; naylor et al., 2018; biswas, 2019). most of the times, these problems emerge from the challenge of reaching the above introduced compromise between speed and deliberation (olshansky et al., 2008). while some decisions need to be taken quickly for meeting the basic needs of the affected people, the way temporary housing is conceptualized, planned, projected and implemented can deeply influence (positively or negatively) the long-term trajectories of disaster recovery. therefore, cautiousness, long-term vision, and assessment of potential impacts are required to avoid problems potentially arising in the future (jha et al., 2010). on this regard, johnson (2007b) identifies a series of organizational features, factors and resources needed for supporting temporary housing provision. these are: i) quick timing, ii) adequate cost in relation to country standards, iii) overall reconstruction strategy consideration, iv) adequate unit design and comfort, v) location considering access to jobs and social networks, vi) provision of services and amenities, vii) maintenance of pre-disaster social ties or oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 100 development of new ones, viii) institutional support to secure permanent housing and ix) consideration of long-term consequences. according to johnson (2007b), pre-disaster strategic planning can support and facilitate the identification and implementation of these organization designs and resources for temporary housing provision in specific post-disaster situation. it also contributes to establish a set of pre-determined ways for working together with a set of stakeholders, ranging from the construction industry and real estate market to governmental agencies and communities, to activate desirable resourcing strategies and procedures (chang et al., 2010). on a similar vein, berke and campanella (2006) consider a predisaster recovery planning as important to identify potential hazardfree sites that could serve as relocation zones for redevelopment, guiding the latter to the least hazardous parts of building areas, and modifying construction practices to minimize existing or potential vulnerability. therefore, a pre-disaster strategic plan is key in providing standardized procedures for implementing temporary housing protocols and ensuring positive impacts on the long-term recovery (johnson, 2007b). as a general protocol, in its implementation stage a pre-disaster strategic plan must be contextual and adaptable to the physical, socioeconomic, and cultural characteristics of the affected places, for being easily metabolized in a post-disaster territory (jha et al., 2010). the involvement of local actors is key to avoid unexpected or unsustainable outcomes (davidson et al., 2007; jha et al., 2010; bilau and witt, 2016). against this background, this paper contributes to the debate around the role of pre-disaster strategic planning in temporary housing oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 101 provision. the paper investigates the challenges and opportunities of implementing post-disaster temporary housing provision in the light of a national pre-disaster strategic plan. specifically, it investigates the case of central italy earthquakes occurred between august 2016 and january 2017. the italian context: trends of post-disaster temporary housing planning and providion across centuries, post-disaster temporary housing provision and planning in italy has led to social, economic, and environmental issues and paradoxes (di giovanni, 2016) that had and still have consequences on the affected places and communities in both short and long term (forino and carnelli, 2019). a plethora of cases exists about temporary housing provisions which were supposed to be temporary but then lasted for decades (alexander, 1989; dickie et al., 2002). in addition, temporary housing provision often contributed also to (re)produce long-term inequalities and marginalization, including emigration and an increase of vulnerability and poverty. saitta (2013) analysed the city of messina (sicily) 100 years after the 1908 earthquake and associated tsunami, which destroyed 90% of the built environment and caused thousands of deaths. he found that the area where temporary houses/prefabs (called baracche) were provided for the affected people at the time, still suffer of one-century long inequality effects in terms of unemployment, labour rights, resource access, and life opportunities (saitta, 2013; see also farinella and saitta, 2019). similarly, in other areas of southern italy such as the belice area affected by the 1968 earthquake (see parrinello, 2015) oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 102 and the irpinia area affected by the 1980 earthquake (see ventura, 2013), the italian government provided for temporary housing that often lacked of an in-depth understanding of local needs and priorities. after the l’aquila earthquake (april 2009), the temporary housing provided by the italian government represented an “extravagant form” (alexander, 2013, p. 63) of prefabricated post-disaster transitional housing. indeed, the provided 185 multi-store buildings (complessi antisismici sostenibili ed ecocompatibili, abbreviated as case project), able to host more than 15,000 people on 19 areas spread around the city, have been paradoxically built on top of very expensive permanent anti-seismic basements. according to alexander (2019), the case project was “a grandiose failure, and destined to be so right from its conception”. it was excessively expensive and did not consider crucial issues including durability and maintenance; longevity and future uses; availability of public services and urban functions; ecological preservation; safety (alexander, 2013; 2019); corruption, and social fragmentation of pre-existing communities (calandra, 2018). the mentioned disasters show how temporary housing provision in italy is historically and deeply entangled with governance and power issues, as well as with social and economic conflicts around built environment and natural resource management (parrinello, 2015). in the light of this background, the paper wishes to test whether having a pre-disaster strategic plan contributes to increase the efficiency of the temporary housing provision, avoiding the above mentioned un-lucky experiences. after corruption scandals which oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 103 emerged in l’aquila (alexander, 2013), responsibilities and powers of the national department of civil protection (henceforth ndcp) in post-disaster management were reformulated by the law n°100/2012 (italian government, 2012). before 2012, the ndcp had executive and administrative powers in managing public bidding processes and related funds. with the law n°100/2012, the ndcp lost part of these powers and was left just with advisory and coordinative powers in the temporary housing provision. on 9th april 2014, the ndcp reached an official agreement (which was however signed only in 2016) with the consip, a limited company owned by the italian ministry of economy and finance, to establish a set of standard organizational procedures and technical characteristics for post-disaster temporary housing provision. the consip has the mission of ensuring efficacy and transparency in the use of italian public administration’s resources. in this way, consip provides public administrations with tools and skills such as framework agreements, strategic planning, eprocurement through electronic marketplace and digital tenders to manage and track their purchases and to stimulate public-private partnerships1. such agreement led to the ratification of a pre-disaster strategic plan (known as accordo quadro) (consip and ndcp, 2016), that allows the ndcp and the city councils of the affected areas to subcontract the temporary housing provision to private companies for a timespan up to six years, for a maximum of 18,000 temporary housing units for 1 http://www.consip.it/ (access 31/05/2019). http://www.consip.it/ oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 104 all the affected areas, and with an estimated value of €1.2 billion. the italian government will select subcontractors according to the budget compliance of their proposal with the technical document (known as capitolato tecnico d’appalto) of the pre-disaster strategic plan (consip and ndcp, 2014). the earthquakes that occurred in central italy in 2016 and 2017 were the first seismic disaster after the ratification of the pre-disaster strategic plan (consip and ndcp, 2016). due to damage and loss to public and private buildings and houses, temporary housing provision was considered a necessary step. the earthquakes in central italy between august 2016 and january 2017, four major earthquakes (plus thousands of seismic repeats) occurred in central italy in less than five months (valensise et al., 2017; bedini and bronzini, 2018). on 24th august 2016, an earthquake (mw. 6) occurred in the lazio and marche regions and affected several villages on the apennines, including amatrice, accumoli, and arquata del tronto. 299 people were killed and 4,800 were displaced (ingv, 2016a). on 26th october 2016, two earthquakes (mw. 5.4 and mw. 5.9) occurred in some of the villages that were already in the emergency phase and included also part of the umbria region (ingv, 2016b), with one reported victim. on 30th october 2016, another earthquake (mw. 6.5) struck again the same area, and particularly the perugia province (umbria) (ingv, 2016c). the displaced people increased up to 30,000. finally, on 18th january 2017, a four earthquakes sequence (mw. 5-5.5) occurred in just four hours and hit particularly the oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 105 abruzzo region (ingv, 2017). impacts were worsened by the combination of simultaneously occurring cold snaps, heavy snowfalls, avalanches, and landslides. 34 people were killed, and several villages and settlements were damaged (ndcp, 2017a). 140 municipalities (approximately 500,000 inhabitants) fall into the whole area affected between august 2016 and january 2017 (figure 1), sprawled within small mountainous villages and hamlets characterized by aging population and low density. 70% of the hit residential buildings were built prior to 1974 (year of the first national anti-seismic legislation)2 and made by non-earthquake proof material. according to the impact assessment office of the senato della repubblica (2018), these damages accounted for over €14 billion for the reconstruction (including also emergency and support to local economy and public administration) to be allocated by the italian government between 2016 and 2047. the scale of these disasters represented a challenge for temporary housing provision. in this way, questions can be posed about whether the temporary housing provision did align (or not) to the pre-disaster strategic plan accordo quadro (consip and ndcp, 2016). also, questions arise about whether the accordo quadro supported (or not) a timely temporary housing provision (emidio di treviri, 2018). the next sections seek to answer to these questions by exploring 2 law n°64/1974: provvedimenti per le costruzioni con particolari prescrizioni per le zone sismiche, gazzetta ufficiale n°76 1974, march 21. retrieved from http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/serie_generale/caricadettaglioatto/originario?atto.datapubblicazione gazzetta=1974-03-21&atto.codiceredazionale=074u0064&elenco30giorni=false (access 08/09/2019) http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/serie_generale/caricadettaglioatto/originario?atto.datapubblicazionegazzetta=1974-03-21&atto.codiceredazionale=074u0064&elenco30giorni=false http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/serie_generale/caricadettaglioatto/originario?atto.datapubblicazionegazzetta=1974-03-21&atto.codiceredazionale=074u0064&elenco30giorni=false oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 106 challenges and opportunities for the linkage between temporary housing provision and the pre-disaster strategic plan (consip and ndcp, 2014; 2016). figure 1 the central italy areas affected by four main earthquakes in august 2016, 26th and 30th october 2016, and january 2017. oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 107 source: authors’ elaboration on ncdp data. on top, the figure reports the epicentres (1, 2, 3, 4) of the four seismic events. on the bottom, the figure highlights the official list of 140 municipalities that have been affected by the earthquakes3 and indicates the main affected localities (a, b, c, d, e). methods on-site visits to the main affected regions of lazio, marche, umbria, abruzzo were conducted in march 2017 with the logistical support of the ndcp. for each region, some municipalities were visited according to the availability of the ndcp. during these visits, the whole temporary housing provision process and the technical and organizational characteristics of the implemented temporary housing solutions were assessed. to do this, 17 in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives of different organizations and stakeholders working in temporary housing provision (see table 1 for interviewees’ details). interviews were semi-structured and framed around 3 clusters related to: organizational characteristics (timing and governance), technical characteristics (design, location and cost), and future use of the temporary housing units. participant observation was also employed during strategic meetings, coordinated by the ndcp with other relevant national and regional stakeholders for managing the emergency and the temporary housing provision. policy documents by the italian government related to post-disaster procedures and grey literature (newspapers, online news) were also 3 https://www.sara.it/fileadmin/user_upload/documenti/libero_domani/elenco_comuni_colpiti_da_sisma _27_luglio_2017.pdf (access 08/09/2019). https://www.sara.it/fileadmin/user_upload/documenti/libero_domani/elenco_comuni_colpiti_da_sisma_27_luglio_2017.pdf https://www.sara.it/fileadmin/user_upload/documenti/libero_domani/elenco_comuni_colpiti_da_sisma_27_luglio_2017.pdf oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 108 consulted to collect updates on post-disaster management in the affected areas. table 1: interviewees’ details. p1 ndcp architect responsible for the implementation of the accordo quadro. p2 ndcp technician assisting p1 during on-site visits. p3 ndcp technician assisting p1 during on-site visits. p4 ndcp technician assisting p1 during on-site visits. p5 ispra (national institute for environmental protection) geologist. p6 regional civil protection (henceforth rcp) technician of abruzzo region. p7 mayor of colledara (abruzzo region). p8 mayor of tossicia (abruzzo region). p9 mayor of torricella sicura (abruzzo region). p10 architect of torricella sicura city council (abruzzo region). p11 technician of urbanization company in accumoli capoluogo (lazio region). p12 mayor of arquata del tronto (marche region). p13 director of construction company in arquata del tronto – b. arquata (marche region). p14 technician of norcia city council (umbria region). p15 technician of construction company in norcia – z. industriale “a” (umbria region). p16 technician of urbanization company in norcia – z. industriale “a” (umbria region). p17 archaeologist working in norcia – z. industriale “a” (umbria region). findings organizational and technical aspects of temporary housing provision in the affected areas (see figure 1), the ndcp, the rcp, and local authorities provided these different typologies of temporary housing: 1. temporary emergency housing solutions (soluzioni abitative emergenziali, saes henceforth) units, allowing affected people to remain close to their villages; 2. prefabricated emergency rural units (moduli abitativi prefabbricati rurali emergenziali, mapres), which were oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 109 provided particularly to farmers and breeders which needed to continue crop production or take care of their livestock in rural areas; 3. alternative shelters already available in the affected areas, such as hotels, municipal buildings (e.g. multipurpose buildings), and available shelters which were implemented and utilized as temporary houses after the previous earthquakes in umbria and marche regions (1997) and in l’aquila (2009); 4. public heritage buildings4 (e.g., apartments or buildings that are owned by the municipalities, that meeting safety seismic standards’ compliance; 5. collective containers5 (ndcp, 2017b; 2017c); 6. isolated tents or campers, which were provided autonomously by the affected people or by volunteers. on this regard, the italian government provided self-accommodation subsidies (contributi di autonoma sistemazione, cas6 henceforth) for those people which opted for autonomously finding an accommodation until the completion of the reconstruction (ndcp, 2017b; ndcp, 2017c). 4 this option was introduced in late december 2016. however, the legislation does not force city councils of the affected villages to assess their existing building heritage before ordering saes. 5 as the one unique experience in the municipality of tolentino (umbria region), the only one who did not require saes but implemented collective containers. see problems related to this choice in: http://www.lostatodellecose.com/portfolios/vite-scatola-tolentino-dentro-villaggio-dei-container/ (access 08/09/2019) 6 ordinance n° 388/2016 and n° 408/2016. the contribution is 300€/family member/month up to a maximum of 900€/month. if the family is composed by one person, the contribution is 400€/month. for elderly (>65 years old) and people with disability (disability >67%) 200€/month/person add to the cas (regardless of the 900€/month limit). the contribution will be anticipated by families and then refunded by the state according to the ordinance timing. http://www.lostatodellecose.com/portfolios/vite-scatola-tolentino-dentro-villaggio-dei-container/ oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 110 this paper focuses specifically on the saes provision, since this represents the major public expenditure in relation to temporary housing provision. on 9th april 2014, the ndcp and consip reached an official agreement (accordo quadro) signed on 25 may 2016 with different economic operators for each of the three geographical areas of italy (northern italy, central italy, southern italy). through this agreement, the municipalities exposed to hazards and the ndcp could subcontract the work of saes when required for a period up to six years, for a maximum of 18,000 modules to an estimated value of €1.2 billion. the bid winners were selected according to the economic compliance of their proposal with the technical document (capitolato d’appalto) (consip and ndcp, 2014). the first subcontractor can supply a maximum of 850 saes within six months, at a cost of €1,075/m2 each and with a 4-year warranty. the second one can supply a maximum of 780 saes within six months, at a cost of €1,067/m2 each and with a 4-year warranty. the third one can supply a maximum of 225 saes within six months, at a cost of €1,044,45/m2 each and with a 3-year warranty. the subcontractor should decide the final layout of temporary settlements, urbanization executive projects, and sae installation (consip and ndcp, 2014). prices and solutions were decided in 2014 during the original bidding process so they would not change according to specific location. the construction companies that win the bid and are responsible for providing the sae should decide the final layout of settlements and design of sae. for the central italy area, cns together with other companies (rti and cogeco7 srl) won the bid followed by consorzio stabile arcale oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 111 (2nd classified) and modulcasa line spa (3rd classified, together with ames spa and nav system spa) 7 . each subcontractor proposed a standard typology of sae and a related price for the whole national area, regardless of specific contextual characteristics in which saes would be implemented. this implies that the temporary units provided in central italy have been the same modular houses that would have been provided in other contexts of other potentially affected regions of central italy. accordingly, saes can have three sizes based on the number of people to be hosted: 40m2 (for 1-2 people); 60m2 (for 3-4 people); and 80m2 (for 5-6 people). saes can be installed as standalone units (with a building lot of 200m2/unit) or grouped, can have up to two floors and must ensure access to people with disabilities. saes should indeed “satisfy high housing standards, independently from the area of intervention” (consip and ndcp, 2014, p. 8) and should be designed according to eco-sustainable technologies (a+ energetic class) and bioclimatic criteria of energy efficiency, orientation, shading, natural ventilation, trees, and green spaces. the lifespan of each sae should be ten years as a sae is not considered as a permanent house (consip and ndcp, 2014). saes should also be flexible and adaptable to diverse future uses, as well as be modular and easily assembled, removed and recycled. however, there are no specifications about the materials to be used. in addition, the cost of 7 http://www.consip.it/bandi-di-gara/gare-e-avvisi/aq-soluzioni-abitative-in-emergenza-per-protezionecivile-2 (access 03/07/2019). http://www.consip.it/bandi-di-gara/gare-e-avvisi/aq-soluzioni-abitative-in-emergenza-per-protezione-civile-2 http://www.consip.it/bandi-di-gara/gare-e-avvisi/aq-soluzioni-abitative-in-emergenza-per-protezione-civile-2 oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 112 each sae would not include the cost for primary urbanization works approximately €20.000 (consip and ndcp, 2014). following the legislative decree n°189/2016 8 and the capitolato tecnico d’appalto (consip and ndcp, 2014), saes can be implemented through a 7-step process. the steps are: 1) sae request by regional and local institutions; 2) proposal and evaluation by regional and local governments of the proposed settlement areas; 3) settlement planning design and layout; 4) urbanization executive project; 5) primary urbanization; 6) sae installation; 7) settlement inauguration. the phases 3-6 will be mostly provided by the saes’ providers and subcontracted companies (e.g., construction companies, utilities companies) (emidio di treviri, 2018). the ndcp would have just advisory powers on regional and local governments. according to the capitolato tecnico d’appalto (consip and ndcp, 2014), the estimated timing for completing these steps should have been 6 months. however, according to interviews (p1, see table 1), a precise timeframe cannot be established as the saes can be physically assembled only once regional and local governments approve the suitable area and the number of needed saes has been officially declared. moreover, the timeframe to start the bidding process for primary urbanization work is not specified. according again to p1, the ndcp can try to speed up the process, for example by suggesting modifications or starting sae installation while urbanization works are in progress. the city councils of the affected 8 decreto legge n. 189 del 17 ottobre 2016: interventi urgenti in favore delle popolazioni colpite dal sisma del 24 agosto 2016. retrieved from http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2016/10/18/16g00205/sg (access 08/09/2019). http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2016/10/18/16g00205/sg oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 113 villages select the companies in charge of the primary urbanization through an ad hoc bid (consip and ndcp, 2014). assessing temporary housing provision this section presents an assessment of the temporary housing provision in 52 affected villages across abruzzo, lazio, marche, and umbria regions. this assessment was conducted in march 2017, 7 months after the first earthquake (august 2016) and 2 months after the last one (january 2017). the assessment aimed at evaluating the 7-step process for saes implementation (consip and ndcp, 2014). authors chose to perform the fieldwork in march 2017 because accordingly to the regulations, all the saes should have been at least already delivered for those communities and villages affected by the first earthquake in august 2016. abruzzo in march 2017, the viability of the proposed saes areas was still under evaluation in the abruzzo region. out of the seven sequential steps, just the sae request (1) and proposal and evaluation of the proposed settlement areas (2) were partially implemented. six months after the earthquake, 14 out of 23 affected city councils informally urged the necessity for saes. however, just 8 out of these 14 made an official request for saes to the subcontractor modulcasa line spa. this happened because the town councils still cannot make a final decision about the best settlement areas for saes. therefore, the request for saes was not officially forwarded yet, as well as the saes’ production did not start yet. in two villages, namely castelli and civitella del tronto, the town councils were evaluating the oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 114 option to move assisted people into pre-existing public buildings in the villages, in order to require less saes. authors conducted the assessment in three villages, namely colledara, torricella sicura, and tossicia. from the assessment, it was found that one of the main causes of delay in saes’ provision was the lack of suitable areas for saes’ implementation, as in colledara and tossicia. in colledara (specifically in the capoluogo hamlet), a public land was selected, but it was later realized that it was too small to host all the required saes. according to p1, each sae required 200 m2/unit of land, but there was space just for 8 saes instead of 11. p5 also added that one of the slopes had unstable soils, therefore implementing the other 3 saes would have been difficult. due to these issues, the ndcp proposed two options to colledara town council: to add a plot of public land to the selected area; or, to find an alternative, larger area. however, the impasse around these options resulted in a relevant delay, and therefore the construction works were postponed. in tossicia, the mayor (p8) and the ndcp technicians (p1, p2) organized a meeting to assess the suitability of the three proposed areas. according to p5, at the end of the meeting the proposed areas were assessed as “acceptable with prescription” as they did not completely align to land use requirements. therefore, a further assessment would have been necessary, with expected delays. further reasons for the delay were related to conflicts into governance. for example, according to p2, conflicts emerged around the implementation of 48 scheduled saes in torricella sicura. during a meeting between the ndcp (p1, p2), the abruzzo rcp oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 115 (p6), the mayor of torricella sicura (p9) and an architect invited by the mayor (p10), the last two proposed a modification from an original terraced layout to a layout of independent saes. according to p1, the option of independent saes should have been considered just in case the layout of the selected area would not allow other options. therefore, p1 argued that with such request the mayor of torricella sicura (p9) aimed at potentially maximizing electoral benefits from the reconstruction, as citizens would be more satisfied with an independent sae to be potentially used in the future for rent. p1 also added that the capitolato tecnico d’appalto (consip and ndcp, 2014) does not mention the possibility for introducing external stakeholders, such as the architect invited by the mayor, in the sae process. notwithstanding this, the mayor of torricella sicura firmly declared that he would have only accepted independent saes. in this way, the final decision would have been taken by the head of the ndcp, but until then the temporary housing provision would have been stuck by waiting for resolving these conflicts. lazio the lazio region was the most affected one by the earthquakes of 24th august 2016. therefore, the temporary housing provision process should have been ideally finished or close to the end according to the accordo quadro (consip and ndcp, 2016) at the time of fieldwork (march 2017). however, the viability of several of the proposed sae areas was still under evaluation. in the affected municipalities, saes were required to the subcontractor consorzio nazionale servizi for just 31 out of 57 hamlets. the assessment of the oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 116 saes’ areas was ongoing in 23 hamlets. primary urbanization works were ongoing just in 19 hamlets, while saes’ installation was ongoing in 8 hamlets. just one sae settlement was inaugurated. our assessment was conducted in the municipalities of accumoli and amatrice. also in these cases several delays in temporary housing provision were found. for example, p2 revealed that in the grisciano hamlet (located in accumoli) the ndcp found unstable soils in the selected area. a further assessment was therefore required and would have caused delays in the layout’s approval and in turn in the saes’ production. furthermore, primary urbanization works did not start yet, as the bidding process by the city council of accumoli for selecting subcontractors took more than one month. in accumoli, the illica hamlet was the only one where sae installation started. p2 claimed that the bidding process for the urbanization works took just one week and saes’ installation started mid-march, while urbanization works were still ongoing. on-site visits confirmed that all the subcontractors already positioned the concrete platforms for the 7 saes and were assembling the steal matrix of each sae. conversely, in amatrice, the settlement campo 0, which hosted 25 saes, was the only inaugurated in the lazio region and therefore able to meet the six-month requirement by the accordo quadro (consip and ndcp, 2016). marche also in the marche region the viability of several saes’ areas was still under assessment. the first saes were required to the arcale company oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 117 in october 2016, while the last ones were required only in march 2017. the implementation of saes was in progress just in 1 town council over 87, and no settlements were inaugurated yet. our assessment was conducted in arquata del tronto. delays occurred in this case too. p3 revealed that in pescara del tronto hamlet the settlement area was close to the highway, and therefore an agreement between ndcp and the national road infrastructure agency (anas) was necessary to regulate traffic flow and speed in the nearby areas. this caused delays in the sae installation. in the borgo arquata hamlet, primary urbanization works started at the end of february 2017. they were progressing slowly because the construction site was a former football field and laying foundations required more time than expected. in addition, p3 claimed that the limits of the settlement design overlapped an adjacent private property, and therefore there was insufficient space to install the saes according to urban planning regulations. umbria finally, also in the umbria region the viability of several saes areas was under evaluation. the first saes were required to the subcontractor consorzio nazionale servizi on september 2016, while the last ones were required on march 2017. just 2 saes’ areas were inaugurated over 31, while sae installation was underway in one city council over 3. our assessment was conducted just in norcia, as it was the only municipality where sae installation was ongoing. the san pellegrino hamlet was the first inaugurated settlement in all the central italy affected area and included 18 saes. according to p14, 18 saes were oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 118 assigned. out of them, 5 were assigned to families with elders, minors, and people with disability. p4 also explained the key factors of sae implementation in san pellegrino. first, the sae order and the settlement area’s approval were done simultaneously, thanks to the coordination between the local institutions in charge of taking decisions and the ndcp in charge of coordinating the process. second, the bidding process took only ten days from the project approval, and this speeded up the whole sae process. third, primary urbanization works took 2.5 months, simultaneously to the sae installation as the ndcp recommended. in this way, the 7-step process was completed in 4.5 months, less than the six months required by the capitolato tecnico d’appalto (consip and ndcp, 2014). the zona industriale a hamlet was the largest sae area of umbria region with 63 saes. the saes were ordered at early november 2016 but the bidding process took one month. therefore, primary urbanization works started only at late 2016 and were still in progress in march 2017, as well as the sae installation was still ongoing. some interviewees (p4, p15, p16) revealed that further delays occurred. both urbanization and construction works were postponed due to lack of coordination between two companies. issues also emerged in terms of accessibility of the 7 saes for people with disability: doors were too small for allowing access to wheelchairs, while no access ramp was designed; in addition, a metal slope designed from the door to the platform required to cut the door frames but not all the door entrances could be re-adjusted due to design reasons. in this way, it was decided that new saes would oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 119 have been installed with proper accessibility for people with disability, causing in turn further delays. as p17 revealed, archaeological remains were also discovered during the construction works: therefore, the city council of norcia and the ministry of cultural heritage decided to leave buried the remains so that sae concrete platforms would not damage them. discussion and conclusions this paper explored challenges and opportunities arising in the saes’ provision following the earthquakes in central italy between august 2016 and january 2017 with respect of a pre-disaster strategic plan (consip and ndcp, 2014; 2016). according to the capitolato tecnico d’appalto (consip and ndcp, 2014), sae should be provided through a 7-step process up to six months after a disaster. on-site visits and interviews in the affected areas were conducted to assess the evolution of the temporary housing process six months after the first earthquake. in terms of challenges, the paper aligns with evidences on challenges in temporary housing provides as discussed in emidio di treviri (2018). in particularly, the paper highlights how governance issues led to delays in delivering the saes. in march 2017, six months after the first earthquake, just 3 saes areas out of expected 210 were inaugurated in the four affected regions. for most of the assessed settlements, findings also revealed a more than two-month large timegap existing between the occurrence of each disastrous event (the earthquake) and the beginning of the saes’ provision. this means that the initial steps of the process, namely the selection and the oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 120 assessment of the saes’ areas, significantly impacted on the whole schedule and caused delays. these delays are related mainly to the suitability of the selected areas for housing purposes (e.g., grisciano, where unstable soils were found), the local morphology (e.g., capoluogo, where the available public land was too small to meet space requirements) or unexpected circumstances (e.g., zona industriale a, where archaeological remains were discovered). furthermore, the accordo quadro (consip and ndcp, 2016) did not consider potential issues emerging into the decision-making process among stakeholders, such as the time gap between the approval of the executive project and the beginning of urbanization works. in addition, in some cases there have been attempts to implement saes as they had to be permanent. an example of this is in torricella sicura, where the mayor’s intention was the creation of an individual layout for each sae which could be easier to rent in the future. this point brings up some further considerations about the necessity for considering future use alternatives of temporary housing units and avoiding the temporary usage lasts for decades9. in terms of opportunities, findings revealed that timing estimated by the pre-disaster strategic plan was achieved when coordination among different stakeholders was successful, as in the case of the campo 0 9 see for example this reportage from the italian newspaper “la stampa” on a temporary unit in the village of calitri, hit by the 1980 earthquake in campania and basilicata regions. still today, the temporary unit hosts some health agencies offices in very bad conditions: https://www.lastampa.it/2018/11/29/italia/a-anni-dal-sismain-irpinia-il-comune-di-calitri-avr-finalmente-un-vero-ambulatorio-aslnthow1owtohlfiahzanqoo/pagina.html (access 04/05/2019). https://www.lastampa.it/2018/11/29/italia/a-anni-dal-sisma-in-irpinia-il-comune-di-calitri-avr-finalmente-un-vero-ambulatorio-asl-nthow1owtohlfiahzanqoo/pagina.html https://www.lastampa.it/2018/11/29/italia/a-anni-dal-sisma-in-irpinia-il-comune-di-calitri-avr-finalmente-un-vero-ambulatorio-asl-nthow1owtohlfiahzanqoo/pagina.html https://www.lastampa.it/2018/11/29/italia/a-anni-dal-sisma-in-irpinia-il-comune-di-calitri-avr-finalmente-un-vero-ambulatorio-asl-nthow1owtohlfiahzanqoo/pagina.html oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 121 hamlet or when the ndcp was able to speed up the whole process, as in illica or san pellegrino hamlets. the research presented in the paper was conducted on a limited number of affected municipalities and was based on a fieldwork just 7 months after initial events, so it did not portray the long-term consequences of temporary housing provision in the affected areas. notwithstanding this, it was able to reveal some of the key issues emerging in linking the temporary housing provision and the predisaster strategic plan, and potentially affecting also the long-terms recovery. in addition, it was also able to show evidences for some of the root causes of delays occurring in the housing provision system in central italy. in the light of these considerations, the paper recommends that the pre-disaster strategic plan accordo quadro should better take into consideration both socioeconomic issues and the characteristics of the local built and natural environments. for example, by supporting existing literature (johnson, 2007b; jha et al., 2010), the paper argues that such plan should not just include standard specifications on technical and organizational aspects for the present use, but it should be also able to meet the contextual local necessities and cope with the very specific challenges that each postdisaster context presents. these challenges cover a range of technical and logistical issues, as well as they involve governance and political issues, uncertainties, and unexpected situations. in this way, the plan should have been provided with a more comprehensive perspective of complex issues occurring within disaster aftermaths. in conclusion, the paper can represent a useful background for further studies on the topic and shed new light on the role of pre-disaster oggioni, chelleri and forino – 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(2006). hurricane katrina and the flooding of new orleans: emergent issues in sheltering and temporary housing. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 604(1), 113-128. oliver‐smith, a. (1990). post‐disaster housing reconstruction and social inequality: a challenge to policy and practice. disasters, 14(1), 7-19. olshansky, r. b., johnson, l. a., horne, j., & nee, b. (2008). longer view: planning for the rebuilding of new orleans. journal of the american planning association, 74(3), 273-287. parrinello, g. (2015). fault lines: earthquakes and urbanism in modern italy. berghahn books. quarantelli, e.l. (1982). sheltering and housing after major community disasters: case studies and general observations. final report for federal emergency management agency washington, d.c. 20472. quarantelli, e.l. (1995). patterns of sheltering and housing in us disasters. disaster prevention and management: an international journal, 4(3), 43-53. rafieian, m., & asgary, a. (2013). impacts of temporary housing on housing reconstruction after the bam earthquake. disaster prevention and management: an international journal, 22(1), 63-74. saitta, p. (2013). quota zero. messina dopo il terremoto: la ricostruzione infinita, donzelli, rome. oggioni, chelleri and forino – challenges and opportunities for predisaster strategic planning in post-disaster temporary housing provision. evidence from earthquakes in central italy (2016-2017) ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 129 valensise, g., tarabusi, g., guidoboni, e., & ferrari, g. (2017). the forgotten vulnerability: a geology-and history-based approach for ranking the seismic risk of earthquake-prone communities of the italian apennines. international journal of disaster risk reduction, 25, 289-300. ventura. s. (2013). vogliamo viaggiare, non emigrare. le cooperative femminili dopo il terremoto del 1980. officina solidale, avellino. yi, h., & yang, j. (2014). research trends of post disaster reconstruction: the past and the future. habitat international, 42, 2129. short author biography: chiara oggioni is arch. and junior researcher at the rural and urban framework hku the university of hong kong. lorenzo chelleri is chair of the urban resilience research network (urnet) and lecturer at the universitat internacional de catalunya uic barcelona. lorenzo is director of the int. msc in city resilience design and management and scientific director of the international platform re-cities on climate change and social sustainability. giuseppe forino is senior researcher at t6 ecosystems. his research interests include disaster management, climate change adaptation and governance. he has published several papers on disaster recovery in italy. ijpp issn: 2239-267x ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 49 decision traceability and the strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan roberto picchianti ur b a n p la n ner r o b er to .p icc h ia nt i @ g mai l .co m keywords: strategic choice approach – traceability – structure plan – memory of planning – development plan – grosseto – decision area abstract this article is placed into strategic choice planning studies (friend, jessop; 1969, 1977). this is an important trend in urban planning that has had many applications over the last 40 years, at both european and international levels. the article presents a decision-making process method and an organisation of documentation that characterises the construction of file:///h:\roberto.picchianti@gmail.com picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 50 the old structure plan of grosseto (2006) 1 . every stage of the grosseto structure plan was documented, with 486 steps from the initial setup to the final approval. the process was traced on an easily accessible platform, which is documented and explained in the article 2 . this research can be summarised as follows: a town plan constructed using the strategic choice approach, accompanied by an appropriate traceable memory system, represents an advantage for implementing the plan and its use for a general review or complete reformulation. future developments of this approach (scattoni, 2018) are based on this decision traceability process, but they turn the platform into a system that maintains all features with low software requirements and maintenance costs. in this application, userscan access a unique database. this research aims to verify two aspects of urban planning in italy that are not always adequately addressed and documented. the first concerns the coherence between strategic choices and the implementation document. in fact, for some years, urban planning in most regional planning laws distinguishes two phases: the structure plan and the operational plan (piano operativo o regolamentourbanistico). 3 it is assumed that the availability of a 1 see par. 2.1 the grosseto structure plan 2 see par. 2.1.1 database paulus (http://paulus.arc.uniroma1.it/) 3 in 2014, the tuscany region modified the regional planning act no. 65 of 2014 l.r. n. 65/2014). in this circumstance, they changed the name of operational plan from regolamento urbanistico to piano operativo. this picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 51 decision-making database can serve that purpose. the second aim is to demonstrate that the traceability of the plan’s decision-making process can be of the utmost utility for updating the plan itself. 4 after a decade of the grosseto structure plan’s implementation, the local government was called on to revise it. through interviews for this research with the main actors of the two urban planning tools, a first evaluation can be made. was to make the name uniform with other regions’ planning legislations.the features of the development plans are the same. 4 the new planning act of tuscany (l.r. 65/2014) requires that the same act be applied to municipalities that have a structure plan and an operational plan approved within three years of the end of the operational plan (article n. 228). this article orders the upgrade of the planning tools to the new legislation. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 52 introduction the method of this research is based on the strategic choice approach, which has had numerous applications even if few were in italy (giangrande, 2002). the strategic choice approach is a definition model already known in the 1960s by the works of the institute for operational research (ior) (1963), continued and illustrated by the works of friend and jessop (1969) and friend and hickling (1987). this planning approach is based on managing the uncertainties that surround the decision to be addressed. the method consists of organising the problems in order to configure a strategy of the opportunities to respond (lombardi, 2018). the structure of the problems is based on the incremental approach, which allows for tracking and knowing the decision-making process. therefore, the strategic choice approach proves to be adept at defining town plans that have traceable and transparent decisions. as mentioned, the strategic choice approach was not widespread in italy, although it was known since 1974 (baldeschi, scattoni, 1974). some applications are dated to the 1990s through ―laboratori‖, which was developed in rome (mortola, giangrande, 2005). grosseto’s structure plan (piano strutturale) (comune di grosseto, 2004) represents the most significant case of such an application. the plan’s implementation does not seem to have used the full potential of the strategic choice approach to monitor and restructure the plan in its picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 53 application, especially relating problems and later changes in the implementation planning phase. the grosseto plan is a favourable ground for verifying the opportunities the strategic choice approach offers for confirming the execution of a town plan and the inputs it offers for its review (scattoni, falco, 2011). in fact, the research that has accompanied the latest period of the grosseto structure plan (scattoni, tomassoni, 2007) has developed a monitoring technique called the planning analysis of urban linkages within urban systems (paulus), which allows for tracing the path of the plan through using both the official documentation (municipal documentation, provincial and regional policy, etc.) and evidence arising from the external debate (press, policy documents, etc.) (scattoni, 2018). the article is structured using four principal parts. in the first part, the paper outlines the state of the grosseto plan. the second part relates to the method and documentation. then, the findings are presented and, finally, the paper presents a discussion of the results and possible research developments. 1. the strategic choice model the strategic choice approach (friend, jessop; 1969, 1977) is a planning model that views the decision-making process as a continuous dialogue between the two systems: one called the government and the other the community (scattoni, 2018). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 54 the government system is a set of elements that interact to reach a decision. similarly, the community system communicates internally and with the government. not always is there a clear separation between the two systems. the situations the community finds uncomfortable are communicated to the government. the government system examines the problem and proposes an answer with specific actions. it may propose a single action or multiple alternatives (scattoni, 2018). sometimes, the solutions are not simple or immediate. in fact, sometimes, the solution to a problem can produce other problems, called ―uncertainties‖. ―the operations for the construction of the framework are strategic choice made from a progressive identification of problems. the definition of the options proceeds from the simplest, [which] implies no action, to the more complex one‖ (lombardi, 2018). the method highlights the uncertainties and the conflicts by a transparent and traceble decision-making process. in a complex background, as with urban planning, the strategic choice approach simplifies the knowledge and the identification of the problems. identifying more alternative solutions and sometimes conflicting between them represents the more important criticism of the approach because they conflict with the severe regulations of the traditional urban plan. the dynamism of the strategic choice approach against the severe regulations of the law represents great difficulty of the method itself. for the attackers, criticism is the risk of succumbing to technical rigidity and a non-participative process that is unable to manage physical urban transformations (giangrande 2007). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 55 the interactive approach of this method represents contact with the possibilities and opportunities derived from the informatics (lombardi, 2018). 2. the grosseto planning state 2.1. the grosseto structure plan only in the structure plan of grosseto does the strategic choice approach find application. grosseto is an italian municipality, the chief town of the province, in the southeast of the tuscany. the city has been subjected to a significant population growth in the last 150 years, increasing from about 4,500 inhabitants after the unification of italy to about 82,000 inhabitants today. from an urban point of view, the city has constantly planned its development over the years (nencioni, 2007). the territory is heterogeneous and extensive, which includes hilly and coastal areas, with strong natural and poorly urbanised agricultural areas. the town planning in tuscany develops on two levels. the first tool of local planning is the structure plan. this tool is a municipal strategic plan aimed at identifying the principles and guidelines that will then be the basis for drafting the subsequent documents (the operational plan and building regulations). the grosseto structure plan was written by the municipal office of urban planning with the help of the department of territorial and urban planning (diptu) of sapienza university of rome. the plan was drafted from december 2000 (nomination) to april 2006 (approval). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 56 the drafting method used has been the incrementalist approach and the strategic choice approach (friend, jessop 1969; 1977). general criteria were sustainability, transparency and participation, the principle of accountability, and the simplicity of management (comune di grosseto, 2004). the tools for guaranteeing the above principles were the agenda 21 forum, sportello di piano, and internet communication. 5 the logic of the plan was to derive the choices directly from real problems identified by the population and made explicit through the participation channels. the result was to build a bottom-up plan. simultaneously, the plan results were ―open‖ to different solutions derived from the different options to problems. in the operational phase, the plan was based on the decision areas (aree di decisione), the city’s problems identified by the citizens, which have found 5 the agenda 21 forum is a participative process where the stakeholders work out the themes and the territorial resources based on the sustainable development approach. the forum consented to form and develop the planning process. in grosseto’s structure plan, the agenda 21 forum analysed the general problems, mobility, problems of the coast, residential problems, industrial areas, water system problems, and big infrastructure into 18 thematic forums. sportello di piano is a transparency method to communicate the instances of a stakeholder to the municipality. the structure plan of grosseto had 826 requests from private citizens. the requests include from general ideas for planning to questions about specific properties. some of these were accepted and others were rejected. all had a reply. it was active from september 2000 to january 2003. the agenda 21 forum expressed principally the general instances while the sportello di piano expressed private instances. the grosseto municipality reported all acts on the official website. at the same time, on the website, it announced the calendar of all forums and communicated with the population. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 57 one or more solutions through the intervention options. all areas are interrelated. fifty-six decision areas were identified across the entire municipal territory. various types of decision areas were found and, from those, a general character and territorial value (for example, general road system, open territory, etc.) until a specific phenomenon (for example, sinkhole) was determined. on indication of the regional planning act, the structure plan divides the municipal territory into two big areas: those relating to agricultural and rural areas (areas with prevailing agricultural function and areas with exclusive agricultural function) and urban areas (homogeneous territorial elementary unit utoe). the plans can introduce the transformation and implementation of residential areas into urban areas. the other areas are more protected from these transformations. the structure plan singled out 12 utoes. utoe n.1 (grosseto) was also divided into different areas to better determine and specify actions so it is more effective. the project’s idea was to define in detail grosseto’s urban area because most transformations were concentrated in grosseto. figure 2 ―table n. p6‖ illustrates the utoe list and quantifies the transformations of the structure plan. major themes were identified and divided into specific objectives: traffic (slow city, decrease of vehicular traffic, border roads, park and ride, increased bicycle mobility, etc.), settlements (balance between the residential growth in the capital and villages, decrease in coastal settlements, re-use of heritage buildings, etc.), infrastructure (airport, marina, hospital, logistic hub, waste, urban parks, etc.), tourism (coastal tourism, spa tourism, rural tourism, etc.), rural territory (protection of the picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 58 local characters, territorial parks, rural tourism, etc.), regulatory reform (historical centres, consolidated urban areas), urban trade, industrial sites, urban equalisation, and the system of the environment (sinkholes, coastal dynamic, salinity, etc.). these themes and specific objectives were objects of discussion in the participation forums and fundamentals for identifying decision areas. figure 1 decisional area form in fact, two of the general criteria for defining the structure plan were identified in the participation in and transparency of decisions. these main objectives were set by the tuscany regional act n. 5/95 and confirmed by the subsequent changes and integrations (tuscany regional act n. 1/2005 and tuscany regional act n. 65/2014). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 59 the decision traceability was added into the decision-making process as another basic criterion. traceability is a method of precisely organising the decision-making process of every single change in the process itself. in grosseto’s structure plan, every decision or simple request for change was registered and made public through establishing the sportello di piano. the documentation of the sportello di piano was made available on the municipality’s website. all the planning work was organised with methods and settings to easily reconstruct the decision-making process leading to a decision. to this purpose, an open-source software platform 6 was designed and created, which could contain all the elements of the decision-making process, including the administration documents, the press, the documents of the participation, and the project of the plan, which are all part of the decision-making process. on the software platform is not only visible the process in its final form but also a specific moment concerning a specific date, through a chronological taskbar of the reviews. the platform is aimed at the building a ―memory of the planning process‖ (scattoni, tomassoni, 2007). in fact, during the last two years of collaboration with the grosseto municipality, those responsible for the plan have devised a storage method that supports planning transparency. this method devised was not developed during the plan’s preparation but only subsequently. 6 see par. 2.1.1 database paulus picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 60 figure 2 table p6bis – grosseto structure plan – utoes table picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 61 2.1.1 paulus database the documentation and monitoring system designed in the last two years of the editing of the structure plan is the paulus database. however, paulus was developed and was drawn up subsequent to the plan itself. in fact, in constructing the structure plan in a traceable way, this has allowed for tracking most, if not all, of the changes. clearly, if the process was created simultaneously with the plan being edited, many more changes and details could be tracked (scattoni, tomassoni, 2007). in a previous research conducted in 2006, during a four-month internship at the grosseto municipal office of urban planning an undergraduate analysed the decision-making process of grosseto’s structure plan in a dissertation (picchianti, 2007). this research was the basis for further research that developed the paulus database. many of the materials were derived from official documents from the municipality and were integrated with other archives (for example, the press database provided by the province of grosseto). the principles behind the informatics tool are those of the planning method: traceability, transparency, and accountability. based on these principles, the decision areas developed in the decisionmaking process were reconstructed. a difficulty of the research was reconstructing most of the process after completing the plan’s development phase. however, the results show that 486 changes and revisions were made compared to the five steps that can be identified as obligatory, as steps laid down by planning act 1150 of 1942. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 62 these institutional steps are the only times when the audience knows the work status of a plan. applying the traceability principle to the plan allows for showing many small changes that would normally not be seen. in fact, the dissertation (picchianti, 2006) showed how the planning tools are generally constructed by many steps in addition to these fundamental steps established by the act: mandate, adoption, observation, counterargument, and approval. in fact, there are many other ―steps‖, equally fundamental, comprising the decision-making process. traces of these steps are found only in their final versions. however, in a traceable plan, there is the possibility of identifying the person who proposed the changes or the requests. the paulus system presents the interface of the structure of the decision areas already identified in the plan. these areas were largely identified or modified by the citizens of grosseto through the participation forums. the problems identified by the citizens were summarised and described as decision areas. the potentials options for solutions and interventions were added to these problems as the actors that intervene to influence a specific problem and, finally, the other decision-linked areas. the decision areas represent a large body of information about the expectations, needs, and emergencies that were noticed by citizens and which were brought to the attention of the city’s administration. the opportunity created by a multimedia tool is that any type of attachment or document that affects the decision area can be loaded in digital format (institutional acts, newspaper articles, plan elements). the software consists of a timing column containing all revisions that have affected a specific decision area. these revisions correspond to a snapshot of the decision area at that precise moment. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 63 the revisions correspond to any act or event that produced a change in the decision-making process and in the elements that compose the decision areas. the research can identify how many decisions defined in the structure plan were found in the next planning document—the operational plan. the ―traceable‖ structural plan should facilitate the research and the verification of the research purpose. in fact, it can easily seem as though the two planning levels sometimes appear to be unrelated, creating further difficulty and making it ―impossible‖ to re-edit the decisions of the previous plan. the absence of the decision traceability lessens the possibility of interaction between tools, including the timing of approvals (scattoni, falco 2011). therefore, the research is focused on evaluating the re-use of the database of the previous plan for a new plan. the first advantage is having a picture of the planning problems of the previous plan. the second advantage is the fast analysis of the strategic choices made, but with a good structure of the actuation state. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 64 figure 3 web-site paulus picture (http://paulus.arc.uniroma1.it/) 2.2 the operational plan in the tuscany planning act, the operational plan is the operative tool of municipal planning. also referred to as ―the mayor's plan‖, it has five years of validity, determines private property, and indicates land use and zoning. grosseto’s operational plan was approved in 2013. in this phase, only the first part was approved. a subsequent part was approved at the end of 2015, thus completing the approval of the entire tool. previously, two variants to the structure plan (2011 and 2015) were also approved, as they were necessary to comply with changes in the regional planning act. the operational plan was divided into two major parts: the first part related to issues of the maintenance of the consolidated areas and the second related to the territory transformation. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 65 this second part is the most relevant for our research. this provides the concrete answer to some of the expectations and to problems found in the decision areas. about 190 planning projects for different types of operations (transformation, regeneration, recovery) were drawn on the municipal territory. among other details, these tables summarise the urban parameters, the urban standards, etc. the plan identifies some guiding themes for its definition: the decline in the local sector’s industrial and handicraft production, the safeguard and enhancement of agro-environmental and landscape heritage, the new relevance of the theme of dwellings, particularly of social housing, and the centrality of the public administration as a response to the questions of citizenship of a diverse and complex society (comune di grosseto, 2011). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 66 figure 4 planning project table example of the development plan – transformation area no. tr01a ―serenissima‖ 2 the method of research the research examined two aspects of the strategic choice approach. the first was the coherence between the strategic choices and the operational plan. the second was to demonstrate that a plan built by the strategic choice approach and the traceability of the decision-making process can be useful for updating the plan itself. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 67 the tuscany regional planning act no. 65/2014 requires municipalities to update the planning instruments in three years 7 . therefore, the grosseto municipality must submit a new plan. 2.1 the procedure of analysing ―internal coherence‖ two ways were used to accomplish the first aim of this research: the first was to interview some of the actors who participated in editing the analysed tools and the second was an analysis of the documentation, regulations, and the same decisions. the interviews identified areas requiring further examination or provided reflections and examples listed in paragraph 3.1. interviews were conducted using a semi-structured method, without a preventive definition, with the idea that the person being interviewed would indicate the elements that are continuous between the two tools, the differences and their possible reasons, inspirations and insights for further research, and a specific comparative analysis of the planning tools. the second procedure is comparing the introductory reports and policies of the structure plan with the papers of the operational plan. three archives were analysed: the website paulus regarding the structure plan, the institutional website of the grosseto municipality for the variants of the structure plan and the operational plan and, finally, the press archive. paulus contains the elements tracked in the structure plan at the end of the approval process (2006). from here, it was possible to analyse the state of prior work and the starting point from which the operational plan was edited. 7 see 2 picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 68 the general report of 2004 was extrapolated, stating the general principles and the implementing policies approved in 2006. the municipality website was viewed and the most significant papers identified. these consisted of the policies laid down by the two variants of the structure plan (2011 and 2015) and the reports and policies arising from the two approvals of the operational plan. in fact, this plan was adopted and approved in two steps. the main analysis was conducted in relation to the schedule of the interventions set by the operational plan. the transformation invention cards were identified through an identification code 8 (for example tr03a, tr03b, etc...). the last archive consulted was that relative of the local press. up until the 3 rd of july, 2015, this service was guaranteed by the province of grosseto through the institutional website. after that date, the service was deleted. while not guaranteeing a comprehensive view of the deficiency of analysing the latest events (for example, the second variant of the structure plan and the complete approval of the operational plan), the press archive provides the ability to analyse much of the tools and the public debate. 2.2 the benefit of using the strategic choice approach to updating the plan: the procedure of the research the second aim of this research was analysed only through interviews. 8 the operational plan has about 190 transformations on its schedule. these are organised in a list based on type of transformation (construction, redevelopment, restoration, etc.). each type of transformation is classified based on an identification code (for example, construction is tr, redevelopment is rq, restoration is rc) and a sequential number. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 69 the interview method gave access to the technical and political experience of the significant actors. the structure of the interviews was a free debate with some simple questions. the interviews were conducted with participating actors who edited the analysed planning tools. during the period of the research (may 2016 to june 2017), six actors 9 who played a role in the editing of the tools were interviewed. after a fast view of the strategic choice approach and the final decision areas of the structure plan, the interviewees were questioned on whether traceability is important in the planning process and if it is important to have a method that views that process. afterwards, the 56 decision areas of grosseto’s structure plan were viewed. the interviewees showed which areas were investigated, resolved, or considered in the decision-making process of the operational plan. finally, the interviewees showed which areas should be considered in a new plan-making process. 3 results the results of the research are summarised in two sections that analyse the research’s two aims. the first analyses the traceability as a coherence method into of investigating the decision-making process of the plans. the interviews are used to show the general considerations and to find some specific examples. 9 the interviewees were enzo turbanti (assessor of town planning 1997 2006), marco de bianchi (director of the town planning office), elisabetta frati, silvia tedeschi, carlo marcoaldi (town planning office), pietro pettini (director of the province’s town planning office) picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 70 additionally, the examples show how traceability helps to verify and monitor a plan and how it is useful for the future editing of a new tool. in the second section, the interviews show how the traceability and the strategic choice approach, applied to the decision areas, can be useful in updating the planning instruments. finally, the decision areas, after the approval of the operational plan, were found and analysed. the analysis of the various options was examined and compared to how established in the structure plan. sometimes, the solutions to a problem were changed in the new decision-making process of the operational plan. that happened because uncertainties modified the perception of the problem (see par 1). 3.1 traceability as a ―coherence method‖ the interviews were principally used to show the context of this research. the respondents, some of whom currently work in the municipality, did not express judgement of the planning instruments, as in the way the research does, but expressed some interesting considerations for defining some areas and results of the research. these considerations were used to show examples in the operational plan and the structure plan for comparative analysis and to demonstrate how a traceability principle can help to rebuild the planning instruments. consequently, that principle could be used to help draw a new planning instrument. the first element to be considered, according to all respondents, was the length of time spent between the first tool and the second (nine years). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 71 certainly, this affected the determinations and the connections between the two tools. another important element is that the structure plan has been changed by the operational plan. in fact, before adopting the operational plan, a new structure plan was adopted and approved. however, the changes regarded mainly some aspects that did not influence the object of the research to verify the coherence between the structure plan and the operational plan by a traceable decision-making process. in fact, as the examples will show, it is possible to underline how is important the traceability of the decision to rebuild the decision itself. changes were made to adapt the structure plan to the regional planning act (l.r. 1/05). indeed, the structure plan was produced by the tuscany planning act n. 5/95. however, these changes has ended up removing the vision of the structure plan that was well defined both in regulatory aspects and cartography. therefore, a tool that would grant the operational plan the smallest interpretability possible. in the previous legislation, the structure plan was seen as a ―contract‖ between the region, the province, and the municipality to build, in a clear manner, relations and responsibility between the institutions. this vision was disrupted by the l.r. 1/05, making the subsequent operations less ―transparent‖, in part allowing political groups to make the choices without too many technical constraints. the structure plan was constructed so the technical issues were so prominent that political decisions were confined to a few areas. an example of this is the case of the elementary homogeneous territorial units (utoes) that divide the municipal territory into urban homogeneous areas with common characteristics. the structure plan had identified 12 picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 72 utoes. one of those, grosseto, was divided in 10 sub-utoes. bringing all of grosseto’s sub-utoes into a single utoe is an object of variation of the structure plan. these homogeneous areas were used to identify the different parts of the city and the functions of some areas, definitive objectives, strategies, and the maximum dimensioning admissible. this would have made the definition of the operational plan easier. the drawing of the utoes (and sub-utoes) in a precise manner, or defining the borders between urban and extra-urban areas, would have been the basis for detailing the operational plan. the change that had removed the sub-utoes allowed for the division of the budget of possible transformations not into the ten areas but into more extensive areas, permitting the transfer of functions and the volumes from one city area to another. for example, for the expansion area called ―serenissima‖, some buildings’ dimensions were transferred. the region blocked this intervention because it was planned in one single operational plan. following regional intervention, in that area, only the implementation of partial measures was considered (table of transformation called tr01a: the territorial area changed from to about 800,000 square miles to about 400,000 square miles). the quantity of public and private residential buildings indicated in the structure plan (45% public and 55% private), the number of commercial activities to transfer to this area, and the public space and public infrastructures were identified. the sub-utoes could be used to understand and to quantify the various transformations and the various operational plans. in fact, the operational plan was divided into two major parts: the discipline and the regulations of picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 73 the existing buildings (without a deadline of validity) and the transformations (with five years of efficiency). other principles could also be deduced from the observations and contributions of the province, as both the structure plan and the operational plan have to conform to the provincial tool of urban planning. most of these observations have been made on open and rural territories. in fact, for example, in the past few years, the grosseto municipality has released numerous building permits to realise tourist hotel residences that were turned into domestic housing over time. the tourist destination was in total contrast to the destination of the land derived from the superordinate planning tools. in fact, the operational plan conceded the transformation of these activities into residences through specific rules, thus granting an amnesty. this was blocked because it was in conflict with the provincial planning tool (piano territoriale di coordinamento ptc) (and, therefore, with the structure plan) because the transformation of existing structures into houses in the extra-urban territory was not permitted. this was possible only in the utoes and in areas with a prevailing agricultural function, in accordance with the provisions of the superordinate planning and the structure plan. in fact, a strategy of the structure plan was to block any transformation in agricultural territory. only the farmers could create structures and buildings because their actions were aimed at the defence of the territory and their activities. the operational plan confirms these possibilities by only re-using the existing heritage buildings. in addition to this general analysis, the research focused on identifying the elements that permit demonstrating how the traceability and the strategic choice approach represents an advantage to determine ―inside coherence‖. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 74 particularly, the database paulus allowed for tracking the papers developing during the structure plan process. the comparative analysis of the papers extracted from paulus and the final papers of the operational plan produced examples derived from the considerations and suggestions indicated by the interviews. analysis of examples of forecasts was conducted for the definition and demonstration of the thesis. the examples considered were totally different in representing how traceability can be used. the cases consist of the five examples, which only represent the method and the opportunity arising from the construction of a traceable decision-making process. the first is a transformation presented during the structure plan, which loses track of the approval stage, but is approved as a transformation project by the operational plan (see par. 3.1.1). another case is the definition of a verifiable and inserted operation in the structure plan through the contribution of the then minority in the town council. today, the forecast is included in the operational plan (see par. 3.1.2.). another example arises from a proposal received from a private citizen. the proposal was submitted and analysed by the sportello di piano and is now in the operational plan (see par. 3.1.3.). the fourth case analysed relates to some provisions that were respected in the quantity but not in the location (see par. 3.1.4.). the last case concerns a transformation area that contains a provision that follows an objective and an indication of the structure plan but contradicts another (see par. 3.1.5.). picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 75 3.1.1. the ―kart track‖ example inside the operational plan, it is possible to find a table of transformation for the realisation of a kart track. the track is located in a village (roselle). with the analysis of a press review, it was possible to reconstruct the evolution of the decision-making process. contrary to what is indicated now, the previous location was in a place called squartapaglia 10 . the decision was not only found in the operational plan but emerged from a proposal made to the structure plan. in fact, on march 6, 2001, a contribution was presented for its realisation to the sportello di piano 11 . analysing the press review, you can see this proposal was the subject of an interview with a municipal assessor of grosseto on the 1 st of november 2002. the contribution to the structure plan was not accepted. now, you find this transformation in the operational plan. the location of the intervention is in open territory near roselle. obviously, this means the proposal was again brought into the debate for the new planning tool and considered suitable. 3.1.2. the ―border road‖ example a particular decision-making process was followed for defining the border road in the south of the main city. this solution was produced and included in the decision-making process of the structure plan during the agenda 21 forum. during the forum dedicated 10 newspaper corriere di maremma – day 11th december 2004 11 reference register 28126 – previous number 256/d picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 76 to mobility, at the city theatre on the 19 th of november 2002, a specific proposal was delivered for realising a grosseto border road project. the new road planned to connect the different strategic points of grosseto that were marginal to the centre. in this way, according to the proponents, the traffic directed to the city centre could find a way out on the three ring roads. during the forum, the same project ideas, already delivered to the sportello di piano 12 , were illustrated here by the proposer. a few months later, the same proposals for a border road were announced by the press in the three major local newspapers 13 , to the end of the process of agenda 21. the same information was the subject of an evaluation and inserted within the cognitive framework of the decision areas between the options of ―viabilità del capoluogo‖ (road of the main city). the same options were found in the sub-utoes and in the plan rules. in this case, the operational plan supported that the same proposals were to be regarded as works as to realise for the private in exchange for building opportunities. in fact, many transformation areas in the city (for example, the transformation tables tr01a, tr01e, tr02a, tr02g, and tr06a) have these interventions to be realised in areas to be transferred later by the administration. 3.1.3 the ―golf course‖ example another illustrative case is that of the proposed construction of a golf course. this proposal was put forward by an individual at the sportello di 12 proposal n. 646 on 13th november 2002 – protocol 113946 13 newspapers il tirreno and corriere di maremma on the 15 th of march 2003 and la nazione on the 16th of march 2003 picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 77 piano. since its inception 14 , it enquired about the possibility of constructing a golf course within the open territory, near the utoe of grosseto. about two years later, the then assessor for sport became a promoter of this proposal and mentioned it in a newspaper article 15 along with other interventions related to the sport. the interview was followed by a meeting with the provincial chairman of coni. the further development of this affair was given by another interview with another assessor by the corriere di maremma on september 23 rd , 2003. in the interview, he announced the location of the intervention (in a place called alberino) in the park of the ombrone river. this consideration was reaffirmed a year later, on the same terms, in the corriere di maremma on july 2, 2004. into the rules relating to the sub-utoe 1.4 in the structure plan, there was not this specific intervention. the operational plan approved the intervention in the same area previously indicated (trs16a). 3.1.4 the ―camper parking area‖ example camper parking areas were indicated by the structure plan and identified principally inside or in areas near the utoe. in fact, from the beginning of the process, inquiries were received in the sportello di piano from private individuals and associations for the 14 proposal n. 219 on 26th october 2000 15 newspaper la nazione on 1st november 2002 picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 78 strengthening of these structures across the entire municipal territory 16 . these proposals related to general characteristics and principally the coastal areas. during the agenda 21 forum, further proposals were put forward, as well as different locations of interventions in other contexts, such as roselle 17 . other interventions during the forums have focused on the creation of conventions with the private managers of camper parking areas in which were reported the obligation to use these areas during emergency events (on the 31st of october 2002). the clause was accepted by representatives of the municipality at the forum. on november 19, 2002, the need to realise these interventions outside of the pine-forest areas of marina di grosseto, principina a mare, and fiumara was also debated. at the same time, the camper parking areas needed to be connected by cycling tracks. the structure plan, therefore, defined the possibility of realising camper parking areas in almost all the utoes (marina di grosseto, il cristo, alberese, roselle), always near the border of the same utoe. conversely, the press review did not debate the topic much. on july 2, 2004, an agreement was announced with the owners of land to sell the parking land to service the archaeological area of roselle. all this produced five areas of transformation (tr01a, tr03b, trs06ta, trs07ta, and trs08ta). 16 proposal n. 262 on the 4 th of april 2001, proposal n. 392 on 24 th of july 2011, proposal n. 487 on 30 th of august 2001, proposal n. 612 on 4 th of november 2002 17 private intervention on october 29 th , 2002 and october 31 st , 2002 picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 79 these transformation areas fit into three ambits (marina di grosseto, alberese, and roselle). the three interventions were concentrated on the coast, in marina di grosseto, outside the pine-forest areas, but not near utoes, except for one. the other two were located in two villages, one: near alberese and another in the open territory outside roselle. 3.1.5. the ―buildings outside urban areas‖ example the structure plan provided local craft activities of the area expansion in the area called dirudino. the expansion must be made in a direction perpendicular to the coast, with the pine-forest area on the border to mitigate the view of the area. the operational plan confirms this setting through in the area tr03b. the structure plan incorporated the rule of the provincial planning tool (piano territoriale di coordinamento ptc) that has considered the road (collacchie road) as a boundary between the urban area of marina di grosseto and the exclusive agricultural function territory. the rule did not allow a camper parking area outside of that border. in this area, this forecast was partly contradicted in the provision tr03b because, outside of that border, there is also a camper parking area. tr01ta contradicts the rule in its entirety. 3.2. traceability and strategic choice approach as ―updating method‖ the decision areas the second part of the research demonstrated how the traceability and the strategic choice approach were useful for reviewing the planning tools. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 80 to do this, the principal actors 18 in the decision-making process who participated in editing the planning instruments were interviewed. these interviews served to reveal whether a method of planning based on planning memory is useful for updating the planning instruments. in this section, the declarations of the interviewees are summarised. when somebody had a particular opinion, different from the others, this is indicated. all the interviewees believed planning memory is useful for updating the subsequent planning instruments but were not in accord with how it is should be used, in particular, in relation to the decision areas method. in fact, the politicians had more optimistic opinions and believed the method could be used always in the plan-making process (structure plan and operational plan). in contrast, the technical interviewees think the planning memory is only useful for the strategic plan, after an operative verification. in fact, during the operational plan creation process, the method using the decision areas can influence participation in the decision, sometimes in relation also to a minimal or punctual decision. maybe these different views are part of the role. the technical interviewees were more prudent because they practically involved the creation process of the planning instruments. after this introduction on the traceability and the strategic choice 18 see 6 picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 81 approach, the interviews developed and analysed the decision areas. they dated if and how the planning problems were considered in the planning process and in the hypothetical future planning process. the list of decision areas was shown to the interviewees. the research recorded the statements of the interviewees. first, it is possible to divide the decision areas into two types: general problems 19 and specific problems. for general problems, the interviewees affirm these decision areas are generally always open to updating or reviews because they are not confronted in the first operational plan. generally, the general themes depend on other institutions that have not responded to these problems. this may be because there was little interest or more probably because there was no political interest at the local, regional, or state level to resolve the issue. currently, for the review of a new town plan, all of these decision areas must be changed into the definitions of the problems and solutions. the solutions (options), especially, must be transformed to respond to the new requirements of the town. specific problems are varied and include different sub-types of problems. although relating to a few of the actors, these types of problems are 19 this decisional areas were: general ways (viabilità generale – n.1), railways (ferrovia – n. 9), airport (aeroport – n. 21), canal (diversivo – n. 22). these decision areas are in grosseto territory but are controlled by state agencies (highway companies, state railways, ministry of defence, etc...) picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 82 resolved in a minimus part and the solutions adopted are almost always simpler or derived from the residual planning. generally, this is possible because the economic crisis burdened on the provision more notably. independently, these provisions were derived from the municipality or the will of private individuals. the provisions for the residential areas were especially hit by the economic crisis, both in grosseto and other municipality’s little towns. in particular, the decision area n. 6 – marina di grosseto, il cristo, a little town on the coast, did not have a definition and all options were not considered. in a potential new town plan, this decision area must be considered, perhaps by a total redefinition of the options for action. this is necessary also in relation to the new regional planning act because it has introduced the concept of ―no soil use‖ and the new transformations will probably become more difficult than the re-use of buildings and areas. in addition, the provisions related to the transformation of managerial areas (areedirezionali – n. 5) or productive areas (areeproduttive – n. 27) were not made. firstly, for political reasons impacting the grosseto chamber of commerce, which owns the area chosen for this purpose, this example demonstrates how a decision made in state law 20 influences local provisions. 20 in 2016, the italian government approved the reform of the boards of trade (d.lgs n. 219/16) that have united some of that. the board of trade (camera di commercio) of grosseto was united to livorno. the decisional headquarter are in livorno. this decision will influence the logics of the investments. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 83 the second provision was not actuated because of the economic crisis. other problems to be analysed in the next planning instrument are the decision area of the accommodation capacity (ricettività – n. 28) because the general provisions of the capacity implementation were not applied. the only result has been the redevelopment of the current structures, not a new creation. this is the result of a political idea missing in tourism—a strategic choice about the type of development that tourism must seek, that is, tourism that uses the ―second house‖ development or tourism based on hotels. this choice will influence many other decision areas, such as airport (aeroporto – n. 21), camping (campeggi – n. 26), and camper parking areas (areesosta camper – n. 32) in all the small towns of the municipality. another interesting decision area to be analysed in the next town plan relates to the commerce areas (urbanistica del commercio – n. 20). in fact, the next plan must analyse the problem of the middle structures of commerce, which appertains big companies. the main theme is how these structures are sustainable for the urban system. these structures now benefit from legislation that prefers them over bigger structures. smaller structures respond to other logic, primarily economic, based on the local commerce. the appendix holds the full table of the decision areas. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 84 4 conclusions the research has the objective of demonstrating that the strategic choice approach and traceability are helpful for monitoring and reviewing a town plan. the interview analysis and the examples support this concept. in fact, the structure plan constructed on the principle of traceability permitted this analysis and discussion. the ―paulus‖ database was critical in searching for information and performing an analysis of the structure plan. some examples have been chosen to display the different types of revisions in the decision-making process. these revisions represent the contact points or breakage between the two different tools. the ability to track the decision-making process of a single case demonstrated that traceability of decisions and memory is essential for town planning. traceability in a single plan or between many plans is important for identifying essential elements of a decision-making process—who made the request and when and how it entered into the plan. it is important to remember that two approved town plans were analysed. more analysis can be performed during the decision-making process. it was emphasised that over 10 years, it was possible to track every single decision taken and bring it into the creation process of the entire planning tool (structure plan and operational plan). this analysis is important because it demonstrates that the decision maker can track all essential elements and control the town plan’s development. this will be useful for the new decision-making process. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 85 the second type of analysis shows how the strategic choice approach and the decision areas method represent an interesting way to approach planning. the definition of the decision areas and the relative options of the interviewees deserve separate processing and perhaps a further element of investigation. from the interviews, the current state of the implementation of the decision areas was analysed, as well as the problems encountered also by the citizens, and some changes in priorities and planning were found. some options for actions were also confirmed in the operational plan and other options were introduced in the planning system or had changed from the forecasts of the structure plan. the strategic choice approach makes it possible constantly to analyse the state of the planning implementation, calibrating the choices according to what is the most suitable or deemed optimal. the principle of traceability emerging in the grosseto structure plan is only a natural development of the principles of transparency and participation that article 1 of tuscany planning act 5 of 1995 states is fundamental to achieving ―sustainable development‖. if all this is already detectable in the materials of the structure plan, with this research we wanted to show how a systematic collection of information can provide a sufficient and simple practical reconstruction that is, at the same time, sufficiently careful of the entire process. the dissertation also provides interesting elements that show how the principle of traceability determines a different quality for the plan picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 86 itself. from this point of view, there is significant potential in the presence of the frequently invoked ―principle of responsibility‖, which is of being able to expose the real responsibility of the matured decision, as we have seen, through the complex relationships between technical and common knowledge. the case of grosseto shows that such an approach is possible. all this aims to show how the principle of traceability is also helpful to the determination of an implementation budget. thus, monitoring and reviewing are applied not only for determining the quantity but also in relation to possible corrective actions that can be made during the realisation. the elements or works resulting from this path of transparencyand traceability can also be the basis for future new determinations and process reviews. in fact, the choices that are not shared or that have not been successful from an operational point of view will be reused in a second operational plan. this serves the analysis of the framework for the decision areas. analysing the revisions of the decision areas that occurred between the two tools enables an exhaustive framework of the variability of the decision to be drawn. these changes can be caused by several aspects, such as the changes in the political priorities, of the scale of values, the individual and associated interests, and lack of economic or technological resources. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 87 this basic approach and this principle have the considerable advantage of allowing the decision maker to understand the limitations, motivations, and effects determined by the previous version of the plan. thus, the decision maker can have a good starting point for understanding the territory and its development, as well as the indicators of the trends, which are difficult to understand without knowing the context of decisions. the traceability of the decision and of the strategic choices approach can support the reviews of the plan both internally and in relation to other planning acts, as well as ensuring transparency and participation in the process that built it. if these considerations can be made in the complete planning process (structure plan and operational plan), the same considerations can be made to review the planning process. this research finds the traces of the structure plan in the operational plan; however, the principle of traceability is valid for all planning processes. in particular, the new plan must analyse and monitor the previous one to decide where the plan is good, where it has failed, what must be changed, and how it can have a better planning process. picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 88 appendix the table summarizes the decision areas changed or integrated by the decision-making process of the operational plan. it was maked during the interviews. only solutions or combinations of solutions adopted are indicated. decisional areas adopted solution comment 1 general ways not evaluate political decision not deal 2 – links to the coast 1 – current solution 2 – development of the current ways: as indicated in the planning tool in force 3 road of main city 6 –complete reorganization of ways by the realization of the circuit or rotary in the focus point of the urban traffic. continous need. to propose again in the next planning tool 4 – links between urban center and industrial areas not examinated 5 – managerial areas 4 – partial use of the drain canal area due to the reform of the board of trade (camere di commercio), the solution no. 6 was fallen. 6 sviluppo marina di grosseto, il cristo not examinated 7 san rocco harbor and marina di grosseto ways 1 – confirmation of the current projects of the plan, included the new crosswalk of the san rocco channel already the solutions that predict new crosswalks are not possible due to the high cost picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 89 approved by the city council. 7 – current solution 8 roselle 1the confirmation of the planned project by the municipality, the creation of the infrastructures for the archeological park of roselle 3 – like solution no. 1 and no. 2 plus the realization of the residential building in the areas around the village, the creation of the infrastructures for the archeological park of roselle, the increase of the public areas. 9 – railway 1 – current solution difficult communications with the italian raylways (ferrovie dello stato) for the realization of the others solutions. 10 – purification systems 1 – renovation and development of the currents purification systems. 11 batignano 1 – current project of the plan correspond to a no decision 12 istia d’ombrone and stiacciole 1 – confirmation of the project of the plan. correspond to a no decision 13 casalecci not examinated 14 braccagni 1 – project of the plan applicable 15 – residential expansions of the main city some parcelling plans the solution are changed by the development plan 16 – city parking areas 1 – current solution correspond to a no decision 17 alberese 1 – current solution by the plan plus an other camper parking area picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 90 18 rispescia 1 – current solution 2 – project of the urban redevelopment new project are diffucult 19 weste 5 – like solution no. 1 and localitation of the production system of energy by the weste in strillaie area. 20 – commerce areas view again in the next urban plan 21 airport 1 – current solution the others solution are impossible 22 – drain canal view again in the next urban plan 23 – water resource not define 24 – coastal pine-forest area view again in the next urban plan 25 – urban equalization view again in the next urban plan 26 campings 1 – like the coastal area variant 27 productive areas no realization of the project 28 accommodation capacity 1 – quality improvement of the current accomodations 2 – increase of the accommodation capacity by the expansion of the current accomodations miss a strategic vision of the tourism and the policy on tourism. 29 – regulatory review of the public areas on the left of the san rocco canal 1 – current situation the new events are not possible 30 regulatory review of the grosseto historical center and the little historical centers not examinated 31 – shooting areas 2 – relocalization of the only realization of the project picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 91 shooting systems and areas of the shooting gallery relocalization on other public area 32 – camper parking areas realization near the il cristo and alberese areas the solution are changed by the development plan 33 – open territory 1 – confirmationof the current situation 34 energy lines 1 current situation correspond to a no decision 35 – sandy shore 1 current situation correspond to a no decision 36 – agricoltural consortium areas 2 – project of the new functional use for the via sauro area, the buildings in roselle and madonnino area only realization in the via sauro area 37 – expositive areas 1 – confirmation of the current solution corrisponde ad una non decisione 38 salinity not examinated 39 – ex mine in roselle redevelopment interventions with volumetric increases 40 sinkholes not examinated 41 – coastal dynamics not examinated 42 – thermal waters not examinated 43 – circuit of the horses not examinated 44 – hospital area 4 – like solutions no. 2 and no. 3 plus the identification or development of the current private structure 45 – cemetery area 3 – like solution no. 1 plus the development of the sterpeto cemetery 46 jail not examinated 47 – urban parks system 3 – like solution no. 2 plus the realization of new picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the city plan ijpp – italian journal of planning practice vol. ix, issue 1 2019 92 polyvalent structures and sports facilities 48 – shows city not examinated 49 principina a mare not examinated 50 – logistical hub not examinated 51 – network of the cycle path 2 – development of the cycle path in grosseto 52 – paking for the coast 1 – current solution 53 san martino 1 – confirmation of the current solution 54 – relationship between main city and villages about the new residences areas not examinated 55 rugginosa 1 – confirmation of the current solution 56 regulatory review of the urban areas not examinated picchianti – decision traceability and strategic choice approach: the potential for revision of the 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