The governance of peri-urban areas in Lombardy (IT): the strengths and weaknesses of the regional territorial governance system (original) (raw)

This article illustrates the measures adopted by the Lombardy Region to plan peri-urban areas at the regional level. These territories typically have urban and rural characteristics and extend beyond municipal administrative boundaries. Their characteristics and extension prevent their precise delimitation and make it difficult to elaborate plans that can effectively regulate their development. These difficulties appear insurmountable for some municipalities that ignore these territories in their planning instruments or regulate only that part of the peri-urban territory within their administrative limits. Decisions at the regional level are relevant to overcome these difficulties. Planning at the municipal level transposes regional prescriptions. In contrast, jurisdiction at the regional level is supra-municipal and, therefore, potentially enables the reduction of the existing gap between governance and peri-urban patterns at the local level. The relevance of regional intervention ...