Shrinkage has increasingly become a “standard pathway” of urban and regional development in many European cities and regions. Shrinking is generally seen in the literature as a negative phenomenon: certain strategies may, however, trigger-off positive effects, such as social networking opportunities, affordable housing, and an increased sense of identity and opportunity change. Focusing on the effects of urban development should be seen as a priority, attempting to seize opportunities for the integration of a range of urban policies, making the most of scarce resources. This paper begins with a short introduction, a sort of “reading guide” clarifying in which steps the document's argument is developed in the following sections; then it presents a theoretical framework with some central questions on strategies for shrinking cities and neighbourhoods, with a short review of the literature. An empirical section follows describing the case of Taranto as a de-industrialized city and the main features of its shrinkage, attempting to understand the effects of regeneration policies and urban planning strategies already put into place to tackle shrinkage at various administrative levels. This is followed by an evaluation of existing theoretical knowledge, comparing key points with the main features of shrinkage in the case of Taranto. This is carried out to contribute to a better understanding of the questions addressed, highlighting various unsolved problems that are then dealt with in the concluding section, as research challenges that remain open-ended.

The paper aims to evaluate the value that the experimentation of tactical urban planning activities can assume for the city, through the critical account of some practices in three Italian cities of large (Milan), medium-large (Bari), and medium size (Taranto), which in recent years, in some cases unknowingly, have experienced its effects, also forced by the thrust offered by the need to respond to the consequences of the pandemic. The authors reflect on how short-term interventions started by tactical urbanism movement are inspiring planning institutions to implement short-term place-making initiatives. The contribution moves within the context of new generation urban regeneration in which the transformation of existing spaces is a process of community reconstruction through the redevelopment of public spaces increasingly open to multiple and temporary uses. First through a process of rereading the state of the art of the project of public spaces in Italy and its transformation caused by the pandemic, then through a comparative look between the three case studies, conclusions are drawn on the urban value of the experiments conducted and, on their ability, to identify a new reference point for the sustainable urban regeneration of public spaces.

The evolution of the concept of sustainability and the availability of new statistical information requires constant checks on the set of indicators so that they accurately perform the task of representing well-being in our society. The Sustainable Development Goals refer to various development domains relating to environmental, social, economic, and institutional issues that have been placed at the basis of the Missions envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Specifically, the subject of ecological transition and the related statistical indicators and the evaluations of the effectiveness of the programming implemented by the NRRP to pursue it in practice are of significant interest. The numerous data available were analyzed at a regional level through multivariate statistical methodologies (Totally Fuzzy and Relative method) capable of synthesizing the various information to evaluate the territorial adequacy of the economic planning of its various components. Through the representation on a GIS basis of the geographical distribution of the synthesis values of the fuzzy indices, the paper highlights the different starting point existing between Italian regions. So, these integrated statistical indicators can help public policies to be oriented in a more coherent way with their environmental declared objectives. Starting from the availability of multiple data, it is developed an integrated approach to the evaluation of the local government policies in place and to monitor the progress of subsequent interventions by the Italian government.

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) tools appear to enhance the possibilities offered by a collaborative approach to planning. The present paper analyzes both the results of experiences of the author and of those available in the literature, highlighting possible advantages and disadvantages. After a brief introduction to the meaning of e-democracy, the second part focuses on the role of ICT in collaborative planning, proceeding in the third part to an illustration of an initial panorama of knowledge gathered using ICT in such processes, while discussing criticisms and opportunities. The fourth part discusses the U-city paradigm as a driver of change in urban planning participation processes. Research perspectives are then outlined in the final part.

This paper verifies the existence of relationships between specific features of the agrarian landscape of ancient olive trees in the park territory of six municipalities in the Region of Puglia, Italy, and the economic activity of the areas concerned. This has the scope of exploring developmental opportunities, whether already put into place, or potentially active. It develops and verifies theoretical approaches and empirical experiences which propose processes of territorial exploitation and local development as pathways for the identification and utilization of both the differences and distinctive characteristics of the territory itself, toward the creation of a “value added territory” as the basis for development. Agriculture tends to be presented in terms of the “care and culture” of the territory: not only the appropriate production of primary goods, ecological and locally characterized but also the contextualized production of land and environment. In this paper, the authors use the concept of the park from the perspective of innovation: no longer referring to the concept of environmental protection and preservation as a defensive action, but creating a synthesis between the productive enhancement of open spaces alongside the upgrading of environmental systems, the built environment and environmental, and cultural development.