This paper presents research which has defined a new typology of urban patterns (sprinkling), different from the internationally recognized standard urban sprawl, as well as various indicators that have been implemented to measure sprinkling. It is important to highlight that the damage caused to the environment and communities by urban sprinkling is much more serious and irreversible than that notoriously caused by urban sprawl. The paper introduces the difficult methodological and planning aspects of retrofitting (de-sprinkling), a true challenge for land management. We argue that even partial inversion of many negative effects is impossible in the short term. Only medium- to long-term, organized, and politically coordinated programs can tackle the various issues associated with sprinkling.

This paper describes a critical situation for Italy, which is one of the causes of the overall disorganization of settlement growth in the past decades. Using the data extracted from some institutional databases, we show that a large part of the national territory is managed with highly effective decision-making tools (such as municipal town planning schemes in Italy), which are, however, lagging behind in their conception and fulfilment of scientific, cultural, and political requirements deemed essential today for effective and sustainable land transformation. Municipalities with plans dating back to a quarter of a century ago, or without any plans, are 1445 in number (17% of the total) and involve 6,200,000 ha of territory (1/5 of Italy) with almost 10 million residents. The territorial changes in these geographical areas, mainly concentrated in the south, are managed with tools based on mid-20th century concepts and techniques, although a large proportion of these territories are demographically active and transform substantial portions of land. Thus, for at least 15–20 years, these territories underwent transformations disconnected from town plans and driven essentially by one-off measures or managed through numerous exceptional and negotiated procedures provided for by national legislation. Today, it seems necessary for southern Italy to overcome its extensive delay in territorial planning, and the drive can only come from national government. This would help it finally respond to current environmental sustainability, risk resilience, and territorial security requirements, through appropriate and technically advanced management procedures not envisaged in previous planning procedures.

This article relates to the concept of urban expansion reduction in limited areas, called “de-sprinkling districts”, and methods of designation of their range, as well as modelling and management of their network. This concept was developed from research concluded in 2016, referring to 50 years of urban evolution in Italy, that investigated and diagnosed the forms of urban growth focusing on the Italian model. For this model, the authors of this paper proposed an alternative definition (urban sprinkling) with respect to the sprawl international standard. Certainly this urban model established in Italy during the mentioned years is due to an inefficient control of peripheral areas and new conurbations’ development, both in forms and functions. The cause is to be searched for in the importance given to single towns’ general plans and the minor role of strategic planning (province and region). The political and social assumption that urban development according to the extreme sprinkling model is no longer feasible is gaining ground. However, implementing de-sprinkling processes will not be easy. In this paper, criteria to create a decision support system (DSS) for administrators and municipalities is illustrated. These criteria aim at dealing, technically and politically, with sprinkling and planning medium-term containment.