LABORATORIO DI PIANIFICAZIONE DEL TERRITORIO E DEL PAESAGGIO M - Z

This Studio (M-Z) engages students in learning experiences about approaches, tools, and strategies for regional and landscape Planning to address the most important socioeconomic and ecological challenges of the 21st century. Building on the investigative and design skills developed during previous years of study, the class offers a practical experience, common to all students, at the territorial scale.

The aim is enhancing not only theoretical knowledge but also design skills and competencies, encouraging students to use both the conceptual and practical tools of physical-spatial planning—stemming from the reformist movement and the so-called ‘environmental shift’ in planning—and those of contemporary process-based and strategic planning approaches. The goal is to enable students, through critical reflection on a practical experience, to acquire not only technical skills but also the knowledge, creative sensitivity, and reflective abilities necessary for professionals involved in the complex processes of managing and designing contemporary territories.

The studio includes practical professional training activities supported by seminars and individual study. A significant part of the learning process in this course is based on the opportunity for each student to critically reflect on the effectiveness and quality of the work he/she has done—based on the studied materials (theoretical essays, manuals, case studies) and feedback gathered in class. Specifically, the course includes:

• Theoretical lessons and seminars, examining the evolution of the issues that territorial and landscape planning has tried to address from the post-war period until today. This includes understanding the reformist foundations of the discipline as well as the various value-based, regulatory, technical, and technological innovations that have profoundly changed its practical-professional aspects overtime. The objective is to familiarize with the variety of conceptual and technical tools in the planning field by understanding the specific objectives and possibilities tied to each tool, depending on the historical period and the issues they were originally designed to address. In this type of activity, lectures may be supplemented by self-learning seminars where students are asked to critically share the content of the assigned readings.
• Lab activities for carrying out a practical exercise, during which students will have the opportunity to once again apply the spatial investigation tools learned in previous years, combining them with fieldwork and study visits for both data collection and interaction with various stakeholders. The exercise aims to identify, within a specific study area, the main problematic aspects and the primary action strategies to address those issues. The class project will be carried out collaboratively by all the students in the class, but with a division of labor that will allow the instructor to identify and evaluate each student's individual contribution to the collective work. This contribution will be made through the completion of weekly assignments, each building on the previous one. During the practical activities, each student will be asked to work either individually or in groups, in class or in the field, and/or to share the results of their work with the rest of the class.

The theoretical and practical activities of the course are organized, in a parallel and interconnected manner, into 6 thematic blocks. These correspond to six different phases in the evolution of territorial and landscape planning theory and practice, each characterized by specific problems, conceptual tools, and analytical and intervention techniques. Each thematic block is associated with a step in the course's practical exercise.

Block 1 – Origins of the Profession: Control and Construction of Territorial Identity (Planning and the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century; planning during the Fascist regime, LN 1089/39, LN 1497/39, LN 1150/42, anti-urbanization laws, and the history of rural villages)

Block 2 – Reformist Planning and the Problem of Development (The city-countryside relationship in post-war Italy, agrarian reform, and the abolition of the Fascist anti-urbanization law; The "Cassa per il Mezzogiorno," building speculation, the Gubbio Charter, the "Bridge" Law and DM 1444/68)

Block 3 – The Environmental turn in Planning and the Problem of the Limits of the Growth (The debate on the sustainability of territorial development in the 1970s-1980s, the Galasso Law and the Urban Code; The urban ecological footprint, territories and landscapes of illegal building; Approaches to ecological territorial and landscape planning (European Landscape Convention)

Block 4 – The rise of process-based Planning (The impacts of institutional changes on planning in the 1980s-1990s; Deregulation and the crisis of reformist planning; from government to governance of tspatial planning; new roles for the private sector and new tools for negotiated planning; LRS 19/20; the current relevance of reformism and fundamental economics)

Block 5 – New Roles for Civil Society (Justice and spatial equity in the 21st century; Deliberative planning; co-productive planning; territory and landscape, common goods, pros and cons)

Block 6 – Planning for Resilience (The debate on the Anthropocene and the emergence of planning for climate change adaptation; planning for degrowth; introduction to civil/alternative/transformative territorial economics)

Planning, like all technical disciplines, requires a "know-how" that cannot be learned in isolation by studying from books and notes. For this reason, not only attendance at lectures but also active participation in laboratory activities is mandatory (especially adherence to deadlines). The assessment and consequent evaluation of each student's performance are based on the following criteria:

Attendance: Attendance will be monitored, along with participation in joint activities (in class or in the field). This accounts for 10% (3/30) of the overall performance evaluation.

Assignments: The class project is a synthesis of seven different assignments. For each step, students are expected to follow the instructor's guidelines during class hours, collect and analyze data based on the given instructions, utilizing both studio hours and time dedicated to individual study. Students must be prepared to share the results of their work with the rest of the class and any external guests (e.g., stakeholders with specific interests in the class's work) during desk reviews scheduled with the instructor. The punctuality and rigor with which this work is carried out and shared, and its integration into the final course project, which will be presented in an oral exam, account for 45% (13.5/30) of the overall performance evaluation.

Midterm and final exams: The theoretical content of the course will be assessed through two written exams (midterm and final) with open-ended questions, which takes place during both exam sessions (winter and summer) before the oral exam. The midterm covers the content from the first half of the course, and a final written exam covers content from the second half of the course. The outcome of the two written exams accounts for 45% (13.5/30) of the final performance evaluation.

How has the role of private interests evolved in the history of territorial planning?

Indicate at least two planning tools introduced in the 1990s, different from those of reformist planning, aimed at addressing contemporary problems of cities and regions.

How has the meaning of the word "territory" changed within the planning discipline from the post-war period to today?

How has the meaning of the word "landscape" changed within the planning discipline from the post-war period to today?

What are the planning implications of the land use analysis conducted within the class project?

What are the planning implications of the identification of landscape units performed within the class project?

What are the planning implications of the stakeholder interviews conducted within the class project?