NEW SCENARIOS FOR LARGE-SCALE TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE IN ITALY

The last twenty years have seen a general erosion of trust in the efficiency of local-scale planning and its continued use alongside new planning tools to coordinate large-scale policies. The solutions developed in the Provincial Territorial Coordination Plans (Italian: Piani Territoriali di Coordinamento Provinciale, PTCP) have seemed able to control the main criticism, which is linked to various aspects, including: land consumption and the compromise of natural resources; the drastic worsening of the energy balance and the changing landscape; infrastructure network congestion; and the aggravation of hydrogeological risks. The increasing economic crisis and the need to cut governmental costs have accelerated the process that led to Law 56 in 2014 (regulations regarding metropolitan cities on the union and fusion of municipalities). This law redefined the roles and function of the Province, and the importance of the PTCP will therefore possibly be degraded in the future. Cutting back the political heft of the Province has sparked a reflection on how to redesign the map of territorial planning without triggering traumatic solutions to maintain continuity. The strategic plan of the Province of Teramo represents one of the first experiences in this direction in Italy. This tool aims to define a new model of territorial governance that is capable of ensuring a substantial equilibrium between responsibility and self-determination of the subjects most directly involved in territorial transformation.