IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A

Abstract

In Italy, planning processes are often introduced by a Program of strategic objectives (DPP), drawn up in conjunction with the initial phases of a Strategic environmental assessment. This combination of preliminary processes offers significant space for strategic approaches and even strategic plans, particularly at the local level. This paper deals with Taranto, a decaying industrial city in Apulia region (southern Italy). It shows a difficult yet privileged perspective for planning processes that are both oriented towards long-term visions and sensitive to current dramatic problems. After decades of troubles, the community requires new, realistic, shared, inclusive approaches, basing on historical roots and great potentialities that are still undervalued. The present research shows and discusses the starting context of a recent strategic planning process, aiming at replacing the old, aged master plan drawn up in 1976 to support the great industrial growth of the city. The work originates from the draft DPP of Taranto Master plan (PUG), trying to apply a systemic look at the complexity of the characters, instances and spatial-temporal relationships structuring Taranto context. It adopts a scenario-building approach (Jungk, Mullert, 1996), hybridized with a cognitive-map-based interaction model (Borri et al. 2005), to single out community shared visions on which to develop planning objectives and strategies. As an ex-post comparison, a similar process has been subsequently set up using a simple artificial intelligence module. The aim was to figure out the potential of further hybridizations of scenario-building approaches, as a follow-up research.