29821 - Elements of Town Planning

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has got basic knowledge about the themes that cross the contemporary town-planning, and theories, strategies and tools used by town planners in the reading of the city and in the design of its transformations.

Course contents

The course includes the following subjects:

1)Birth and evolution of Planning as a discipline; the Italian Planning System, its levels and its tools; the “Piano Regolatore” (Urban Development Plan) and its evolution since 1942 until today.

2)Some notions about urban survey: the urban settlements and their morphology in modern and contemporary city.

3) Urban survey techniques: functional, morphological and perceptive analysis and related mapping techniques. Basic notion about GIS.

4)The Italian fundamental Planning Law (Legge 1150/1942); the Regional Planning Law of Emilia-Romagna 24/2017: the structure of the planning tools at the municipal level and their implementation. The “planner's tools”: the main urban ratios, parameters and standards; the “Regolamento Edilizio” and the tools for the implementation of Plans. Some notions about urban economy.

5) Territory, environment, landscape: birth and development of the environment/landscape protection culture in Italy and its main tools. The European Landscape Convention, the Italian “Codice dei Beni Culturali”. The protection of historic centers and Historic urban landscape.

6) Soil consumption and sustainable urban development in relation to the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda.

During the course some analytical exercises will be proposed and carried out by each student. The work will be collected in an original notebook in digital format, whose delivery is mandatory for the final exam. The exercises are aimed at acquiring the basic techniques for reading and interpreting urban phenomena, useful for the prosecution of training in urban planning.

Readings/Bibliography

The following readings concern the general themes of the Course

Claudia Mattogno, Ventuno parole per l'urbanistica, Carocci, Roma 2008

Luca Gaeta, Umberto Janin Rivolin, Luigi Mazza, Governo del territorio e pianificazione spaziale, Cittastudi, Torino 2013

Patrizia Gabellini, Le mutazioni dell’urbanistica. Principi, tecniche, competenze, Carocci, Roma 2018

Patrizia Gabellini, Avvicinarsi all'urbanistica. Approaching Urbanism, Planum Publisher, Roma-Milano 2024.

Valentina Orioli, Martina Massari, Praticare l'urbanistica. Traiettorie tra innovazione sociale e pianificazione, FrancoAngeli, Milano 2023

Further recommended readings will be suggested during the Course

Teaching methods

The Course includes lectures, seminars about GIS and days dedicated to the deepening of the topics of the exercise and to the verification and revision of the work on the notebook. All activities will be carried out in presence and / or through IOL.

Assessment methods

The two modules are integrated and the exam consists in a unique colloque in which the candidate must demonstrate adequate knowledge with respect to the proposed in-depth topics.

The delivery of a notebook collecting the exercises assigned during the course la compulsory to access the exam. The final grade is determined by the sum of the following assessments:

1. Completeness and quality of the documents contained in the notebook (up to a maximum of 5 points)
2. Oral interview on the theoretical topics covered during the course, starting from a grid of key themes illustrated at the end of each lesson. The evaluation will take into account the following criteria:

• Level of knowledge of the course contents (up to a maximum of 10 points)
• Ability to present and contextualize the topics discussed (up to a maximum of 5 points)
• Ability to build links between the topics discussed (up to a maximum of 5 points)
• Knowledge of the specific technical language of the urban planning discipline (up to a maximum of 5 points)

A further element of evaluation is constituted by the oral presentation of a reading choosen among the titles included in a list provided by the teachers, which will constitute the first topic covered in the oral exam. This presentation will be considered as a corrective factor of the evaluation up to a maximum of 3 points.

Teaching tools

Lectures in classrooms with multimedia presentations available through IOL.

Department library as useful support for bibliographic research, specific documentation and investigation.

Office hours

See the website of Enrico Brighi

See the website of Valentina Orioli