Equalization and Compensation in Italy: Empirical Evidence for a New National Planning Act

Recent developments in Italian planning practice have brought about major innovations within the planning system. One of these major innovations concerns new development rights granting practices that are used by local planning authorities to secure community facilities and services, capture some betterment value and avoid using procedures of compulsory acquisition. Over time the use of these tools has increased consistently, varying between regions and master-plans. In some cases the legitimacy of such practices has been questioned, and recent developments in regional administrative jurisprudence confirmed such doubts in relation to the Rome master-plan. It is believed that this judgement could then become case-law for future decisions relative to other master-plans. It must be recognized that the debate about a new national planning act to regulate the use of such practices has been continuing for more than a decade. In this paper the need for a new national regulation is evidenced through an empirical approach by analysing three case studies that show the probable consequences the lack of such a regulation could have on master-plans.