Spatial Planning e sviluppo del territorio. Dimensione territoriale, politiche di sviluppo, pianificazione. Spatial Planning and territorial development. Territorial dimension, development policies, spatial planning.

This book seeks to provide a methodological framework to investigate the weak connection among policies, programs and plans, which still persists in the South of Italy, thus causing a lack of efficiency in the public expenditure, by evoking the historical evolution of the development policies in the South of Italy, and contextualizing them in the European broader perspective. Though it appears to be more theoretical than practical, it aims at proposing possible solutions to overcome the current lack of efficiency in the public expenditure, thus turning it into a more impacting driver for the regional development with a greater impact. After discussing the evolution of the territorial development policies in Italy, covering issues such as “Progetto 80” and the industrial development policies, the authors investigate the nexus between the Italian approach to territorial development and the European spatial planning emerging paradigm, in particular, by focusing on polycentrism, transportation networks and cultural landscape. They highlight that currently national policies fail in bridging the gaps between different scales, in particular, in facilitating appropriate synergies across regions at a spatial level capable to interpret the European spatial planning approach. Moreover, they observe how inthe South of Italy a lack of physical planning at local level contribute to increase the gap between programs and plans, by weakening the local government‟s effort to concentrate strategies in specific places.