Urban land policy instruments in Italy

Abstract

After some initial references to essential principles of the Italian Constitution on property ownership, this paper describes in the first place, the characteristics of traditional urban development plans and the important function that these assigned to expropriation caused by public use, and subsequently exposes the change in the urban tools in relation to the new needs of urban land management.  In this new context, the effects of urban planning on property management are examined and the reasons of the propagation of the urban comparison are explained, in the local development plans of Italian cities.  The field of analysis is expanded from the main interventions of national legislation with regard to the determination of the compensation through expropriation caused by public use on local property. Building rights which can be recognised for different motives in the local development plans, for property ownership and private associations, are then analysed. Questions lying at the heart of the current debate are discussed in the final section.