Constructing strategies in strategic planning: A decision support evaluation model

In this paper we describe an evaluation model designed to support strategic urban planning in determining priorities and conditions which make the activation of projects possible. In Italy, many cities have recently adopted or are in the phase of adoption of a general strategic plan with a 10-20 years perspective, which other decisions and sectoral plans should refer to. Notwithstanding these plans are often well-crafted, it is frequently not clear how the implementation of actions defined by the plan should be done, and how to activate social actors necessary for their positive outcome. The hereby proposed model "ASA" (Actions Strategies Actors) - developed during the work on the Strategic Plan of the City of Pesaro - is grounded on the multi-actor dimension of plans, and in that context it attempts to "classify" actions/projects according to three key criteria: (1) the relevance of the projects with respect to the objectives of the strategic plan, (2) the expected interest of actors for specific projects, and finally (3) the costs of projects. Each of these criteria - relevance, interest and cost - are derived variables. The relevance of projects is evaluated with regard to the estimated importance of the project within the structure of plan's objectives, but it also takes into account the potential synergies or incompatibilities between projects. The interest criteria is evaluated taking into account the specific importance of actors with regard to projects and an estimated effort the actors are expected to "invest" in projects. Finally, the cost criteria considers not only the technical costs of projects, but also the feasibility of them being financed by external entities like local, regional, national and European authorities. This feasibility is on its hand partially dependent on the conflictuality among actors around a specific project. Evaluating projects after these three criteria appears to us an useful mean to identify specific strategies of coherent actions, helping to point at those representing "hubs" for a satisfactory overall outcomes, while indicating possible ways of reformulation of the plan in order to improve its viability. With this characteristics, the model is a helpful decision support tool for choosing and calibrating actions, for actors involvement, and for the construction of strategies during the phases of definition, evaluation, consensus building and plan implementation.