Geodesign in the Planning Practice: Lessons Learnt from Experience in Italy

In the last two decades or so, the geodesign approach has attracted a growing interest in the community of scholars and practitioners in spatial planning, landscape planning and related disciplines. Research on geodesign has since been flourishing accordingly, and dozens of case studies around the world have been undertaken. Early experimental studies were mostly carried-on in academic settings, occasionally with direct involvement of local stakeholders. More recently, however, the experiences gained in early years of research have offered a solid ground for launching a growing number of applications of geodesign methods to real world planning practice, most notably in strategic planning. This contribution presents the comparison of the results of two real-world case studies developed in Italy by the author, aiming at proposing an early assessment on if, and to what extent, the geodesign approach may be ready to offer an effective solution to most actual needs in the contemporary planning practice with regards to the current evolution of the Italian planning systems.