Why are we still talking about urban planning in Emilia-Romagna?

Abstract

The Emilia-Romagna Region has always played a significant role in the national scene.
Right after the war, the Emilia-Romagna Region is the place where, better than in other Italian Regions, the debate on the issues of the city and its regulations develops. In Bologna a cultural discussion is formed, contributing significantly to the founding of the National Institute of Urban Planning in 1930, policies and plans find an opportunity for experimentation: INA casa projects (1949), designed by famous architects working in the national context, projects of suburbs outside the urban perimeter, the historical center conservation plan (Cervellati, 1969), policies for preservation of cultural heritage and rehabilitation of degraded areas, located near central areas, after the replacement of industrial or productive functions, actions for increase in value of modern architecture buildings (2002), as an expression of urban quality. The planning instruments operating in the regional context, for the realization of plans and programs, correspond to the founding principles of the original program of urban planning discipline (1942) and to the prescriptive system that allowed a wider application, widely recognized.
Bologna and Emilia-Romagna Region still today play the role of a model for urban  planning and management, to be studied and replicated, a kind of laboratory of experimentation that anticipates and points the way to national legislation.