Transferable Development Rights in Regeneration Schemes for Historic City Centres. Legislation in the Umbria Region

The debate on the possibility of transfering the right to build, defined and intended as the development right, does not have a long tradition in Italy. In fact, it is only since the mid 1990s, when Perequazione (equalization) was introduced in practice, that there has been debate about transferability and example of implementation. At the moment, the notion and use of transferable and tradable development rights have passed de facto and become widespread among local authorities to achieve various objectives such as compensation for a loss, economic or planning incentives, distributive justice among landowners and between these and non­landowners. This paper will report on the experience of the Umbria Region in Italy in the use of development rights as a bonus to encourage certain characteristics of both development and re­development proposals in regeneration schemes for historic centres.