Why Italian Planning is Worth Studying

Italian planning seems to be underestimated outside Italy and the cause for this is unclear. There may be two possible explanations. On the one hand, it could be argued that Italian planning is ignored internationally as the consequence of a lack or of a small number of international articles about it published in international journals. On the other hand, it may be the perception that international scholars have of it, which in part depends on the articles published, but which means that there have been few attempts to spread knowledge concerning the practice of planning in Italy. This article provides a brief account of the development of Italian planning over time and seeks to emphasise the peculiarities of the discipline in Italy and to discuss what areas of study offer the best potentials for further studies either on a comparative basis with other countries or Italy­ focused.