A territorial project

Over the last two decades, the themes of the large-scale area and the territorial project have attracted renewed attention. In the Italian context, given the relative autonomy of the various regions, this has given rise to a series of experiments. Beyond its rhetorical appeal, the question posed is how – conceptually, strategically and operatively – the environmental aspect has enabled a rethinking of both contemporary territorial projects and traditional spatial policies for housing, development and mobility. A broad and contextualized reflection on the theme inevitably leads to a reformulation of the concept of development.
Landscape has become a commodity, featuring in a large number of economic policies and city marketing strategies. This signifiesa rising social demand for a certain quality of environment and landscapethat has become the yardstick for individual and collective welfare. The plan for the Salento region constituted a moment of reflection on alternativedevelopment models, inspired by rationalities different from those ofthe past and based upon ideas in which phenomena and processes areboth strongly interrelated and difficult to isolate. It provided an invitationto rethink the construction of the territory within a different, new modernity.