Local Government Innovation in Italy and its Impact on Urban and Regional Planning with a Focus on the Milanese Context

This chapter focuses on the local government reform in Italy, with a particular attention to the regional governance and planning innovations. It aims to carry out some reflections on the contents and approach of the reform and on some of its foreseeable impact, also through the analysis of the recent debate in Italy. The Milanese context is assumed as a case study. Here, as in the rest of Italy, the application of the reform is still in process and its effects are difficult to assess, namely those that it is likely to have on the institutional framework of urban governance in the country. Nonetheless, we can see that—for many aspects and despite the efforts made by the relevant bodies to its application—it appears to have several limits. It is likewise clear that the opportunity offered by this reform should not be wasted.