Tools. Planning agreements, a negotiating tradition

The planning agreements - formally legitimated with the Law 765/1967 - as tools have been used to define, actualize and negotiate the dynamics of growth and development of cities since the birth of the unified Italian country. Mostly explored in relation to residential sectors in the expansion areas, they actually give shape to the city at different scales and concerning several aspects: they represent a unique occasion of negotiation between the municipalities and actors which differs for backgrounds and targets; they contribute to the construction of the public city; they dialogue with the general plans without being necessarily a tool to adulterate planning policies, as suggested by the consolidated historiographical perspective built on the debate around genesis and consequences of the General plan of Milan, 1953.