Preservation and valorisation of agricultural peri-urban landscape: a multi-methodological approach for public and private governance policies

The peri-urban agricultural landscape has both a productive and a strong social value. In several cities, it is possible to observe a renovated “need of rurality” by citizens. The multi-functionality of agriculture is nowadays fundamental for the sustainable management of peri-urban agricultural areas and the farmers have assumed a renewed strategic role. The aim of the research is to define a decision support tool for peri-urban agricultural areas management policies with a broad consensus among Local Administrations, farmers, and private land-owners. Three fundamentals drive the proposal: 1. The importance of the conservation of the historical characters of the landscape and its cultural value; 2. The enhancement of the landscape strengths with respect to the potential use by citizens; 3. The sustainable land management, from a public-private partnership perspective. Given these premises, a multi-methodological approach based on the combined use of S.W.O.T. Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) has been proposed to compare the direct and indirect benefits with the costs related to hypothetical intervention scenarios. Furthermore, the application of the multi-methodological approach to the case-study of Moirago (Milan) has allowed to test its validity and effectiveness in supporting decisions regarding the valorization of agricultural areas. Two different scenarios for the landscape enhancement (one according to the principles of Conservation) and for the improvement of its accessibility have been proposed to the Local Municipality, the farmers and then to the citizens. Throughout the application of the CVM, the Total Economic Value (TEV) has been estimated and the economic sustainability of the conservative scenario has been demonstrated.