Urbanistica e cibo: leggere l’architettura del divario

The special session investigates the main obstacles and challenges related to the integration of food-related issues in planning policies and practices. This article introduces the topics developed in the session, focusing on three main issues. The first concerns the transformation and reconceptualization of the urban/rural relationships, which pass through the evolution of the linear vision of the urban-rural interface, toward a multi-relational and multi-scale scenario that can be represented by the image of the urban-rural “kaleidoscope”. The second issue concerns the limitations of traditional land-use regulation mechanisms in sustaining the transition toward more sustainable food systems. The third and last issue relates to the form of food policies in Italy, with regard to aspects of innovation and weaknesses of the experiences carried out so far.