Production Activities and Spaces within the Ecological Transition in Italy: Approaches, Visions, and Challenges in Industrial Land Use Planning

This chapter discusses key intersections between diverse forms of industrial development and green urbanism in Northern Italy, one of the most dynamic territorial platforms for production in the European Union. Focusing on the role of multi-scalar planning systems in the Milan and Bologna city-regions, the discussion highlights transitions in existing and new productive places around: (1) changing forms of manufacturing and (2) tensions within land use planning, both precipitated by the recent growth of logistics, photovoltaic parks, and data centers. Deploying a within-country comparative case study approach, the discussion draws lessons from two different cities, located along one of the most important territorial axes in Europe, and from two different planning systems: the negotiation one and the regulation one.