Models in understanding and planning the city

The aim of this paper is to present a both chronological and conceptual overview of thirty years of Italian reserch in the branch of urban modelling within the international context. It frames the Italian contribution within international modelling developments, showing the close interrelation which have been established throughout the period considered. During this brief but creative period we have witnessed substantial shifts in approaches: from a macro perspective to a micro-scale description of urban phenomena; from a static to a dynamic setting; from the role of operational tools in evaluating urban policies to theoretical investigation of urban complexity. The paper is organized around six families of models, which are characterized either by the theories underpinning them or by the formalism used.