28453 - Land and Landscape Planning

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course unit the student is familiar with the main instruments of spatial planning, urban planning and landscape planning of suburban areas and with the regulations in that field. The students is also able to update autonomously his/her own knowledge in this field. In particular, the student is able to independently derive useful elements for the planning and design of green areas and landscape projects. Moreover, the student acquires knowledge about the legislation and professional ethics issues in the specific field, and is able to communicate and summarize in the field under study both in written and oral form.

Course contents

Prerequisites

The student who accesses this course unit is familiar with the fundamentals of history of landscape, landscape ecology, agro-environmental policy, landscape analysis. Such knowledge and skills are provided by the teachings units of the first and second year.

Goals

The “green system” is playing an increasingly important role, both in urban and periurban areas, due to its manifold functions. The integration between public and private urban green areas and green spaces at the edges of the cities, calls for a sound and careful planning, capable of properly considering the fundamental relationships between the city and the countryside. The design of such system must carefully consider and comply with specific constraints, deriving from land management regulations at various levels. These latter, dating back to the last decades, have been gradually refined, and have been playing an ever growing influence on the design of green areas, open spaces, and landscape. The main goal of the course is therefore to allow the student to become familiar with the role that current regulations play in the various phases of the design process, also based on the knowledge of the historical evolution of the subject. This goal is achieved through various levels of detail, preparatory for the understanding of subsequent practical applications, as it is further explained below in the course articulation section. The influence of regulations on the design process is analysed, with reference to some of the main types of development, both through theoretical lessons and in-depth discussion of application cases.

Course articulation

The course is divided into 3 teaching which provide both theoretical lessons and practical activities, workshops, seminars and study trips. The 3 teaching units, integrated with each other, will be carried out by two teachers (as described below) who will work synergistically, both for the theoretical parts provided by teaching units 1 and 2, and, in particular, for the practical part carried out jointly by the two professors (teaching unit 3) throughout the course. Practical work reports and projects are prepared by the students. The contents of these works are presented and discussed collectively during the course. An in-depth seminar activity is planned for a specific spatial planning theme at the local scale. The impossibility to participate in the practical parts does not preclude passing the examination: students who cannot attend them must contact the teacher to agree on a substitute activity. The course unit provides for a practical work that is evaluated during the exam: students who can not attend the lessons must contact the teacher to agree on how this work will be performed.

Teaching unit 1 (20 hours): Rural planning (prof. Tassinari Patrizia)

This teaching unit introduces the cultural framework of the land-use planning discipline, outlines the first theories and conceptions of landscape evolution in its anthropization, up to the European Landscape Convention (2000) and its translation into the Italian legislation. Then, the units provides the concepts of landscape planning and regional and national urban-landscape planning, through the analysis of the fundamental planning laws and tools that regulate the transformation of rural areas, with particular reference to the experience of the Emilia-Romagna region, at the various levels of the land government process. The main town planning laws of the Emilia Romagna region (RL 20/2000 and new RUL), the Galasso Decree, the Landscape and Territorial Plan of the Emilia Romagna Region, and the Provincial Coordination Territorial Plan of Bologna are presented briefly.

Expected results: at the end of the first teaching unit the student knows the institutional instruments in force, at the regional, provincial and local level, and is able to read and interpret both sectorial, regional and local planning tools, and to perform a critical reading of laws and other measures having impact on the landscape.

Teaching unit 2 (20 hours): urban planning and green areas (prof. Daini Moreno)

This teaching unit presents the basic concepts of the urban planning discipline, with particular reference to planning in the field of green areas and landscape, passing from the regional and provincial levels to the municipal level, by referring to a framework of the historical evolution of the city and its consequences over the centuries, which is necessary to read the current trends in the urban planning perspective, thus highlighting the reasons underlying the legislation in this field. Then, the teaching unit discusses the role of green areas in the town planning legislation, through the perspective of its evolution through time, to highlight the growing attention paid to this subject, with particular reference to both local and national case studies. The unit also discusses the definition of the amount of green areas at the various land use management levels and related land use plans, starting from the current amount of services for the city (urban planning standards), comparing them with the changing needs of the population, in order to identify new needs and most appropriate standards suitable to meet future needs. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of new trends in the planning of green areas, both at the local and European levels.

Expected results: at the end of the second teaching unit the student knows the institutional instruments in force, at the regional, provincial and local levels, with particular attention to the issue of the green areas standards; he/she is able to read and interpret the planning tools also through their evolution, and to critically interpret in both sectorial, regional and local plans the method of calculating the standards of the various types of green areas and elements.

Teaching unit 3 (20 hours - prof. Tassinari Patrizia – prof. Daini Moreno)

This teaching unit provides practical activities aimed at linking planning addresses (from the broad to the local scale) to the state of places. A first phase focuses on the critical analysis of the current (broad and local scale) provisions, on a geographical area selected within the Emilia-Romagna region, and a second phases on the study of the state of the site. Students (in small groups) will be guided in the interpretation and elaboration of the indications deriving from both the first stage of planning tools reading and those resulting from the survey in the chosen study area. The reading and analysis of the maps used in this teaching unit can be done through paper-based materials or through GIS systems. Preparatory knowledge on the use of such systems and their use for reading the main cartographies used in this teaching unit are provided in the Land Surveying and Analysis Using Gis Applications - 6 cfu (2nd year).

Expected results: at the end of the teaching unit, the student knows the existing institutional instruments at the regional, provincial and local level, and knows how to read and interpret the main planning tools and the state of the places.

Readings/Bibliography

Lecture notes prepared by teachers in relation to all teaching units (the material is made available on the Campus AMS progressively during the course, functionally for the lectures). Lecture notes given by the professors represent a useful base if integrated by notes taken by students during the lessons.

For further in-depth study of specific subjects and in particular in case the student cannot attend the lessons or can attend only part of them, it is warmly recommended to refer to specific chapters of the following books (please contact the teachers in advance): “Progettazione urbanistica”, F. Oliva, P. Galuzzi, P. Vitillo, Maggioli, Storia del paesaggio agrario italiano, Emilio Sereni, Laterza, 1996, Architettura del paesaggio. Evoluzione storica, Annalisa Maniglio Calcagno, Franco Angeli, 2011. L. Benevolo, Le origini dell'urbanistica moderna, Laterza 1991 E. Salzano, Memorie di un urbanista. L'Italia che ho vissuto, Corte del Fontego Venezia 2010.

Teaching methods

The student is introduced to the main themes of landscape and environmental analysis and planning, through their basic concepts and regulations. Through a logical and chronological order, the most important planning documents at different land-use management scales are analysed, by highlighting their relationships and protection and government functions. Through their critical analysis, the most important and innovative issues which were introduced over the time into spatial, landscape and environmental planning are discussed.

The course is divided into teaching units that include theoretical lessons in the classroom, seminars, and practical activities and surveys on a case study selected for the laboratory application activity. In this case the theoretical lessons are the basis for carrying out of the laboratory activity and for this reason they will be carried out in an integrate manner throughout the course, providing for the preparation of exercise documents by the students. The content of these documents will be the subject of presentation and discussion with the professors.

The impossibility to participate in the practical parts does not preclude passing the examination: students who cannot attend them must contact the teacher to agree on a substitute activity. The course unit provides for a practical work that is evaluated during the exam: students who cannot attend the lessons must contact the teacher to agree on how this work will be performed.

Assessment methods

The course unit is part of the “Landscape Design and Spatial Planning” Integrated Course, together with the “Design and Construction of Green Areas” course unit. Therefore, the evaluation of the integrated course takes into account jointly the level of knowledge and skills acquired by the student in relation to the contents of both the above-mentioned course units. The knowledge and skills taught in this course unit are evaluated through an interview, during which the knowledge and skills acquired about each of the theoretical and practical teaching units are assessed. The graphical works will allow the student to gain a preliminary evaluation of the team work, then each student is asked to answer a question on the theoretical part of the teaching unit, in order to evaluate his/her knowledge.

In particular, the assessment considers the level of achievement of the following education goals: - knowledge of the legislation in force, also at the European level, to recognize the main rules of the planning bureaucratic procedure; - knowledge of the main landscape interpretation criteria; - knowledge of the history of urban and suburban landscapes, through the city-countryside relationships; - capability of reading a town plan and relevant regulations. The overall evaluation is formulated by the exam committee taking into account the critical knowledge and skills of analysis and interpretation of the tools and the main phenomena examined during the course, and their relationships.

All dates, times and locations of the examinations are published on the website of the degree course. To subscribe use the web application AlmaEsami.

Teaching tools

Overhead projector; PC and projector; urban planning maps both in paper and digital format.

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Tassinari

See the website of Moreno Daini