Urban and landscape planning and design

The macro-sector focuses on scientific activities related to theories, models, and methods useful for planning decisions, alongside techniques and tools for the analysis, programming, planning, design, and management of interventions aimed at transforming the environment, landscape, urban and territorial systems, organizational structures, and the morphologies of human settlements.

The scientific-disciplinary content includes the following topics:

• the analysis, evaluation, and design of human settlements in their historical development, social and economic conditions, landscape reality, and environmental context, particularly concerning natural and anthropogenic risk factors;
• the analysis of interactions among different systems (economic, social, morphological, mobility) that interface with the territory;
• issues related to territorial governance and strategic evaluations through the constant theoretical redefinition of the conceptual frameworks specific to urban planning;
• methods, tools, and practices for physical planning and the design, recovery, redevelopment, and reorganization of settlements at various scales.

From a technical perspective, the research topics within the macro-sector include:

• the analysis and evaluation of urban and territorial systems, examined within their environmental context, considering the natural and anthropogenic risks they face and the socioeconomic variables that influence them;
• models and methods for analyzing settlement phenomena, constructing scenarios, and simulating the effects of planning decisions to support the decision-making process;
• methods and techniques for analyzing urban space, aimed at interpreting, representing, reproducing, and simulating social and economic phenomena and dynamics;
• methods and techniques for collecting, representing, and processing territorial information to support planning activities;
• techniques for developing territorial governance tools at all scales.

More in general, the macro-sector focuses on the theories and practices aimed at understanding and designing cities and territories, addressing in particular the following topics:

• the formation and transformation of organizational structures and the morphologies of human settlements;
• the related issues of interaction with the natural environment and other contexts;
• the theoretical definition of the conceptual frameworks specific to urban planning;
• the methods, tools, and practices of physical planning and the design, recovery, redevelopment, and reorganization of settlements at all scales;
• the procedures for participation in policies and decision-making related to territorial governance.