Urban commoning and its implication for urban planning: two case-studies from the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy)

In a world that is rapidly and continuously changing, the widespread of design practices performed by multi-faced bodies (e.i. individuals, associations, enterprises, public authorities) are a possible answer to urban and social needs which seems to be not effectively and rapidly addressed by the “traditional” planning approach. Urban planning has thus become more multi-faceted rather than focused exclusively on physical design, more bottom-up than top-down, and more oriented to participation, stakeholder engagement, local identity and to urban commons. Since then, urban commoning practices are representing a challenge for urban planning: even if they are now effective tools and procedures to regenerate already built up areas where official planning practices have shown to be not well equipped, the relationship between bottom-up and formalised planning processes is still ambiguous. Therefore including such practices within the official planning framework may help strengthening their role and implementation. After a brief analysis of the recent shift that invested urban planning towards small, low-cost and diffused urban interventions instead of wide redevelopments or new developments, the paper focuses on two case-studies within the Emilia-Romagna Region that show different approaches and tools for regulating bottom-up practices in the planning process: the Regulations on collaboration between citizens and the city of Bologna for the care and regeneration of urban commons, and the Municipal Operative Plan for the regeneration of Ravenna City Dock through temporary uses. The expected contribution is to understand the way urban commoning can be embedded within the institutional planning practice, and how these changes in the planning system directly alter planning relationships and lead to new patterns of governance.