Verde parma (Green Parma): national policies vs local public and private strategies in the promotion of sustainable architecture

In the past three years national and regional sustainability policies have caused a real technological revolution in the italian building market, although a real impact on nnovative design hasn’t been achieved. Local communities have found various difficulties in promoting local agendas and innovative architecture, and construction companies have had the tendency to rely on safer national incentives, following the related requirements, rather than promoting experimental initiatives in accordance with local institutions. The building private sector has barely adapted itself to the new national/regional regulations. The goal of this paper is to put in perspective public strategies in promoting sustainable architecture and enlighten their effectiveness and impact, in relation to the efforts of local communities and private sectors. The aim is addressing the response of construction companies, evaluating how they can improve their technologies in order to achieve the goals set by the administrations. We bring the town of Parma as an exemplary case for the promotion of sustainability through local public policies.