ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to verify whether and to what extent ethnic and cultural diversity can be considered as a resource, that is, as a benefit to the social and economic development of a region, rather than as a problem. It reconstructs the complex Italian legal framework governing the matter of urban regeneration and the most important issues. The chapter contains a reflection on the use of complex urban programmes and the results obtained through the new regeneration tools aimed at achieving, at the same time, objectives related to the economic and social development and to the environmental sustainability. It identifies the role which can be played in the context by the management policies of migratory flows, whose strategic value is underrated, and by a greater openness of public decision-making processes, which are scarcely transparent and inclusive of citizens' interests. The chapter analyses conclusive remarks on the Italian experience of urban regeneration.
