ABSTRACT
In the urban planning field, the need to face the dynamics of continual, rapid change has caused a shift of attention from the formulation of goals, defined on a more or less deterministic basis, to the processing aspects of planning viewed from a dynamic, evolutionary standpoint. In fact, planning needs to be flexible and able to adapt to continual changes without neglecting the need to establish clear, well-defined goals at the start. It is implicit in the nature of process rather than product of planning tools
that they should be modifiable over time, even by means of systematic evaluation of the impact that planning choices have on the territory and the local communities. However, the introduction of new planning evaluation tools has progressively complicated the planning norms in force in Italy and, at the same time, has changed the methods of intervention in urban and territorial contexts. Today, evaluation is harder to conduct than in the past owing to the multidimensional aspects that need to be taken into account, the effects of the actions and the pluralist, often conflictual, character of many decisions (Lombardo, 1995). It is thus evident in the ongoing debate on the urban planning process that evaluation enhances the results and brings about an essential, overall enrichment of the whole process (Lichfield et al., 1975). In the new framework of reference norms it is compulsory for the terri-
torial plans for each sector and the urban plans to be “accompanied” by a strategic environmental assessment (SEA), in conformity with the European Directive 42/2001/EU. This has brought about a notable change in professional practice, obliging technical staff – internal and external to the local governing bodies – to deal with a complex, innovative evaluation tool. The EU Directive sets out the need to ensure a high level of environmental protection through the integration of environmental questions during the
planning process. The Directive states that SEA is not a simple evaluation of the effects of a specific plan or programme, but also an overall assessment of the coherence between the objectives of the plan and the general goals of environmental protection established at various levels of government. The SEA should be an important part of the planning process in all its steps, from the definition of the objectives, to the development of policies and actions, to the taking of the planning decisions. The SEA is thus a process of gradual construction of the plan, through the involvement of multiple actors and skills, coming to share choices in a conscious way.1
