ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to contribute to smart rural development through endogenous innovative territorial planning. The design of local projects and policies is usually driven by local stakeholders, who represent a wide range of positions, relating to challenges in rural/urban planning, food safety, ecological transition, and multi-functionality. This broadening of the societal issues demands a rethinking of models of governance, of the coordination between actors and of territorial development. The concept of territorial food governance has given rise to a number of specific policies in France and across Europe. In the urban region around Pisa, the main challenges related to the preservation of water quality, to food production and to the protection of agricultural areas. The dynamics of the territory, the perceptions of the actors, and the concerns of the public, all converge around the integrative potential of food. The paradox of territorial food governance lies in the disparity between rural and urban attitudes to food planning.
