ABSTRACT
Italian policies dealing with the environmental values and paradigms for development essentially refer to statements of those policies rather than to their outcomes. This is the case, for instance, in the latest Southern Italian policies considering the enhancement of environmental quality as a necessary condition for development.
The hiatus between political theory and its practice, i.e. between ideological and conceptual apparatus and its application, represents a constant factor in the Italian scenario. There exists an antithesis between a very advanced theory, and a practice that it is constantly behind time because of administrative inadequacies, political immorality, bureaucratic inactivity. This antithesis is magnified by the historical tradition of misgovernment, e.g. in the Southern Italian situation, it comes from the historical contrast between intellectuals and misgovernment of institutions.
This situation can be read also in environmental planning. In fact, the Southern planning policy of the Italian Government tries to hide mistakes, contradictions and administrative inefficiency under ideological cover-up,
In the context of the Italian situation, therefore, the proposition that environmental regeneration is a motor for development is usually limited to a conceptual dimension of planning remaining a merely abstract principle, which does not influence the land management, nor the administrative routine procedures.
