The role of regional design for enhancing competitiveness of regions and cities. The case of the Metropolitan City of Florence.

Focus of this contribution is the approach to strategic spatial planning occurred in the Italian metropolitan city of Florence. During the spatial planning process, finalised to connect places with strategic development directions, many problems are emerged while defining, selecting and making sense of the complex reality of the metropolitan city and its positioning into the global context. Its boundaries, laying on previous provincial administrative borders, seem unable to catch socio-economic and functional geographies and trends. Furthermore, the metropolitan city includes territories and communities that have strong historical roots and base their competitiveness on local features that are well-known all over the world (Chianti Shire, Mugello race track area) and feel to be “outside” and “other” than the metropolitan city of Florence. In such a complex framework, the making of the strategic metropolitan plan (PSM) has been conducted as a creative regional design practice for framing the urban region and envisioning its possible future development. By using spatial representations and shared visions, the debate has raised on physical changes, sharing responsibilities and resources. In the implementation phase, this process has conveyed to conceive a multi-level and trans-scalar approach to local projects, conceived as part of the integrated visions of the PSM. Starting from this reflection, the contribution discusses the role of regional design as a possible way to understand and interpret the historical and local-connected city and its future, and defines issues to tackle and perspectives for enhancing regional values and cope with rising global competitive pressures.