Raccontare il futuro. L’uso dei concepts spaziali e delle metafore nella rappresentazione delle vision strategiche/Telling the future. Spatial concepts and metaphors in the representation of strategic visions

In spatial planning, representation (Faludi 1996; Neuman 1996; Duhr 2007; Zonneveld 2008) constitutes a fundamental element of the territorial project, because it gives a visual image of the future. Images, by projecting future hypothesis on the present, are a privileged vehicle of urban communication (Mascarucci 2004; Gabellini 2010) and have the capacity to stimulate debate within the decision-making processes and to encourage shared projects (Viganò 2009). The ability of representations to build robust argumentative structures and visions of the future is at the centre of the regional design approach (Thierstein, Förster 2008; Balz, Zonneveld 2015; Lingua 2017). In order to illustrate the design approach of regional design – after a theoretical framework regarding different methods of representing the future – we present the case of the strategic plan of the Metropolitan City of Florence.