Enhancing the Perception of Regions: A Vision for the Metropolitan City of Florence

This chapter focuses on the definition of a vision for the metropolitan city of Florence required by recent planning reform in Italy. The forms of governance in place and the boundaries they assume are discussed in relation to the historical evolution of settlements and functional trends and their recognition and orientation through joint planning instruments at different levels (from joint inter-municipal studies to the Regional Landscape Plan). The actual strategic planning process that occurred in the metropolitan city of Florence is presented as a vision-making process based on regional design theories, in which different metaphorical narratives and representations are explicitly intended to enhance the strategic planning process by shaping the boundaries of the urban region and conceiving of a shared vision for its future spatial development.