Sui margini: una mappatura di aree interne e dintorni

The article describes the results of a study still in progress, that the authors are developing through research at their own institutions, and within the technical group “Inner areas and surroundings” of the Italian Society of Urban Planners (SIU). Starting from a critical overview of international and national policies that, over time, have tried to tackle (although with poor results) polarization phenomena and the symmetrical processes of peripheralization and impoverishment of large territories, the reflection focuses on the methods of mapping different forms of territorial imbalance and activism. In this frame, the results of a survey on regeneration experiences in various Italian internal and peripheral areas offers an “outside the centre” interpretative perspective, helping rethink the approaches to read marginalization dynamics, and the criteria for assessing the effects of policies aimed at countering them.