Planning in Practice: The Impact of the PNRR on the Metropolitan City

This article explores how Italy’s Metropolitan Cities are responding to the unprecedented challenges and opportunities generated by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the Italian implementation of the European NextGenerationEU programme. Focusing on the governance and implementation of urban regeneration policies through the PINQuA and PUI initiatives, the paper reflects on the organizational transformations, coordination challenges, and long-term governance implications emerging within metropolitan administrations. Developed within the framework of the PRIN 2022 research project “Metropolitan Cities under PNRR”, coordinated by Carlo Pisano and Valentina Orioli, the article presents the first findings of a comparative investigation between the Metropolitan Cities of Florence and Bologna — two territorially connected contexts sharing similar socio-political and spatial characteristics, yet adopting different approaches to the management of PNRR-funded urban regeneration programmes.