Francesco Calabrò

The public-private partnerships in buildings regeneration: a model appraisal of the benefits and for land value capture

This paper discuss the thematic of public-private economic negotiation in the realization of urban regeneration programs. The Complex Urban Programs (PUC) represent a generation of planning instruments generally in variation to ordinary instruments of general planning (PRG). These instruments found its legitimacy on new forms of concerted planning, in which the objectives are the effectiveness and efficiency of the public administration and the most important point of view are the quality and transparency of the negotiation between public and private. In these circumstances for the purposes of the feasibility, the arguments of urban planning must necessarily be supported by economic-financial considerations resulting from appraisals of the benefits financial and the new real estate values generated by the decision to promote the program in PRG variant. Particular attention must be paid on the modality for consultation between the public government, the owners and the developers when they comparing on mutual convenience as part of the PUC: the negotiation activities is the time during which the public body can capture a portion of land value generated by the choices of modify the PRG. The aim of this paper is the presentation of the economic negotiation between public and private that the Municipality of Reggio Calabria (Italy), with the technical and scientific support of the university laboratory of economic and appraisal evaluation (LaborEst) has promoted in recent years through two PUC. The two Complex Urban Programs are both located in the south of cities of Reggio Calabria (Italy). The paper describes in particular the model for appraisal of extrastandard charged by private entities participating in the two programs. The model developed by both authors is the result of their common research.

The Cultural and Environmental Resources for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Economically Disadvantaged Contexts - Economic-Appraisals Issues of a Model of Management for the Valorisation of Public Assets

Available resources to public policies are always limited: those intended for culture, too often considered non-essential to the development of the community, they are often essential in particular way. Ignoring the economic value of cultural resources, their conservation, costs and total benefits of cultural policies and investment projects with a strong cultural component, can lead to non-optimal allocation of resources, to degradation of cultural capital and to failure to exploit opportunities for development.Another important aspect is the use of resources for the physical recovery and reuse of assets, without adequate attention to the phase of management: too often you find yourself with assets recovered but unused due to the lack of resources for management. A method tested recently is the involvement of private companies in these activities: in economically stronger and more advanced realities, the size of the most significant tourist flows allows to reach levels of return on investment and so makes this a feasible solution.Cultural resources in the rural settings of the most economically disadvantaged areas are characterized by a not elevated number of visitors not spread in the same way throughout the whole year: in these conditions, because of their different costs structures, a company may not have sufficient profit margins, but a private non-profit organizations can achieve a balanced budget that allows the usability of assets of fundamental importance into development strategies based on cultural tourism.This paper focuses on the main economic appraisal aspects and illustrates a management model, economically sustainable, for the tourist value of cultural and environmental resources, particularly suitable to be applied in rural contexts and in economically disadvantaged realities; the analyzed case study is indeed located in Gerace, ionic inland town of Calabria, region of southern Italy.

Local Communities and Management of Cultural Heritage of the Inner Areas. An Application of Break-Even Analysis

This paper describes an application of Break-Even Analysis (BEA) as an instrument to support public decision-makers in identifying the type of entity to be entrusted with the management of architectural heritage, in the case of absence of public resources for this purpose. The case study is localized in Gerace, a Calabrian small town, in the South of Italy. In particular, in this case, the BEA verifies the economic sustainability of the management of such assets; BEA compares the implications of the entrusting to two different types of entity, private for-profit and private not-for-profit, which have different structures of operating costs. The application of BEA allows us to understand how the expected levels of demand generate sufficient revenue to allow a balanced budget, when the management entity is a private not-for-profit; but they are not sufficient to ensure the profitability needed when the management will be entrusted to a private for profit entity. This implies the need to involve the local community in the management of cultural heritage, through a direct commitment: this role is crucial, for example, in the Inner Areas, when the tourist’s flows are insufficient to guarantee the profitability for private for profit subjects. However, if the heritage is a relevant tourist attractor, profits are not directly generated by the management of the asset, but significant impacts are still produced on the local economy. This is the reason because the local community have to guarantee anyway the enjoyment of its heritage.

Territorial Cohesion: Evaluating the Urban-Rural Linkage Through the Lens of Public Investments

The paper deals with the significant issue of urban-rural linkage, concentrating on the less-developed regions of Europe, and in particular the case study of the Calabria Region (southern Italy). Despite the evolution of the urban-rural exchange, inner areas are facing economic, social and environmental problems, resulting in unemployment, depopulation, marginalization, disengagement or degradation of historic and architectural capital. Institutional bodies and policy makers, in particular at the local level, deal with the complexity of the choices that need to be faced, requiring the capacity to implement complex decision-making processes and tools capable of integrating the use of territorial resources, culture accessibility and social integration. Investigating the issues emerging from the academic literature and policy documents of the past 20 years, the paper presents the preliminary research step on the interpretation of the urban-rural dynamics through the lens of the 2007–2013 public investments made in this region. The preliminary results in terms of expenditure efficiency, private co-investments and geographical distribution highlight the need for an economic evaluation approach to support local authorities in addressing the challenge of the EU Territorial Agenda 2020.

The Evaluation Culture to Build a Network of Competitive Cities in the Mediterranean

The gradual shift of the economic centre of gravity to the east, with the consequent marginalization of the majority parts of Europe, requires an approximation, in a short time, for the Mediterraneans peoples and their cultures to create a common space that will strengthen the interdependencies and complementarities.

Transfer of Development Rights as Incentives for Regeneration of Illegal Settlements

In Italy, southern cities are often characterized by widespread phenomena of illegal settlements, that have resulted among other things in a worsening of the quality of life of the urban-rural interface, and the decline of the considerable architectural interest of the entire city. .The goal of this paper is to propose an approach that would help requalify what is already built, to make the best of what has been realized by focusing on the quality and liveability of the city. This approach is based on a particular methodology based on the promotion of Urban Complex Programs (PUC), which provide a system of development rights resulting from the demolition of unfinished illegal settlements . The benefits of this approach are many, including improvements in efficiencies and safety, meeting demands of environmental protection and reducing consumption of energy, responding to the highest standards of protection and seismic risk prevention. They can be obtained only on one condition: that they are based on a system of collective and public conveniences in accordance with the principle of sustainability in multiple dimensions (environmental, cultural, technological, political, institutional, social and economic). But for this approach to be viable it needs also to be convenient for the private actors as well. With this paper we hope to provide first an original approach that can improve the conditions of cities burdened with the problems of illegal settlements that is both sustainable and convenient and, second, an instrument that can provide information for both the public and private sectors on the fairness of the procedure and their mutual interest in pursuing this approach.

Decision Support Model for Conservation, Reuse and Valorization of the Historic Cultural Heritage

In the last twenty years the policies of conservation of cultural heritage have become central policies among the European community. This is due to the importance attributed to the use of heritage as cultural capital and as a potential factor for tourism; another reason is represented by the objective of supporting the importance of cultural values for the identity of the territories, for its intrinsic value and as an investment for the cultural, social and economic development.

Economic Sustainability in the Management of Archaeological Sites: The Case of Bova Marina (Reggio Calabria, Italy)

This paper deals with the issue of economic sustainability in the management of cultural heritage. The first part is dedicated to theoretical aspects, while the second part presents a case study of an archaeological area in the province of Reggio Calabria (Italy). Regarding the theoretical aspects, the question of economic sustainability is placed in the debate on the so-called New Public Management, and highlights which variables affect the economic balance in the management phase of a site starting from the nature of the management entity and of the activities carried out.

Evaluation Approach to the Integrated Valorization of Territorial Resources: The Case Study of the Tyrrhenian Area of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria

The paper deals with the topic of integrated territorial valorization strategies, presenting the first step of a research project on the case study of the Tyrrhenian area of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. In a theoretical view that leads to rethinking European development models in areas characterized by considerable marginality, the paper copes with the weakness/opportunities of lagging areas and the vision of the territory as a system of social, cultural, economic, and natural features. The methodology is based on the definition of evaluative tools enabling the identification of effective and coherent concepts for understanding, and planning to enhance, territorial attractiveness. This preliminary stage of the project aims to verify the preconditions for the establishment of a local, attractive system, combining socioeconomic analysis, identification of thematic attractors, and the study of financial territorial allocation. The paper’s results contribute to the scientific debate on the role of the “knowledge phase” in the dynamics of sustainable development, highlighting critical elements and opportunities for implementing an integrated valorization strategy of the case-study area.

A Cultural Route on the Trail of Greek Monasticism in Calabria

The discovery of the greek origins of Calabria is critical to understand the cultural and social evolution of this Italian region. In some historical periods, the cultural richness of Calabria became landmark in the whole Europe for the production of precious codex, and gave birth to great philosophers and theologians. Further, the Greek culture, which was widespread in the area, has influenced the history of many regions across Europe.