La programmazione comunitaria per lo sviluppo territoriale in ottica sistemico-vitale (Community planning for territorial development from a systemic-vital point of view)

Abstract

Purpose of the paper: The paper aims to interpret the EU programme under the Theory of viable systems (VSA), identifying the urban area as an entity typically multi-dimensional, multi-subjective and multi-stakeholder and highlighting how the Cohesion Policy should pursue conditions of “context consonance”, in order to achieve cohesion objectives and economic growth, creating value for the region and for the relevant supra-systems.

Methodology: Il paper adopts the Theory of viable system (VSA). The paper can be qualified, on a methodological level, as a conceptual paper.

Findings: The paper provides innovative tools and models that can be used by public and private entities for the government and the management of European Structural & Investment Funds. The conclusion, while prefiguring future paths of research and possible implications for management practices, highlights the overall scope and limits, or rather ambiguities in the current state of knowledge, on the EU programming for the development of territories.

Research limits: The paper provides a theoretical framework, which could be followed by empirical analysis and application examples.

Practical implications: In the value creation (or co-creation) dynamic, the VSA can be a valuable tool to provide a functional and operational description of organizations. In the face of complexity, indeed, it seems impossible to find valid solutions using interpretive schemes, models, techniques and traditional tools.

Originality of the paper: The paper is based on a new approach to territorial planning, which overcomes structure-centric viewpoints focused on the function, adopting systemic approaches that implement developmental pattern based on the role of individual components. In our opinion, the evolution of the EU Cohesion Policy can be read as the transition to a “systemic” view, where the territory is seen as a viable system, made of components, relationships and connections.