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This Report has been written by Antonio G. Calafati as part of the activities conducted by the Marche Region as Partner of the PlaNet CenSe Project (2006)

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This paper proposes a paradigmatic shift in interpreting territorial dynamics in the Marche Region. It suggests that the logical implications of the conceptualization of the Italian territory – and of the regional territory as well – should be drawn in terms of local systems. The search for the relational densities effectively observed in space has characterized reflection by Italian regional scientists for at least two decades. Once a map of the territory in terms of local systems has been drawn, the unavoidable next step is to investigate the nature of these relational densities. On adopting this methodological perspective, one draws the conclusion that, in many cases, the Italian regions are characterized by inter-municipal local systems with the nature of cities: local systems which function as cities, and which are indeed cities – apart from the fact that they are not self-regulating units.

According to the interpretation adopted in this work, the territorial development of the Marche Region since the 1950s has been characterized by the formation of a set of new cities which arose from coalescence processes through the progressive spatial, economic and social integration of contiguous municipalities. The formation of these new poles – there are eleven major ones according to the hypothesis put forward in what follows – suggests that the Marche Region should be considered as a polycentric region most of whose economy and evolutionary potential are concentrated in these new cities. It is therefore a region which should give adequate consideration to its cities in the process of economic and territorial planning,

Adopting the interpretative paradigm proposed here would have profound implications in the case of the Marche Region. Firstly, the research agenda on the territorial dynamics of the region would change and analysis of the cities’ development trajectories would be given salience. Secondly, regional territorial policies would undergo profound changes in terms of both instruments and objectives. In particular, the new interpretative paradigm would lead to profound revision of spatial (and infrastructural) development policies.