Disegno territoriale e cittadinanza nei percorsi dello Stato italiano: qualche nota in chiave storico-istituzionale

The article considers the relation between citizenship and the design of territorial grids, based on the output of recent research combining historical and geographical competence. It stresses the political nature of this relationship, beyond the constitutional principles of the modern State, as the french revolutionary culture put them. On these grounds, it briefly traces the complex interaction among central authorities, local communities and stakeholders to negotiate territorial grids, focusing on the Italian case, from national unity to the transition to contemporary multilevel governance, due to European influence.