Franciacorta: Brand territory and emerging geographies of living

The 'productive landscape' of Franciacorta (Lombardy region, Italy), represents a significant territorial promotion and landscaping experience, founded on the brand, and on the territorial image, of wine production. For over a decade, local institutions and territorial entities have undertook a path characterized by the sharing of spatial policies, widely supported by economic actors and authorities. Lombardy Region in 2015 has launched a process of Sub-Regional Territorial Planning (with the scientific support of the Universities of Bergamo and Brescia) that involves 22 municipalities: 18 included in the DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin) Franciacorta Area and 4 neighboring municipalities. The Regional Territorial Plan of Franciacorta (PTRA) sees the participation of local institutions and socio-economic stakeholders and it represents an opportunity for multilevel planning and governance experimentation on a wide scale, as well as for critical and academic reflection. The core objective of the Franciacorta PTRA is the promotion of landscape as a resource in terms of: (i) territorial planning: land consumption and soil sealing related landscape measures, itineraries/greenways and leisure mobility infrastructures, public and rural real estate heritage renewal, road network and access; (ii) governance: inter-municipal planning and cooperation among local institutions, common urban and building regulations, opportunities for enhancement. The necessity to refer to a multi-scalar governance is, in the case discussed, even more crucial, in light of the specific conditions of the territory: a post-metropolitan, suburban, “in-between” area, wrapped in metropolitan dynamics but with a strong and significant identity and sense of belonging, threatened by ‘branding’ and homogenization processes. The current Italian phase of government levels reassessment is an extraordinary opportunity to experience the potential of integrated spatial planning tools, such as the PTRA, which proposes itself as a means of connection between sectoral planning, European and national levels, and local planning ambitions. Specifically, the PTRA of Franciacorta builds on horizontal (among municipalities) and vertical (between different overlapping institutions and other stakeholders) collaborations, which made it a flexible tool, instead of being an eminently regulatory instrument (as intended by the Regional Law). The framework outlined by this process aims therefore at capturing and enabling endogenous and exogenous opportunities, under a common landscape scenario. The challenge is being able to sustain and promote those local initiatives, which will turn planning aims into specific projects and actions. Key features of the Franciacorta Plan Vertical collaboration (region and municipalities) Horizontal collaboration (local stakeholders) Maximising the effort on specific (but vital) territorial themes Risks and opportunities of a brand Homogenisation vs. Multiple Identities; Commodification vs. Collaboration; Museification vs. Sustainable Tourism Challenges in governing transformation processes Landscape quality context attractive for tourism and life in an enclave between the dense and dynamic urban region between Milan, Brescia and Bergamo (everyday landscapes “way of life”; landscape as resources and heterogeneity; future landscape changes).