Una funzione in cerca di procedimento. Rigenerazione urbana, modelli decisionali e tutela degli interessi diffusi

Abstract

The article examines urban regeneration as a complex public function situated at the intersection between urban planning and building regulation, highlighting how the lack of a coherent procedural framework affects the representation and judicial protection of diffuse and collective interests. Drawing on an analysis of national and regional legislation, as well as recent administrative and constitutional case law, the study explores the critical issues arising from decision-making models based on simplified or derogatory building instruments, which prove inadequate to ensure an effective balancing of the collective interests involved in urban transformation processes. Particular attention is devoted to the procedural and judicial consequences of the functional uncertainty surrounding urban regeneration, with specific reference to the limits of the traditional vicinitas criterion and to the restricted access to judicial protection for diffuse interests. In light of recent legislative developments, the article advances, from a de iure condendo perspective, the need for an autonomous urban regeneration procedure, distinct from both building permits and traditional conformative planning, capable of combining operational flexibility, public control, meaningful participation and effective safeguards for the protection of urban commons