Up-grading Illegal Building Settlements: An Urban-planning Methodology

Starting from the definitions of illegal building and synthesizing the historical roots of the phenomenon in Italy, this contribution identifies three types of illegal building and traces the development of the regulations that have characterized this problem. The proposal of a reading methodology is described through its application to the case-study of the municipality of Dragoni (Ce) in Campania Region. After proposing a distinction between illegal building and unauthorized urban-planning and recognizing three approaches to solving the problem: repression, amnesty and mitigation, the paper reflects on the latter since it addresses redevelopment with an urban vision and not exclusively a building one. After a brief analysis of national and regional legislation, where it is possible to resort to the Recovery of Illegal Building Plans, even through variants to the municipal general planning instruments, follows the highlighting of the main objectives and guidelines in reference to the preparation of specific implementation planning instruments.