Urban Law, Emergency And Reconstruction. An Essay From L'Aquila Experience

The paper discusses some issues related to urban law, emergency and reconstruction after a natural disaster, such as what an earthquake is, starting from the seismic event which affected L’Aquila in 2009, that has been considered a model that has influenced the next experiences and it is still central in the Italian debate about the normative instruments to manage the emergency and the consequential rebuilding phase. It assumes the specific perspective of “land-use planning” (the Italian, Governo del territorio) as the Italian Constitution defines this matter. The essay addresses the question of urban planning with a special attention to the reconstruction plans, comparing the last Italian earthquake experiences. These plans have a fundamental role to rebuild “where it was and how it was” but they are usually part of a more ambitious objective to promote the development of the affected areas. The article also analyses the discipline of the private re- building activity – which is the core of the actions managed to overcome the earthquake consequences – and the questions related to the chronic delays of the public reconstruction. Finally, it expresses some final considerations about the Italian legislative trend to reduce the relationship between urban law, emergency and reconstruction to the prevalence of the emergency, which boundaries have been expanded up to include the activities necessary to the social, economical and physical rebuilding.