Venice, Italy

The City Venice occupies 118 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon separated by canals and linked by bridges. The entire city is listed as a World Heritage Site. The historic city has a population of about 60,000 people and is surrounded by neighborhoods on the mainland which bring the total population of the commune to 270,000. Like at least nine other Italian cities, Venice has offered a form of TDR to achieve planning goals.

Specifically, Venice offered this tool to motivate the removal of illegal residential buildings and the transfer of building potential from public to private lands without having to use condemnation powers. This program was part of a strategy for renewal of the island of S. Erasmo which includes environmental protections for this public island and the restoration of the historic Venice lagoon fortifications. The sending area is a 30,000 square meter site at the tip of the island which during program development was occupied by one historical building, one military structure and two illegal residential buildings. The owners of the illegal buildings were encouraged to demolish these structures, restore the site and transfer the building potential to a suitable receiving site in the private areas located near the urban center of the island in order for the owner of that receiving site to exceed the baseline level of development that would otherwise be allowed (Micelli & Faggiani, 2001).

In 2001, when the program was still in development, the first step had not yet been competed: an agreement between the city and the owner of the illegal structures (Micelli and Faggiani, 2001). It has been difficult to find any reports in English describing what happened to the program in the last 13 years.

Micelli, E., and Faggiani, (2001) A. New Tools for Land Policy in Italy. Paper presented at the 8th European Real Estate Society Conference. Alicante 26-29 June 2001.