The city and commune of Cremona, population 70,000, is located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy about 50 miles southeast of Milan. Like several other Italian cities, Cremona uses a form of TDR as a way of equitably distributing development potential and thereby mitigating some of the land value inequities created by tradition zoning. As a second but important benefit, these programs allow governments to acquire land for public infrastructure at little or no cost (Micelli and Faggiani, 2001).

Cremona is using this tool to revitalize an abandoned industrial area into a mixed use neighborhood featuring greenspace, a business center, recreational/sports/community facilities, three residential components, a school, public square and underground parking. In total, 106,972 square meters were proposed to be given to the city for public uses, leaving 202,000 square meters for private development. The developer is motivated by the ability to transfer additional development potential to the growth centers from the areas given to the city for public infrastructure (Leoni, 2008).

Leoni, G. (2008) Italy: experiments with non-financial compensation instruments to preserve, conserve and re-allocate buildings, in Janssen-Janssen, L., Spaans, M., & Van der Veen, M. (ed.) New Instruments in Spatial Planning: An International Perspective on Non-Financial Compensation. Amsterdam: IOS Press.

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