Enhancement of Territorial Resources through Urban Regeneration and Innovation-Led Initiatives. The Logic of the Territorial Milieu

Identity and innovation are the mainstays in the successful use of territorial resources, which are an expression of the socioeconomic dynamics within territorial and urban systems in the globalization era. The paradigm of Local Development, through the logic of territorial milieu, becomes an innovative way of building integrated strategies and, at the same time an expression of a diversified, characterizing identity of the territorial systems. The theoretical basis of the territorial milieu, perceived as integration between local identity and innovation, stems from the GREMI model, which introduces the concept of milieu innovateur. The territorial milieu, with integrated urban/territorial management tools, distributes competitive advantages through the network while avoiding the risk of creating disparities between winning and losing areas in a competitive territorial system. Urban regeneration in terms of using integrated management tools that acts on strengthening urban-rural network, promotes a more equitable geographic distribution of services and a wider spread of the benefits it generates. Among integrated urban-rural management tools the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model interprets the importance of territorial milieu in planning transformation by matching the demand for change expressed in quality of life, economic regeneration and accessibility.