Discussion Summary As you know, Rome is a city that has exhibited several eras of organic and planned development throughout its long history. As the epitome of an urban center both constrained by and engineered beyond its natural surroundings, Rome also presents an early example of governmental intervention intended to limit private property interests in order to benefit public safety and welfare. Public space in Rome has been regulated by written code for over 2000 years and similarly longstanding attention to public health, public utilities and deference to history and legend have provided paradigms which have signi antly influenced Western Civilization and institutions to this day. ‘The discussion topics will be as follows: “Infill development” has been a major topic of interest in the United States for the past several years. Planner and others have regularly pursued the enactment of ordinances to address new construction in preexisting, often historic areas of American cities. Based upon your observations and learning in Rome, what should be the ideal features of such an ordinance? Rome contains some of the world’s most successful “public spaces”. Assume you are an American planning director who receives a request from a city council member who has just returned from a trip to Rome. The council member wants to pressure local mall redevelopers to create a space reminiscent of Campo di Fiore al the center of a 1960's era shopping mall which is subject to pending development approvals for a multi-million dollar renovation, What features can you insert in the development agreement draft to attempt such ambiance? Can successful public spaces be successfully legislated? Has living and studying in Rome changed your view of the appropriate balance between private property rights and the rights of the public? What is the appropriate result when the elders of an historic center city church with a declining population seek development approval for demolition of the church in favor of a more modem, smaller building (claimed to be appropriate for today’s liturgical practices), to be accompanied by a 30 story office building which will produce income for the congregation? Similarly, has living and studying in Rome changed your view of the appropriate level of protection to be provided historic and cultural resources? Assume that as, part of a “brownfields” redevelopment, a former industrial property is being cleaned up to facilitate a mixed-use development which will provide needed jobs, and housing. Required historic and archaeological assessments opine that significant structures, valued artifacts and building remains will be found during, excavation of contaminated soil and site preparation. How should the planning staff approach the situation?* Based on your observations and more formal neighborhood/municipio study in Rome, what differences do you sense in the land use and regulatory systems in place and Rome and urban areas with which you are familiar in the United States? While area, height and public health “regulations” have existed since ancient Rome, do the neighborhoods present the “Euclidean” separation of uses with which we are familiar in the United States? What does Rome tell us about the ‘American system of providing certain “grandfathered” protections to nonconforming uses, yet also facilitating their elimination in certain instances? What inspiration does Rome provide for the New Urbanism movement and proponents of live/work communities?