In February 2020, the Metropolitan City of Bologna, with the approval of the ten strategic objectives for territorial planning, began to draft the Metropolitan Territorial Plan (MTP).

The plan is a new tool that defines the strategic and structural choices in the territory. The Plan is situated among strategic planning, plans for the climate and sustainable energy, the Urban Plan for Sustainable Mobility, and territorial and sector projects in the framework of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan and the Metropolitan Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The main scope of the new Metropolitan Territorial Plan is the environment, intended in a lateral sense: a sustainable, resilient, attractive territory in which territorial protection, the beauty of urban and natural places, occupation, and innovation find a unifying, propulsive synthesis.

Continuing the experiences developed in recent years on the scale of the city, neighbourhoods, and areas, the Fondazione per l’Innovazione Urbana has supported the process of drafting the Plan through a path of listening and consultation. The path entailed the following activities:

• consultation
  Since February 2020, we have interviewed the 55 mayors and councillors in the metropolitan territory. The purpose was to investigate the state of the art of the cities in terms of critical aspects and strengths, social dynamics, and territorial reach regarding sustainability, attractiveness, and social inclusion, and also relationships between the cities and perspectives and challenges delineated by existing or planned urban planning tools, and the Metropolitan Territorial Plan in particular.
  
  
• mapping of actors and forms of activism and civic collaboration
  We have created a map of subjects that deal with issues closely connected to policies that intersect the Plan. This mapping has led to a database of communities, representatives, and references that may collaborate in drafting the Plan and disseminating its content. To this end, we have involved 240 administrators from the 55 municipalities through a questionnaire.

The results emerging from this path have served to build an interpretational framework in the vision of municipal administrators in the metropolitan city of the main criticalities and strengths in terms of the environment, society, and attractive capacity of the different territories in the metropolitan city.
The Plan proposal was taken up in July 2020 with the observation phase open from August to October 2020. Definitive approval of the new Plan is expected in March 2021.