Urban sustainability between environmental targets and social participation.

At the European scale urban sustainability is an issue of great importance in a period of deep change for the city, as neoliberalism has been transforming the urban areas in their form and governance (Harvey D., 1989, 2007, 2008; Rossi U., Vanolo A., 2012). Sustainable development can be divided into three main components, the environmental, economic and social one (Vallega, 1995; Bagliani M., Dansero E., 2011). In recent years urban policies have taken into account a number of sustainable development issues, mostly in terms of environmental technology and management without reconsidering the socioeconomic perspective. Urban planners has to understand that the urban metabolism has to be treated as a set of interconnected elements due to the strong relationships among society, economy and environment (Cook I., Swyngedouw E., 2012). The selected case study takes into account the SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) process of the Brescia Municipality PGT (Municipal Territorial Plan). The assessment procedure moves between the participation of environmental associations grouped at the Council for Environment (Consulta per l’Ambiente) of the Municipality and the planning tools (e.g. environmental indicators) used by the experts. The interaction between these parts shows some difficulties in the interaction process: on one hand the real political objectives remain hidden behind the technical and participatory procedures and on the other hand the instances of the population are focused on specific places, which are lived and contested in the everyday life of the city, while planners try to translate them in an overall view.