In Trieste, for five years, the intent of the Administration was to promote a deep discontinuity in urban policies. The construction of a long-term vision with strong design contents settled into new tools aimed to address major issues and transformations: the definition of a different development model; the experimentation of innovative approaches to housing and urban regeneration policies; the re-thinking of the ways to move and use public spaces. On the ground of the theoretical and technical competence, the challenge was demanding. But – both from a political and administrative point of view – not less rich of suggestions were the difficulties encountered in the aggregation of interests, in the translation of wide-ranging projects into spaces of daily life, in addressing the internal contradictions of public structures and procedures. Today, after the end of this experience, such difficulties invite to think about how we can give continuity to visions and projects that, dealing with complex changes, need time to mature.
