Over the last fifteen years and particularly from the early 2000s, relatively new planning gain procedures have been introduced within the Italian planning legislation and practice. Such instruments base their rationale upon the concept of developers’ contribution for the provision of community facilities and services. This is justified by the lack of financial resources which affects local planning authorities and therefore their ability to provide for these services. In recent years, trends tend to confirm an increase in the use of such tools as well as in the range of facilities developers must provide. However, the practices in use differ from each other on the basis of the nature of development rights granted to developers and may constitute cause of delays within the planning process. Particularly, regarding development plans preparation and approval processes. Practices are mainly three and their use varies with regard to the context and objectives aimed at. Nevertheless, there is one basic and common target: to recoup and return some development value to the community. The first practice aims at an equal treatment of landowners and of their property rights, granting the same amount of development rights, independent of the use allocated on their parcels, in order to achieve the overarching cited objective. The second is a form of compensation for the loss of part or of the whole market value as a consequence of a public planning action. The last practice works as a bonus to developers and aims to incentive certain characteristics and uses of development proposals. The use of these practices involves some main implications, such as transfer and purchase of development rights, relationship between involved landowners of sending and receiving areas, scope and rationale underlying planning gain procedures, which need to be examined to understand the evolution of the current Italian planning system
