Usi Civici: Open Evaluation Issues in the Italian Legal Framework on Civic Use Properties

Abstract

Physical spaces and assets vary in legal nature and as such can be subjected to both private and public ownership. Therefore, rights and obligations connected with the use and enjoyment of the different goods depends on the juridic nature of the good itself. In the Italian legal framework, private goods are subject to homogeneous regulation, whereas public goods might comprehend a plethora of heterogeneous categories each of them featuring a specific legal regulation. Among those, collective-owned goods present a complex case as they have the typical characteristics of common goods but might be the object of specific rival and exclusive rights that are guaranteed to certain communities with the system of “civic use rights” (usi civici). This peculiar legal regime is typical of rural areas, where, traditionally, common ownership of the land was pursued and encouraged resulting in the creation of a common agri-sylvan-pastoral heritage. As such, the areas susceptible to being left behind or even abandoned due to a lack of public resources or initiatives that can foster their intrinsic cultural, social, and economic value. We intend collective goods to be long-term physical assets that trigger ecosystems of social entrepreneurial, innovative partnerships, and impact investing that can meet long-lasting and/or emerging social and collective needs. This paper aims to achieve two objectives. Firstly, we investigate the Italian juridical regime of “shared-ownership rights” and “civic use rights” aiming to define a taxonomy that provides support in categorising these goods according to pre-defined legal clusters. Secondly, we explore the evaluation issues related to land appraisal processes.