Tomorrow is today: the challenges and fragilities of the peri-urban landscape of Padua (Veneto Region, Italy)

This chapter uses landscape and time as interpretative lenses to examine the challenges and vulnerabilities of Padua’s urban and peri-urban areas in the context of climate change and increasing land demand. Since the 1950s, the city has experienced major spatial transformations, particularly with the creation of a large industrial zone that has fostered a growth-orientated development model. Over time, agricultural land has been progressively converted into industrial, residential and service uses. Only recently have the long-term consequences of this trajectory become fully apparent, including soil consumption, pollution, heat islands and hydrogeological instability. These dynamics highlight the urgency of rethinking land management and recognising remaining agricultural and green spaces as key ecological infrastructures. In response, the municipality has promoted planning initiatives aimed at limiting land consumption and strengthening ecological networks. However, strong pressures for new development projects persist, exposing tensions between environmental commitments and economic interests. A notable example is the proposed expansion of a 15-hectare logistics hub on agricultural land designated for a future orbital green belt. The chapter analyses this case through the concept of the double bind, which describes the structural tension between pursuing economic growth and slowing down to avoid ecological collapse. Through a qualitative analysis of planning tools and conflict dynamics, this study shows how these competing visions of growth and sustainability become materially inscribed in the landscape over time, shaping both policy discourse and the physical transformation of the territory.