A tipycal italian phenomenon: the unauthorized building

In Italy, unauthorized building is a very common phenomenon. In the present paper, we show the first results of a research focused on the impact of unauthorized buildings on urban and local systems, which frustrates the city plans and the previsions done before. For a start, it is appropriate to underline that if we want to know the amount and the quality of unauthorized building in the Italian Regions we need to proceed with a direct survey since Italian institutions, both at a national and at a local level, have not publicized any datum even if nearly thirty years have passed since the first national law concerning “building sanction” (Erbani, 2003). Italian laws determining rules and conditions in order to get building indemnity have been promulgated in 1985 (L. n. 47), in 1994 (L. n. 724), and in 2003 (L. n. 326). Because of the inefficient controls and of the increasing of unauthorized building, in the Eighties, Italian Government promulgated a law establishing that it was possible to get authorization a-posteriori after reporting the unauthorized building and supporting some costs. Law n. 47/1985 established seven cases of unauthorized building and the costs where calculated according to the time when the unauthorized building was realized. Law n. 724/1994 extended the number of cases and the time-span to refer to. Law 326/2003 extended even more the time-span and included also the buildings that were realized in hedged areas. The present research focuses on the relevant unauthorized buildings in order to investigate if the typology is the same or if it changes in reference to its causes and effects. Data are referred to three municipalities in Campania Region