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The decisions taken today relating to urban renewal interventions are rarely supported by logical and operational methodologies capable of effectively rationalising selection processes. For this purpose, it is necessary to propose and implement analysis models with the aim of promoting the sustainable development of the territory. The purpose of this paper is to define a model for the optimal allocation of scarce resources.

The Discrete Linear Programming (DLP) is used for selecting investments aimed at achieving financial, social, cultural and environmental sustainability.

The proposed model lends itself to the construction of investment plans on behalf of both types of decision makers, of both a public and a private nature.

All projects are evaluated according to multi-criteria logics, so that it is possible to find compromise solutions, in accordance with the stakeholders’ different preferences.

The model, written with A Mathematical Programming Language using DLP logics, is tested – case study – so as to define an investment programme finalised for urban renewal of a vast area.

The proposed econometric model makes it possible to obtain the optimal combination of projects for urban renewal with a view to achieving the sustainable development of the territory.

Using the proposed model, all projects are evaluated according to multi-criteria logics, so that it is possible to find compromise solutions, in accordance with the stakeholders’ different preferences.

The purpose of the paper is to characterize an evaluation protocol of the social discount rate (SDR). This is based on the social rate of time preference (SRTP) principles, according to which the investment selection process must tend to maximize the utility of the community.

The theoretical reference of the evaluation protocol is represented by the Ramsey formula. It is widely used in many countries with advanced economics for the SRTP estimation, through the maximization of the Social Welfare Function (SWF).

The protocol structure and the protocol applications to the Italian and US economies explain how the SDR value is influenced by the socio-economic structure of the single nation.

The strong variability of the results of the SDR according to the theoretical approach of reference and the operating path that follows can lead to judgments decidedly divergent on the acceptability of the public project, hence, the important policy implications for the entire allocation process of public resources.

The applications allow to highlight the important operational problems that must be resolved with regard to the choice of the time intervals of the evaluations, as well as logical-operational tools to be used to express estimates of parameters.

They are relevant in relation to the effects of a more equitable allocation of the resources.

The protocol for the SDR estimation is based both on solid disciplinary principles and on objective data of non-complex availability and representative of the economic and socio-demographic context of the country in which the decision-making process is implemented.

The paper aims to provide a decision-support model to ensure a proper use of the limited resources, financial and not, for the enhancement of the cultural heritage and comprehensive development of small towns from sustainable perspective.

The assessment model is set up using a multi-criteria method that combines elements of linear planning with a performance indicators system that may represent the complexity of the territory’s cultural identity as a result of existing cultural-historical assets.

The model reliability is tested in a case study in a Municipality in southern Italy. The case study’s findings highlight the advantages for the public/private operators, who can consciously choose which preservation and restoration projects to fund while taking into account the effects those decisions will have on the economic, social and environmental context of reference.

Due to the suggested operational approach and the selection of variables for accounting economic, social and environmental impacts by the renewal project, the research findings may not be generalizable. Therefore, it is recommended that researchers look into the suggested theories in more detail.

The study offers implications for designing a user-friendly tool to help decision-making processes from a private–public viewpoint in a reasonable allocation of financial resources among investments for cultural property asset enhancement.

The suggested operational approach provides a reliable information apparatus to depict the decision-making process under small-town development in accordance with sustainability dimensions.

The present research aims to develop and test an evaluation support model for decisions alert soil surface saving to be used in the redevelopment of abandoned and degraded properties through involvement of private developers.

Adapting operations research principles to the public–private partnership features that are typical of urban planning issues, the model pursues a complex objective function, that concerns urban parameters to be attributed to properties to be recovered. An elaboration of a Pareto-optimal frontier has defined possible scenarios for different trends of the variables under consideration.

The efficiency of the model is verified through application to a real case study concerning urban renewal of a property in disuse located in a city in Southern Italy. The outputs confirm the potentialities and flexibility of the proposed model to support urban planning decisions by improving the implementation of conservation policies, in terms of a reduced impact of urban transformation projects on the available natural land surface.

Depending on the objectives of public sector, the model can generate a range of urban parameter combinations to be attributed to the recovered properties to achieve low consumption of natural surfaces, with bargaining between the public and private sectors around these parameters. The model can also be used in the initial phases of the renewal initiative, when it is necessary to define the costs and the revenues involved or to assess alternative solutions capable of reducing impacts on the environment.

The model can be applied to identify the appropriate rewards in a project that can stimulate the private developers to realize further public infrastructures and services than minimum quantities established by the current local urban regulations. In this sense, the model represents an original scientific reference in the current strategies promoted by the European Union for achievement of a “no net land take” by 2050, aimed at reducing natural surface occupied by buildings and roads.