No. 2 (2025): Plan AIr. Urban Artificial Intelligence: Urban Artificial Intelligence: Approaches, Tools, Approaches, Tools, Opportunities and Opportunities and Challenges
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Data centers and the city. The territorial impacts of the growing data economy, with a focus on Italy

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  • Cristiana Mattioli,
  • Alice Franchina
Cristiana Mattioli
Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Alice Franchina
Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/contest-16787

Published 2026-03-02

Keywords

  • data centers,
  • geographies,
  • territorial impacts,
  • regional planning,
  • governance

How to Cite

Mattioli, C., & Franchina, A. (2026). Data centers and the city. The territorial impacts of the growing data economy, with a focus on Italy. Contesti. Città, Territori, Progetti, (2), 168–191. https://doi.org/10.36253/contest-16787

Copyright (c) 2026 Cristiana Mattioli, Alice Franchina

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the study of the multiple impacts that the digital economy, which is expanding rapidly today, has and may have in the future on territories, with a particular focus on the Italian context and on the implementation of Data Centers (DCs), a facilities used for the remote storage, processing, or distribution of large amounts of data. In this context, there is a pressing need for in-depth research and multifaceted discourse on the urban and regional challenges of DCs location to enhance public knowledge and informed decision-making processes. This encompasses both the physical impact on territories and the implications for urban governance and socioeconomic aspects. This issue is of particular urgency in Italy. As the country emerges as a significant player in the European DC landscape, the absence of clear regulations gives rise to questions concerning the territorial and strategic planning of these infrastructures. 

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