Project Management in real estate appraisal. The Italian disciplinary approach

Project Management is a transverse subject whose central role embraces several disciplinary approaches. The scientific and methodological basis of its development in Italy, however, is somewhat out of line (and not just terminologically) with other contexts, especially those of English-speaking nations. One has the impression that there is still room for its further potentialisation, not only in professional spheres, where this is already in progress, but also in the academic environment. Reference to the recent literature will here be made to seek the reasons for the current resistance to change, these being primarily a consequence of the ways in which enterprises operating in building and architecture are organised. An account will then be given of the ways in which the present theoretical and methodological picture could be integrated in order to strengthen the position devoted to Project Management in Faculty of Architecture curricula, especially in courses devoted to Appraisal and the Economic Evaluation of Projects. A necessary step is the construction of a cohesive reference pattern representative of the actual situation starting from real estate development and a project's life cycle as conceived by Appraisal, and its comparison with the ìmanagerialî interpretation. A synopsis of the instruments and disciplines (or of the constitutive contributions) designed to place the appraisal-evaluative contribution alongside the apparat offered by economic engineering within which Project Management has naturally developed. Particular attention is devoted to the tools for verification of the economic and financial feasibility of projects, even in the presence of risk and uncertainty components, in addition to the consolidated methods supporting the definition of objectives, and the programming, handling and checking the realisation of a work in all its stages.