Lost in complexity, found in dispersion: ‘Peripheral’ development and deregulated urban growth in Rome

•This study sheds light on the recent development of a Mediterranean urban region.•Rome’s developmental policies resulted in the simplification of the competitiveness issue.•Planning strategies decoupled from the local context impact negatively urban competitiveness.•The importance of policies specifically designed for ‘non-global’ cities is outlined.

This study sheds light on the recent development of a Mediterranean urban region (Rome, Italy) identifying key factors of regional competitiveness in the light of the observed strengths and weaknesses of local governance. The influence of planning practices inspired to the European Spatial Development Framework on metropolitan regions featuring traditional settlement patterns, socioeconomic disparities and an imbalanced governance system has been discussed in the case for Rome, a city experiencing dispersed expansion and economic growth at the periphery of Europe. While focusing on ‘European’ or even ‘global’ city models, developmental policies in Rome resulted sometimes in the simplification of the competitiveness issue considered as a mere spatial economic problem. Planning strategies decoupled from the local context may impact negatively economic competitiveness, social structures and the environment, proving at the same time the importance of policies designed for ‘non-global’ cities.