Hygienic Requirements of Urban Living Environment in the Russian Federation and in Italy: a comparison

Urban planning tries to contain and regulate the uncontrolled growth of cities, encouraging their sustainable development at environmental, social and health levels. In the present work, the authors compare the regulatory frameworks of the Russian Federation and of Italy, with particular attention paid to the urban aspects of living spaces.

Considering the extant normative production in the two countries, the authors examine national legislation for Italy and federal legislation for Russia, mainly taking into account the following aspects: urban planning tools and environmental and sanitary protection of living spaces.

Hygienic-sanitary requirements regarding living environment in Russia are essentially expressed by two regulatory systems (SNiP and SanPiN), while in Italy they are regulated by the D.M. 07/05/1975. The main principles of urban planning in Russia are expressed by federal standards, while in Italy they are incorporated in the Municipal General Plan (PRG) and in the various local regulations, where all the superordinate regulations are summarized. Finally, aspects related to environmental quality in both countries are governed by various specific laws (federal and state); a complex system of rules that take into account potential impacts on health and the environment.

The authors reckon that clear and updated regulatory tools should be developed, especially in Italy that lags behind, regarding the building and urban hygiene, relying on the most recent acquisitions of international scientific literature in order to guarantee the highest standards in Public Health safeguard.