Rules, Transgressions and Nomotropism: he Complex Relationship between Planning and Italian Abusivismo “It is only after you have come to know the surface of things,” he concludes, “that you can venture to seek what is underneath. But the surface of things is inexhaustible” Italo Calvino, Palomar, 1986, 55 Referring to the Italian context, where unauthorized building is a quite common phenomenon, this article critically interrogates the relationship between planning rules and transgressions. Particularly, I focus on rules as deined by urban plans on the one hand and housing and planning “abuso” – literally infringement – on the other. he way this term is used in Italian urbanism is the issue that inspired the research leading to this article. Indeed, “abusivismo” refers very generally to any sort of non-compliance with urban regulations. And yet, what kind of prac- tices are supposed to transgress what kind of rules and what consequences follow? Drawing on Conte’s concept of nomotropism, I show that there is a (at least) twofold relationship between these two dimensions, including the transgressions “in light of” the law and the rules “following from” the transgression. By tak- ing nomotropism seriously, it is inally possible to formulate a modest, responsible planning approach to transgressions. Keywords: Abusivismo, rules, transgressions, nomotropism, planning, responsibil- ity, Italy Elisabetta Rosa* Geography Research Forum • Vol. 36 • 2016: 110-126. * Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’homme, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, UMR 7303 Telemme, LabexMed, Aix-en-Provence, France. ellina.guendalina@gmail.com University of Aix-Marseille BETWEEN RULES AND TRANSGRESSIONS 1 Is there a connection between unauthorized building and planning, i.e. the public regulatory activity that governs the behaviors of individuals in relation to the use and transformation of physical space (Moroni, 1997; 1999)? If, as I argue, there is a relationship, the task is to understand the nature of this relationship and its repercussions for planning. Without rules, transgressions would not exist. his ap- parently obvious remark is the focus of my critical interrogation in this article: rules