**8. Conclusions**

With the acquisition of the multifunctional agricultural character, peri-urban territories become "territories of agro-food production, reserves of environmental quality, a tool for the containment of land use, a place of production of goods and services of a public nature" [43] (p. 29). In other words, the peri-urban area takes on the compensatory role of the widespread urban reality, due to its production of environmental, ecological, cultural, landscape, and production values.

From this perspective, agricultural (peri-urban) parks are a fundamental tool for combating the 'marginality' and abandonment of peri-urban spaces, triggering development processes centered on a plurality of sustainable activities ranging from agriculture to tourism, and leisure. Leveraging on these, it is possible to reconcile the city and the countryside from different points of view (social, economic, spatial) and thus fulfill the aims of multifunctional agriculture, oriented towards the production of externalities, capable of satisfying a high demand for food, recreational and cultural goods [49]. To all this must be added the necessary activation of participatory processes; of an action strategy that involves not only the institutions but also and above all the population.

However, for peri-urban areas to be able to provide effective responses to the community, triggering local development processes, it is essential that the multifunctionality of agricultural parks functions as it does in some "real" rural farms, i.e., that a potential tourist demand is also addressed and intercepted: the conditions must be created so that the tourist-consumer not only has the opportunity to enjoy the places but also to implement new tourist experiences that allow the local resources to be enhanced and the potential of the areas to be discovered. It is a question of building a relational path between the tourist and the territorial context by looking at the actual production activity: an exchange thus takes place between the tourist who has access to the resources and the production cycle and the producer who transfers his/her knowledge and territorial know-how. The final

objectives become the places and their particular resources knowledge, and the creation of itineraries linked to environmental culture, wine and food culture, psychophysical wellbeing, etc. Given that rural tourism is receiving a very positive response in Europe, particularly in countries most sensitive to sustainability and eco-sustainability strategies, for agricultural parks to encourage peri-urban territories renaissance through tourism, in addition to activating specific development policies and planning tools, they must become true sustainability hubs. In this framework, the objectives of sustainable tourism— environmental preservation, zero-kilometer agriculture, typical products and resources, uniqueness of places—must become shared elements towards which the "activities" offered by the park should be directed. Rural (peri-urban) tourism thus becomes an important driver of local sustainable development, when integrated with multifunctional agriculture in a coordinated managemen<sup>t</sup> framework. While caution should be exercised about emphasising the importance of tourism as a significant asset for local development, encouraging sustainable tourism could be a way of boosting the activities of agricultural parks and, in so doing, creating links and synergies between forms of protection, conservation, and local economies.

#### **9. Limitations and Future Research Directions**

The first experiences of Italian agricultural parks date back to the '90s, but it is from the beginning of the new millennium in particular that we see a greater diffusion of them supported by the growing awareness of the important role played by peri-urban agriculture, diversified and multifunctional, in safeguarding the quality of rural, urban and interstitial spaces. Even today, we are witnessing a proliferation of experiments that are not entirely clear whether they are ongoing, in the process of being defined, or finished, whether they are institutionally recognised or whether they are merely the result of an initiative by private citizens and/or planning companies.

However, this proliferation has not been accompanied by analogous normative and scientific production. If on the one hand this has opened up an avenue for new research, on the other it certainly represents a limitation that has resulted in an eminently theoretical and descriptive approach to analysis.

A limitation has also been reflected in our study, which has embraced an eminently theoretical and descriptive approach to analysis. However, precisely because of these characteristics, we intend to lay the foundations for a further in-depth study: in fact, we are currently working on the definition of an assessment matrix through which to analyze the specific features, the actions, the aims, the managing bodies (if any), the managemen<sup>t</sup> strategies and the players involved, the main potential and the weak points in relation to the territory and its resources of the Italian agricultural parks.

The matrices identified on the basis of the distinctive characteristics of each agricultural park identified will be a contribution to understanding the role they play in territorial governance strategies and in the spatial planning process. At the same time, they will represent a useful tool for understanding whether this type of park can be identified as a system of functions and services for the regeneration of territories and the sustainable development of peri-urban territorial capital: in other words, an ecological unit of protection and territoriality.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualisation, L.M. and L.S.; methodology, L.M. and L.S.; investigation, L.M. and L.S.; writing—original draft preparation, L.M. and L.S.; writing—review and editing, L.M.; supervision, L.M. and L.S. Although this contribution is a joint work, Sections 1–3, 5.2, 8 and 9 are to be attributed to L.S., Sections 4, 5, 5.1, 6 and 7 to L.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable. **Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
