SUMMARY
Even though they have been considered out of fashion for years in the mainstream public debate, research practices and urban policies, the peripheries of the big cities are still a problem in Italy. Due to the economic crises and its effects at the urban scale, especially in terms of urban poverty and social exclusion, the problems of these areas are clearly increased without appropriate tools. Moreover, the spatial effects of the spread of urban marginality have not been sufficiently included in urban planning practices, neither in the deprived areas of the inner city nor in the outskirts. Nonetheless, the claim for “policies for the peripheries” does not indicate the intention to develop a sector of specific policies, but the need to identify and integrate more effective actions and strategies for these fragile urban environments. In this framework, the paper presents and discusses, first, the deficiencies of the Italian debate and the consequent inadequacy of public urban policies, and second, some relevant approaches coming from the British context that could be useful for better intervene on our territories.