Abstract
The present paper describes a basic analytic methodology able to evaluate the territorial development potentials and to solve contingent conflicts originated by alternative uses of resources. The study analyses first of all the theoretical bases linked to territorial planning, secondly it thoroughly develops a methodological approach based on the principles of ecological economics. The approach that best integrates with the basic principles of such subject is the geographic multicriterial analysis. In particular, the application of a multicriterial analysis, based on the Ordered Weighted Average (OWA) aggregation operator, has introduced a technique of constant control of the trade-off present among the involved variables. In relation to the specific territorial characteristics we evaluated four potential guiding lines of development linked to the following sectors: agricultural, industrial-trade, touristic and residential, that we confronted with two evaluations related to sensitive environmental components: the ecological-naturalistic value and the water regulation.