The PhD Program, whose foundation is being proposed, under the name of PhD in PLANNING, DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE TECHNOLOGY, originates from the unification of two Doctorates, currently active in the DATA Department at the 28th cycle, A.A. 2013/14, namely the PhD in Territorial and Urban Planning and the PhD in Environmental Design. This proposal of unification is the result of a long debate and of a relevant exchange between the two Teaching Bodies, which has proved necessary to implement the will of moving towards a single scientific and cultural project, collecting the identity of two high level courses dating back to almost three decades. The proposal identifies the key strengths of two widely tested methods and the fruitfulness of the comparison between them. Furthermore, it compounds and reprocesses them in the light of the acknowledgement of a new “urban issue”, which considers both the city and the territory as crisis factors, elements of fragility which, at the same time, represent the potentially privileged location for development, as long as the driving forces are recognized, the settlement patterns are radically re-designed and new dwelling ways are identified, which should be based on a renewed coexistence between man and the increasingly scarce planet’s resources. This paradigm shift imposes on the world of research and education the need for a change of perspective, for a renewal of strategies and methods for the individuation of priorities. Furthermore, it calls for a creative and constructive approach to research, which should lead to the: - Questioning of consolidated design and governance issues, strategies and methods; - Rethinking of tools, technologies and knowledge concerning the whole life cycle of urban systems, built heritage artefacts and products, advantaging environment; - Building of elaboration places that "keep together" the various disciplines involved in the transformation of urban space and in the governance of complex processes including production. To this end, the new proposal takes on an integrated approach, combining different scientific competences, characterizing itself for a strong multidisciplinary attitude, which can be recognized as a sign of completeness. The Doctorate pursues communal scientific and training goals, aiming at the integration of different disciplinary contributions; it identifies cross research areas and offers a training plan articulated in educational activities, cultural initiatives, the supervision of doctoral scholars and highly integrated assessment procedures, while recognizing, from time to time, the prevalence of a single disciplinary field which might be necessary for carrying out high quality research activities for public and private entities and in professional activities.