Building

How Venice Classifies, Regulates, and Uses Its Buildings

Venice contains 15,485 buildings within its historic center, each shaped by centuries of architectural tradition, planning policies, and contemporary pressures from tourism, depopulation, and heritage protection. Understanding how the city classifies, manages, and uses its buildings is essential for interpreting urban patterns, zoning decisions, and the residential decline documented in recent decades.

This page summarizes the building classification system used by the City of Venice, explains the planning and cadastre (Catasto) frameworks behind it, and presents quantitative insights into building types and uses—supported by building-level data gathered and verified by the Venice Project Center B25 team.

How Venice Classifies Buildings

Venice relies on an integrated system of architectural typology, functional-use categories, and urban-planning classifications. These come from municipal datasets, national cadastre records (Catasto), and the Variante per la Città Antica zoning plan.

Architectural Typology (Tipologia)

Architectural typology describes when and how a building was constructed. Venice’s typology codes classify each building by century and major use group:

Code	Italian Description	English Meaning
R_PREOTTO	unità edilizie residenziali preottocentesche	Residential buildings pre-19th century
R_OTTO	unità edilizie residenziali ottocentesche	Residential buildings 19th century
R_NOVE	unità edilizie residenziali novecentesche	Residential buildings 20th century
NR_PREOTTO	non-residential pre-19th century	Non-residential, pre-19th century
NR_OTTO	non-residential 19th century	Non-residential, 19th century
NR_NOVE	non-residential 20th century	Non-residential, 20th century
SP_PREOTTO / SP_OTTO / SP_NOVE	special-use buildings	Special use (religious, institutional, civic)
ALTRO	other or unclassified	Other / not classifiable

Floor Use / Functional Category (Destinazione Piano)

These codes describe the use assigned to floors of a building. They are essential in Venice because zoning and flood-risk rules tightly regulate ground-floor use.

Code	Italian Description	English Meaning
A	spazi per la mobilità meccanizzata terrestre	spaces for mechanized land mobility
B	spazi per la mobilità ferroviaria	railway mobility spaces
D	impianti scoperti per pratica sportiva e lo spettacolo sportivo	open-air sports and sports-event facilities
E	strutture per l’istruzione obbligatoria	compulsory education facilities
F	attrezzature tecnologiche	technological installations
G	altre strutture pubbliche e/o per attività collettive – attrezzature militari	public/collective facilities – military facilities
H	abitazioni ordinarie e/o specialistiche – attrezzature cimiteriali	ordinary and/or specialized housing – cemetery facilities
L	attività ricettive	accommodation/hospitality activities
M	strutture culturali private	private cultural facilities
N	edifici non utilizzati	unused buildings
O	magazzini e depositi	warehouses and storage
XX	non definito	undefined

Functional Type (Tipo Funzione)

Functional codes describe specific intended uses, frequently for public, cultural, or utility buildings.

Code	Italian Description	English Meaning
SP3	caserme	barracks
SP4	sedi carcerarie	prisons/detention facilities
SP7	distribuzione energia elettrica	electricity distribution
SP8	distribuzione gas	gas distribution
SP9	distribuzione acqua	water distribution
SP11	mense	cafeterias/mess halls
SP15	istituti di credito	banks/credit institutions
SP16	uffici giudiziari	judicial offices
SP17	altri uffici aperti al pubblico	other public offices
SP18	centri di calcolo	data centers
SP21	centri di ricerca	research centers
SP22	sedi espositive	exhibition halls
SP23	biblioteche	libraries
SP24	archivi	archives
SP25	centri congressi polivalenti	multipurpose conference centers
SP26	teatri	theaters
SP27	cinematografi	cinemas
SP28	locali per lo spettacolo	performance venues
SP29	sala da ritrovo e da gioco	meeting & gaming halls
SP30	strutture religiose	religious facilities
SP31	ospedali, cliniche	hospitals/clinics
SP32	ospedali diurni	day hospitals
SP33	poliambulatori	outpatient clinics
AV	scuola materna	preschool/kindergarten
BV	scuola elementare	elementary school
C	scuola media	middle school
D	scuola secondaria	high school
E	università	university
IS	impianti coperti e scoperti per la pratica sportiva	indoor/outdoor sports facilities
MA1	cantieristica minore	small-scale shipyards
MA2	cantieristica maggiore	large shipyards
MA3	artigianato, industria di produzione di beni vari	craft/industry for goods production
MA4	artigianato di servizio	service-oriented craft industries
MA5	rimessaggio e noleggio piccole barche	storage & rental of small boats
GI	giardini aperti al pubblico	public gardens
FA	attrezzature ferroviarie	railway equipment
AU	autorimesse	garages
IT	impianti tecnologici	technological plants
AM	attrezzature militari	military facilities
NU	edifici non utilizzati	unused buildings
0	non definito	undefined

Architectural Configuration & Frontage Typologies (Tipi di Configurazione Architettonica)

Venice uses a highly detailed architectural classification system to describe the structural layout, frontage composition, and construction era of its buildings.
These codes identify whether a structure is single-cell, bi-cellular, tri-cellular, shed-type, modular, or unified—while also indicating how later additions, renovations, or contextual integration affect its architectural character.
This typology is essential for understanding how historic Venetian buildings were originally organized, how they evolved through centuries of modification, and how they relate to the surrounding urban fabric.

Code	Italian Description	English Meaning