Resilience Paths in Italy and Spain. Railways Relaunch and Reuse in Fragile Territories

Abstract

The processes of metropolization of the territory foster phenomena of spatial polarization that determine a growing state of economic and social fragility of the “inner peripheries” connected to the abandonment of the building and infrastructural heritage. In this context, between 2018 and 2020, the group of Italian and Spanish academics has developed the research entitled Resilience Paths. Reuse and relaunch of minor railways for the regeneration of fragile territories. Experiences in Italy and Spain. The research, based on the contextualization of the dynamics in Italy and Spain, such as the marginalization of the "aree interne" and the "España vacía", defines new methodological and operational references aimed at facing the processes of infrastructural dismantling, in line with European strategies. This research adopts three consolidated perspectives, within the framework of the urban planning debate, to analyse the fragilization phenomena. And the ongoing experiences and to propose guidelines for intervention: a "structural" perspective for the relaunch of the ordinary service, a "morphological and landscape" perspective for the enhancement of the cultural and tourist character of the railways and an "ecological" perspective for the construction of greenways. In this framework, based on an inductive methodology, the document represents a synthesis of the results and some insights into case studies that highlight the opportunity to experiment new integrated and multi-scalar categories for the planning of infrastructure networks, promoted by the national and European policies and programs.