Patrimonio militare e progetti di rigenerazione urbana: l’infrastruttura bellica dell’Atlantic Wall e di Saint-Nazaire

Abstract

In 2010 the submarine base in Saint-Nazaire was declared ‘Heritage of the XX century’ by the French Ministère de la Culture et de la Communnication. Thereafter it became the symbol of a new approach related to heritage that recognises the tangible and intangible heritage in all its forms, not only restricted to the artifact acknowledged as a ‘monument’. Remembrance, the material assets or the little known places have thus contributed to defining a new urban dimension projected toward the future. The case of Saint-Nazare, relating clearly to the relationship between waterfront and military heritage, encourages us to meditate on the role of urban design in the transformation of the contemporary city. The same principles connect this case study to several other redevelopment operations in the European city and, in particular, the French port cities. Starting from the '80s, in order to face the crisis in the industrial sector, several port cities, including Marseille, Le Havre, Dunkirk and Saint-Nazaire, produced diverse studies and projects regarding their obsolete or abandoned industrial areas, in order to boost port activities and to allocate the vacant places to new activities. Acknowledgment of the value of these port areas as urban resources (as well as cultural heritage) has consented the regeneration of (often previously interrupted or abandoned) economic, social and spatial activity.