Italian Historic Centers and Marginality. For a Regeneration Strategy of the Contemporary Historic Territory

Abstract

The study developed by Ancsa* and Cresme** shows the current state of the Italian historic centers from the economic and demographic point of view, which is the starting point of the paper in reflecting on the Italian urban policies for the enhancement and preservation of the contemporary historic territory. Moreover, the paper aims to deeper investigate the phenomenon of marginality as arising from the application of the concept of “periphery” to historic centers.

Starting from the analytical-interpretative methodology used in the Ancsa-Cresme 2017 report, our study follows an inductive method based on demographic, social and economic survey trends in the provincial capital cities. Although in a quantitative way, this approach reflects the trend Italian cities are going through, and is useful to outline the common characteristics of the marginality phenomenon of some historic centers. This general investigation represents the reference framework for the in-depth and comparative analysis of the case studies useful to understand the specific phenomena that are characterizing historic centers, as well as of the policies, strategies and planning outcomes for their regeneration. Due to their structure and morphology, historic centers are living and unique organisms, and it is thus difficult to plan a predefined and standardized urban policy framework. That is why, starting from a general framework, we deepen some case studies to outline the policies suitable for similar urban contexts.

The paper proposes a comparative analysis between two Italian case studies that are characterized by phenomena of degradation or by hiking tourism, ageing and declining population (especially young people and families) as well as the loss of neighbourhood business activities. At the same time, the paper considers historic centers as nodes of the historic territory network identified through an enhancement approach of the historic and cultural heritage more in line with the shape and needs of the contemporary city. These two conditions demonstrate that historic centers should become crucial for the new urban policies agenda.

The data used are taken from the census surveys of the National Institute of Statistics and/or available from local databases, as well as data taken from the urban planning tools in force.

The results show the urban policies that it would be useful to support in order to promote a regeneration of the contemporary city. These policies must be aware of both the problems that afflict the traditional historic components (the marginality of historic centers) and the new challenges deriving from socio-economic and environmental changes, which considerably extend the inhabitants’ memories and urban planning competencies beyond the perimeter of the historic centers.

* Ancsa, Associazione Nazionale Centri Storici Artistici, National Association of Historic Artistic Centers

** Cresme, Centro di Ricerche Economiche e Sociologiche di Mercato dell’Edilizia, Center for Economic and Sociological Research on the Building Market