U3 i Quaderni #14

Page 1

i QUADERNI #14 settembre_dicembre 2017 numero quattordici anno cinque

URBANISTICA tre giornale on-line di urbanistica ISSN:

2531-7091

Planning for all generations Per una pianificazione multigenerazionale Edited by GU | Generazione Urbana

• Mildred E. Warner | • Gregory Smith | • Adam Bronfin, Rachel Liu & Kai Walcott | • Gray Brakke, Amelia Visnauskas, Eduardo C. Dañobeytia, Raquel Blandon & Joshua Glasser |

• Carlo Cellamare | • Nicola Vazzoler | • Madeleine Galvin | • Tishya Rao, Ehab Ebeid, 1 Murphy & Edna Samron | Graham • Giovanni Attili |


giornale on-line di urbanistica journal of urban design and planning ISSN: 2531-7091

Comitato di redazione Editor: Giorgio Piccinato Editor in chief: Nicola Vazzoler Secretary: Francesca Porcari Editorial staff: Simone Ombuen, Anna Laura Palazzo, Lucia Nucci iQuaderni: Elisabetta Capelli, Sara Caramaschi, Lorenzo Barbieri Rubriche: Flavio Graviglia Social e comunicazione: Viviana Andriola, Domenica Bona Graphic design: Janet Hetman Comitato scientifico Thomas Angotti, City University of New York Oriol Nel·lo i Colom, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Carlo Donolo, Università La Sapienza Valter Fabietti, Università di Chieti-Pescara Max Welch Guerra, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Michael Hebbert, University College London Daniel Modigliani, Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica Luiz Cesar de Queiroz Ribeiro, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Vieri Quilici, Università Roma Tre Christian Topalov, École des hautes études en sciences sociales Rui Manuel Trindade Braz Afonso, Universidade do Porto

http://www.urbanisticatre.uniroma3.it/dipsu/ ISSN 2531-7091

La qualità scientifica del Quaderno è garantita da una procedura di peer review ad opera di qualificati referees anonimi esterni. Progetto grafico / Nicola Vazzoler Impaginazione / Giulio Cuccurullo Data di pubblicazione: Roma, gennaio 2018 In copertina: Roma, Parco degli Acquedotti. Foto di Serena Muccitelli edito da

con il supporto di

per informazioni

ROMA

TRE

2

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


#14

settembre_dicembre 2017 numero quattordici anno cinque september_december 2017 issue fourteen year five

in questo numero in this issue Topic/Tema >

Planning for all generations

Per una pianificazione multigenerazionale a cura di / edited by GU | Generazione Urbana Viviana Andriola & Serena Muccitelli

Generazione Urbana_p. 5 Framing a multigenerational approach to planning. The Italian context

Per una pianificazione multigenerazionale. Il caso italiano Mildred E. Warner_p. 17 Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

La pianificazione multigenerazionale: teoria e pratica

Gregory Smith_p. 25 The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

La pedagogia di un laboratorio di ricerca urbana sulla condizione di vita di giovani ed anziani in alcuni quartieri di Roma

Adam Bronfin, Rachel Liu, Kai Walcott _p. 33 Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

La rigenerazione urbana può essere multigenerazionale? Il caso studio di Piazza Alessandria G. Brakke, A. Visnauskas, E. C. Dañobeytia, R. Blandon, J. Glasser_p. 43

Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood Path dependence e rapporti sociali in un quartiere non pianificato

Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries , re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

Periferie epifaniche, riappropriazione della città e qualità dell’abitare

3


Nicola Vazzoler_p. 63 TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

TOD: a tale between sustainability and accessibility

Madeleine Galvin_p. 71 Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

Abitare vicino a un nodo di trasporto: valutare la qualità della vita per bambini e anziani

Tishya Rao, Ehab Ebeid, Graham Murphy, Edna Samron_p. 79 Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

Esercitare il “Diritto al Tufello”

Giovanni Attili_p. 89 Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

Informal practices and institutions. Towards a politics of attention

Apparati/Others > Profilo autori/Authors bio p. 98 Parole chiave/Keywords p. 101

4

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


# Demographic shift | # Age-friendly planning | # Multigenerationality |

Framing a multigenerational approach to planning. The Italian context

# Cambiamento demografico | # pianificazione age-friendly | # Multigenerazionalità |

Per una pianificazione multigenerazionale. Il caso italiano A cura di / Edited by GU | Generazione Urbana1 Viviana Andriola & Serena Muccitelli Contemporary western societies are ageing, and together with them, cities are aging too. The current demographic shift is deeply impacting the social realm and the physical environment where people live, but it is also challenging planners and policy makers with a new set of needs, expectations and dispositions. This issue of i Quaderni di UrbanisticaTre Planning for all generations aims at reviewing and discussing some aspects that are critical for a planning approach willing to assume a multigenerational and intergenerational perspective. To do so, this contribution opens the discussion on multigenerational planning exploring the Italian framework in its demographic dynamics, social policies on children and elderly and current planning themes and trends. The case studies elaborated by the Cornell University’s Rome Workshop are hence used as an access point for debating child and age friendly cities between theory and practice, and for lifting the emerging themes to a wider debate on planning. The pieces of the issue establish a continuous dialogue unraveling from the design challenges posed by the contemporary city, to governance and policy features to be acknowledged in order to deal with the challenges emerging from the field and from the current debate. The dialogue is enriched with historical hints, concepts and methodology, which all aim at adding needed complexity to the debate for multigenerational planning and policy making.

Introduction Our societies are ageing. European countries, more than others, are experiencing a strong greying of their populations, not compensated by a growth of births. Eurostat projections estimate that the share of EU citizens aged over 65 will increase from 18% in 2013 to 28% in 20602. Italy in particular is the oldest European country with 20,3% of the population more than 65. On the other hand, the youngest part of the society (under 14) represents only the 14% of the Italian population. Although European countries are on average approximately five years ahead of the U.S. aging curve, in the U.S. as well, nearly 20 percent of the population will be over age 65 by 2030. Demograph- 1_ Viviana Andriola drafted sections: “A greying Counic projections confirm these dynamics in the next future, posing important the try with changing needs”, questions to the sustainability of the current social asset. “Social Policies: the unseen layer that affects family life”,

These transformations will deeply impact not only on the social realm but “Exploring multigeneratioalso on the places where most of the population live: cities. Cities are still nality: themes and places”; designed and planned for a specific human target type: a working age man in Serena Muccitelli drafted his full mental and physical abilities, who needs a place to live, easily acces- the sections: “Introduction”, regeneration in the sible by car and equipped with the services required for a comfortable life. “Urban context of multigenerational Poor attention is devoted to walkable accessibility of local services and to the planning”. quality and comfort of the pedestrian experience. These, together with many 2_ http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/ european_economy/2014/pdf/ ee8_en.pdf

5


other aspects neglected in design and planning practice, have a core role in enhancing the quality of life of the weakest segments of population, such as children and elders. The shifting demographics, together with the implied changing needs, calls for a new approach to rethink the way cities are planned and for whom. Older adults, children and young people share concerns about accessibility to safe public spaces and accessibility to public transport, they report high levels of fear of crime, but are also concerned with the provision of public space to socialize and develop cross community and intergenerational linkages. Families with young children bring issues related to service provision, local economics and long-term growth, too.

Fig.1_

Locandina del seminario conclusivo “Generazioni a confronto�, foto di Nicola Vazzoler.

3_

Since 2004 a wide portfolio of neighborhood studies has been collected within the Rome Workshop, approaching urban context through quantitative and qualitative analysis. Studying Roman neighborhoods for Cornell planning students represents a great opportunity in terms of perceiving and understanding the layering of social, physical, historical and urban issues in a different context from the cultural and urban point of view. More details on the Cornell in Rome program and on the Rome workshop could be found at the following links: http://aap.cornell.edu/academics/rome/programs ; https://aap.cornell.edu/academics/crp/undergraduate/ rome-neighborhood-studies .

The current debate about multigenerational city planning tends to reduce the raised issues to the question of accessibility or openness of the physical space. But accessible cities are not only about infrastructure and services. It is becoming more and more evident how an enabling social environment, capable of giving voice and visibility for citizens, regardless of age, is as important as material conditions in determining well-being in life. It is than clear that the issue of planning cities for multiple ages requires an integrated approach that includes different policies like economic, social, environmental and spatial and that promotes participation with multiple stakeholders and expertise. Architects, city planners, designers of city-wide services from health to energy supply are all engaged in the challenges posed by these demographic shifts. They need to be aware of current social and demographic trends and of the critical need to consider and respond to the demands of an aging population in their work. This issue of i Quaderni di UrbanisticaTre: Planning for all generations aims at reviewing and discussing some critical aspects of multigenerational planning. The issue uses, as a starting point, the theoretical framework and the case studies elaborated by the Cornell University’s Rome Workshop3, conducted within the Cornell in Rome program (Smith et al. 2014, 9). By focusing on the theme of the child and age friendly cities, the 2017 workshop4 explored four different neighborhoods in Rome - San Giovanni, Piazza Alessandria, Tufello and Pineta Sacchetti - through the lenses of their livability for child and elders. In addition, thanks to the support of Engaged Cornell, a special Cornell program promoting the engagement of the academic body in society, students developed a community based participatory research testing the utility of engagement techniques in a planning practice capable of embedding a multigenerational approach. Generazione Urbana, a research and consultancy group based in Rome, was involved in order to broaden the engagement process and the dissemination of results to local communities5.

6

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


The issue is opened by two pieces by Mildred Warner and Gregory Smith, both professors at Cornell University’s Rome workshop (Spring 2017). Warner gives a background on the theoretical basis of planning for all ages; Smith shows the methodology followed in the workshop in order to make students see and experience the different layers of multigenerationality in their case studies. Following articles are grouped in order to establish a dialogue between theory and practice. Each piece debating the four case studies has been matched with an Italian author whose contribution aims at lifting the emerging themes to a wider debate on planning. This structure helps open the discussion on multigenerational planning and set the agenda for future research. In the next paragraphs the context and the background of the proposed debate will be outlined, drawing on the different levels of multigenerationality, and of the Italian framework, such as demographic dynamics, social policies on children and elderly care, and current planning themes. A greying Country with changing needs The Italian context poses significant challenges to the multigenerationality of its cities. In fact, Italian society is aging and, at the same time, birth rates are decreasing. The current trend has deep roots mainly in poor social policies supporting families and in the widespread improvement of health and social conditions. In the next years, the needs of elders will become more and more visible to the eyes of the public actor in charge of designing policies for this expanding population segment. For instance, in the urban context, access to services, walkability, availability of public space will be core issues to be tackled by policy makers, researchers and practitioners. Also children and their families, even if not so numerically important, will benefit from this change in point of view because both children and elderly express similar needs towards urban contexts. According to Italian statistics, in 2016 people over 65 are 22,3% of the total population, over 80 represent 6,8% and over 90 represent 2,2%. The high proportion of elderly in the total population depends on two main factors: longer life spans and lower fertility (Istat, 2017). The first is strictly linked to the increase of life expectancy at birth (80,6 years for male, 85,1 years for female) and to the death decrease in older age (life 4_ Spring 2017 students: expectancy at 65 is 19,1 years for male, 22,4 years for female).The second is Steven Switzer, Adam Brondue to low fertility rates (1,34 child per woman) and to the advanced mater- fin, Kai Walcott, Rachel Liu, nal age at delivery (31,7). On the other hand, the youngest part of the society Ehab Ebeid, Edna Samron, (0-14 years) represents only 13,5% of the total population, confirming the Tishya Rao, Graham Murphy, Lan Luo, Raphael Paul Laustrong decrease of birth rates: in 2016 the lowest of Italian history. Future tendencies go in the same direction, confirming a progressive ageing of the Italian population. Comparing demographic data trends such as fertility, death and migration rates, the future population structure will be quite different from the paradigmatic age pyramid, presenting an imbalance in favour of the oldest population groups. According to this data, Italy is facing - and will face in the future - a “demographic debt� towards future generations in terms of social security, health expenditure and welfare state sustainability. In fact, the elderly dependency ratio has been growing in the last ten years passing from 30,5% (2007) to 34,8% (2017), together with the

7

de, Madeline Galvin, Brooke Shin, Shariff Hussam, Amelia Visnauskas, Raquel Blandon, Joshua Glaser, Eduardo Carmelo, Gray Brakke. 5_ Final Spring 2017 materials can be downloaded here https://aap.cornell.edu/academics/crp/undergraduate/ rome-neighborhood-studies; issue briefs on neighborhoods engagement available here http://www.generazioneurbana.it/portfolio/engaged-cornell/


ageing index, from 142,3% in 2007 to 165,3% in 2017. The demographic shift toward ageing societies has significant consequences for the well-being of society and for its economic development. These need to be reminded as:

Fig.2_

Gli studenti del Rome Workshop durante un focus group con degli studenti liceali nell’ambito delle attività di coinvolgimento della popolazione locale sostenute da Engaged Cornell, foto di Serena Muccitelli.

economic implications: shrinking working population and change in local revenue, ageing workforce, rising public spending in health and social care, and urban infrastructure and form not always fitted for an ageing society.

social implications: risk of social isolation, possible limited accessibility to employment, healthcare, social care services, housing and community and housing affordability.

The challenges presented by the ageing trend will be particularly pronounced in metropolitan areas, where the increase in the number of older people is critical (OECD 2015) as well as in rural areas (see the Italian National Strategy for Inner areas6, where growing ageing population is identified as a critical factor for the regional development) . Social Policies: the unseen layer that affects family life An ageing society, as here depicted, asks for consistent answers to policy makers. Also the youngest part of the population, children, requires similar attention. These two ends of lifecycle (or age spectrum), one increasing, the other decreasing, need to be accompanied and supported by a puzzle of actors: state, market and families. Historically, countries set up different assets to meet the care needs of children and elderly, combining a different mix of state, market and family participation ( Ferrera 2007).

6_ For further details see the

Italy has a peculiar path in care policy design and development: in the past, care issues were quite totally passed on to families, in particular to women. In the current context of a growing need for care services, of a reduced ability of families to fulfill these needs (also due to increasing female employment) and of demographic challenges, the absence of public support is utterly evident as families are forced to look to market solutions to their care issues. In Italy the demand for care services did not find solution in the expansion of public provision nor in the public regulation and support to care arrangements. On the contrary, what happened was the rise of a hybrid combination of informal care and loosely regulated and little supported care market. A framework of the Italian trajectory in early childhood and education (ECEC) policies and on long term care (LTC) policies will help to understand the impact of social policies - often not perceived in their core role - on family life.

official website http://www.agenziacoesione. gov.it/it/arint/

8

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


ECEC policies followed in Italy two directions, depending on the child’s age. Under age 3 créches are provided both by public and private actors: municipalities are in charge of implementing them even if major territorial disparities still remain, due to a lack of national and regional standards and adequate funding. Crèches fees are decided by municipalities and can depend on family income; often they can be unsustainable for families, especially if they are forced to apply in the private market. On the other hand, childcare for children from 3 to 6 years, is free of charge because its provision is a national responsibility (since 1968), reaching almost full coverage through state, municipal, private publicly recognized facilities. LTC policies are weak and fragmented among different administrative levels. The municipal level is in charge of providing care services and means tested financial support to families, but it suffers from limited national and regional guidelines and funding to be sustainable. Furthermore, municipalities offer home care services, but these are poorly developed and available only limited hours per week. The regional level offers only a limited availability of home and residential health care services, forcing a large number of dependent adults to live at home. The national level provides a cash allowance for disabled adults: although it is the most important intervention for older dependent people, it was not designed as a care policy. These two policy fields had an intense request of review in the 1990s and 2000s as a consequence of the decline of family care availability due to growing female employment. While childcare witnessed an increased use of non municipal and private facilities (not income related and often difficult for most families to afford), for elderly there was primary reliance on the private care market based on domestic work and female immigration. This is the Italian well known phenomenon of badanti, migrant women, often undocumented, working in the gray market and living with the older dependent person. What happened was a policy freeze: weak care arrangements and new social demands were not considered by policy makers as a social problem warranting a structural reform. As a consequence, a market shift took place. This happened for a combination of structural and institutional factors: •

strong budget constraints, an inefficient, particularistic and clientelistic public administration, an opaque political system and a structure of inter-institutional relationships that inhibits the construction of national policy fields are responsible for the limited mobilization of social and political actors claiming structural reforms;

extensive gray market, labor force deregulation, availability and tolerance of undocumented migrants and monetary transfers for elderly people led to the creation of little regulated care markets and to a pressure reduction for substantial reform.

Short-term interests of different social actors (families, state, local welfare agencies, migrant care workers) converged on the reproduction of the basic features of the system: overload of family responsibilities, limited citizenship rights, minimization of the costs of care and transfer of these costs into the care labor force.

9


TUFELLO... generazioni a confronto! Un gruppo di studenti americani è in viaggio nei quartieri di Roma per leggere la città con gli occhi di diverse

generazioni di cittadini e per conoscere i servizi, gli spazi e le attività che rendono i quartieri a misura di bambini, ragazzi e anziani.

Engaged Cornell, a community based participatory research è un’iniziativa della Cornell University, nata all’interno del Rome Workshop, un laboratorio di analisi urbana che ogni anno porta un gruppo di studenti di urbanistica ad esplorare i quartieri della realtà Romana.

Partecipa alle iniziative nel tuo quartiere!

I risultati dei workshop con i cittadini contribuiranno a costruire il discorso sulla città multigenerazionale, con il supporto della Biennale dello Spazio pubblico e di GU | Generazione Urbana

Per info: 10 urbanistica@cornell.edu

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Fig.3_ Locandina distribuita Urban regeneration in the context of multigenerational planning Urban planning has clearly a pivotal role in ensuring the multigenerational nei quartieri oggetto del Rome and intergenerational development of cities: it affects different dimensions Workshop per coinvolgere of city life through a wide set of policies and interventions. Mobility, for in- gli abitanti nelle iniziative nel territorio, stance, is one of the main fields of action of multigenerational planning, as organizzate realizzata da Serena Muccitelli. well as one of the more discussed. The aim is to widen mobility, reduce congestion and traffic - with positive effects on air quality, develop and integrate policies on public, private and shared transport, promote the enhancement of safe walkability. Planning can influence multigenerational livability in cities when designing public green spaces or natural parks as well. Finally, urban renewal and urban regeneration interventions have a high potential to impact on urban multigenerationality. Urban regeneration is particularly important in the Italian context, which is affected by an extended economic crisis that, combined with austerity policies, is impacting the real estate market and urban economics at large. The crisis has already produced a significant shift in the urban development framework, causing the end of the expansionist approach that has characterized planning practice and urban regulation in the last decades. In search for alternative measures, the planning discourse is now concentrated on urban regeneration as a more sustainable approach. Regeneration can be considered an urban strategic policy, very effective in integrating environmental concerns with social and economic standards, thus capable of fostering a more attractive, cohesive and economically dynamic city. It concerns features opposing the consumption of both peri-urban and urban natural and agricultural land, and promoting the transformation of the existing city, such as: • • • • • •

reducing sprawl; the renaturalization of a portion of unoccupied ground and natural systems; the selection of areas already inserted in the built environment for urban transformation; the renewal of existing buildings (dismissed or not energetically performative); the functional integration of facilities; the densification of neighborhoods and infill development.

As a consequence, Italian planning is currently more focused on modeling transformation processes than on new developments (interventions, models) suitable for multigenerational urbanism. In the context of this debate, the regeneration approach is particularly valuable since it can contribute to restore social cohesion and the fundamental rights of citizens of all ages. Features such as labour, education, health, housing, public participation and recognition of cultural diversity can indeed successfully be addressed when working within the existing city. For instance, infill or densification can be paired with social objectives such as providing a good degree of mixité to urban context, in terms of social and age diversification, or providing local integrated services for all ages, fostering participation of elders and families and community engagement at large. Many examples can be found, to show how innovative social policies and interventions can be integrated into the strategic framework of urban

11


regeneration. Nevertheless, although regeneration offers the possibility to be a multigenerational approach, it does not always succeed in fulfilling this objective. In order to avoid regeneration becoming a “missed opportunity”, planners must help the public body provide clearer and stronger indications capable of addressing the provision of multigenerational features in cities’ redevelopment. Exploring urban multigenerationality: themes and places This thematic issue of iQuaderni di UrbanisticaTre has to be read as a dialogue around the key themes that emerged from the students’ field work on in four Roman neighborhoods. These differ by their localization within the city, their physical and design characteristics, and their social and economic features. More specifically the neighborhoods of Piazza Alessandria and San Giovanni are located in the first belt outside the historical center defined by the Aurelian Walls; the first was designed as a bourgeois neighborhood in the Twenties, the latter as a middle-labour class from the Thirties to the Fifties. The other two neighborhoods are born as working class settlements, but while Tufello was realised by the Fascist Regime during the 1920’s as a public housing complex, Pineta Sacchetti developed informally after the Second World War. The conducted research found its richness within this diversity, and each neighborhood was illustrative of a relevant theme for multigenerational planning, as discussed in the following pieces. The articles establish a continuous dialogue unraveling from the design challenges posed by the contemporary city, to governance and policy features to be acknowledged in order to deal with the challenges of a multigenerational approach. The dialogue gets then enriched with historical hints, concepts and methodology, which all aim at adding the needed complexity to the debate for multigenerational planning and policy making. The publication is opened by the article on Piazza Alessandria, a central wealthy neighborhood at the core of a regeneration project that marginalized the weakest part of the local population, leaving poor public space and no facility for the youngest or the oldest residents, who are not engaged, nor targeted by the regeneration programme. In the domain of physical environment challenges, this case revealed that, despite its good design, the neighborhood is highly unfriendly to elderly and children due to its poor norms of use and maintenance, which negatively affect walkability in the neighborhood. From central Rome the issue moves to its periphery: Pineta Sacchetti is an unplanned neighborhood where poor urban design and maintenance - that make it totally child and elder -unfriendly - is overcome by an invisible asset of placemaking represented by slow flow, shared history, sense of place and norms of reciprocity. Cellamare dialogues with these features, widening the discussion on Rome peripheries and their peculiarities both from an urban and social point of view. Great space is devoted to depict the protagonism of local citizens in their neighborhoods’ development. Vazzoler’s article on the model of TOD (Transit oriented development), its history and key concepts, investigates one of the core aspects composing a multigenerational approach to planning: urban mobility. The piece introduces the criticalities that emerged in the field, in the San Giovanni neighborhood. Very central and connected, it depicts the example of the “dark side”

12

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


of a TOD from a multigenerational point of view, where the working age and transient population interests are predominant in comparison to those of children and elders, who suffer from the congestion, poor maintenance of public space and service mix oriented to non residents, all features that appear to threaten their “right to stay”. The dialogue proceeds from the “right to stay” to exploring “the right to the city”, a concept applied in the last low-income, public housing case study: Tufello. Here, thanks to strong grassroots institutions and to the support of city authorities, an inclusive community was created, especially for children and elders. The institutional challenges highlighted that a cross-sectoral involvement with both top-down and bottom-up input helped develop a child and age-friendly environment. The final article, by Giovanni Attili, opens a wide reflection on the policy shift able to recognize the power and importance of grassroots organizations in city development, starting a new care policy. In this understanding, this last contribution can be read as a theoretical framework for the issue, which aims at eliciting the debate on urban child and age friendliness to move from mere physical aspects to also social and immaterial ones: an enabling social environment, capable of giving voice and visibility for citizens, regardless of age, appears indeed to be as important as material conditions in determining well-being in life. Hence, social and physical facilities and services should also be integrated and mutually enhancing to support children to grow and people to age.

references Anziani, popolazione e famiglie 2017, Istat, consultato a Settembre 2017, http:// www.istat.it/it/anziani/popolazione-e-famiglie Da Roit B. & Sabatinelli S. 2012, “Nothing on the move or just going private? Understanding the freeze on child-and eldercare policies and the development of care markets in Italy”, Social Politics, vol. 20, no 3, pp 430-453, Oxford University Press. Ferrera, M. 2006, Le politiche sociali: l’italia in prospettiva comparata, Bologna, Il Mulino. Lui, C., Everingham, J., Warburton, J., Cuthill, M. & Bartlett, H. 2009, “What makes a community age-friendly: A review of international literature”, Australasian Journal on Ageing, vol 28, no 3, pp. 116–121 Istat 2017, Indicatori demografici - Stime per l’anno 2016, Statistiche Report OECD 2015, Ageing in Cities - Policy Highlights, OECD Publishing, Paris. Sbetti F., Rossi F., Talia M. & Trillo M. 2013, Il governo della città nella contemporaneità, Città come motore di sviluppo, Tema 1. La rigenerazione urbana come resilienza, Urbanistica Dossier N.4, INU edizioni, Roma.Smith G, Warner M, Fioretti C, Meschiari C, 2014, “Embedding Planning Practice and Theory in the Rome Undergraduate Planning Workshop,” Planning Theory and Practice, vol. 15, no 1, pp 9-25. Vicari Haddock S. & Moulaert F. 2009,. Rigenerare la città. Pratiche di innovazione sociale nelle città europee, Il Mulino, Bologna.

13


GU | Generazione Urbana is a group of researchers and professionals of the urban environment aiming at making the culture on the urban domain more accessible, bringing it outside of purely academic and disciplinary contexts. The interest of this process is to enhance the relational and cognitive dimension of inhabiting the city. GU believes that a greater and more widespread awareness of the urban environment, of the ways of living it and of the collective character of individual choices, can address the latter, and then the political actions, on account of a more organic and mature collective vision of the city. GU | Generazione Urbana è un gruppo di ricercatori e professionisti dell’urbano con l’obiettivo di rendere più accessibile la cultura urbana, portandola fuori dai contesti prettamente accademici e disciplinari. L’interesse di questa operazione sta nel potenziare la dimensione relazionale e cognitiva dell’abitare la città. Crediamo infatti, che una maggiore e più diffusa consapevolezza dell’urbano, dei modi di abitare e del carattere collettivo delle scelte individuali, possa indirizzare le stesse, e poi le azioni politiche, in ragione di una più organica e matura visione collettiva della città.

GU is: Viviana Andriola, territorial planner Serena Muccitelli, architect & urban planner Nicola Vazzoler, architect & urban planner Contact information: info@generazioneurbana.it

14

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Planning for all generations Per una pianificazione multigenerazionale

>

15


Roma, Piazza Alessandria

Rachel Liu

16

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

@ Mildred E. Warner |

# Multigenerational Planning | # Social and Physical Planning | # Cross Agency Partnerships |

La pianificazione multigenerazionale: teoria e pratica

# Pianificazione multigenerazionale | # Pianificazione sociale e fisica | # Cross Agency Partnership |

Urban planners need to give greater attention to the needs of families with young children and to older adults. While planning has traditionally focused on working age adults, a broader view would give attention to the role of planning in creating communities that are good places to grow up, to work and to grow old. Demographic shifts toward an aging society have helped increase planners’ attention to aging. But a focus on only one end of the life cycle is not enough. Planners need to address the needs of children as well as elders and their care givers. This article outlines the basic principles for a multigenerational planning approach. While planning has traditionally focused on physical design, a multigenerational planning requires planners also give attention to the social layer – and the importance of services and informal networks in ensuring access and social inclusion for all community members.

Introduction Advanced industrialized societies, like Italy, face the twin demographic challenges of an increasing percentage of older adults and a decline in the percentage of young children. This makes imperative the need for planning to give more attention to the needs of children and elders. While the World Health Organization (WHO) promotes age-friendly planning and UNICEF promotes child-friendly cities, there are many elements in common. WHO’s eight domains include three focused on the traditional physical aspects of planning – housing, transportation and outdoor spaces. WHO’s framework also includes five additional domains that are more focused on social Mildred E. Warner > Planning for all generations > Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

17


Fig.1_

UNICEF and WHO – Domains and Common Elements.

aspects - services (especially health), communication, civic and social participation and respect for elders (WHO 2007). Likewise, UNICEF gives attention to both the physical aspects of planning - safe water, safe streets – as well as basic services, and the support needed for healthy child development the opportunity to play, civic participation, family support and protection from exploitation (UNICEF 2004). While WHO and UNICEF promote separate initiatives in cities around the world, planners at the community level can build on the similarities to promote age-friendly planning that addresses the needs of all ages. What these two frameworks argue and what the neighborhood case studies profiled later in this special issue make clear, is that planners need to give attention to both the physical and the social layers within a community. While physical planning and formal services are typically the primary focus of planners, equal attention also needs to be given to the social layer. Let’s look at each of these layers in turn. Inclusive Design Promotes Access and Reduces Environmental Press Environmental press occurs when the environment presents demands beyond a person’s ability (Murray 1938), and this is especially important for the very young and the very old (Lawton and Simon 1968). For example, if sidewalks are absent or in poor repair, this undermines walkability, especially for children and older adults, and it increases the environmental press they feel in their neighborhoods. As the neighborhood case studies in this special issue will show, environmental press is a significant problem in many Roman neighborhoods. For example, Pineta Sacchetti lacks sidewalks or transit within the hilly neighborhood (Blandon et al 2017) while in San Giovanni, pollution and congestion reduce access and undermine liveability for elders and children despite the transit oriented design of the neighborhood (Shin et al 2017). The literature shows that environmental press undermines

18

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


access of children and older adults to their neighborhoods and this can lead Fig.2_ Functionality Curve. to chronic stress and negative physical and psychological health outcomes Source: Warner et al. 2016, Journal of Planning Education. (Kerr et al 2012). Inclusive urban design reduces environmental press and enhances the independence of all members of society (Farber et al 2011). Safe streets and sidewalks make it possible for young children and elders to navigate their neighborhoods independently. This independence promotes healthy child development and active aging, but it also relieves pressures of caregiving by other family members. So everyone benefits from an age-friendly planning approach. This is why age-friendly planning gives significant attention to physical design characteristics in the built environment – walkability, mixed use, nearby access to parks, healthy food and services, and a variety of housing types to meet the needs of young families and older adults (Israel & Warner 2006). Figure 2 presents a functionality curve which shows how children increase their functionality and independence as they grow up (e.g. learn to walk, ride a bike, take public transit) (Warner et al. 2017). The figure also shows how functionality can be compromised among older adults who need more assistance with basic mobility as they age (Kalache & Kickbush 1997). Unsafe or inaccessible homes, transportation, businesses, public spaces, and neighborhoods present physical barriers that can keep elders isolated and more prone to depression, limit physical activity, and increase mobility problems. Inclusive design can enhance individual functionality and independence for both the young and the old – increasing the independence of both children, elders and their caregivers. Figure 2 also shows a large gap exists in the ability of physical design to create fully enabled environments for children and older adults. Although good Mildred E. Warner > Planning for all generations > Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

19


Fig.3_

Planning.

Three

Roles

of

physical planning, which promotes inclusive design, helps meet demands of children and elders, good physical design alone is not sufficient. Services both complement inclusive design and ameliorate inadequate design as shown in the upper curve in Figure 2. This is why both the WHO and UNICEF frameworks give so much attention to services. Services and Informal Networks Can Overcome Deficiencies in Physical Design Planners typically give priority attention to transportation, housing, land use and economic development. However, human services are equally important. Neighborhoods must be good places to work, live and play. They must provide adequate caregiving support – through easy access to child care, elder care and the range of services children and elders needs for engagement in community life. Some of these services may be provided by government; but many are provided by the private market. “Third spaces” like cafes and local shops provide critical services for neighborhood residents who have limited geographical range. In addition to providing needed goods and services, such “third spaces” also provide places for social engagement and a sense of belonging. A study of services for elders in the US (Warner et al. 2016) found that market provision of services could be enhanced by planning for aging. This study, based on a survey of 1500 US communities in 2010, found public planning and engagement of elders in the planning process helps private entrepreneurs see new market possibilities in serving the needs of elders. A 2008 national US study of child friendly planning also found a critical role for participation of families with young children in explaining which communities were more likely to have family friendly planning and zoning codes (Warner & Rukus 2013). Beyond formal market or government based services, planners need to give attention to informal family friend and neighbor networks. Access to

20

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Cross Agency services for children and elders is heavily determined by their family friend Fig.2_ and neighbor networks. A study in Sullivan County, NY found that elders and Partnerships. Source: Planning families with young children who did not have relatives living in the same Across Generations Survey, 1478 city managers community reported greater barriers to access (Tou & Stein 2017). Informal 2013, responding. networks can provide many services that enable older adults to age in place – a neighbor helps with groceries or transport, or in watching over a child or elder. These networks are critical to building community and to enhancing individual independence. See Figure 3.

Planners typically give most attention to physical design, which promotes individual independence, and formal government or market-based services. Informal networks are often ignored. But they may be the most important layer in helping to create child and age friendly communities. Informal networks provide more than service support and access, they also help create neighborhood norms of sharing and caring. The case studies which follow illustrate how norms can enhance access, for example, slowing traffic flow to make streets walkable even in neighborhoods without sidewalks such as Pineta Sacchetti (Blandon et al 2017). This makes age friendly neighborhoods possible even where physical design is inadequate. But norms cut both ways. The case studies which follow also show how norms can undermine access, for example, when cars park in cross walks and block sidewalks as shown in the case study of Piazza Alessandria (Bronfin et al. 2017). Norms and informal networks are critical to promoting child and age friendly planning. Collaborative Planning is the Way Forward While planners often focus primarily on the physical layer – transportation, land use, the built environment - multigenerational planning requires a broader view. Expanding planners’ remit from physical design to service delivery requires planning for a broader range of services in neighborhoods. Planners need to pay attention to services such as child care and elder care. Mildred E. Warner > Planning for all generations > Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

21


It also requires looking beyond planners’ traditional focus on land use, transportation and economic development, and building partnerships with different types of neighborhood agencies. Collaboration is key. In a 2013 national survey of over 1500 communities in the US, Choi and Warner (2015) found that libraries and schools are key partners for cross agency partnerships to meet the needs of children and elders (see Figure 4). The case studies in this special issue showcase the critical role played by schools and libraries in helping neighborhoods become more child and age friendly, especially in peripheral lower income neighborhoods like Tufello (Ebed et al. 2017). However, Choi and Warner also found that the Housing, Transportation and Economic Development agencies, which are the traditional focus of planning, are the least likely to engage in cross agency partnerships to meet the needs of children and families. This needs to change. The opportunity for planners to reach out to new partners at the community level offers the potential to develop a more responsive planning to the needs of an aging society (Lehning, Chun & Scharlach, 2007). Conclusion Our communities are changing. An aging population and the need to provide more support to families with young children requires a broader planning approach. Traditional planning has been biased toward the needs of workers, typically assumed to be male. Planners can no longer adhere to an androcentric approach that fails to adequately address the needs of children or elders and the women who still bear the primary responsibility for their care (Micklow and Warner 2014). A primary focus on physical design is not enough. We must also address the social layer – public participation, community norms and services, especially care services for children and elders as noted in the editorial overview to this special issue (Andriola & Muccitelli 2017). Planners most create communities for all ages – neighborhoods that are good places to grow up, to work and to age in place. 21st century planning requires an integrated approach that gives attention to all ages and those both working and living in the urban environment. A multigenerational approach is key to neighborhood vitality. To create communities livable for all ages, the needs of children and elders must be considered alongside the needs of working adults.

22

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


references Andriola V & Muccitelli S. 2017, Framing a multigenerational approach to planning: The Italian context, Urbanistica Tre (this issue). Blandon R, Brakke G, Carmelo Danobeytia E, Glasser J & Visnauskas A. 2017, Pineta Sacchetti: A Village without a Name, Neighborhood Report. Rome Neighborhood Workshop. Cornell University, viewed http://cms.mildredwarner.org/p/274 Bronfin, A. Liu, R., Switzer, S., & Walcott, K. 2017, Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A Case Study of Child and Age Friendliness in Piazza Alessandria, Cornell in Rome Neighborhood Workshop, viewed Http://cms.mildredwarner.org/p/273 Canfield AJ., Tou E. & Stein R. 2017, Supporting Sullivan Seniors, Youth, and Children project, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County. Choi M. & Warner ME. 2015, “Collaboration: The key to building communities for all generations”, pp 27-39 in The Municipal Yearbook 2015, Washington, DC: International City County Management Association, viewed http://cms.mildredwarner. org/p/216 Ebeid E., Luo L., Murphy G., Rao T. & Samron E. 2017, Il Tufello: Building a Strong Community Despite the Odds, Neighborhood Report, Rome Neighborhood Workshop, viewed http://cms.mildredwarner.org/p/276 Farber N., Shinkle D., Lynott J., Fox-Grage W. & Harrell R. 2011, Aging in Place: A State Survey of Livability Policies and Practices. Washington, DC: National Conference of State Legislatures and AARP Public Policy Institute, viewed http://www.aarp.org/home-garden/livable-communities/info-11-2011/solutions-forum-aging-in-place.html. Israel E. & Warner ME. 2008, Planning for Family Friendly Communities. PAS Memo, Chicago: American Planning Association, viewed http://www.planning.org/pas/ memo/open/nov2008/index.htm Kalache A. & Kickbusch I. 1997, A global strategy for healthy ageing, World Health, No. 4, pp. 4–5. Kerr J., Rosenberg D. & Frank L. 2012, “The Role of the Built Environment in Healthy Aging: Community Design, Physical Activity, and Health among Older Adults”, Journal of Planning Literature, vol. 1, no. 27, pp. 43–60. Lawton MP. & Simon B. 1968, ”The ecology of social relationships in housing for the elderly”, The Gerontologist, no.8, pp.108-115. Lehning A., Chun Y. & Scharlach A. 2007, “Structural barriers to developing aging-friendly communities”, Public Policy & Aging Report, no.17, pp.15-20. Micklow AC. & Warner ME. 2014, “Not Your Mother’s Suburb: Remaking Communities for a more Diverse Population”, The Urban Lawyer, vol.4, no.46, pp.729-751.Murray HA. 1938, Explorations in personality, New York, Oxford. UNICEF 2004, Building Child Friendly Cities: A Framework for Action, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, International Secretariat for Child Friendly Cities, Florence, Italy, viewed http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/416. Shin B, Galvin M, Laude R, & Hussam S, 2017. “San Giovanni: Living Next to a Transit Corridor” Neighborhood Report, Rome Neighborhood Workshop, Cornell University. http://cms.mildredwarner.org/p/275 Warner, M.E., Homsy, G. H & Morken L. M. 2016. Planning for Aging in Place: Stimulating a Market and Government Response, Journal of Planning Education and Research, 37(1) (2017): 29-42. Warner, M.E. & Rukus, J. 2013, Planners’ Role in Creating Family Friendly Communities: Action, Participation and Resistance, Journal of Urban Affairs, 35(5): 627-644. World Health Organization 2007, Global age-friendly cities: A guide. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press. http://www.who.int/ageing/publications/Global_age_friendly_cities_Guide_English.pdf.

Mildred E. Warner > Planning for all generations > Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

23


Roma, Parco Urbano del Pineto

Gray Brakke

24

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

@ Gregory Smith |

La pedagogia di un laboratorio di ricerca urbana sulla condizione di vita di giovani ed anziani in alcuni quartieri di Roma This contribution sets out the methodological foundations of the research conducted in the 2017 undergraduate Rome Workshop. The approach started with a focus on age friendliness, articulated within a research framework taking into consideration the material and nonmaterial features of the urban environment. Systematic street surveys were combined with statistical research and ethnographic explorations in a multimethod approach capable of revealing the interplay between planning activities and spontaneous features of community organization. Theoretical insights were provided by such authors as Aldo Rossi and Colin Rowe. The first author outlines the importance of establishing a research area which reflects the organic growth of the city, and calls attention to primary urban elements capable of propelling the process of urban transformation. Colin Rowe insists that the city is a didactic instrument poised between utopian aspiration and locally grounded tradition. These and other theoretical frameworks allow student researchers to see their activities in broader perspective. In this particular edition of the workshop age friendliness was the predetermined focus, the exploration of which built on a specific literature review and drew attention to the special needs of children and elders as research subjects.

‌. One must think of the city as inherently a didactic instrument ‌ Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter

Urban research is a critical skill for the urban studies professional.This discipline traces descent from the Chicago School in the 1920s, and over the decades has evolved in multiple ways built on diverse theoretical models concerning the city (Low 1999). Gregory Smith > Planning for all generations > The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

25

# Urban research | # Neighborhood studies | # Pedagogy | # Rome | # Ricerca urbana | # Studi di quartiere | # Pedagogia | # Roma |


Colin Rowe’s research seems particularly apt in our case. His writing derives largely from first-hand explorations of Rome, and is particularly revealing when he notes that the city is a didactic instrument aiming to communicate meaning to those experiencing it (1978, p. 121). Part of Rowe’s concern is to explore the interface between the city as a utopia and the city as the expression of traditional practice. Rome the Eternal City provides a unique opportunity to explore the shifting meanings of utopia and tradition, and explore how these forces have shaped the urban environment. Rome is the product of formal planning with presumed utopian aspirations, as well as informal citizen practice in a weakly regulated physical environment (Cellammare 2014). The encounter between ideal aspiration and actual citizen experience in Rome’s vast physical territory gives rise to a range of urban settings affording unique pedagogical opportunities.

Fig.1_

From Blandon et al. (2017, p. 20) Pineta Sacchetti street analysis.

Aldo Rossi also provides significant support for our research. His idea of the study area (1982, p. 63) is fundamental to researchers operating in Rome. Our workshop always starts with provisional boundaries for what can be considered a neighborhood, and leaves room for later adjustments as the group gains familiarity with the social and physical processes which define the city. A previous publication (Smith et al. 2014) described the pedagogical underpinnings of the Rome Workshop, an undergraduate urban studies course offered at Cornell in Rome over more than twenty years. The workshop takes advantage of Rome’s diversity to create an environment in which student urbanists can develop skills in exploring the city using various methods, including a modified ethnographic approach (Duneier 2014). The 2014 publication described a research strategy starting with a methodologically grounded survey of the neighborhood as a physical site, and progressing to an analytical and prescriptive assessment of city planning. This open-ended approach accommodates any range of student interests. During the spring 2017 edition of the Workshop we chose to reverse our modus operandi, and started with a strong thematic focus which was then fleshed out following techniques of investigation similar to those described in 2014. This choice presented unusual challenges, since available research material did not always facilitate empirical exploration of the chosen topic. Yet the experiment yielded a body of thematic material warranting the current publication. The theme was the age-friendly city, a concept which can be defined in abundant ways. For recent academic discussion of the topic consult Warner et al. 2017. The usual Workshop setup involves the concomitant exploration of three

26

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


or four different neighborhoods by separate research groups. Situated in a single municipal authority, this approach allows insights into how the city admits different responses which often have little to do with physical design itself. The concept of loose space (Frank & Stevens 2007) is particularly relevant here. During this semester two groups of five students each were formed, along with two groups of four each. The groups were selected in such a way as to balance skills, especially language, writing, graphic representation, and statistical analysis. It is essential in all social science research that the process of investigation not put the subjects at risk (Ocejo 2012, p. 11). Investigations involving elders and children raise special ethical dilemmas. Research conducted in the Rome Workshop has indicative value alone, since it lacks the systematic character of professional research. Nonetheless every effort is made to reach out to the research subjects, especially children and their adult gatekeepers (Morrow Fig.2_ From Bronfin et al. 1996, p. 101), to ensure that the aims of our (2017, p. 33) Piazza Alessandria activities be fully disclosed. Disclosure involves not only data collection, but figure ground study. also the assessment and dissemination of findings. Community consent is sought during each stage of the research process. Academic research necessarily flows from a literature review. In this particular edition of the Workshop students were exposed to a range of international studies concerning the age-friendly city, with a strong American component and a significant focus on Italy. The Italian context was explored not only through the literature, but through seminars with local experts from Rome and beyond. The research areas were selected as a contrasting suite of experiences. The usual research progression is to start with a theoretical and historical consideration of the city, and a review of research techniques available for empirical exploration. From this start students take possession of their neighborhoods with the assistance of Rome-based professional urban researchers. The first step in the empirical process is to walk through all the publicly accessible portions of the research area. Using appropriate survey instruments, students document the physical features of the neighborhood, and begin to engage local citizens concerning insights that go beyond urban design. Given the importance played by the research theme, from the outset students were invited to consider what physical features of the city can contribute to age-friendliness. This reflection was formalized as a checklist explored at the street level. The checklist was enriched as the research progressed, including informal practices promoting age friendliness. The publicly available final reports contain the research findings organized as a cohesive assessment of age friendliness in four neighborhoods. Gregory Smith > Planning for all generations > The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

27


The Piazza Alessandria report (Bronfin et al. 2017), for instance, starts out with a literature review which gives special importance to UN and UNICEF frameworks for assessing age friendliness. These frameworks reference both physical and non-physical features of the urban environment. Historical background to the neighborhood follows thematic and methodological considerations. Historical research is partly text based, but also relies on citizen accounts tracing more recent developments and those undocumented in written sources. In some neighborhoods, like self-built Pineta Sacchetti, the historical research is more complex owing to limited formal planning; the very name of the neighborhood as locally known finds no reference in the published literature (Blandon et al. 2017).

Fig.3_ From Shin et al. (2017,

p. 55) San Giovanni guide to the livability audit.

The neighborhood survey yields various products, including a street analysis (e.g., Figure 1) and a study of the urban layout (e.g., Figure 2) using figure ground maps (Trancik 1986). In a neighborhood like Piazza Alessandria, the figure ground maps illustrate the intentions of the planners in realizing an organized environment bringing together public and private spaces. In self-designed neighborhoods these intentions are not clearly stated, and fleshing out the distinction between public and private requires detailed ethnographic exploration. Building typology studies tell the story of the neighborhood’s historical evolution and reveal key parameters such as density (Reale 2011). Land use maps complete the survey of the physical environment. A critical issue in Rome is car mobility and car storage. Piazza Alessandria was designed in the 1880s, taking into account the then-prevailing needs of foot and vehicle traffic. Traffic patterns have changed, and issues of maintenance and use today create hazards for local pedestrians who note that the neighborhood is dangerous to walk. Poor maintenance and improper use, especially owing to vehicle storage, was mapped in an exploration of the neighborhood bringing together design, maintenance and use in a detailed assessment of local urban quality of life. The quality of life concept is discussed in Ruggeri’s study of livability (2013) from which some groups drew, while a now classic source is contained in the Manifesto formulated by Jacobs and Appleyard (1987). A separate feature of the investigation concerns available statistical material. Neighborhood data are compared to Rome scale, to reveal population age, density, housing and family size, with inferences about the social and economic character of the neighborhood. These data are often incomplete, and must be supplemented with observations and citizen interviews. A fundamental feature of research is engaging community actors, a complex process owing to linguistic and cultural barriers, the problem of reaching out to key actors, and the logistics of organizing interviews in the short time afforded by a semester in Rome. A good example of interview methodology

28

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


is contained in the Piazza Alessandria report, adapted from a study comparing two European cities. The report describes methodology in relevant detail (page 79), including the interview strategy, the questions asked, and a discussion of the locations where the interviews were carried out. The contents of the interviews are tabulated in a detailed appendix. These intercept interviews focused on three groups: children with their parents, working age citizens, and elders. A total of twenty interviews were collected. Having established the general framework in which age-friendliness can be assessed, all groups created forms of community engagement. The most ambitious form deployed this semester was in Pineta Sacchetti, where thanks to the support of a local public school, student researchers engaged local children in an exercise of participatory photography. The methodological foundation for this investigation borrowed from work published by Sancar and Severcan (2010). This exercise, along with a series of interviews concerning the memories of elders, revealed an unexpected level of age friendliness in this relatively unregulated environment. A well-designed and affluent neighborhood like Piazza Alessandria exhibited lower quality of life than underprivileged Pineta Sacchetti, questioning the value of design in predicting citizen experience.

Fig.4_

Other neighborhood explorations also indicated the relativity of design in predicting quality of life. The San Giovanni group (Shin et al. 2017) borrowed from Deni Ruggeri’s methodology (2013) in a livability audit generating findings that revealed a strong livability contrast within a homogeneous built environment (Figure 3). The Tufello group (Ebeid et al. 2017) was explicit in describing how built form was not enough to understand local quality of life. This finding was achieved through an extensive series of exercises (e.g., Figure 4) engaging local citizens, associations and institutions. As a whole these investigations demonstrated that a study of the physical forms of the city is a fundamental starting point for the investigation of an urban environment, but by itself is not enough. The city plan, when it exists, is a key force propelling the transformation of the city (Rossi 1982, p. 99). But so are nonmaterial elements (ibid., p.87). This indicates that planning by itself does not predict the full range of responses to the city, a claim supported by our research. This general finding resonates with the writings of Colin Rowe: utopian design is only one element in the urban experience (1978, p.121). Even in the absence of a utopian design, traditions, themselves a dynamic urban force, may encourage local practices which endow place with a positive aura. The empirical research described here confirms the importance of showing how theoretical abstractions play out on the ground. As Jacobs (1985, p.7) noted long ago, grappling with the effort to understand the city can only be mastered through first-hand experience.

Gregory Smith > Planning for all generations > The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

29

From Ebeid et al. (2017, p. 30) Tufello mapping exercise. on the following page: Fig.5_ Rome Workshop methodology poster, Kay Walcott.


30

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


references Jacobs A. & Appleyard D. 1987, ‘Toward an urban design manifesto’, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 53, no.1, pp.112-120. Blandon R., Brakke G., Danobeytia EC., Glasser J. & Visnauskas A. 2017, Pineta Sacchetti. A village without a name, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, viewed 8 June 2017, https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Pineta%20 Sacchetti%20report-reduced-opt_060517.pdf. Bronfin A., Liu R., Switzer S. & Walcott K. 2017, Can regeneration be multigenerational? A case of child- and age-friendliness in Piazza Alessandria, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, viewed 8 June 2017, https://aap.cornell. edu/sites/default/files/Piazza%20Alessandria%20Report_reduced-opt-3_060517.pdf. Cellamare C. 2014, ‘The self-made city’, Global Rome: changing faces of the Eternal City, pp. 205-2018, Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Duneier M., Kasinitz P. & Murphy A. (eds) 2014, The urban ethnography reader, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Ebeid E., Luo L., Murphy G., Rao T. & Samron E. 2017, Il Tufello. Building a strong community despite the odds, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, viewed 8 June 2017, https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Tufello%20 Report-reduced-opt_060517.pdf. Frank K. & Stevens Q. 2007, Loose space. Possibility and diversity in urban life, Routledge, London and New York. Jacobs AB. 1985, Looking at cities, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. Low SM. (ed) 1999, Theorizing the city: the new urban anthropology reader, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick. Morrow V. & Richards M 1996, ‘The ethics of social research with children: an overview’, Children & Society, vol. 10, no. 2, pp.90-105. Ocejo RE. (ed) 2012, Ethnography and the city: readings on doing urban fieldwork, Routledge, London and New York. Reale L. 2011, Densità città residenza: tecniche di densificazione e strategie anti-sprawl, Gangemi Editore, Rome. Rossi A. & Eisenman P. 1982, The architecture of the city, MIT Press, Cambridge. Rowe C. & Koetter F. 1978, Collage city, MIT Press, Cambridge. Ruggeri D. 2013, ‘From transit stop to urbanity node: field audit for measuring livability at the transit stop’, OTREC-SS-726, Portland, OR: Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), viewed 8 June 2013, https://dx.doi.org/10.15760/trec.54. Sancar FH. & Severcan YC. 2010, ‘Children’s places: rural–urban comparisons using participatory photography in the Bodrum peninsula, Turkey’, Journal of Urban Design, vol. 15, no. 3, pp.293-324. Shin G., Galvin M., Laude R. & Hussam S. 2017, San Giovanni. Living next to a transit corridor, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, viewed 8 June 2017, https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL%20SAN%20GIOVANNI%20 REPORT%20with%20title%20page-2.pdf. Smith G., Warner ME., Fioretti C. & Meschiari C. 2014, ‘Rome undergraduate planning workshop: a reflexive approach to neighborhood studies’, Planning Theory & Practice, vol.15, no. 1, pp.9-25. Trancik R. 1986, Finding lost space: theories of urban design, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. Warner ME., Homsy GC. & Morken LJ. 2017, ‘Planning for aging in place: stimulating a market and government response’, Journal of Planning Education and Research, vol. 37, no.1, pp.29-42.

Gregory Smith > Planning for all generations > The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

31


Roma, Borgata Trullo

Amy Tomasso

32

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

@ Adam Bronfin | @ Rachel Liu | @ Kai Walcott |

La rigenerazione urbana può essere multigenerazionale? Il caso studio di Piazza Alessandria This research proposes that regeneration, a process typically geared towards the working age population at the expense of the young and old, can be multigenerational. We rely on a case study of Piazza Alessandria, a wealthy neighborhood northeast of Rome’s historical center. Over a period of four months, we studied the community’s physical and social environment to assess its child- and age-friendliness. For our analysis of the physical environment, we considered pedestrian infrastructure and communal spaces for rest and play, comparing them to the literature’s pre-established criteria for child-and age-friendly cities. To understand the social environment, we relied on intercept interviews to glean user perceptions and experiences of local regeneration projects. Although some regeneration interventions neglected to engage community members and were perceived to diminish the community’s character, other interventions were much more inclusive and improved public spaces for both the young and the old. This was important in a neighborhood that, being wealthy, saw one of its major challenges to be the privileging of private space over public space. High connectivity via a range of transit options and a diversity of services for various needs were two other factors that, while attracting working age adults, also catered to the needs of children and the elderly. The regeneration efforts in Piazza Alessandria prove to have both positive and negative effects on the neighborhood for all ages. The community, thereby, serves as an example that regeneration can indeed be multigenerational, provided the concerns of each group are taken into consideration and every group is actively engaged in the planning process.

Considering Children and the Elderly in Regeneration When urban areas deteriorate, or their decline is perceived to be imminent, cities often engage in a process of urban regeneration to avert or reverse the decline. This process — laden with connotations of top-down overhauls and eventual gentrification of blighted urban areas — has been defined as a comprehensive vision that attempts to introduce long-term solutions to economic, physical, social and environmental problem of a community (Roberts 2016). But these solutions are often not targeted at everyone. Cameron (1992) shows regeneration efforts on city centers favors young, single adults. By focusing on working-age adults, regeneration pushes out the retail needs A. Bronfin, R. Liu, K. Walcott > Planning for all generations > Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

33

# Regeneration | # Multigenerational planning | # Public space | # Rigenerazione| # Pianificazione multigenerazionale | # Spazio pubblico |


Fig.1_

Site map of Piazza Alessandria, Rome. Image: Google Maps edited by Rachel Liu.

of the poor and the elderly (Pascual-Molinas and Ribera-Fumaz 2009). Inadequate attention has been given to children even though well functioning neighborhoods are able to integrate young people into community life (Elsey 2004, Chawla and Malone 2003). Other regeneration initiatives have targeted outside users — students and tourists — effectively undermining social structures and disregarding the needs of residents (Murzyn 2006). These trends arise from the capitalistic approach to cities, which marginalizes the two age groups at the peripheries of the life course — children and the elderly — deemed to be dependents or burdens on the system (Warner et al. 2013). Some scholars have responded to this bias by making an economic case for children and the elderly. Warner et al. (2013) argue that families with young children contribute to economic growth because of their large spending, their demand for child-targeted services, and the potential investment in a productive future workforce leading to long-term growth. The WHO (2015b) proposes that the elderly contribute to the economy through formal channels of taxation and consumer spending, and informal modes such as care provision to grandchildren that allow parents to participate more actively in the workforce. Others have defended the interests of children and the elderly more emphatically — they constitute significant segments of the urban population regardless of their economic utility to society. Biggs and Carr (2015) contend that recognizing peripheral demographic groups conceived to be less economically productive “implies that cities are more than simply rat-runs between centers of work, consumption and closed door domesticity” (p. 109). Buffel et al. (2012) posit a “paradox of neighborhood participation”, in which the elderly tend to spend the most time in their neighborhood while being among the last engaged in decision-making processes, a juxtaposition of de facto and de jure participation in the right to the city. Both economic and rights-based approaches highlight the necessity to address, if

34

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


not prioritize, the needs of the two peripheral age groups in planning.

Fig.2_ The Peroni courtyard

The UN and the WHO have established prototypical frameworks to address these needs. UNICEF’s (2004) Child-Friendly Cities model advocates a rightsbased approach on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It defines a series of twelve rights “of every young citizen”. The WHO’s (2007) Age-Friendly Cities project lists eight topic areas that cover the “structures, environment, services and policies” of a city. The manifestos have been fundamental to the development of child- and age-friendly planning respectively. But while successive discourse has expanded the conceptualization of each field, there has been relatively limited literature consolidating the two; child- and age-friendly approaches have predominantly remained discrete in practice and in theory (Biggs & Carr 2015, p. 104). The convergence of child- and age-specific interests has been termed ‘multigenerational’ or ‘intergenerational’ planning, which recognizes potentially complementary and synergistic overlaps in the needs of these two age groups. This can include the physical environment (e.g. safe and walkable neighborhoods, access to public spaces, availability of fresh food and reliable public transport to support independent mobility), social elements (e.g. welfare services, civic engagement), or a combination of both. For example, schools that serve as community centers and senior centers might also offer childcare and afterschool programs, and can thereby simultaneously provide for the physical and social needs of both elders and children (Rowles & Bernard 2013, pp. 227-8). Lui et al. (2009) have also suggested that bottom-up efforts tend to be more successful than top-down ones. A synthesis of criteria from the WHO (2007), UNICEF (2004) and Haikkola & Horelli (2002) yielded eight general domains: transportation, public spaces, housing, services, environmental quality, communication and information, respect and social inclusion, and civic participation. This list establishes a comprehensive picA. Bronfin, R. Liu, K. Walcott > Planning for all generations > Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

35

is occupied by older residents in the morning but is then overrun by working-age professionals by the 1 pm lunch hour. Image: Adam Bronfin.


36

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


ture of a community, holistically addressing child- and age-friendly qualities. Fig.3_ The utility of this multigenerational planning approach is still indeterminate. Some scholars warn that it could be problematic because: “a rhetorical shift towards environments for all ages may indicate the use of the term as a trope, to advance the cause of design that takes specifically older adults into account while hitching it to the wagon of a universal good.” (Biggs & Carr 2015, pp.104-5). Our research tests the concept on the neighborhood of Piazza Alessandria. In this study, we try to understand where the needs and interests of children and the elderly in the neighborhood converge or diverge, according to the listed criteria.

Walkability Analysis: While most intersections and sidewalks are well designed, they are usually poorly maintained and often blocked by cars and motorcycles. Image: Piazza Alessandria Team.

Methods & Limitations We used an interview methodology adapted from Haikkola et al. (2007), targeting three different groups of people: children and their parents (eight interviews), the elderly and their caregivers (10 interviews) and working adults (seven interviews). Participation was split evenly between residents and commuters, with the latter tending to be working-age adults. The interviews took place at six different public spaces within the neighborhood, where members of the public might be inclined to engage with us. We also prepared attractive A5-sized bulletins with a more formal description of our project and contact information. Since many elderly we attempted to engage on our trial sessions were hard of hearing, we printed versions of the interview questions translated into Italian. Since we were largely dependent on our Italian-speaking teaching assistants and professor for translation, our interviews were limited to Monday and Thursday mornings and early afternoons. This inadvertently marginalized the viewpoints of students and workers who commute out of the neighborhood during that time. However, we tried to address this bias by conducting field visits during weekday evenings and on the weekends, although interviews conducted on those occasions were less effective without a translator. We were also only able to capture the perspectives of individuals who agreed to talk with us, which was a minority compared to those who rejected our attempts to engage in conversation. This self-selection bias results in a limited sampling of people who are willing and able to speak with a group of strangers. This partiality potentially leaves a considerable section of the population voiceless in our research. Additionally, the element of translation may leave out important parts of interviews. While our translators were certainly fluent in both Italian and English, it is important to bear in mind a perfect translation from Italian to English for every word or phrase does not exist. The idiosyncrasies of Italian may have been lost when our translators relayed the subject’s message to us. Piazza Alessandria, a neighborhood in Regeneration Piazza Alessandria is a mixed-use neighborhood located northwest of the historical center of Rome, just outside of the Aurelian Wall. The neighbor- 1_ The calculated density of hood has a population of 5,040 people within 0.37 square kilometers (92 18,622 persons/km2 in Piazza acres)1, giving it a density more than eight times greater than Rome’s aver- Alessandria excludes the land age. The Villa Albani, a private estate, occupies the northern end. The rest area of the Villa Albani. The density within Rome of the neighborhood is relatively built-up in a gradient of villini2, condomini- average is 2,232 persons/km2. ums and blocks, and these structures include a variety of residential, office, 2_ Villini are a freestanding institutional and mixed-use functions. Major landmarks include a covered low-rise building typology on A. Bronfin, R. Liu, K. Walcott > Planning for all generations > Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

a smaller lot than a villa, without an attached sprawling garden estate.

37


Fig.4_ A conceptual diagram

detailing users’ perceptions of the neighborhood’s social and physical environment. Image: Piazza Alessandria Team.

38

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


A. Bronfin, R. Liu, K. Walcott > Per una pianificazione multigenerazionale > Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

39


market that stands on Piazza Alessandria and Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma (MACRO), a contemporary art museum in the center of the neighborhood. The community is relatively wealthy and diverse. It is populated throughout the day by a mixture of residents, working commuters and visiting users. The residents of the community are on average older than the residents of Rome, with one in four inhabitants older than 65. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of families with children aged 5 to 19 (ISTAT 2001, 2011). Given the financial, legal and professional services located in the community and its environs, thousands of workers commute to the neighborhood daily. Its proximity to the historic center, network of major arterials and range of public transport options make it highly connected to the center of Rome, and thus Piazza Alessandria is also frequented by transient users who patronize the myriad retail and food and beverage options, or consult the professional services in the neighborhood. The wealth of the neighborhood plays a role in the neighborhood’s privileging of private space at the expense of public space. This preference is reflected by the dearth of quality and accessible public space. The community also disrespects sidewalks and intersections in the neighborhood, demonstrated by the poor use and maintenance of pedestrian areas despite the relatively well-designed sidewalk infrastructure. The abuse of public space and lack of civic pride is typical of many of Rome’s wealthier neighborhoods: “Sin and be pardoned… Everyone washes their hands off it” (Cellamare 2014). Several projects in recent years have been driven by an agenda of regeneration of the community. We define the process to be: attracting working-age adults in order to avert decline, potentially at the expense of children and the elderly. These projects have had varying degrees of success. Large-scale interventions like the redevelopment of the Peroni Beer factory into a contemporary art museum demonstrate the city’s interest to attract a new audience to the neighborhood. Parallel to this, smaller scale grassroots interventions — like the Amici di Porta Pia, an organization composed of residents and shop owners — have also attempted to renew Piazza Alessandria, although a lack of community engagement and ineffective government support have limited these groups’ effectiveness. We posited that the nature of the neighborhood could have two potential effects on the experiences of children and the elderly. On one hand, wealthy residents seem to have private access to amenities for a comfortable quality of life without being affected by changes in the neighborhood due to regeneration. On the other hand, transformations in the neighborhood could be targeted at the working-age population and marginalize children and the elderly — having observed, for example, the displacement of elderly users of public space by workers particularly during the weekday lunch hour. We carried forward our investigation of the effects of regeneration on the neighborhood based on this dilemma. Regeneration for all Generations in Piazza Alessandria To assess Piazza Alessandria’s child- and age-friendliness, we began with a thorough neighborhood analysis, examining the history, users, buildings, streets and circulation, public services and community actors of the neighborhood. With this preliminary research completed, we moved towards a

40

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


more rigorous stage of engagement, using the literature to shape our research approach. Based on Haikkola et al. (2007), we conducted a series of intercept interviews with children and their parents, working-age adults, and the elderly and their caretakers. We engaged in five interviews per category, most of which involved multiple participants such as a group of senior citizens at the market, or a mother with her child. These took place at six public locations in the neighborhood. Our questions focused on patterns of activity to elicit users’ interactions with and perceptions of the neighborhood. By providing interviewees with baseline maps, we oriented users of the community and allowed them to better talk through the types of places they like or dislike. We were particularly interested in, for example, how users socialized because of our observed theme of disparity between public and private space. Therefore, questions had a spatial dimension — where activities occur — and a social dimension — why these activities occur in that specific space. We categorized their responses into the aforementioned eight domains of child- and age-friendliness, as well as identified their responses that related to changes due to regeneration interventions. Firstly, all age groups appreciated the connectivity and range of services available in Piazza Alessandria. However, there was ambivalence about the quality of public space available. While the neighborhood is in close proximity to large public parks like the Villa Borghese or the Villa Torlonia, a unique asset particularly appreciated by children and elderly residents, public space within the neighborhood was perceived to be “boring” and inadequate. Other common concerns were shared regarding the pedestrian experience and the lack of community identity. Top-down regeneration projects like the MACRO were perceived to have negligible or even malignant effects on the community, by increasing visitor and vehicular traffic without engaging or contributing to local needs. It is apparent that all groups shared both physical and social concerns — and while physical criteria were largely met, the social layer consisting of methods of governance and community-enforced behavioral norms seemed to have fallen short. This imbalance may be particular to the history and privilege of Piazza Alessandria, but it also serves as a clarion call for more inclusive regeneration efforts to pay attention to social methods and impact. We can be optimistic that children, working-age adults and the elderly alike shared these concerns, which provides strong motivation to address them. In fact, there were no domains that concerned both children and the elderly, but did not concern working-age adults — which demonstrates that meeting the needs of children and the elderly does not have to contradict the regeneration agenda. Conclusion We contend that yes: regeneration can indeed be multigenerational. In our study of Piazza Alessandria, we found that children, working adults and the elderly shared many complementary needs and interests. Planners should prioritize these areas within the agenda of regeneration — improve the pedestrian experience through better maintenance and the cultivation of positive norms of use, and build stronger community identity — in order to make regeneration a more inclusive, multigenerational process.

A. Bronfin, R. Liu, K. Walcott > Planning for all generations > Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

41


references Rowles, GD & Bernard, MD 2013, Environmental Gerontology: Making Meaningful Places in Old Age, Springer Publishing Company, New York. Biggs, S & Carr, A 2015, ‘Age- and Child-Friendly Cities and the Promise of Intergenerational Space’, Journal of Social Work Practice, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 99-112. Buffel, T, Phillipson, C & Scharf, T 2012, ‘Ageing in urban environments: developing ‘age-friendly’ cities’, Critical Social Policy, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 597–617. Cameron, S 1992, ‘Housing, Gentrification and Urban Regeneration Policies’, Urban Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 3-14. Cellamare, C 2014, ‘Ways of Living in the Market City: Bufalotta and the Porta di Roma Shopping Center (Chapter 9)’, in IC Marinaro & B Thomassen (eds), Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City, Indiana University Press, Indiana, pp. 143156. Chawla, L, & Malone, K 2003, ‘Neighbourhood quality in children’s eyes’. Children in the city. Home, neighborhood, and community, pp. 118-41. Elsley, S 2004, ‘Children’s experience of public space’, Children & Society, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 155-164. Haikkola, L & Horelli, L 2002, ‘Young people as social and environmental agents in Finland and in Italy: an overview of the legislative situation of young people, the structures for and examples of participation in Finland, and the concept of child-friendly environment’, unpublished manuscript, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Helsinki University of Technology. Haikkola, L, Pacilli, MG, Horelli, L & Prezza, M 2007, ‘Interpretations of urban child-friendliness: A comparative study of two neighborhoods in Helsinki and Rome’, Children Youth and Environments, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 319-351. Murzyn, M 2006, ‘‘Winners’ and ‘losers’ in the game: The social dimension of urban regeneration in the Kazimierz quarter in Krakow’, Social Changes and Social Sustainability in Historical Urban Centres: The Case of Central Europe, pp. 81-106. Pascual-Molinas, N & Ribera-Fumaz, R 2009, ‘Retail gentrification in Ciutat Vella, Barcelona’, Whose urban renaissance, pp. 180-190. Raco, M 2003, ‘Remaking place and securitising space: urban regeneration and the strategies, tactics and practices of policing in the UK’, Urban Studies, vol. 40, no. 9, pp. 1869-1887. Roberts, PW 2017, ‘The Evolution, Definition and Purpose of Urban Regeneration’, in PW Roberts, H Sykes & R Granger (eds), Urban regeneration, SAGE Publications, Los Angeles. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division 2015, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, ST/ESA/SER.A/366. Warner, ME, Dunn, D, Li, X, Long, V, Madfis, H, North, T, Rivin, A and Zaire, D 2013, Overview: Planning for Multigenerational Communities, Planning Across Generations. World Health Organization 2015a, Measuring the age-friendliness of cities: a guide to using core indicators, ISBN: 9789241509695. World Health Organization, 2015b, World report on ageing and health, ISBN: 978924156504.

42

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

@ Gray Brakke |

@ Amelia Visnauskas | @ Eduardo Carmelo Dañobeytia | @ Raquel Blandon | @ Joshua Glasser | # Social reciprocity | # Unplanned development | # Participatory photography |

Path dependence e rapporti sociali in un quartiere non pianificato

# Reciprocità sociale | # Sviluppo non pianificato | # Fotografia partecipatoria |

In Pineta Sacchetti, an unplanned neighborhood on Rome’s periphery, a unique developmental history has engendered invisible assets of placemaking that allow it to overcome poor physical design. Theoretically speaking, this phenomenon embodies path dependence as a means to social reciprocity. In our research, we initially thought that the neighborhood was unfriendly to children and elders based on its design characteristics, but we then found that a strong social layer compensated for them. In that social layer we uncovered slow flow, shared history, sense of place, and norms of reciprocity as the invisible assets that overcome poor design.

Introduction Pineta Sacchetti, a Roman postwar community, highlights the promises and pitfalls of an unplanned neighborhood. Using standards outlined by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, we assessed this neighborhoods child and age friendliness. These standards emphasize the importance of physical form and structural accessibility. Being self-built and developed without a central plan, Pineta Sacchetti has many struggles of consistency and quality of its physical environment. Ultimately based on widely accepted standards, this makes it both inaccessible and child and age unfriendly. However, we through our research we found an active social layer that atoned for these Brakke, Visnauskas, Dañobeytia, Blandon, Glasser > Planning for all generations > Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

43


Fig.1_

Pineta Context Map.

Sacchetti

flaws in maintenance and design. Its unique assets of placemaking makes for invisible assets that create a positive feedback loop of social reciprocity. This social layer, in part in spite of and in part because of the physical layer, helps make Pineta Sacchetti a favorable and accessible place to live. Methodology To conduct our study of Pineta Sacchetti, our research utilized two primary methods of inquiry: observation and engagement. In studying the physical, demographic, and statistical, we utilized observation data collected through a variety of methods documented below. Similarly, our photo essay, photovoice, questionnaires and intercept interview work were conducted through engagement with the residents of Pineta Sacchetti. Photo Essay Through an original photo essay, we sought to visually explore Pineta Sacchetti’s identity and accessibility across generations. There is a substantial literature on visual anthropology, whose primary aim is to qualitatively catalog bodily expressions, space in human behavior, and the choreography of culture (Collier 2003). Our research primarily hinges on the second of these, as we investigate the nature of space and neighborhood identity. Alongside intergenerational placemaking and place attachment, neighborhood identity formed the crux of our visual, qualitative research. When conducting a community study, “photographs showing spatial relationships and the visual character of homes offer sociometric understandings, qualifications of affluence and poverty, older areas and new development, and often social subdivisions within a community” (Collier 2003, pp. 235–6). In our case, we sought to assess neighborhood identity formation in public spaces. With this medium, we depicted Pineta Sacchetti’s intangibles as experienced by its inhabitants.

44

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Photovoice Our photovoice research is inspired by Sancar and Severcan’s (2010) participatory photography work in the Bodrum peninsula Turkey, and our methodology is resultingly similar to his. After initially contacting the Casa del Parco library, as they provide various services for children, our team was referred to the Scuola Media Sisto IV, where administration and staff were readily willing to help us in our research. Twenty disposable cameras with 27 photos each were distributed to children at Scuola Media Sisto IV by an instructor. Twenty students across two classes, who all live within Pineta Sacchetti, were asked to participate. Students range from age 11 to age 13. The cameras were accompanied by a worksheet that provided children with structured requirements for the first ten photos on the film roll, which are used in our analysis. The worksheet, which is matched to each camera, provides further prompts for children to identify the locations and The Photoessay subject matter of their photographs. Providing structured photo prompts to Fig.2_ provided narratives about participants will give more guidance to student, and produce an outcome the neighborhood’s social that is easier to analyze and compare. These photo prompts draw directly character and informed our from the participatory photography exercises of Dr. Jon Severcan, as well as research design. This tree sits on a property passed down international frameworks for child friendly cities. We accompanied the return of the photographs with a workshop with the students, with conversations to further elicit perceptions of place attachment in the neighborhood. This exercise, accompanied with the workshop, attempts to better illuminate children’s territorial ranges, perceptions of historical and cultural sites of significance, and where the children feel safe. Interviews and Questionnaires A similar worksheet to that which accompanied the cameras as part of our photovoice exercise was utilized to elicit elder’s perceptions of their neighborhood. Created specifically for the members of the local Centro Anziani (Senior Center), we collected 13 responses following a Friday afternoon dance program. Utilizing both on site translation and retroactive translation, these responses were used to further qualitatively inform our engagement with the elderly. The Physical Layer The physical profile of Pineta Sacchetti is dominated by features that would prompt an impression of child and age unfriendliness. Many streets have narrow sidewalks, sidewalks on only one side, or no sidewalks at all. There are few public spaces, and the majority of the ones that do exist are institutional buildings, and not fully public. In contrast, since the majority of the traffic is on the outer areas of the neighborhood where the primary roads are, there is less need for sidewalks in the area. Less flow in the core of the neighborhood allows pedestrians to feel safe and converse on street corners. Brakke, Visnauskas, Dañobeytia, Blandon, Glasser > Planning for all generations > Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

45

through generations. Photo: Gray Brakke.


Fig.3_

A nine-year-old student completes the Photovoice exercise. Photo: Giorgio Gibertini.

This helps to maintain the strong village-like character described constantly by interviewees and community actors. The interviews we have conducted in the neighborhood have indicated that the neighborhood is in fact quite desirable for children and the elderly. Despite hilly topography, poor transit connectivity, inconsistent streets and sidewalks, and aging housing stock, almost all of Pineta Sacchetti’s aging population decide to stay in their homes. Being self built and developed, Pineta Sacchetti’s land use is homogeneously residential. The area of study consists of 0.55 square kilometers, containing 525 lots with over 95 percent of the neighborhood made up of residential or mixed-use housing. Commercial and institutional uses are generally relegated to the periphery represented by pink and orange, with the majority added to the southeast, mid-west regions alongside the retrofitted metro stops. This makes a very visible residential core represented in both dark and light blue with-in the boundaries. In terms of child and age friendliness, these mixed use facilities consist of hairdressers, underground grocery stores, pharmacists, and few cafes and restaurants, meaning most of the amenities necessary to daily life are well within walking range of citizens. As a self built and developed neighborhood, public green space was not given priority within the dense residential core. Other than the large Pineto Regional park shown in green in the far right outside of our research area, the only true public space open continually within our boundaries is the small Piazza Pio IX shown in yellow. It is a small concrete piazza at the heart of a seven road intersection that is regularly occupied by all ages. The institutions in this neighborhood make up for the lack of internal space by having both late closing times and regular activities such as concerts and parties open to all residents. The implications this lack of internal public space would be the inaccessibility of institutions or green space to people living on the far west or south of the boundaries as the park or piazza would require a lot of travel which is

46

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


not child or age friendly. But with transportation hubs on the periphery and organic blocks, Pineta Sacchetti has minimal traffic flow that mitigates this inaccessibility by making the sidewalks and streets safe and easy to walk on to access these peripheral public or semi-public spaces. The Social Layer One critical invisible asset of Pineta Sacchetti’s child and age-friendly social layer was shared history among its inhabitants. Such history endows Pineta Sacchetti with a supportive community and strong institutional structures. These processes have largely occurred as a result of historical path dependence: as Mahoney (2000) notes, path dependence occurs when “an institutional pattern—once adopted—delivers increasing benefits with its continued adoption, and thus over time it becomes more and more difficult to transform the pattern or select previously available options.” Here the process of path dependence has developed through the aforemen- Fig.4_ Pineta Sachetti is tioned shared history, which in turn produces place attachment. The place characterized by 4-6 story attachment then results in communal and institutional norms of reciprocity. apartment buildings and For Pineta Sacchetti, this pattern means that the increasing benefits of retell- hilly topography. Photo: Gray ing a shared history translate into a community and institutions that support Brakke. the social needs of children and elders. By sharing history, reciprocal interactions are strengthened across social groups and institutions. This local history gave residents a strong sense of pride and ownership over the neighborhood; two anecdotes from Pineta Sacchetti highlight this point. First, we once encountered one house with a lemon tree in front, and the owner came out to tell us that the tree was planted by her grandfather when he built their house. This story reinforces an intergenerational attachment to the neighborhood and its history, to which many residents are palpably connected as a result of its self-built nature. Second, to protect their regional park, the community had to unite against private developers through the 1970s and 1980s and successfully staved off the threat of development. This shared sense of history provides the neighborhood with strong social reciprocity. This history is even being imparted upon new generations and new inhabitants in the neighborhood, as we found in our photovoice workshop that almost every child was excited to share anecdotes from Pineta Sacchetti’s history. Related to its shared history, another strong invisible asset of Pineta Sacchetti’s social layer is a strong sense of place. Placemaking greatly informs Pineta Sacchetti’s success through its ability to create place attachment, similarly engendering a strong sense of ownership over the neighborhood. Again, path dependency can be held responsible. As Pineta Sacchetti and its institutions develop as discrete places with discrete identities, residents buy into their ideological power. Mahoney (2000) writes that in this framework,

Brakke, Visnauskas, Dañobeytia, Blandon, Glasser > Planning for all generations > Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

47


Fig.5_

Photovoice Results: Developed film photographs from students in the neighborhood.

“once a given institution is contingently selected, the institution will be reinforced through processes of increasing legitimation.” In Pineta Sacchetti, the residents collectively selected an institutionalized identity through history and sense of place. This identity is institutionalized through community hubs like the local school and through placemaking initiatives. As revealed by the nodes of activity chosen by children and elders in our research, these institutions and their relationship with sense of place are crucial for the children and elders of Pineta Sacchetti. Sense of place in Pineta Sacchetti has been reinforced throughout its history and by its institutions. Some important incidences of this sense of place revealing itself have been the renaming of the neighborhood’s piazza and the work of a local street art group. The main piazza in Pineta Sacchetti, Piazza Pio IX, only recently acquired its name. Formerly, it was called Piazza di Primavalle, referencing the nearby borgata out of which Pineta Sacchetti grew. Collective resident efforts led to its renaming, which attempts to reclaim for Pineta Sacchetti an identity independent of neighboring Primavalle. This new name represents the institutionalization of Pineta Sacchetti’s independence and thus the strengthening of its ideological power for its inhabitants, particularly given the importance of the physical space that the name represents. Other elements of the neighborhood that our research uncovered as important were the murals created by local street art group Pinacci Nostri. They were one of the most frequent subjects of the photovoice exercise. Pinacci Nostri attempts to connect the neighborhood with its history through street art, empowering its independent identity and sense of place. In turn, these efforts legitimate the power of Pineta Sacchetti and thus its social cohesion as well. A final element of Pineta Sacchetti’s social layer that we uncovered was its norms of reciprocity. Tying together shared history and sense of place, the social layer of Pineta Sacchetti creates norms of reciprocity among its in-

48

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


habitants through path dependence. Norms of reciprocity exhibit a moral code that bind together communities regardless of background, allowing for the initiation of social interactions (Gouldner 1960). Eventually, these norms of reciprocity create iterative behaviors that encourage common property regimes among the inhabitants of Pineta Sacchetti. As a result, they form social bonds that cohere them across generations and provide social supports. These social supports are what contribute to the child and age friendliness of Pineta Sacchetti’s social layer. Furthermore, they characterize what many in the neighborhood described as a village-like atmosphere. The fact that Pineta Sacchetti has been able to retain this atmosphere is largely path dependent in that it is based on its founding as a peripheral village of the city. One of the most common impressions of Pineta Sacchetti that we found was that it was like a small village within the larger city of Rome. Many residents expressed comfort in the neighborhood for precisely this reason. Through its history, Pineta Sacchetti has shifted from a village, to a peripheral area, to being a full part of Rome’s urban fabric. Had it not been for these beginnings, the neighborhood would not have developed the strong social layer that it has today. Furthermore, without this strong social layer, it would not be able to develop the institutions and norms of reciprocity that allow it to compensate for poor physical design vis-à-vis child and age friendliness. Indeed, our photovoice workshop with children and questionnaires with elders were a testament to this fact, with most respondents citing it as one of Pineta Sacchetti’s most important invisible assets. Essentially, given the neighborhood’s poor physical design, Pineta Sacchetti’s vulnerable child and elderly populations rely upon its invisible assets created by path dependency and social reciprocity.

Brakke, Visnauskas, Dañobeytia, Blandon, Glasser > Planning for all generations > Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

49


Fig.6_ Researchers interview Conclusion a representative of Pinacci Through methods of participatory research, which engaged local institutions Nostri, a neighborhood and neighborhood residents, we uncovered information about the use and organization that promotes quality of life in the neighborhood that an analysis of its physical features public art and placemaking. alone would not reveal. This focus on both physical and social conditions is Photo: Pinnaci Nostri. vital to understanding the dynamics of a place that has now grown as the result of a central plan or cohesive design. Slow flow, shared history, sense of place, and norms of reciprocity are the invisible assets that help mitigate and overcome the poor design of the neighborhood. Despite being physically unfriendly to those most vulnerable, these assets and the norms of reciprocity help to reinforce the village mentality and lifestyle that the residents are deeply grateful for. The social layer of this community helps to make Pineta Sacchetti a favorable place to live and age in place. This however, does not mean that design should be discounted or continuously ignored. As the population ages it will be important to both strengthen and reinforce the social and physical layers--and not just the physical as the literature would recommend.

50

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Fig.5_

Social nodes, identified through Photovoice, interviews and questionnaires, were important to the neighborhood’s child and age friendliness.

references Collier J. 2003, “Photography and Visual Anthropology”, in Hockings P., Principles of Visual Anthropology, De Gruyter Morton, Berlin/Boston, pp. 235–48. Gouldner AW. 1960, “The Norm of Reciprocity: A Preliminary Statemen”, American Sociological Review, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 161–78 Mahoney J. 2000, “Path Dependence in Historical Sociology”, Theory and Society, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 507–548. Sancar FH. & Severcan YC. 2010, “Children’s Places: Rural–Urban Comparisons Using Participatory Photography in the Bodrum Peninsula, Turkey”, Journal of Urban Design, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 293–324. UNICEF 2007, Building blocks for developing a child friendly city, UNICEF Innocenti Research Center. World Health Organization 2007, Checklist of Essential Features of Age-friendly Cities, World Health Organization.

Brakke, Visnauskas, Dañobeytia, Blandon, Glasser > Planning for all generations > Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

51


Roma, Città Universitaria de La Sapienza, durante l’evento “La Sapienza è dei Piccoli”

Serena Muccitelli

52

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


“Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

@ Carlo Cellamare |

# Peripheries | # Sense of ownership | # Self-organization | # Dwelling | # Interdisciplinarity | # Urban practices | # Periferie | # Senso di appartenenza | # Autorganizzazione | # Abitare | # Interdisciplinarietà | # Pratiche urbane |

Periferie epifaniche, riappropriazione della città e qualità dell’abitare Le periferie, e soprattutto quelle romane, sono spesso associate all’idea del degrado. In realtà, la realtà delle periferie è molto più complessa. In primo luogo esistono molte situazioni diverse di periferia. Inoltre è superata la semplice dicotomia centro-periferia e l’idea di Roma come un centro storico circondato da una corona di periferie degradate. Ancor più bisogna discutere l’idea stessa di degrado e la sua associazione automatica alle periferie. Le periferie sono luoghi molto vitali, ricchi di iniziative e di protagonismo sociale, dove il senso di appartenenza può essere molto forte, così come le progettualità e le capacità di autorganizzazione. Sono, allo stesso tempo, laboratori sociali della convivenza e luoghi di produzione culturale. La qualità dell’abitare è qui associata alla qualità delle relazioni sociali. I problemi e i conflitti però non mancano, spesso associati ad una assenza delle istituzioni e della politica. Non bisogna quindi cadere in un “romanticismo” della periferia, quanto lavorare per una valorizzazione delle energie sociali, delle progettualità locali e del protagonismo degli abitanti al fine di superare i grandi problemi ancora esistenti. Questo pone compiti impegnativi all’urbanistica ed un suo ripensamento.

“Epiphanic” peripheries and quality of dwelling Suburbs, especially in Rome, are generally associated with the idea and the image of deprivation. This is the image that the media communicate the most and that in the collective imagination has become a cliché, often exploited for political purposes (in the pejorative meaning of the term). Such image seems to define a living environment where the quality of dwelling is particularly low, especially for those weaker age groups and social situations most in need, such as children, young people, elderly, young mothers and in general parents in the care ages.

Carlo Cellamare > Planning for all generations > “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

53


Fig.1_

Borgata Finocchio, Collina della Pace park Carlo Cellamare.

This scenario contrasts with some “epiphaniesâ€? that may happen to those who get to know the suburbs, in depth, and through fieldwork, as observed by the Cornell University working groups of the Cornell in Rome program. Their work helps to show a different and more complex reality of the Roman suburbs. Events and situations that, in some cases, are reported by media in a surprising tone: people opposing the Corviale building demolition and who are not intending to abandon the neighborhood, the inhabitants of Tor Bella Monaca and surroundings that oppose the master plan for the regeneration of the neighborhood of Major Alemanno, etc. However, there are facts and situations, perhaps less impressive from the communication point of view, but certainly more important in the life of such neighborhoods, which characterize their everyday life, organization and social relations in ways that could be considered very different from the above mentioned clichĂŠ. A few examples, characterized by a strong focus on the quality of living rather than the efficiency of the city, can tell enough. In Borgata Borghesiana and Borgata Finocchio - on the eastern outskirts of Rome (18 km along Casilina Street) - after a long struggle lead by citizens, a great quality public park was built, the Collina della Pace, a place very symbolic and well maintained by the inhabitants, which represents the dignity of the area [Fig. 1]. During the summer of 2017, in Tor Bella Monaca, the collaboration within the inhabitants led to the creation of a temporary little swimming pool for the children of the neighborhood. Moreover, in Tor Bella Monaca neighborhood, a group of young mothers managed to activate a recreation center, through squatting and rehabilitating an abandoned little building in a green area. Many others could be examples of the collaborative attitude of the citizens, and of their spirit of coexistence. Particular attention is paid to the dimension of daily life, with a special focus on the younger generations, children and parents, the elderly, the places of care, sociality and leisure time.

54

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Thus, paradoxes arise. Places seemingly “deprived” are actually livable for Fig.2_ Porta di Roma mall in their inhabitants. In some interviews with residents of Cinquina, a neighbor- Bufalotta district hood that was born illegally in the northern outskirts, it was clear that no Carlo Cellamare. one would had left his neighborhood in order to move in the new residential district close to the centrality of Bufalotta Porta di Roma. The latter, indeed, is considered unlivable with respect to Cinquina, where the quality of social relations, the sense of belonging, the level of familiarity between the inhabitants and the livability of the spaces is high, despite the shortage of services and equipment, such as green areas. Moreover, the proximity of the mall was awful. [Fig. 2] Many considerations can be done from such case studies. We will here only mention a few of them, referring to other texts for further discussions (Cellamare, ed., 2016b, Ilardi, Scandurra, eds, 2009, Ferrarotti, Macioti, 2009). Firstly, in Rome (but I think it is valid in general) there is not only one deprived periphery, but many diverse peripheral neighborhoods, from the former illegal settlements to the new “centralities” (planned by the 2008 Masterplan), from the public housing neighborhoods to the bourgeois ones, from the gated communities to the gentrified historical areas, within a panorama that becomes increasingly metropolitan, a “city-territory” (Caudo, 2016; Cellamare, ed., 2016b; Balducci, Fedeli and Curci, eds, 2017; Clough Marinaro, Thomassen, eds, 2014). In this context, the historic center is just a small part of the city. The second observation is that even the most deprived suburbs (such as Tor Bella Monaca) are places of great vitality, rich in human and social resources, initiatives, and projects (Cellamare, ed., 2016a). Indeed, in the Roman panorama (also in comparison the historic center) they are often the most vital places, though problematic. In many ways, Rome “is” its periphery. Not only for its extension, but also for the vitality and the character of the urban contexts. We must then recognize how the “centre-periphery” dichotomy no longer makes sense, especially if

Carlo Cellamare > Planning for all generations > “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

55


Fig.3_ Ex SNIA – Viscosa lake associated with a periphery = deprivation equation (Fregolent, ed., 2008; (Prenestina area). Caudo, 2016; Cellamare, ed., 2016b) [Credits: Marco Gissara]

We also recognize a sort of values’ overturning, above all with regard to a supposed modernization. For example, some of the fascist historical neighborhoods (named borgate, such as Tufello or Primavalle), once considered as an emblem of degradation (indeed its inhabitants did not want to be recognized as such), are currently considered quality places where to live. Therefore, much depends on the urban models of coexistence and dwelling, as well as the value of sociability, social relations, hospitality, etc.. As Cacciari stated (2004), we are often more interested in the dimension of hospitality and of “city as a mother” rather than the efficiency of the urban machine. The importance of these dimensions becomes even stronger when we take a multigenerational planning approach, more careful to the needs of different ages and social conditions (children, youngsters, mothers and parents undergoing care, the elderly, etc.) , but also to the dimension of their cohabitation and therefore to the sense of community and mutual acceptance. Multigenerational planning requires an integrated approach and confirms a strong focus on an often forgotten layer, that of the social dimension (see Warner above, as well as Andriola and Muccitelli in introduction), as stated in many integrated and interdisciplinary approaches to planning (Scandurra, 2007, Sandercock, 1998, 2003). Multigenerational planning requires the need to build rich and complex living environments from the social and living point of view, contexts favorable to all ages and to social life, with special attention to the organization of daily life. Many suburbs are therefore interesting from this point of view. Firstly, because there may be problems of social disease and therefore they question us about the urgency of intervening. Secondly, because often there are places rich in sociability and attempts to respond, often autonomously, to social needs and the request of community. In this, the suburbs can be

56

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


“epiphanic”, even if one must always have a critical look in the reading of the processes that go through them. To deconstruct the idea of degradation The concept of deprivation should be deconstructed in order to be linked to the values of inhabiting a place. There is no physical decay, which, according to a logic of social Darwinism (or social determinism), is associated with a social and cultural degradation. Physical decay (which may be related to the building or urban scale) can lead to social discomfort, adding other problems, as is the case of some residential public housing neighborhoods. Very often social energies, solidarity and collaboration are committed precisely to contrast this kind of situation. Dwelling quality and livability depend primarily on other factors, often immaterial, such as the sense of belonging, forms of coexistence, processes of community building, cultural production dynamics, social solidarity and hospitality. Relations among those play a crucial role, as well as the collective construction of a place and forms of self-organization. Not so paradoxically, patterns of living in a neighborhood like Bufalotta Porta di Roma (marked by a poor collective life and the impressive presence of a great mall) appear to be degraded and degrading (Cellamare, 2017a), while the sense of belonging may result extremely strong in other neighborhoods, not well considered, such as Pineta Sacchetti (see Brakke, Visnauskas, Dañobeytia, Blandon, Glasser above). The contemporary architectural design, more conditioned by the market dynamics, seems to support and favor social models based on individualism and social upgrading. On the contrary, a fascist borgata, despite its very low architectural and building quality, was designed considering values of coexistence and of a human scale built environment (Villani, 2012; Petaccia, Greco, 2016; Liguori, 2017; Cellamare, 2017b). Sense of belonging, forms of appropriation and self-organization Many Roman peripheral neighborhoods are thus characterized by a deep sense of belonging (Cellamare, De Angelis, Ilardi, Scandurra, 2014). A first reason is linked to the long and difficult history that led to their construction, often in the absence of everything and frequently marked by many struggles to be recognized or to get the essential missing services and facilities. Another reason can be found in the citizens’ necessity to build their houses by themselves, especially in illegal settlements. For example, those settlements’ generation and development represented a real epic for its inhabitants and created a strong connection, especially among the first settlers, who now are the older part of the population. More generally, the big season of the home struggles has indelibly marked many neighborhoods. The continuing need to cope with a weak public administration still leads to the establishment of a good cooperation attitude within the inhabitants and to a deep sense of belonging. Although this is a substitute function of public administration, and this is a problem, the connection between the citizens is very important. Most part of the green areas of Rome’s neighborhoods has been built in this way and they have now become symbols and common spaces of reference and meeting. [Fig. 3] Beyond particularly important processes, everyday practices are often important in this sense.

Carlo Cellamare > Planning for all generations > “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

57


58

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Porto Fluviale The increased number of local committees and associations in Rome is an- Fig.4_ other important indicator that the redevelopment of the living contexts for squatted building (former which the citizens are engaged is another factor that create a sense of be- military) - Carlo Cellamare longing, even if limited to some more motivated and involved inhabitants. Recently, we recognize the wide spread of practices and processes of space re-appropriation, not only in Rome and in Italy but also all over the world and in many different forms (Cellamare, Cognetti, eds, 2014; Hou, ed., 2010). Such experiences reveal the desire to restore the meaning of places and of coexistence, beyond the interventions imposed from above or in contrast to the hetero-direct social patterns of living and cohabitation, dictated by modernization and neoliberal logic. So many house squatting experiences (such as the Porto Fluviale settlement) are, in this sense, real cultural and social laboratories of coexistence (Pisano, 2013). [Fig. 4] Rome is a context where forms of appropriation and self-organization are growing and developing continuously (S.M.U.R., 2014).

The traps of a “romanticism” of re-appropriation A different view of the urban situation together with the awareness of practices and processes qualify city life should not close our eyes on existing problems, nor trigger a sort of “romanticism” of space re-appropriation and of the sense of belonging. In Rome, degradation has been naturalized; the conditions of degradation (from a physical point of view, services, transport, etc.) are now part of citizens’ daily life who have learned to live with these situations and now consider them normal. They have also often experienced the lack of response from public administrations to reporting (even serious) issues or even the impossibility of communicating with them. All this generated a sense of resignation, added to the need to respond independently to existing problems and to the discussed “do-it-yourself city”. There are different kinds of traps hiding in the risk of “romanticism”. Firstly, physical degradation and the shortage or lack of facilities and services (from healthcare to school, from social support to transport, from green to public spaces, etc.) are a tangible problem. Inhabitants have learned to live with it and bear it. They have found alternatives. However, it remains a problem that makes places, in some cases, unlivable, especially after the further crisis phase of 2008 (Mantovan, Ostanel, 2015; Fregolent, Savino, eds, 2014; Cipollini, Truglia, 2015). Some problems, such as housing, are essential for human dignity and people often have to answer to such problems with informal solutions. Squatters use to tell clearly they would have chosen not to occupy if they had a home. Very often, the search for alternative solutions is developed in contrast of institutions (which, conversely, do not seek alternative solutions) and thus adding adverse conditions, risk and discomfort. Secondly, social disadvantage and lack of income lead to painful situations for families and the contrast to criminal behaviors, such as pushing drugs in public spaces, leads to daily struggles (with the risk of suffering violence) with considerable conflicts and high social costs (Caritas Italiana, 2007; Caritas Roma, 2017). In addition, we have to consider that even in neighborhoods that have seen or still see social activism and forms of cooperation (such as public housing), social solidarity is weakening. When some minimum

Carlo Cellamare > Planning for all generations > “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

59


comfort conditions are reached or the minimum levels of service are attained, the willingness to collaborate in collective struggles and social solidarity come to an end, especially with the passing of generations. Finally, the sense of belonging is associated with different “public cultures” (Cancellieri, Ostanel, 2014). Social behaviors and attitudes should therefore be carefully evaluated because they respond more and more often to the emergence of neoliberal models, to proprietary and private logics that question the sense of the public interest. When competitiveness prevails to solidarity in the “do-it-yourself” city, who cannot overcome the problems autonomously fall behind (potentially leaving space to the “survival of the fittest” law). The uncomfortable tasks of urban planning Urban planning has to face some uncomfortable tasks, perhaps not considered in the traditional approach. Firstly, it is necessary to reframe the city (and its physical space) starting from a reflection (and a public debate) on the patterns of living and on the models of coexistence and urbanity, not simply following the logic of efficiency and modernization (Scandurra, 2016). Secondly, it needs to be considered that physical components (spaces, services, facilities) are not disconnected from the social and cultural components, and therefore that it is necessary to take an interdisciplinary approach (Cognetti, Padovani, 2016; Cellamare, ed., 2016a) and develop an integrated project (that is what many rhetoric on urban regeneration keep repeating). Indeed, often the social and the cultural components are those, which make urban regeneration succeed. Therefore, it is so relevant a special attention to urban practices and the conditions of dwelling in everyday life. It is a central node for a planning that would like to be multigenerational. Then, it is very important to give value and promote citizens’ energies, projects and social protagonism, both to enhance and strengthen the sense of belonging, and because their ideas are often the best ones for the regeneration of the neighborhoods. Finally, we need to think not only to simple top-down physical interventions, but also to organizing regeneration processes and paths that develop over time and involve people: those are at the same time empowering processes capable of enhancing spaces re-appropriation and of generating collaboration and mutual learning between residents and institutions1.

1_ This theme refers to a wide

debate under way on a review of the forms of territorial governance, on the introduction of forms of agreement and collaboration with the inhabitants and their associations, on the regulations of common goods, with respect to which there are numerous experiences in course.

references Balducci A., Fedeli V. and Curci F. (eds, 2017), Post-Metropolitan Territories. Looking for a New Urbanity, Routledge, London and New York Cancellieri A., Ostanel E. (2014), “Ri-pubblicizzare la città: pratiche spaziali, culture e istituzioni”, in Territorio, n. 68, Franco Angeli, Milano Cacciari M. (2004), La città, Pazzini Editore, Rimini

60

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Caritas Italiana (2007), La città abbandonata. Dove sono e come cambiano le periferie italiane, a cura di Mauro Magatti, il Mulino, Bologna Caritas Roma (2017), La povertà a Roma: un punto di vista, Caritas Roma, Roma Caudo G. (2016), “Roma, città territorio”, in Cellamare C. (a cura di, 2016b), Fuori raccordo. Abitare l’altra Roma, Roma: Donzelli Cellamare C. (2017a), “Il “New Metropolitan Mainstream” a Roma. Politiche e pratiche dell’abitare in rapporto alle “centralità” e alle polarità commerciali” in Archivio di Studi Urbani e Regionali 119/2017, Milano: Franco Angeli, pp. 13-34 Cellamare C, (2017b), “Le borgate e l’identità della città”, in Liguori P. (2017), Borgate, p. 5-10, Roma, Ponte Sisto Edizioni Cellamare C. (a cura di, 2016a), “Praticare la interdisciplinarietà. Abitare Tor Bella Monaca”, in Territorio, n. 78, Milano: Franco Angeli Cellamare C. (a cura di, 2016b), Fuori raccordo. Abitare l’altra Roma, Roma: Donzelli Cellamare C., Cognetti F. (eds, 2014), Practices of Reappropriation, Planum Publisher, Milano Cellamare C., De Angelis R., Ilardi M., Scandurra E. (2014), Recinti urbani. Roma e i luoghi dell’abitare, manifestolibri, Roma Cipollini R., Truglia F. G. (2015), La metropoli ineguale. Analisi sociologica del Quadrante Est di Roma, Roma, Aracne Clough Marinaro I., Thomassen B. (eds, 2014), Global Rome. Changing Faces of the Eternal City, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, US Cognetti F., Padovani L. (2016), “New meanings for public housing estates through the coproduction of knowledge. Findings from an action-research laboratory”, paper at the ENHR (European Network for Housing Research) Conference Governance, Territory and Housing, Belfast 20/06-1/07 2016 Ferrarotti F., Macioti M. I. (2009), Periferie. Da problema a risorsa, Sandro Teti Editore, Roma Fregolent L. (a cura di, 2008), Periferia e periferie, Aracne, Roma Fregolent L., Savino M. (eds, 2014), Città e politiche in tempo di crisi, Milano, Franco Angeli Hou J. (ed., 2010), Insurgent Public Space. Guerrilla Urbanism and the Remaking of Contemporary Cities, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London – New York Ilardi M., Scandurra E. (a cura di, 2009), Ricominciamo dalle periferie. Perché la sinistra ha perso Roma, manifestolibri, Roma Liguori P. (2017), Borgate, Roma, Ponte Sisto Edizioni Mantovan C., Ostanel E. (2015), Quartieri Contesi. Convivenza, Conflitti e Governance nelle zone stazione di Padova e Mestre, FrancoAngeli, Milano Petaccia P., Greco A. (2016), Borgate. L’utopia razional-popolare, Roma, officina edizioni Pisano M. (2013), Creare relazioni da Abitare. Voci, narrazioni, azioni in uno scheletro urbano riabitato, tesi di dottorato in Tecnica Urbanistica (XXV ciclo), Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma Sandercock L. (1998), Towards Cosmopolis. Planning for Multicultural Cities, Wiley, Chichester Sandercock L. (2003), Cosmopolis II. Mongrel Cities in the 21st Century, Continuum, London – New York Scandurra E. (2007), Un paese ci vuole. Ripartire dai luoghi, Città Aperta, Troina (EN) Scandurra E. (2016), “La questione dei migranti e quella delle periferie: accoglienza e marginalizzazione”, in Cellamare C. (a cura di, 2016b), Fuori raccordo. Abitare l’altra Roma, Roma: Donzelli S.M.U.R. – Self Made Urbanism Rome (2014), Roma città autoprodotta. Ricerca urbana e linguaggi artistici, a cura di C. Cellamare, manifestolibri, Roma Villani L. (2012), Le borgate del fascismo. Storia urbana, politica e sociale della periferia romana, Ledizioni, Milano

Carlo Cellamare > Planning for all generations > “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

61


Roma, Parco Urbano del Pineto

Gray Brakke

62

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

@ Nicola Vazzoler |

# TOD | # Mobilità | # Accessibilità |

TOD: a tale between sustainability and accessibility

# TOD | # Transit | # Accessibility|

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a New Urban approach conceived by Peter Calthorpe and Doug Kelbaugh in the USA in the late twentieth century. In 1993, after the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), TOD and Traditional Neighbourhood Development (TND) gave rise to New Urbanism (NU). TOD suggests: growth on a regional level through compact development and integrated mobility; concentrated market, residence, work and services near local public transport stops; pedestrian-friendly networks that connect local destinations; diverse housing types; preservation of open spaces; a focus on public spaces; infill and redevelopment along transit corridors within existing neighbourhoods (Dittmar et al. 2004). This paper outlines a tale about TOD: the historical context, how the model developed by Calthorpe and Kelbaugh works, its features (smart trends and sustainability), and accessibility issues raised by TOD.

TOD è l’acronimo di Transit Oriented Development, un approccio new urban pensato da Peter Calthorpe e Doug Kelbaugh sul finire del secolo scorso, negli Stati Uniti. Nel 1993, il TOD assieme al Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) da vita al New Urbanism1 (NU), dopo il Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). Il TOD propone di: organizzare la crescita a livello regionale attraverso sviluppi compatti e integrati con la mobilità; concentrare il commercio, la residenza, il lavoro e i servizi nei pressi delle fermate del trasporto pubblico locale (TPL); creare reti di strade pedonali che colleghino direttamente le destinazioni locali; fornire un mix di abitazioni diverse per tipo e costo; conservare lo spazio aperto extraurbano; porre lo spazio pubblico al 1_ Nicola Vazzoler > Planning for all generations > TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

Conosciuto anche come Neotraditional Urbanism.

63


64

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


centro del progetto; incoraggiare l’infill e la riqualificazione lungo i corridoi di Fig.1_ Calthorpe Associates, transito entro i quartieri esistenti (Dittmar et al. 2004). Il presente contributo planimetria di un Pedestrian propone un racconto del modello ideato da Calthorpe e Kelbaugh, attraverso Pocket (Calthorpe ,1989). un percorso che mette in sequenza: il contesto storico di riferimento, il funzionamento e i caratteri fondativi del TOD (un accenno alle tendenze smart e al carattere sostenibile del NU), alcune declinazioni di accessibilità che il TOD suggerisce. Lo scarto post-moderno Il pensiero New Urban, nato negli anni ’80, si presenta con forme e nomi diversi (NU, TND, TOD, Urban Villages, Urban Renaissance, Smart Growth, ecc.), a seconda che ci si trovi su continente europeo o americano, ma in generale si osservano principi progettuali condivisi: una forma urbana compatta, centri e confini ben definiti, varietà nella proposta dei trasporti, un tessuto misto e a grana fine, tipi residenziali diversi, spazi pubblici attraenti e funzionanti e strade che favoriscano l’uso da parte dei pedoni (Grant 2006). L’approccio New Urban si è posto in netto contrasto con la produzione urbanistica corrente, poco sostenibile, e con la tradizione modernista che proponeva, in particolare, una netta separazione funzionale e fisica fra le parti. Per Lyotard (1984) la postmodernità è una condizione culturale che ha accettato il fallimento dei grandi sistemi interpretativi e ha proposto prospettive fra loro eterogenee rinnegando le verità assolute. Entro questa cornice di cambiamento, deviazione, scarto, si sono prodotte dagli anni ’50/’60 visioni urbane alternative2 a quanto fino ad allora adottato, fra queste si ricordano: l’“estetica aperta” del Team103 (Ellin 1999) che includeva nella progettazione la prospettiva degli utenti sostenendo un cambio nell’approccio agli studi urbani e bypassando i principi universali proposti nei CIAM (Welter 2005); il “Movement for the reconstruction of the European city”4, componente del neo-razionalismo migrata negli anni ’70 in nord Europa (Leon Krier5 e Maurice Culot fra i più importanti portavoce) per la quale la città preindustriale diventava un modello di resistenza contro i principi della pianificazione funzionalista e un’alternativa al corrente sistema basato sul profitto (Ellin 1999). Le teorie di Krier e Culot diventarono riferimenti del pensiero New Urban così come alcune riflessioni sviluppate da Jane Jacobs, Kevin Lynch e Cristopher Alexander che dagli anni ’60 produssero importanti critiche alla produzione edilizia post bellica6. In particolare Jane Jacobs, nel suo libro “Death and Life of Great American Cities” del 1961, criticava le forme urbane generate dalla pianificazione modernista e sosteneva che la “vitalità urbana” deriva da densità, mix di usi e quartieri diversificati (Grant 2006; Porta 2002). Tendenze smart Sul finire degli anni ’80 i modelli di sviluppo correnti, che producevano dispersione insediativa, cominciarono a destare preoccupazioni di carattere ambientale. Negli Stati Uniti, dove già dagli anni ’70 si cercava una soluzione alla dispersione insediativa (Ingram et al. 2009), si avanzarono ipotesi di sviluppo spaziale più sostenibili. È però con gli anni ’90 che qui si affermò lo Smart Growth (SG) ovvero un movimento di crescita alternativo (Burchell et al. 2000; Grant 2006; Ingram et al. 2009) in cui progettisti, amministratori, developers, ecc. definiscono e promuovono modelli di sviluppo urbani più compatti, una maggiore tutela dell’ambiente e un miglior uso dei mezzi di trasporto, favorendo i pedoni, l’uso di biciclette e mezzi alternativi in opposizione allo sprawl.

Nicola Vazzoler > Planning for all generations > TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

65

2_ Soprattutto sul continen-

te europeo, secondo Ellin (1999). 3_ Il Team10, un gruppo di progettisti e teorici, che riunì diverse idee durante il X CIAM di Dubrovnik del 1956 e sancì un cambiamento che era già in essere all’interno del movimento moderno. 4_ Supportato da alcuni documenti condivisi fra i quali la “La dichiarazione di Palermo” del 1978 a firma di Leon Krier, Pierluigi Nicolin, Angelo Villa, Maurice Culot e Antoine Grumbach. 5_ Krier propone un ragionamento sulla forma della città fatta di comunità urbane complete e finite e sui suoi materiali strutturanti (la strada, le piazze e i quartieri), sul mix funzionale (generatore di urbanità), sulla gerarchia (definito dallo spazio pubblico che è distinto da quello privato) e sui suoi limiti che non avrebbero dovuto superare i 35 ettari e 15.000 abitanti (Harvey 2010; Ellin 1999). 6_ Assieme alla pianificazione funzionalista e al modello Garden city che auspicava l’integrazione fra città e campagna.


Lo SG reitera i principi del NU, ponendo però meno attenzione al design (Grant 2006). Il NU è un movimento di riforma urbana nato da esperienze anni ’80 con l’obiettivo di sperimentare una forma di pianificazione e progettazione urbana multi-scalare. Rifacendosi alla città tradizionale, il NU cerca di opporsi allo zoning funzionalista e alla proliferazione suburbana (Rispoli 2012; Ellin 1999). TOD e TND sono modelli fondamentali del NU, nello specifico: il TOD concepito da Calthorpe e Kelbaugh lavora a una scala territoriale e intende ridisegnare la dispersione suburbana intervenendo sugli insediamenti esistenti o investendo su nuovi sviluppi lungo le linee di trasporto pubblico al fine di produrre sacche7 concentrate, ovvero aree a uso misto di densità medio-alta che includono abitazioni a prezzi accessibili e uffici (Ellin 1999; Thomas&Cousin 1996); il TND, di Duany e Plater-Zyberk, è successore della Neighborhood Unit formulata nel 1929 da Clarence Perry per il New York Regional Plan (Duany&Plater-Zyberk 2011) e promuove insediamenti localizzati, compatti e pedonali di dimensioni finite ispirati ai tessuti urbani prebellici (Ellin 1999; Thomas&Cousins 1996; Neuman 2005). Il CNU del 1993, fra i cui fondatori troviamo anche Duany e Plater-Zyberk, è il principale ente che promuove lo sviluppo di quartieri basati sulla “Carta del CNU” del 1996 e sul “codice urbano” (Form-based code) che costituisce l’elemento di raccordo tra scale di progetto (Rispoli 2012). La Carta, al fine di ridurre la congestione del traffico, aumentare l’offerta di alloggi a prezzi accessibili e rallentare lo sprawl, sostiene la pianificazione regionale, progetti urbani contestualizzati e mix funzionali. Contemporaneamente fornisce linee guida per il progetto urbano riguardanti la conservazione, la sicurezza stradale, la bioedilizia e il recupero di terreni abbandonati. Il modello Il TOD considera quindi le implicazioni della sostenibilità entro una forma urbana che, incorporando elementi teorici provenienti dalla tipicizzazione europea, dal regionalismo critico, dall’advocacy planning e dalla consapevolezza ambientale ed energetica, assume le caratteristiche di un quartiere pedonale delimitato, contenuto e vivace (Ellin 1999). La proposta di Calthorpe e Kelbaugh8 è legata al riconoscimento dei limiti economici e ambientali dei modelli di sviluppo. Calthorpe suggerisce che il TOD può essere una risposta alle trasformazioni di cui è esso stesso espressione, ovvero “the transformation from the industrial forms of segregation and centralization to the decentralized and integrated forms of the post-industrial era. And perhaps, TOD9 express the positive environmental and social results of a culture adjusting itself to this new reality” (Calthorpe 1989, p.356). 7_

Pocket: TOD è conosciuto anche come Pedestrian Pocket. 8_ Come spiegano Dittmar et al. (2004) al TOD viene associata anche la ricerca del Prof. Robert Cervero di Berkeley che si è concentrata sul rapporto tra transito e sviluppo metropolitano sottolineando il rapporto tra la forma urbana e tipo di transito più adatto. 9_ L’autore nel testo parla di PP. 10_ L’autore nel testo parla di PP.ne fra città e campagna.

Il modello utilizza il sistema di trasporto pubblico (in particolare lo spostamento su metropolitana leggera) come driver di sviluppo e su di esso struttura il territorio e i quartieri integrati ad una fermata di trasporto: Calthorpe descrive la sacca “as a balanced, mixed-use area within a quarter-mile or a five-minute walking radius of a transit station. The functions within this 50to 100-acre zone include housing, offices, retail, day care, recreation, and park. (…) People have a choice: walk to work or to stores within the TOD10; take the light rail to work or to shop at another station; car pool on a dedicated right-of-way; drive on crowded freeways” (Calthorpe 1989, p.352). L’intento quindi è quello di creare un ambiente di vita che attraverso un mix di usi, che supportano a loro volta una varietà di mezzi di trasporto (piedi, bus, metropolitana leggera, auto – meglio se condivisa - ecc.), offre diverse

66

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


possibilità di scelta. A una scala più ampia il trasporto pubblico (la metropolitana leggera) non verrebbe più utilizzato per collegare aree a bassa densità abitativa con le aree commerciali del centro ma piuttosto servirebbe per collegare diversi nodi decentralizzati ad alta densità e specializzati. Il traffico pendolare centro-periferia verrebbe spezzato in una moltitudine di movimenti multidirezionali e ridotto nella consistenza perché uffici, negozi, servizi e abitazioni sarebbero concentrati nei pressi delle stazioni. Il TOD lavora lungo le linee di trasporto con nuovi quartieri oppure innestandosi nei sobborghi esistenti, recuperando materiali urbani inutilizzati. Tale revisione dei tessuti urbani alla scala territoriale rientra all’interno di uno schema tipico del NU: il “transetto” che propone l’idea di un gradiente del costruito che va dal più rurale al più urbano e diventa un codice di regolamentazione. Il transetto promuove un modello urbano composto da una sequenza di ambienti abitabili che soddisfano una gamma di bisogni umani. Il riferimento esplicito è il lavoro di Alexander Von Humboldt11, il Natural Transect, una sezione geografica disegnata alla fine del XVIII secolo e che mostra una sequenza di habitat dove piante, animali e minerali prosperano in rapporto simbiotico (Duany&Plater-Zyberk 2011)12. Accessibilità La descrizione del modello apre al tema accessibilità e che si spinge oltre l’intento di rendere facilmente raggiungibili, a piedi o col trasporto pubblico, le dotazioni e i servizi concentrati in un’area ben definita. È possibile infatti ampliare il ragionamento e abbozzare alcune possibili declinazioni del tema che il modello, così com’è stato descritto dagli autori, suggerisce.

11_ Il ricorso alle teorie amed ecologiche alle Nel TOD lo spazio pubblico non è più solo il luogo del mezzo privato: “Mobi- bientaliste volte sembra essere utile lity and privacy have increasingly displaced the traditional commons, which alla sola legittimazione delle once provided the connected quality of our towns and cities. Our shared pu- scelte teoriche e progettuali blic space has been given over to the car and its accommodation, while our (Grant 2006). private world has become bloated and isolated. As our private world grows in 12_ Interessante osservare breadth, our public world becomes more remote and impersonal. As a result, come il tema degli ambienti our public world becomes more remote and impersonal” (Calthorpe 1989, di vita posti in rapporto fra p.356). La diminuzione dell’uso dell’automobile, unita alla volontà di resti- loro, e in sequenza entro una territoriale, non è un tuire valore urbano allo spazio pubblico, rende lo spazio pubblico fruibile e sezione tema nuovo nella disciplina sicuro perché osservato e vissuto 24 ore su 24. Le strade, per esempio, non urbanistica. Alcuni anni prima sono più solo il luogo dello scorrimento dell’auto ma anche della socializ- il Team10 propose un ragiozazione, animate dalle abitazioni e dalle attività. La strada viene progettata namento sulle associazioni quindi attorno al pedone, non vi è più una netta separazione fra luoghi della comunitarie e umane nello circolazione e luoghi dello stare, come auspicato invece dalla pianificazione spazio e nel tempo, partenmodernista. Un atteggiamento coerente con i principi del NU e con quanto do da una reinterpretazione della Valley Section di Patrick auspicato dai teorici di riferimento, fra i quali Jane Jacobs. Il TOD intende poi fornire a ciascun tipo di famiglia un’abitazione che soddisfi le singole esigenze a prezzi accessibili: coppie con o senza figli e single trovano spazio nelle townhouses e nei duplex con giardino e garage inclusi mentre gli anziani in edifici tradizionali a due o tre piani, dotati di spazi privati e comuni, posizionati vicini ai parchi, alle stazioni e ai negozi così da eliminare i problemi di marginalizzazione tipici di queste fasce di età. I diversi tipi edilizi adottati, generalmente bassi e compatti, edificabili secondo le proprie possibilità economiche, sono fra loro mixati e giustapposti ad aree verdi destinate al gioco e all’incontro, le trame dei percorsi pedonali innervano la “tasca”. Questo non solo garantisce l’accesso a case appropriate da parte di differenti utenze ma aiuterebbe a reintegrare gruppi sociali e di età marginalizzati

Nicola Vazzoler > Planning for all generations > TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

67

Geddes (anche in questo caso lo sguardo si sposta al mondo dell’ecologia). Come suggerisce Welter (2005), quello che Geddes vedeva come un’evoluzione storica delle forme di comunità il Team10 lo interpreta come una contemporanea dispersione di insediamenti umani, ai quali viene sovrapposta la “scala delle associazioni” un diagramma concettuale che mette in relazione le diverse parti sparse sul territorio: tutto è parte di una struttura, anche le piccole comunità.


68

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


(Calthorpe 1989). Il TOD quindi include nella progettazione il mixaggio so- Fig.2_ Confronti, dall’alto: ciale (proponendo tipologie abitative di diverso tipo e a prezzi diversi) ma un esempio di “Natural anche aspetti generazionali dedicando parte del ragionamento alle necessità Transect”, concepito per la delle fasce di età più avanzante per limitare processi di esclusione (come si prima volta da Alexander Von Humboldt nel ’700 (fonte: muovono e di che cosa hanno bisogno?). pinterest); il “Urban to Rural Per David Harvey (2010) la cultura postmoderna vede la città come frammentata, un collage di forme del passato e del presente sul quale sembra essere sfuggito il controllo. Alla pianificazione sembra essere preferito il disegno urbano. Il TOD propone, invece, alla scala territoriale uno sguardo sistematico, non si concentra cioè solo sul singolo quartiere ma cerca di ristabilire un “ordine” a livello metropolitano. Infatti il modello è destinato a formare una rete i cui nodi, le sacche, variano notevolmente fra loro in base ai diversi contesti in cui vengono applicati e all’offerta proposta (alcuni nodi potrebbero fornire centri commerciali, altri centri culturali, ecc.). L’aspetto interessante è che i nodi sono connessi fra loro da aste di mobilità che permettono agli utenti un facile accesso a risorse di portata sovralocale sparse sul territorio, anche a distanze notevoli. Il TOD inoltre, sembra appropriarsi del collage postmoderno e, intervenendo sull’esistente, mette a sistema anche i centri urbani maggiori, il patrimonio e le aree destinate a uffici o al commercio esistenti, garantendo l’accesso alla rete anche a quella fetta di popolazione residente nello sprawl e non a stretto contatto con i nuovi quartieri.

Transect” di Duany A. e Plater-Zyberk (http://www. dpz.com); la Valley Section di Patrick Geddes (https:// transect.org/natural_img. html); “Scale of Association” del Team10 (http://www. team10online.org/team10/ text/doorn-manifesto.htm).

Applicazione? Il TOD nasce quindi con l’intento di superare l’approccio funzionalista e le patologie determinate dai modelli di urbanizzazione che hanno generato lo sprawl13. Calthorpe e Kelbaugh, come visto, avanzano un modello che può essere descritto attraverso alcune declinazioni di accessibilità: alle dotazioni e ai servizi, facilmente raggiungibili a piedi o con il TPL; allo spazio pubblico, una riconquista della strada urbana; alla casa, una reintegrazione dei gruppi sociali svantaggiati; alla città, una messa a sistema dell’area metropolitana. Il TOD va applicato ex novo (più impegnativo perché secondo gli autori poco sostenibile economicamente, Calthorpe 1989) o adattato all’esistente. Quest’ultimo approccio comporta la predisposizione di un progetto urbano, integrato con una strategia di mobilità più ampia, che metta in campo diversi strumenti. Il modello TOD non si materializza solo per l’aderenza di un quartiere ad un nodo dei trasporti. Il modello andrebbe governato da attori 13_ In questo senso il temine pubblici e privati che lo sostengono con politiche e progettualità utili a: favo- urbanism presente nel morire il trasporto pubblico e limitare l’uso del mezzo privato, eliminando così vimento di riforma urbana le congestioni del traffico; produrre mixaggio sociale, salvaguardando così le entro il quale il TOD ricade, fasce più deboli dall’espulsione; produrre mix funzionale favorendo deter- il NU, mostra la particolare minati servizi rispetto ad altri; pensare, progettare e manutenere uno spazio attenzione che gli studi urbapubblico che permetta la socializzazione; ecc. Quindi affinché l’adattamento ni e la pratica hanno comina mostrare riguardo la funzioni, o ancor prima prenda avvio, vi è la necessità di una condivisione di ciato dispersione insediativa. “Non strategie, obiettivi e progettualità a più livelli, anche fra i cittadini. E proprio sembra un caso, allora, che il nel recupero (inteso sia come riciclo di aree abbandonate sia come ripensa- diffondersi del termine urbamento di quartieri abitati, siano essi parte dello sprawl che del centro con- nism in paesi anglofoni, dove solidato) che il TOD potrebbe abbandonare i formalismi new urban per con- ci si è tradizionalmente riferiti frontarsi con le diverse condizioni contestuali (fisiche, sociali e ambientali). a questo genere di pratiche Con un processo di adattamento alle singole resistenze locali il modello as- con le parole design (urban, sume caratteristiche processuali, progettuali e formali diverse e conduce ad city design) e planning (city, urban, regional, spatial una contaminazione degli stili di vita esistenti (fra cui quelli sostenuti dalla di- town, planning), sia concomitante spersione insediativa) piuttosto che ad una loro sostituzione / eliminazione. con l’affermarsi della preoc-

Nicola Vazzoler > Planning for all generations > TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

cupazione per lo sprawl e con la proliferazione degli studi sui suoi effetti e le sue cause” (Gabellini 2010; p.54).

69


bibliografia Burchell RW., Listokin D. & Galley CC 2000, “Smart Growth: more than a ghost of urban policy past, less than a bold new horizon”, Housting Policy Debate, vol.11, no 4, pp.821-879. Burgess R. 2000, “The compact city debate: a global perspective”, in Jenks M. & Burgess R., a cura di, Compact Cities. Sustainable urban forms for developing countries, pp. 9-24. Calthorpe P. 2004. “Foreword”, in Dittmar H. & Ohland G., a cura di, The New Transit Town, Island Press, Washington. Calthorpe P. 1989. “The Pedestrian Pocket”, in Kelbaugh D., a cura di, The Pedestrian Pocket Book: A New Suburban Design Strategy, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, pp. 350-356. Dittmar H. & Ohland G. 2004. The New Transit Town, Island Press, Washington. Duany A. & Plater-Zyberk E. 2011. The Lexicon of the New Urbanism, Version 3.2, on-line, disponibile su: http://www.dpz.com Ellin N. 1999, Postmodern urbanism, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, ed.or. 1996. Gabellini P. 2010, Fare urbanistica. Esperienze, comunicazione, memoria, Carocci, Roma. Grant J. 2006, Planning the Good Community: New Urbanism in Theory and Practice, Routledge, New York, ed. eBook. Harvey D. 2010, La crisi della modernità, Il saggiatore, Milano, ed.or. 1990. Ingram G.K., Carbonell A., Hong Y. & Flint A. 2009, Smart Growth Policies: An Evaluation of Programs and Outcomes, Cambridge MA, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, on-line, disponibile su: http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/1880_Making-Room-for-aPlanet-of-Cities-urban-expansion Jacobs J. 2009, Vita e morte delle grandi città, Einaudi, Torino, ed.or. 1961. Lyotard F. 1984, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, ed.or. 1979. Neuman M. 2005, “The compact city fallacy”, Journal of Planning Education and Research, no. 25(1), pp.11-26. Rispoli F. 2012, Progetti di territorio nel contesto europeo, FUS, Firenze. Porta S. 2002, Dancing streets. Scena pubblica urbana e vita sociale, Edizioni Unicopli, Milano. Thomas L. & Cousins W. 1996, “A new compact city form: concepts in practice”, in Jenks, M., Burton E. & Williams K., a cura di, The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form?, E & FN Spon, Oxford. Vazzoler N., 2015. “Intensità urbana e modelli di città compatta sul finire del ’900”, in Andriola V. & Vazzoler N., a cura di, iQuaderni di UrbanisticaTre, 04, pp.37-44, on-line, disponibile su: http://www.urbanisticatre.uniroma3.it/dipsu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/U3_ quaderni_04_vazzoler1.pdf Welter V.M. 2005, “In-between space and society. On some British roots of Team10 urban thought in the 1950s”, in Risselada M. & van den Heuvel D., a cura di, TEAM10 1953- 81. In search of a Utopia of the present, NAI Publishers, Rotterdam

70

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

@ Madeleine Galvin |

Abitare vicino a un nodo di trasporto: valutare la qualità della vita per bambini e anziani This article seeks to determine how proximity to a major transit node affects livability for residents, especially children and elders. The results of this neighborhood analysis are relevant for planners interested in how Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) might impact neighborhoods, and how local communities might be safeguarded by good design and effective policy. This research attempts a holistic examination of a portion of the San Giovanni neighborhood of Rome by comparing two of its areas. A livability audit was used to judge these areas based on their physical quality and has indicated two main results: proximity to a major transit node jeopardizes livability for children and elders, and primarily benefits the active population, as well as those transiting through the neighborhood. Results from this neighborhood analysis are of interest due to the recent opening of the San Giovanni stop on the Metro C Line, and the expected increase in connectivity that will result from this extension. San Giovanni illustrates the promises and pitfalls of TOD, as its successful spaces are able to balance strong neighborhood communities in addition to hosting important transit infrastructure and citywide services. On the other hand, the neighborhood’s failed spaces indicate what can go wrong when this balance is not found.

Introduction San Giovanni is a dense, connected, central Roman neighborhood that has a number of characteristics of a Transit-Oriented Development, even though it was not originally designed to be a major transit node. As a result of these characteristics, the neighborhood experiences both the positive and negative effects that can arise from this type of development, as it is extremely well connected, but doesn’t necessarily cater to the needs of its elderly and youth populations. In the effort to plan for a wide range of ages, it is important to explore how and why a Transit-Oriented Development could negatively impact a community, which is what this article seeks to achieve. Madeleine Galvin > Planning for all generations > Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

71

# Livability | # Age-friendly planning | # TOD | # Abitabilità | # Pianificazione age-friendly | # TOD|


Conceptual Framework Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) aims to maximize access to public transportation, create vibrant communities, and reduce automobile dependency (Dittmar & Ohland 2004). Often, TODs fail to satisfy all of these objectives, negatively affecting quality of life in a neighborhood. These shortfalls directly impact children and elders, as TOD often favors commuters of working age (Cervero 2004). This article explores how the negative impacts of TOD on a community can be mitigated. Deni Ruggeri’s Field Audit for Measuring Livability (2015) was used to investigate the impacts of TOD on this neighborhood. Issues of congestion and pollution, maintenance of public space, and presence of community services were identified as the most salient differences between the two areas. These findings were later confirmed in interviews with over twenty-five residents. Lynch maps (1960) were used to determine the territorial range of the residents interviewed. This provided information on the mobility of differently aged residents, the presence or lack of quality services within the local area, and the role of transportation in accessing these services. These characteristics are direct features of livability, as mobility is often a result of physical characteristics, such as unbroken sidewalks and adequate crosswalks (Rosenberg et al. 2013), while services are often responsible for giving a neighborhood character and vibrancy. San Giovanni History and Statistical Background San Giovanni is just outside of the Aurelian Walls, to the southeast of the historical center. It was originally planned in the 1909 Piano Regolatore di Roma, which gave it some of its original residential character. In the 1962 master plan, the city was laid out in an intensely developed transit network that created eighteen different centers around Rome (Morassut 2005). For its infrastructural characteristics and its central location, during the remainder of the 20th century, the neighborhood was overlaid with over nine different bus lines, as well as an extension of the Metro Line A, which transformed San Giovanni into one of these centers. These transit developments have changed the nature of the neighborhood and created a significant node of connectivity at the Porta San Giovanni. Thousands of people pass through this node every day to get from the Roman periphery to the city center, creating a large influx of transient users to San Giovanni. As mentioned above, this neighborhood analysis is comprised of two study areas; a primary area that is adjacent to a transit node, and a secondary area that is further away, providing a basis for comparison. These areas have a much higher population density than the city itself, with an average of 20,910 residents per square kilometer in 2011 compared to an average 2,032/km2 for the entire city. In addition, these areas have experienced much quicker population growth, averaging 4.8% in the 2011 ISTAT data, while the city grew comparatively slowly at 2.8%. The dense and fast-growing population of San Giovanni is primarily concentrated along Via Gallia, a bustling hub of commercial activity connecting the two areas. The eastern edge of the study area, which is formed by the Via Magnagrecia, connects to two high volume arterial roads in the southwest, the Cristoforo Colombo and Marco Polo, and the Via Prenestina to the east. As such, this edge has become a highway in disguise; it diagonally links these auto arteries and creates issues of heavy traffic in the neighborhood.

72

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Fig.1_ Broad Transit Map Methodology This analysis was conducted in three overarching steps. The first consisted of the Connectivity in San of research on San Giovanni’s origins, planning, and development to under- Giovanni, map made by stand the neighborhood as it is today. This included an assessment of its Raphael Laude. physical character and a walkability survey of its sidewalks and intersections, as well as historical research, all done in February 2017. The next portion of the analysis consisted of a service inventory. Data for this was collected from Google Earth and the Roma Capitale website. On-site research and interviews with residents and shopkeepers helped revise and substantiate this data. Individual services were then mapped based on their target audience, which was either community members or transient users. Interviews took place over the span of March and April of 2017. Finally, the livability audit, Lynch maps, and resident interviews were used to determine how livability of an area impacts children and elders’ patterns of movement in their neighborhood and come to conclusions about how transit developments have impacted the San Giovanni community. Livability Audit In conducting the livability audit (Ruggeri 2015), the twenty-eight questions were answered at ten different places in the neighborhood, five in the primary area and five in the secondary area. These questions were divided into six different categories that reflected the physical quality of the neighborhood. The places for the audit were chosen to parallel each other in both areas to provide the most accurate possible results. The specific spaces audited were piazzas, residential intersections, schools, main transit streets, and markets. Averages for both the primary and secondary areas and the total possible livability scores were calculated.

Madeleine Galvin > Planning for all generations > Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

73


Quality Imageability Transparency Enclosure Human Experience Vitality Connectivity

Fig.2_

Congestion at the Transit Node of Porta San Giovanni, photo by Madeleine Galvin.

Score 1.68 1.7 1.45 1.3 1 0.533

Total Possible Score 4 3 4 4 2 2/3 2 2/3

Livability audit results for the primary area of San Giovanni Quality Imageability Transparency Enclosure Human Experience Vitality Connectivity

Score 2.14 2.15 1.45 1.65 1.33 0.733

Total Possible Score 4 3 4 4 2 2/3 2 2/3

Livability audit results for the secondary area of San Giovanni The most prominent result is that across five of the six categories analyzed, the livability of the secondary area is higher than that of the primary. While the built form is similar across the two areas, there was a greater sense of safety, maintenance, and “eyes on the street” in the secondary area of San Giovanni. For children and elders, this is particularly indicative of their comfort level in the public spaces of their neighborhood. In addition, the quantity of street-based social and commercial interaction was much greater in the secondary area. The livability of the primary area was greatly affected by the poor maintenance of their only designated public space. This has caused the space to often be empty, or only used for unsavory activities. Over twenty-five interviews were conducted with residents, local shop own-

74

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


ers, and community leaders to get their insights on San Giovanni. From these Fig.2_ Metro Line C interviews, a variety of themes became apparent. These can be divided into Construction in the Piazza congestion, maintenance of public space, and a shift in community services. Ipponio, photo by Madeleine Congestion Traffic was by far the most commonly mentioned issue in the interviews. Â Generally, this subject came up when asked if residents liked their neighborhood or thought that anything needed to change. Most people were happy with their neighborhood and described it as tranquil, but disliked the heavy flow of traffic, particularly at intersections and along the Via Magna Grecia. Some elderly residents expressed their desire to take the bus, but they said it would be too slow given the amount of traffic on the major roads that the buses often take. Heavy traffic also tends to reduce the mobility of children and elders more than other age groups. In a study by Giles-Corti et al, it was found that congestion and a lack of intersections impacted whether children felt safe and comfortable walking to school on their own, even when the school was in their own neighborhood (2010). This is particularly significant in the primary area, which is bounded by several heavy traffic corridors. These have also negatively impacted the air quality around the Via Magna Grecia. Smog in the area is bad for families with young children, and is often most pronounced during the mornings and late afternoons when people are commuting to work by car. Public Space Public space has been found to be instrumental in creating strong communities because if it is maintained well, it can increase the frequency of human interaction and provide residents with a common gathering space (Pretty et al. 2003). There is a definite lack of public space in the primary area of the San Giovanni neighborhood, due primarily to the construction of the Metro

Madeleine Galvin > Planning for all generations > Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

75

Galvin.


Line C along the Aurelian Walls. This construction has overwhelmed the area, causing a build-up of trash around its edges, which used to be green spaces. The one public space that remains is poorly maintained and usually full of trash and broken bottles. In contrast, the secondary area has a well-kept public space along the Aurelian Walls that provides an engaging outdoors environment for people of all ages. This is a result of the work of a community-based group, the Comitato Mura Latine, which has protected and advocated for this space. In addition, the Comitato has improved the quality of the sidewalk space by implementing a program with local schools in the secondary area to create murals for the exterior of the community market. This has brought art to the streets of the neighborhood and has created a desirable space for public interaction. Fig.4_

Services Map of San Giovanni, map made by Brooke Shin.

Shift in Community Services The mental and physical health of elders is dependent on their ability to participate in social, economic and civic affairs (WHO 2002). Elders, who generally have more limited mobility, must rely on their neighborhood to provide opportunities for this type of inclusion. The primary area of San Giovanni lacks spaces in which elders can meet informally to receive the social benefits that they need. Longstanding services that have provided this opportunity for social interaction, such as community markets, are swiftly being taken over by commercial enterprises, such as B&Bs, hotels, and clothing shops. This is due to the primary area’s proximity to the transit node at the Porta San Giovanni, which has attracted numbers of transient people, such as tourists and commuters, and increased the demand for commercial services, which often do not satisfy the needs of the child and elderly residents. Conclusion The primary area’s proximity to the transit node at the Porta San Giovanni has had detrimental effects upon the surrounding community. Residents and users of this area have expressed on multiple occasions their desire for certain transit-related aspects of the community to change. Their testimonies aligned with the physical assessment of the livability audit. The three recurring and most detrimental themes that became apparent during the analysis include congestion, maintenance of public space and a shift in the service mix. City planners must actively work to counteract these issues with more efficient design and policy changes. The concentration of traffic on high-volume corridors, such as the Via Magnagrecia, should be addressed with more a strategic distribution of the public transit load by way of dedicated bus lanes. Community organizations that have shown their dedication and effectivity, such as the Comitato Mura Latine, should be allowed to host events that strengthen the community, as well as implement larger infra-

76

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


structure that increases the quality of the park. In addition, the municipality can augment community service provision by providing rent-free space for neighborhood events. Although this might decrease municipal revenue at first, this investment in children and the community will pay off in the longterm. While these policy measures have significant and complex considerations, they have potential to ameliorate the consequences of transit proximity that severely decrease neighborhood livability for children and elders. The short-term challenges of implementing these suggestions can be significant, but the potential repercussions of inaction on behalf of these vulnerable populations are far more severe.

references Cervero R. 2004, Transit-oriented Development in the United States: Experiences Challenges, and Prospects, Federal Transit Administration. Dittmar H. & Ohland G. (eds) 2004, The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development, Island Press, Washington D.C. Giles-Corti B., Wood G., Pikora T., Learnihan V., Bulsara M., Van Niel K., Timperio A., McCormack G. & Villaneuva K. 2010, “School site and the potential to walk to school: The impact of street connectivity and traffic exposure in school neighborhoods”, Health & Place, vol. 17, pp. 545-550. Lynch K. 1960, The Image of A City, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. Morassut R. 2005, “The Piano Regolatore of 2003”, Mapping the City from Bufali to the Piani Regolatori, UCL Department of Italian, London, p. Pretty GH., Chipuer HM., Bramston .P 2003, “Sense of place amongst adolescents and adults in two rural Australian towns: The discriminating features of place attachment, sense of community and place dependence in relation to place identity”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 32, no.4, pp. 401-409. Rosenberg DE., Huang DL., Simonovich SD. & Belza B. 2013, “Outdoor Built Environment Barriers and Facilitators to Activity among Midlife and Older Adults with Mobility Disabilities”, The Gerontologist, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 268-279. Ruggeri D. 2015, The Study of Perceived Livability at the Transit Stop, National Institute for Transportation and Communities. WHO 2002, Active Ageing: A Policy Framework, UNFPA, Geneva, booklet.

Madeleine Galvin > Planning for all generations > Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

77


Roma, Borgata Trullo

Amy Tomasso

78

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

@ Tishya Rao | @ Ehab Ebeid | @ Graham Murphy | @ Edna Samron | # Right to the city | # Local institutions | # “Cross-boundary” collaboration | # Diritto alla città | # Istituzioni locali | # Collaborazione “cross-boundary” |

Esercitare il “Diritto al Tufello”

This paper explores the role of local institutions and grassroots efforts in practicing the ‘Right to the City’ in the low-income, public housing neighborhood of Tufello, Rome. Four local institutions and their work are explored - Ennio Flaiano Library, Defrag, Tufello Market and Palestra Popolare Valerio Verbano- using interviews with their enthusiastic employees and volunteers. It tries to understand their strategy of achieving the ‘right to Tufello’ and in creating a stronger and more inclusive community for its residents, particularly children and the elderly. It is argued that these grassroots efforts would not be as successful without the legal recognition of these institutions and the assistance by city authorities in combating socio-economic issues like poverty, drugs and crime. Therefore, these urban spaces are defined as “invited spaces” instead of “invented spaces” because of its successful establishment through “cross-boundary” collaboration.

Introduction The ‘Right to the City’ is a concept frequently invoked and championed in policy circles today. It describes the collective right of city dwellers to influence urban processes and reshape their city and was first conceived by Henri Lefebvre, who is thought to be the progenitor of the idea (Purcell, 2014). Purcell outlines varying versions of the idea of the ‘right to the city’ across academic, policy and activist circles. Several values are shared by virtually all those versions: the right to the city is derived from the everyday experience of being an urban dweller, as opposed to their legal citizenship. Therefore, the goal is often to encourage urban policies that promote justice and incluT. Rao, E. Ebeid, G. Murphy, E. Samron > Planning for all generations > Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

79


Fig.1_

Neighbors often organize in informal associations to improve and maintain their courtyard spaces. In this court space, residents added a children’s play area. Credits Ehab Ebeid, Edna Samron, Graham Murphy, Tishya Rao.

sion at the city and the neighborhood level by identifying and emphasizing the importance of the use value of urban spaces over and above their exchange value (Purcell, 2014). This idea is particularly important for the effective inclusion of disadvantaged or disenfranchised groups, including low income families as well as children and the elderly. Claiming the right to the city is usually perceived as a bottom-up endeavor, which can take the form of citizen practices that transcend established civil and legal frameworks, with the goal of increasing access to public resources and achieving socio-economic equality (Miraftab, 2004). This implies a pre-existing divide between the visions of city leaders and the needs of the community. Urban policy and design not aligning with the needs of the community often leads to fragmentation, discrimination and poor quality of life. Thus, community members and institutions find it necessary to take action — claiming their right and attempting to reshape the city often without legal ground. It is important to question whether the right to the city can be achieved without overstepping political authorities, and instead initiate a ‘cross boundary dialogue’ between the two actors (Frug 2001). Tufello, a peripheral neighborhood in Rome is a model example of achieving a collaborative relationship between municipal governmental bodies and community actors. Top-down planning and grassroots initiatives work together to enhance residents’ quality of life in a low-income public housing neighborhood, in hopes of building a stronger community and overcoming threats of socio-economic issues, including a history of drug use. In Tufello, the built environment provides for spaces for interaction and designates service centers, while local institutions strive to provide an array of services and cultural activities that are multigenerational and inclusive. Thus, the two categories appear to intersect through conscious and coordinated efforts to meet the demands of

80

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


seniors and of families with children, without creating competition for re- Fig.2_ Ennio sources between generations (Warner and Choi 2015). This article first provides a contextual background of Tufello and the social, economic and demographic threats that it faces. It then explores the role of some local institutions in building a stronger community on top of its physical planning, and the extent to which cross boundary dialogue between authorities and the public has made it possible to do so. We argue that bottom-up efforts by local institutions complement physical design, and would not be as successful if they were not recognized and supported by city authorities through political acceptance and infrastructural provision. Methodology The research incorporated different types of methodologies to create a holistic representation of “The Right to the City” and the child and age friendliness of Tufello. City maps and photographs were used to identify existing institutions and spaces in the neighborhood. And verbal interviews were conducted with various community stakeholders, including the director of a local municipal library, a volunteer at an NGO and elderly residents, with questions revolving around public space use, community initiatives and public housing. Semi-Public Space in a Public Housing Neighborhood Tufello is a peripheral neighborhood located at the edge of Rome’s 16th quartiere -- Montesacro -- in Municipio III. Built as one of the twelve officially designated borgate during the fascist regime, the neighborhood saw successive stages of public housing development between the late 1930s and the 1970s, accompanied by the development of nearby service and institutional buildings, as well as public spaces and public housing communal court spaces. The neighborhood has retained its public housing character T. Rao, E. Ebeid, G. Murphy, E. Samron > Planning for all generations > Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

81

Caption: Biblioteca Flaiano strives for multigenerational programming through partnering with schools and other organizations. Credits Ehab Ebeid, Edna Samron, Graham Murphy, Tishya Rao.


Fig.3_

Caption: Defrag’s services include workshops, counseling, concerts and a recording studio. Credits Ehab Ebeid, Edna Samron, Graham Murphy, Tishya Rao.

with low ownership rates. It has developed a notable leftist and anti-fascist identity, as seen in the political orientation of local institutions, and legible in the neighborhood’s streets and building walls. Today, Tufello comprises of a large elderly population, as a large portion of the current residents are among the original occupants of public housing complexes when the neighborhood was first settled in the 1940s. In 2011, approximately 26% of Tufello’s residents were over 65 years old (ISTAT, census 2011) and aging faster than the rest of Rome. Tufello also has many children and teenagers who commute there because of the high concentration of schools in the area. Therefore, as a large population of children and the elderly live or visit the neighborhood, services catering to their needs, such as child care, sports centers and social centers are necessary. While Tufello’s neighborhood design is dominated by socially-inclusive public housing complexes, the rise and integration of cultural, commercial and institutional functions has created a mixed-use neighborhood. These include a market, shops, a soccer field, a gym, and cultural centers. However, with only one poorly maintained park, Tufello lacks safe public open spaces. The housing complexes solve this issue as they enclose or are adjacent to characteristic green courtyards. These spaces are semi-public because they form a transition between the private realm of the home and the public realm that is the street. They provide an important space for communal interaction, which we argue has contributed to the neighborhood’s strong sense of identity. Besides varying in their design, they are also maintained to different degrees. We have found that the most well-maintained among them are maintained through individual and collective efforts from residents, either in hiring gardeners and maintenance staff with their own funds, or in maintaining the spaces themselves.

82

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Fig.4_ Caption: The Active Institutions Local institutions in Tufello are diverse and include many formal ones such Tufello market acts as an as a local public library and market, senior centers, and social and cultur- important social space for neighborhood’s elderly. al centers. Less formal institutions exist too, like residential community the Credits Ehab Ebeid, Edna groups working towards maintaining public housing complexes and court- Samron, Graham Murphy, yards. Through our research we have found that formal or otherwise, institu- Tishya Rao. tions play an essential role in improving the quality of life of Tufello residents and ensuring their “right to Tufello”. In fact, we were met with high enthusiasm to collaborate by the local public library, which gave us the chance to learn about the impactful work of the various local institutions. Much of the active local participation by institutions stems from the neighborhood’s strong political identity, as well as their vision of overcoming socio-economic issues such as poverty, drug use and unemployment through their services and activities. It is important to note that the successful history of grassroots efforts in Tufello is not solely based on active local participation. It is also because local authorities have recognized and/or supported these local efforts by politically accepting them and providing them with spaces and infrastructure, despite being formed outside legal frameworks. Most of these institutions were formed out of a municipal-local partnership, where both actors have recognized the need of residents and demonstrated a dialogue across sector boundaries. Therefore, Tufello’s institutions comprise and occupy invited spaces -- as opposed to invented ones -- therefore creating urban spaces that are “occupied by grassroots [efforts] and their allied non-governmental organizations that are legitimized by donors and government interventions” (Miraftab, 2004). Four active institutions in Tufello played a key role in the success of the collaborative process, operating as invited spaces: a) Ennio Flaiano Library, b) T. Rao, E. Ebeid, G. Murphy, E. Samron > Planning for all generations > Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

83


Fig.5_

Caption: The Palestra Popolare Valerio Verbano takes the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute as their emblem. Credits Ehab Ebeid, Edna Samron, Graham Murphy, Tishya Rao.

Defrag, c) Tufello Market and d) Palestra Popolare Valerio Verbano. These entities provided safe and productive spaces for people to meet and feel a part of the community. Here we look at how they have been successful in claiming ‘rights to Tufello’ to build a stronger and more inclusive community for children and the elderly through their unique services and passion for change. Ennio Flaiano Library The library in Tufello strives to engage people of all ages. This is particularly true for children and elderly populations. Through a partnership with local schools, the library leads classes where students conduct fieldwork in the area in and around Tufello, and lead educational workshops for younger students in the library. Additionally, it hosts career orientation workshops for high schoolers, through “Alternanza scuola-lavoro”, a national educational career orientation program. By providing a space for newspaper reading, for example, the library attempts to draw the area’s elderly population to a safe, social and integrated space. The amount of engagement and enrichment that the library provides should not be entirely surprising. Libraries are often leaders in building multigenerational programs and cross-agency partnerships (Warner and Choi, 2015) in the United States. In fact, Ennio Flaiano Library’s programs are notable all over the city for their work in the low-income neighborhood of Tufello. The library supports its low-income constituency by supplementing some of Tufello’s shortcomings. Apart from the regular books and videotapes offered at the library, study rooms and desktop computers are provided to the public. Moreover, the library caters to people of special needs by offering a collection of tactile books.

84

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Fig.6_ Caption: Design, Defrag Associazione Defrag, short for defragmentation in English, is a nonprofit in- infrastructure and housing stitution that was established by concerned community members to combat provision are not sufficient to many social ills in a Tufello then plagued by drug problems, by creating a safe, creating a strong community, and should be complemented productive space for teenagers living and visiting the neighborhood. by the work of local Defrag can be considered a model of a successful grassroots organization in Tufello. There are primarily two reasons for this. Firstly, the organization is a perfect example of an invited space, initially founded by claiming the under-utilized basement of a local high school in Tufello, which was then legitimized by donors and government support (Miraftab, 2004). Secondly, Defrag has broken the socio-economic divide between Tufello and its surrounding neighborhood by conducting concerts, exhibits, educational workshops and psychological counseling to families who could not get access to such services otherwise. Therefore, Defrag and Tufello has now become a well-known destination, because of its strong support for children and their families. Market Tufello’s covered market was completed in 1958. Over the years it has been forced to evolve due to pressure from grocery stores and supermarkets opening in surrounding areas. To compete, the Tufello Market remains open seven days a week. This is uncharacteristic of traditional covered markets in Rome. The market may have been prone to losing customers due to its proximity to the Porta di Roma Mall (the largest in Italy) as well as the recent opening of Jonio Metro station nearby, which acts as a services nod, but the market has remained a vibrant commercial center in Tufello despite the competition. The Tufello Market has preserved its customer base thanks to Tufello’s large elderly population, who are responsible for taking care of the household, including shopping for groceries. The central location of the market and its fresh produce has made it possible for the elderly to visit regularly, and

T. Rao, E. Ebeid, G. Murphy, E. Samron > Planning for all generations > Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

85

associations and institutions. Credits Ehab Ebeid, Edna Samron, Graham Murphy, Tishya Rao.


meet other elderly citizens of the neighborhood. Thus, the market has also become an important social space for building relationships and creating a stronger, inclusive community for Tufello’s senior citizens. The market also hosts the office of the Municipio III civil registry, as well as other services including beauty parlors and kitchen supply stores. Therefore, Tufello’s market also increases accessibility for the elderly to other services by providing them all under one roof. Palestra Popolare Valerio Verbano Palestra Popolare Valerio Verbano was established by the occupation of a former abandoned boiler building to keep teenagers off the streets and away from drugs by instilling discipline through contact sports like karate, kickboxing and gymnastics. The location is rather symbolic of a new lifestyle as, during its abandonment, the boiler building was used as a drug den. Though the palestra’s legal position in its occupation of the boiler building is not clear, it the process of negotiating their status with ATER, the public housing agency which owns the building, is an example of “cross- boundary dialogue” between city authority and Tufello residents (Frug, 2001). The name of the gym is also symbolic and has ties to the neighborhood’s rich political character. The gym’s name honors the young anti-fascist activist Valerio Verbano who was killed at the age of 19 in nearby Montesacro. Also unconventional for a gym, the palestra articulates a theoretical framework through which its work is conducted: it seeks to establish sports as a human right, and to ensure that people have access to exercise, health and well-being without being “subjected to the cruel logic of the free market”. A combination of political struggle and improving quality of life led the gym to create a sense of ownership through community-initiated activities and an inclusive community, especially for the children of Tufello. Achieving the ‘Right to Tufello’ through Cross-Boundary Collaboration Tufello’s built form provides ample space for communal interaction and sets the possibilities for the neighborhood’s mixed-use public housing complexes. Tufello has faced many challenges, however, which it cannot successfully address while relying solely on its built form. These include an ageing demographic, a low homeownership rate, a relatively high unemployment rate, a history with drug issues, and pressure on local services from infrastructure projects in the form of the Galleria Porta di Roma Mall and the Jonio Metro Station. The neighborhood shows to be able to respond to these challenges, through its institutions, which complete the puzzle through local efforts and cater to the needs of the community’s most vulnerable. They are conscious of these challenges, and aware of their individual and collective goals in addressing them. The four institutions in Tufello – Ennio Flaiano Library, Defrag, Tufello Market and Palestra Popolare – are ideal examples of this. Besides their consciousness of their roles, the four institutions exhibit an uncommon collaborative relationship across institutional boundaries and with municipal government bodies. The Tufello Market and the Ennio Flaiano Library are examples of city initiated urban spaces that are thriving because of continuous public engagement. Defrag and Palestra Popolare on the other hand, showcase institutions that were once established outside of the legal framework, but are now highly successful with the recognition and support

86

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


of political authorities. In this they show that governmental bodies’ relationship with grassroots efforts need not be combative. But instead, through this collaboration, a new form of lifestyle can be formed where the promotion of justice and inclusion (Purcell, 2014), particularly of disadvantaged groups such as children and the elderly, is recognized and the ‘Right to Tufello’ is achieved.

references Frug GE. 2001, “City Land Use”, City Making: Building Communities without Building Walls, Princeton University Press. Kremer KS. 2010, “Homeowners, Renters, Neighbors: Perceptions of Identity in a Changing Neighborhood”, Michigan Sociological Review, vol. 24, pp. 130–156. Miraftab F. 2004, “Invited and invented spaces of participation: Neoliberal citizenship and feminists’ expanded notion of politics”, Wagadu: Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies. Purcell M. 2014, “Possible Worlds: Henri Lefebvre and the Right to the City”, Journal of Urban Affairs, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 141–154. Ugolini C. n.d., ‘Mercato del Tufello’, Mercati di Roma, viewed in June 2017, http://mercatidiroma.com/mercati-alimentari-ortofrutta/126-mercato-tufello. Warner ME. & Choi M. 2015, “Collaboration: The key to building communities for all generations”, The Municipal Yearbook, International City/County Management Association, Washington, D.C., pp. 27–39, viewed, http://cms. mildredwarner.org/p/216. T. Rao, E. Ebeid, G. Murphy, E. Samron > Planning for all generations > Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

87


Roma, Primavalle

David Gyuhyeon Sim

88

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

@ Giovanni Attili |

# Pratiche informali | # Istituzioni | # Politiche dal basso |

Informal practices and institutions. Towards a politics of attention

# Informal practices | # Institutions | # Bottom-up policies |

Cities are places where a renewed social activism is growing in unprecedented ways. Inside a wide spectrum of different urban collective movements, many practices are “informal” actions of re-appropriation: practices that challenge property and normative regimes in the attempt to recover a multiplicity of spaces that have been dismissed by modernity. These practices are islands of resistance but also incubators of new imageries: organizational experiments that are potentially able to build the city even out of an institutionally recognized framework; symbolic and material tactics of spatial sense-making; a net of molecular and minute writings that transgress the text of the planned city; the result of a capillary battle with power mechanisms. These forms of social mobilization can potentially increase the environmental and social quality of life in urbanized environments. But they need to be supported. In this perspective they represent a crucial challenge for institutions. What role could institutions play in this respect? What kind of tensions need to be explored between social practices and institutional powers? Can public policy promote urban inclusion by legitimizing these self-guiding society expressions?

Potenzialità latenti La città, intesa come ambito privilegiato del divenire, è costellata di spazi indecisi che hanno perso la loro funzione originaria e che vivono, sospesi, in attesa di una successiva risemantizzazione. Tali spazi rappresentano delle potenzialità latenti di trasformazione. Potenzialità che vengono spesso attualizzate attraverso una presa in carico da parte di gruppi di cittadini con l’obiettivo di sperimentare nuovi modi dello stare insieme, nuovi linguaggi capaci di ri-nominazione e prefigurazione, nuovi dispositivi sociali dove produrre piccoli esercizi di riabilitazione alla gioia. Si tratta di occasioni per sfidare l’autismo Giovanni Attili > Planning for all generations > Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

89


Fig.1_

Didascalia: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

corale (Arminio 2013) che contraddistingue, in termini sempre più significativi, l’orizzonte contemporaneo. In questa cornice le città sono diventate incubatrici di un rinnovato protagonismo sociale. Molti abitanti hanno costruito reti, associazioni e comunità di pratiche con l’obiettivo di: applicare principi di solidarietà ed equità alle proprie forme di consumo (gruppi di acquisto solidali); sperimentare dispositivi di sostenibilità ambientale e sociale (filiera corta, orti urbani); combattere la monetarizzazione del vivente attraverso la predisposizione di pratiche di scambio gratuite (banca del tempo) o attraverso l’utilizzo di servizi di finanza etica; inventare forme virtuose di consumo/commercio (come nelle botteghe del commercio equo e solidale); ripensare lo spazio urbano in una prospettiva ecologica (attraverso forme di risparmio energetico e uso di energie rinnovabili); far prevalere gli spazi di vita su quelli del profitto (attraverso forme di auto-organizzazione e di recupero di spazi dimessi o residuali); immaginare nuove forme di produzione (attraverso la presa in carico/reinvenzione di fabbriche abbandonate); rivendicare e costruire un più consapevole diritto alla città (attraverso l’occupazione di abitazioni o il ridisegno collettivo di spazi pubblici); ripensare la cultura come bene comune, non mercificabile (attraverso la reinvenzione di teatri salvati alla rottamazione). Inoltre, rispetto agli importanti cambiamenti demografici che investono le nostre città, tali esperienze sono potenzialmente capaci di rispondere a esigenze multigenerazionali, offrendosi al contempo come spazi d’interazione per categorie diversificate di utenti. Molte di queste pratiche si configurano come dispositivi di riappropriazione dal basso: pratiche informali che sfidano i regimi proprietari e normativi nel tentativo di recuperare una molteplicità di spazi

90

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


urbani scartati dalla modernità. Isole di resistenza ma anche incubatori di nuovi immaginari. Si tratta di forme di vita e sperimentazioni organizzative che sono potenzialmente capaci di produrre “progetti di territorio” (Magnaghi 2010) anche al di fuori di una cornice istituzionalmente riconosciuta: tattiche materiali e simboliche di appropriazione/significazione dello spazio (de Certeau, 1990); un fascio di scritture, plurali e molecolarmente diffuse, che trasgrediscono il testo della città pianificata; il risultato di un corpo a corpo con i dispositivi di potere (Agamben 2005). Si tratta di veri e propri progetti di trasformazione dell’urbano che vengono attivati da una molteplicità di soggetti “poetici in quanto poietici”: costruttori, artefici, autori di atti pratici ed etici che ispirano un discorso plausibile in favore di un certo scenario di possibilità future. In questa cornice molti spazi urbani (abbandonati, sospesi o minacciati) diventano oggetto di riappropriazione collettiva e di reinvenzione da parte di popolazioni eterogenee. Si tratta di una tendenza che si sta sempre più radicando all’interno delle nostre città offrendosi, in termini quantitativamente rilevanti, come occasione di ripensamento delle modalità di costruzione dell’urbano. Questi spazi, infatti, possono trasformarsi in incubatori di interazione sociale all’interno dei quali è possibile costruire convivialità (Illich 1974), valore di legame (Caillé 1998) e valore condiviso (Porter, Kramer 2011) come possibile risposta all’egemonia capitalistica. «In questa rigenerazione di interstizi della città si può scorgere una domanda di condivisione dello spazio-tempo urbano, liberato dal valore di scambio e riconsegnato, grazie alla partecipazione attiva degli abitanti e alla loro opera, al suo valore d’uso» (Bergamaschi 2012, p.7). La strada è quella orientata alla costruzione di beni ad alto contenuto relazionale, contestuale e cognitivo (Magatti 2012). Un modo per reclamare un diritto alla città attraverso la trasformazione della città stessa. Il diritto alla città infatti non può essere concepito come la possibilità di accedere a ciò che già esiste; piuttosto si configura come il diritto a cambiare l’esistente attraverso la reinvenzione della vita urbana secondo modalità più conformi ai nostri desideri (Lefebvre et al. 1996). È dunque necessario esplorare attentamente quest’insieme di pratiche che trasformano la città dal basso, intercettarne la portata ed eventualmente intervenire per sostenere le loro potenzialità trasformatrici. In questo senso è necessario anche ripensare al ruolo delle istituzioni in una funzione non oppositiva ma di comprensione e sostegno rispetto al ribollire informale capace di produrre nuovi progetti di territorio. Con una premessa importante. E’ necessario evitare di cadere nelle semplificazioni ideologiche che vedrebbero nell’informale un tutt’uno indistinto formato da pratiche necessariamente virtuose. Non tutto l’informale, infatti, si presenta sotto forma di un agire informato da valori progressivi e condivisi. L’agire sociale è, infatti, spesso informato da atteggiamenti individualisti, potenzialmente escludenti rispetto ad altri soggetti territoriali. I suoi effetti di luogo rischiano di delimitare possibilità di fruizione e di accesso finendo con l’implementare un discutibile processo di privatizzazione dello spazio; in altri casi Giovanni Attili > Planning for all generations > Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

91


alcuni processi informali possono innescare processi di darwinismo sociale a danno dei soggetti più deboli; in altri casi ancora si tratta di pratiche che, a dispetto delle intenzioni, si mostrano conniventi con un modello neoliberale di sviluppo che a parole dicono di volere contrastare. Fuoriuscire da una certa retorica agiografica permetterebbe, dunque, di nominare, distinguere, contestualizzare ed eventualmente sostenere alcune (non tutte) pratiche informali capaci di produrre progetti territoriali realmente trasformativi; progetti volti ad un miglioramento della dimensione e della qualità pubblica dell’urbano. Per fare questo è necessario discernere tra quelle pratiche che sottraggono dimensione pubblica e quelle invece che la producono in termini di spazi, beni, servizi. Naturalmente il carattere “pubblico” di un bene è oggetto di valutazioni controverse. La dimensione “pubblica” di un bene non costituisce un carattere intrinseco del bene stesso né si configura come l’esito di un’azione intenzionale o di un’imposizione normativa (uno spazio per esempio non diventa pubblico per progetto o per decreto). Il carattere pubblico di un bene è piuttosto legato alla molteplicità di relazioni che la sua fruizione instaura ed è spesso il sottoprodotto eventuale di pratiche sociali finalizzate ad altro (Crosta, 1998). Politica dell’attenzione In questa cornice si delinea un nuovo ruolo per le istituzioni chiamate a sviluppare una “politica dell’attenzione” proprio nei confronti di quelle pratiche informali ad alto contenuto relazionale e pubblico. Parliamo di un approccio difficile che esige attenzione e apprendimento continui: una capacità di discernimento di natura squisitamente politica. Tale approccio si basa sulla necessità di riconoscere che una serie di “risorse, saperi, conoscenze, esperienze, capacità e abilità necessarie per affrontare i problemi pubblici non sono più esclusivamente concentrate all’interno delle istituzioni formalmente deputate a svolgere tale compito” (Cottino, Zeppetella 2009: 14). Quello che deve essere messo al lavoro è un principio di sussidiarietà capace di legittimare e sostenere quei soggetti territoriali (non istituzionali) che sono in grado di rispondere a bisogni collettivi. Un principio capace di riconoscere che l’azione pubblica non è appannaggio esclusivo delle istituzioni bensì di tutti quei soggetti capaci di produrre pubblico. Tale approccio non esautora l’azione istituzionale. La riempie di altri contenuti e finalità. Se l’obiettivo è la valorizzazione di queste pratiche, le istituzioni devono capire quando e come eventualmente intervenire a loro sostegno. In questo senso le istituzioni devono, con intelligenza e sensibilità, riuscire a muoversi all’interno di un fragile equilibrio tra il lasciar essere e l’intervento diretto, tra il rispetto di quello che succede in un luogo e l’azione che modifica e interviene sui processi (Lanzoni 2006). Il “lasciar essere” è funzionale a mantenere integra la forza propulsiva di pratiche che si auto‑organizzano nel territorio: pratiche inattese, foriere di un cambiamento possibile proprio perché si sviluppano

92

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


al di fuori del seminato istituzionale; pratiche che hanno la capacità di modificarsi in maniera adattiva rispetto al contesto in cui vengono a inserirsi; pratiche che mettono in gioco il valore della differenza poiché, offrendosi plurali, riescono a trasgredire il paradigma unitarista della domanda politica incarnata dallo Stato (Crosta 1998). Alcune di queste pratiche, tuttavia, se non opportunamente sostenute sono destinate al fallimento. In molti casi, infatti, rischiano di trasformarsi in semplici manifestazioni di testimonianza destinate a esaurirsi e a non incidere significativamente sui processi di trasformazione urbana. Alcune importanti intuizioni che provengono dalla società civile, in mancanza di sostegno istituzionale, rimarrebbero inesplorate così come le competenze e le progettualità diffuse molecolarmente nel territorio rischierebbero di morire per consunzione. In questi casi l’intervento accorto delle istituzioni diventa necessario. L’obiettivo è di perseguire il consolidamento di “progetti di territorio dal basso” altrimenti destinati a perdere di vitalità e quindi a esaurirsi. Superata la fase iniziale in cui viene capitalizzato l’impegno e l’entusiasmo volontaristico dei soggetti coinvolti, molte pratiche infatti perdono forza, si sbrindellano. In questa cornice le istituzioni dovrebbero riuscire a strutturare il “saper fare” che emerge in maniera spontanea nel territorio soprattutto sul piano della sostenibilità economica (Cottino, Zeppetella 2009), ma anche attraverso la rimozione di ostacoli di tipo amministrativo e la risoluzione di criticità tecnico-organizzative. Naturalmente il tipo d’intervento deve essere attentamente misurato per evitare il rischio di un’istituzionalizzazione forzata e di una cristallizzazione/sclerotizzazione delle pratiche stesse. In questo senso le istituzioni dovrebbero verificare la praticabilità d’interventi puntuali ma leggeri, capaci di consolidamento ma al tempo stesso attenti a non smorzare la carica vitale di queste micro-azioni di trasformazione territoriale. In questo tipo di processo, non sono solo le pratiche territoriali a beneficiare del sostegno delle istituzioni. Anche queste ultime ricevono qualcosa in cambio. Innanzitutto riescono a offrire, attraverso il coinvolgimento di soggetti terzi, servizi che altrimenti non riuscirebbero a erogare. In secondo luogo possono imparare ad apprendere dalla creatività diffusa e dalle forme d’intelligenza collettiva e territoriale, traendo spunti per l’individuazione di domande sociali ancora non codificate e mettendo al lavoro gli insegnamenti che tali pratiche mettono al lavoro. Non si tratta, dunque, di celebrare ideologicamente l’informalità, quanto di saper riconoscere ad alcune forme di attivismo sociale e di civismo di prossimità orientati alla costruzione di pubblico (spazi, servizi, beni) un ruolo propulsivo e generativo. Una risorsa potenziale per quelle istituzioni che si predispongono ad accogliere la possibilità di una trasformazione. Queste riflessioni segnano i contorni di “un cambiamento nel modo di concepire la sfera pubblica stessa: da ambito di discussione e di

Giovanni Attili > Planning for all generations > Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

93


implementazione di competenze prestabilite, a campo di esercizio delle capacità disponibili a livello locale e di ricerca di nuove possibili sinergie tra diversi attori. Si tratta di una visione potenzialmente di ricca di implicazioni operative, in particolare per quanto riguarda il ruolo “abilitante” che converrebbe che le Pubbliche Amministrazioni assumessero nella progettazione di alcune politiche pubbliche” (Cottino, Zeppetella 2009, p. 13). E’ in questa cornice che è possibile sperimentare forme di sinergia e di collaborazione tra istituzioni e società, basate su muto apprendimento (Friedmann 1987) e valorizzazione di reciproche competenze. Sono necessarie delle pre-condizioni per cui tali sperimentazioni possono andare a buon fine: innanzitutto l’intelligenza delle istituzioni (Donolo 1997). In secondo luogo la capacità di rinunciare a frammenti di sovranità: sovranità dei gruppi sociali che rivendicano il diritto di soddisfare autonomamente alcune loro esigenze; sovranità delle istituzioni nel pensarsi come unici “provider” di servizi. E’ necessaria poi un’auspicabile combinazione di interessi che, seppur informati da motivazioni potenzialmente divergenti, possano confluire nella costruzione condivisa e innovativa di sperimentazioni socio-ambientali. E’ infine importante considerare la condizione del diritto non come un limite invalicabile per l’azione istituzionale ma come una cornice normativa suscettibile di reinvenzione attraverso la messa al lavoro di una immaginazione politica. A partire da una manifesta incapacità nell’intercettare nuove domande sociali e nel rispondere in maniera efficace a quelle esistenti, si configura per le istituzioni un compito importante: legittimare un attivismo informale attraverso un processo di valorizzazione della capacità della società a guidare se stessa. Si tratta di un compito difficile che vibra della tensione tra potere costituito e potere costituente, tra sfera normativa e forme di vita. Un compito tuttavia ineludibile se si vogliono generare sinergie virtuose all’interno di un rinnovato progetto di città.

94

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


bibliografia Arminio F, 2013, Geografia commossa dell’Italia interna, Bruno Mondadori, Milano Bergamaschi M., 2012, “Coltivare in città. Orti e giardini”, Sociologia urbana e rurale, n. 98, pp. 7-11 Caillé A., 1998, Il terzo paradigma. Antropologia filosofica del dono, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino Cottino P., Zeppetella P. 2009, Creatività, sfera pubblica e riuso sociale degli spazi, Paper commissioned for the project “La diffusione delle innovazioni nel sistema delle amministrazioni locali”, Cittalia, Fondazione Anci Ricerche, Roma. Crosta P.L. 1998, Politiche. Quale conoscenza per l’azione territoriale, Franco-Angeli, Milano. De Certeau M., 1990, L’invention du quotidien, I: Arts de faire, Éditions Gallimard, Paris Donolo C. 1997, L’intelligenza delle istituzioni, Feltrinelli, Milano Friedmann J. 1987, Planning in the Public Domain: From Knowledge to Action, Princeton University Press, Princeton Illich I.,1974, La convivialità, A. Mondadori, Milano Lefebvre, H., et al.1996, Writings on Cities, Blackwell, Cambridge Magatti M., 2012, La grande contrazione. I fallimenti della libertà e le vie del suo riscatto, Feltrinelli, Roma Magnaghi A. 2010, Il progetto locale. Verso la coscienza di luogo, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino Porter ME. & Kramer MR. 2011, “Creating Shared Value”, Harvard Business Review, Jan/Feb 2011, Vol. 89 Issue 1/2, pp. 62-77 Giovanni Attili > Planning for all generations > Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

95


Roma, Borgata Trullo

Amy Tomasso

96

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Apparati Others

>

97


@ Profilo autori / Authors bio

Viviana Andriola

is an urban planner PhD who specializes in urban and regional policies. Since 2012 she has been collaborating with the Cornell in Rome Program as Teaching Associate in the Rome Workshop (City and Regional Planning). She is part of the editorial board of UrbanisticaTre and co-founder of GU| Generazione Urbana.

Serena Muccitelli

is an architect and PhD in Territorial Policies and Local development. Since 2010 she has been engaged in teaching activities at Roma Tre University and Cornell in Rome where she is Teaching Associate, and in research and consultancy projects for public and private institutions. She co-founded GU | Generazione Urbana.

Giovanni Attili

è professore associato in Urbanistica presso l’Università La Sapienza di Roma. La sua ricerca

98

è volta alla costruzione di sperimentazioni nel campo dell’analisi urbana e territoriale attraverso la costruzione di uno sguardo interdisciplinare capace di far dialogare virtuosamente metodologie qualitative e metodologie quantitative. Tali sperimentazioni si pongono l’obiettivo di intercettare forme di urbanità in divenire e pratiche di vita degli abitanti in relazione ai processi complessivi di formazione ed evoluzione della struttura urbana e ai processi di costruzione delle politiche urbane.

Raquel Blandon

is a senior at Cornell from San Fransisco, California studying Urban and Regional Planning.

Gray Brakke

is a senior at Brown University from Northville, Michigan concentrating in Urban Studies.

Adam Bronfin

is from Ridgewood, N.J.

and is a third-year student in the Urban and Regional Studies Program with a minor in real estate.

Carlo Cellamare

Professor in Town Planning at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Director of the scientific centre CRITEVAT, Director of the Laboratory of Urban Studies “Territories of Dwelling”. Scientific coordinator of several national and international researches, he is director of the journal Tracce Urbane. His research items are the study, even with an interdisciplinary approach, of the relationship between town planning and urban practices, of the relationship between everyday life dimension and the global processes of urban structure developing and growing. He has developed his researches even through research-action experiences and innovative participatory design and planning processes. Among his publications:

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Fare città. Pratiche urbane e storie di luoghi (2008), Progettualità dell’agire urbano. Processi e pratiche urbane (2011), Roma città autoprodotta (a cura di, 2014), Fuori Raccordo. Abitare l’altra Roma (a cura di, 2016).

hopes to return to Italy to either pursue an advanced degree or work for a non-government organization. In her spare time, she likes to write short-stories, swim in the ocean and play the flute.

Eduardo Carmelo Dañobeytia

is a senior at Cornell University from New York City, studying Urban and Regional Studies.

is a senior at Cornell University from Stratford, CT studying Government and Urban and Regional Studies.

Ehab Ebeid

is a senior studying Urban and Regional Studies and History at Cornell University, USA.

Madeleine Galvin

is a rising senior at Cornell University studying urban planning, Italian, and creative writing. She is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and has been fascinated by transportation since she first started taking the subway by herself at age ten. She

Apparati

Joshua Glasser

Studies program at Cornell University, with an interest in sustainable development and urban design.

Edna Samron

is a senior in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, USA and is from Arlington, VA.

Gregory Smith

was trained as a social anthropologist at Oxford Rachel Liu University where he was is an Urban and Regional awarded his doctorate. He Studies junior interested has co-directed the Rome in urban planning and Workshop at Cornell in design, and a scholar with Rome since the early years Singapore’s Ministry of Na- of the new millennium. He tional Development (MND) published a recent volume specializing in sustainable on a community of farmers development. in central Italy, and has co-edited a collection of Graham Murphy is a fourth-year Urban and essays on public space in Rome. His specialties Regional Studies student include urban studies with from Cornell University, and was born and raised in an interest in connections between urban environNew York, NY ments and their regional settings. He also teaches Tishya Rao and conducts research is from Dubai, UAE. She is in the area of food and a fourth-year student in the Urban and Regional environmental studies.

99


Nicola Vazzoler

Architect, PhD in Urban Policies and Local Project (dissertation: “Intensità urbana, un rapporto ragionato a partire dal caso di Roma”) now is Research fellow at Rome Tre University. He did educational work and research at the universities of Trieste, IUAV (Venice) and Roma Tre (including PRIN “Territori post-metropolitani”). As a professional, he participated in the drafting process of a number of urban development plans (including “Piano di Assetto dell’Area archeologica monumentale del Colosseo” for RomaTre). He is co-founder of GU | Generazione Urbana (including “Monitoraggio delle forme periferiche contemporanee a Roma” for DGAAP MiBACT) and works with online journals UrbanisticaTre and Planum.

University from Cleveland, Ohio studying Urban and Regional Studies.

Kai Walcott

is from Kingston, Jamaica and is a junior in Cornell’s Urban and Regional Studies program and also pursuing minors in Development Sociology and Inequality Studies.

Mildred E. Warner

is a Professor of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University where her work focuses on public services and community development strategies. She is an expert on local government service delivery and has worked with local government agencies across the United States. Her work on multigenerational planning seeks to find common ground between planning for the needs of children and older adults.

Amelia Visnauskas is a senior at Cornell

100

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


# Parole chiave / Keywords

Abitabilità | Livability

Madeleine Galvin_p. 71 Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

Abitare | Dwelling Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

Accessibilità | Accessibility

Nicola Vazzoler_p. 63 TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

Collaborazione “cross-boundary” | “Cross-boundary” collaboration

Fotografia partecipatoria | Participatory photography

Cross agency partnership | Cross agency partnership

Interdisciplinarietà| Interdisciplinarity

Tishya Rao, Ehab Ebeid, Graham Murphy, Edna Samron_p. 79 Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

Mildred E. Warner_p. 17 Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

alla città | Autorganizzazione| Diritto to the city Self-organization Right Tishya Rao, Ehab Ebeid, Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

Graham Murphy, Edna Samron_p. 79 Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

Gray Brakke, Amelia Visnauskas, Eduardo Carmelo Dañobeytia, Raquel Blandon, Joshua Glasser_p. 43 Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

Istituzioni | Institutions

Giovanni Attili_p. 89 Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

101


Istituzioni locali | Local institutions

Tishya Rao, Ehab Ebeid, Graham Murphy, Edna Samron_p. 79 Exercising the ‘Right to Tufello’ by Local Institutional Actors

Mobilità | Transit

Nicola Vazzoler_p. 63 TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità

Pedagogia | Pedagogy

Gregory Smith_p. 25 The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

Periferie | Peripheries

Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

102

Pianificazione age-friendly | age-friendly planning

Politiche dal basso | Bottom-up policies

Madeleine Galvin_p. 71 Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

Pianificazione multigenerazionale | Multigenerational planning Adam Bronfin, Rachel Liu, Kai Walcott_p. 33 Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study Mildred E. Warner_p. 17 Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

Pianificazione sociale e fisica | Social and physical planning

Mildred E. Warner_p. 17 Multigenerational Planning: Theory and Practice

Giovanni Attili_p. 89 Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

Pratiche informali | Informal practices Giovanni Attili_p. 89 Pratiche informali e istituzioni. Per una politica dell’attenzione

Pratiche urbane | Urban practices

Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

Reciprocità sociale | Social reciprocity Gray Brakke, Amelia Visnauskas, Eduardo Carmelo Dañobeytia, Raquel Blandon, Joshua Glasser_p. 43 Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


Ricerca urbana | Urban research

Spazio pubblico | Public space

Rigenerazione | Regeneration

Studi di quartiere | Neighborhood studies

Gregory Smith_p. 25 The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

Adam Bronfin, Rachel Liu, Kai Walcott_p. 33 Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study

Roma | Rome

Gregory Smith_p. 25 The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

Senso di appartenenza | Sense of ownership

Carlo Cellamare_p. 53 “Epiphanic” peripheries, re-appropriation of the city and dwelling quality

Apparati

Adam Bronfin, Rachel Liu, Kai Walcott_p. 33 Can Regeneration be Multigenerational? A case study of Piazza Alessandria

TOD | TOD

Nicola Vazzoler_p. 63 TOD: un racconto fra sostenibilità e accessibilità Madeleine Galvin_p. 71 Living Next to a Transit Node: A Livability Audit of Age-Friendliness

Gregory Smith_p. 25 The pedagogy of an urban studies workshop focused on age-friendliness in selected Rome neighborhoods

Sviluppo non pianificato | Unplanned development

Gray Brakke, Amelia Visnauskas, Eduardo Carmelo Dañobeytia, Raquel Blandon, Joshua Glasser_p. 43 Path Dependence and Social Reciprocity in an Unplanned Neighborhood

103


Roma, Piazza Alessandria

Rachel Liu

104

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14


revisori | reviewers iQuaderni

Maria Beatrice Andreucci | Sapienza Università di Roma; Maria Argenti | Sapienza Università di Roma; Elena Battaglini | Fondazione di Vittorio; Nico Calavita | San Diego State University; Lesley Caldwell | University College London; Carlo Cellamare | Sapienza Università di Roma; Leonardo Ciacci | Università IUAV di Venezia; Giuseppe De Luca | Università degli Studi di Firenze; Kaliopa Dimitrovska Andrews | Nova Univerza; Hartmut Frank | Hafencity Universität Hamburg; Carlo Gasparrini | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Michael Gentile | Universitetet i Oslo; Adriana Goñi Mazzitelli| Universidad de la República Uruguay; Umberto Janin Rivolin | Politecnico di Torino; Tamta Khalvashi | Free University of Tbilisi; Giovanni Laino | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Laura Lieto | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Giovanni Longobardi | Università degli Studi Roma Tre | Fabrizio Mangoni | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Paul Manning | Trent University; Anna Marson | Università IUAV di Venezia; Luigi Mazza |Politecnico di Milano; Francesco Domenico Moccia |Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Maria Luisa Neri | Università degli Studi di Camerino; Camilla Perrone | Università degli Studi di Firenze; Lela Rekhviashvili | Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde; Manuela Ricci | Sapienza Università di Roma; Giuseppe Roma | CENSIS; Michelangelo Savino | Università degli Studi di Padova; Paolo Scattoni | Sapienza Università di Roma; David Sichinava | Tbilisi State University; Alice Sotgia | ENSA de Paris La Villette; Francesca Romana Stabile | Università degli Studi Roma Tre; José Maria Ureña | Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha; Lia Vasconcelos | Universidade Nova de Lisboa

no.14|5 Pubblicato per conto di Roma TrEpress Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi Roma Tre Gennaio 2018

105


i QUADERNI #14 settembre_dicembre 2017 numero quattordici anno cinque

URBANISTICA tre giornale on-line di urbanistica ISSN:

2531-7091

106

È stato bello fare la tua conoscenza!

cercaci, trovaci, leggici, seguici, taggaci, contattaci, ..

It was nice to meet you!

search us, find us, read us, follow us, tag us, contact us, ..

UrbanisticaTreiQuaderni#14 ROMA

TRE

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.