WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE ITALY - news journal UPDATE - (en) Italy, IFA, UCADI #200 - Speaking of suburbs (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Today, we are witnessing a global phenomenon of "urban concentration of

hardship and poverty," that is, the progressive influx into urban
contexts of large segments of the population subject to phenomena of
marginalization and social exclusion. Unfortunately, these phenomena are
growing, especially in highly urbanized areas, where there have been few
attempts to implement inclusive practices and access primary resources,
such as safe and clean housing, but also green spaces, crucial for
social interaction.
A serious analysis could only begin with the awareness that
marginalization is concentrated in these places and the conditions for
crime and disillusionment are created, where pain, abandonment, and
anger become two sides of the same coin. If we look at ISTAT data and
the various and widespread studies of urban sociology and city analysis,
we cannot help but acknowledge that thousands of young people live in
contexts utterly devoid of beauty and the stimuli necessary to ensure
concrete opportunities for fulfillment as members of a so-called civil
society. ISTAT estimates that over 2 million families live in poverty,
with over 30% struggling to make ends meet. They live primarily in the
hinterlands of urban areas. It is therefore clear that the deprived
outskirts of cities are not only home to marginalized youth, but also to
poor youth.
The dismantling of production facilities and the relocation of
manufacturing and industrial activities have contributed to the creation
of increasingly degraded brownfield sites, left to building speculation
and speculative real estate investments. These sites, especially in
tourist-oriented cities, are used to house B&Bs and short-term rentals,
contributing to the tertiarization of many urban areas.
These general reflections provide the context for further considerations
regarding the environment and spaces that characterize the outskirts,
where the idea of impersonal areas, incapable of serving as a source of
identity, has always prevailed, thus fostering the affirmation of
negative images. In the suburbs, as in the historic villages, there are
no cinemas, theaters, libraries, or meeting places. This state of
affairs therefore needs to be changed and reversed.
It is essential to address the current spatial configuration and rebuild
connections and links with the rest of the city, not through sporadic
and improvised interventions, but through organic projects. We must
choose whether to proceed through "patches," as suggested by Renzo
Piano, while continuing to delegate assistance and attention to
socioeconomic issues to volunteers or residual public resources, or to
intervene with more radical methods. A policy of redevelopment and
integration of these places becomes necessary through the creation of
diverse contexts, following the method of participatory urban planning,
listening, and discussion, deploying cultural resources and innovative
relationships that become the methodological reference for every
intervention in the area,
starting from the planning stage and then applying it to the various
phases of design, construction, and management of the works, once they
are made available to citizens.
New tools must be implemented to enable the integration of the suburbs
with the rest of the city and/or metropolitan area, not only in terms of
economics and transportation, but also in terms of thinking and cultural
exchange, creating stable tools and systemic opportunities. In short,
the question of the most appropriate way to combat marginalization and
social exclusion requires innovative responses to traditional public
sector intervention methods. These tools must aim to reconnect the
peripheral context on a large scale, through urban regeneration
processes based on social and functional integration, in which
sustainability plays a crucial role, both to minimize environmental
impact and to maximize the well-being of citizens.
It's clear that such an approach requires new administrative management
and therefore governance models. Each city has different territorial and
environmental characteristics, with potential for growth and improved
quality of life that are stifled by an archaic and inefficient
administrative system. Cities need to create urban systems based on new
paradigms of sustainability and digital connectivity, while also
fostering forms of self-government and participatory democracy that
foster social integration models fostered by a new offering of quality
of life and services.

Tonino Coscarella

https://www.ucadi.org/2025/09/04/a-proposito-di-periferie/
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