Urban Regeneration: A Development Driver, a Renewal Indicator of the Italian Society

Urban regeneration, specified in the Declaration of Toledo in 2010 as themain line of action to achieve a smarter, more sustainable and inclusive urbandevelopment, takes on a special role in the context of the great cities ofSouthern Italy, still characterized by a large gap compared to the cities of theCentre-North, and in the context of the economic crisis that has deeply affectedItaly and other Mediterranean countries. The interventions of integrated urbanregeneration, besides acting as an effective driver for economic developmentand employment, represent also a field of experimentation and an opportunityfor renewal of the institutional, social and productive system. Difficult contextconditions and the Mediterranean characterization of Southern cities require toformulate specific methods of intervention and not uncritically borrowed fromnorth-European models.More inclusive and participatory models of urban intervention can be drawnfrom these specific features, able to exploit the complex and layered character ofMediterranean cities. An action plan for urban regeneration, besides playing a vitalcountercyclical role, represents a strategic medium-term orientation, in orderto improve context conditions of the cities, to revive key sectors of the urbanand national economy, activating labour-intensive economic sectors, to encouragethe creation of green economy companies for a smart, sustainable and inclusiveurban management, to focus the variety of European and national funds on strategicprojects.Italy, as a country heavily characterised by urban areas and culturally andsocially stratified cities, can make urban regeneration a field of experimentationand an indicator of renewal of its economic and institutional system.Successful experiences in the Italian cities can also project national companiesinvolved in the sector of urban regeneration - if adequately supported bypublic institutions and targeted international relations - towards urban redevelopmentinterventions aimed at a broader, not only Mediterranean, geographicalcontext.