The question of the "right to the city", to recall the title of a famous book by Henri Lefebvre, published in 1968 and returned to the limelight in recent years, is central in an era like the present one in which megalopolises are increasingly putting before our eyes the difficulty, for designers and the political class, of governing the complex and mobile nature of the contemporary urban dimension. The themes raised by that reflection come back strongly today: the dispersion of the city on the territory, the mechanisms of explosion of the urban dimension towards an "outside" and of implosion within it. Reflecting on the right to the city today therefore means tackling crucial issues such as those of the centre-periphery relationship, the gentrification of historic districts, spatial and social inequalities, conflicts, difficult mobility, increased social control, land consumption and environmental imbalances. Through a plurality of interventions by architects, urban planners, sociologists, philosophers, the book defines the contours of the contemporary city, the one that has left behind the modern city of the twentieth century. Proposing a multidisciplinary vision on the cultures of the megalopolis, on the new urbanized territories, on the relationship between space, society and project, which identifies in the inclusion, in the freedom of movement, in the overcoming of boundaries, even internal ones, the features of an open urban configuration, means to assign to the expression "right to the city" also a value of political slogan. It also means not renouncing planning, a city design that regulates individualistic drives and laissez faire logic. Democratic participation, active citizenship and new forms of living are some of the strategic nuclei around which to put forward hypotheses for future policies, in order to tend towards an idea of a city that is inclusive, for everyone and everyone.
La questione del «diritto alla città», per richiamare il titolo di un famoso libro di Henri Lefebvre, pubblicato nel 1968 e tornato negli ultimi anni alla ribalta, è centrale in un’epoca come quella attuale in cui le megalopoli mettono sempre più sotto i nostri occhi la difficoltà, per i progettisti e la classe politica, di governare la natura complessa e mobile della dimensione urbana contemporanea. I temi sollevati da quella riflessione tornano con forza oggi: la dispersione della città sul territorio, i meccanismi di esplosione della dimensione urbana verso un «fuori» e di implosione al suo interno. Riflettere sul diritto alla città oggi vuol dire dunque affrontare nodi cruciali come quelli del rapporto centro-periferia, della gentrificazione dei quartieri storici, delle diseguaglianze spaziali e sociali, dei conflitti, della mobilità difficile, dell’aumento del controllo sociale, del consumo di suolo e degli squilibri ambientali. Attraverso una pluralità di interventi di architetti, urbanisti, sociologi, filosofi, il libro definisce i contorni della città contemporanea, quella che si è ormai lasciata alle spalle la città moderna del Novecento. Proporre una visione multidisciplinare sulle culture della megalopoli, sui nuovi territori urbanizzati, sul rapporto tra spazio, società e progetto, che individui nell’inclusione, nella libertà di movimento, nel superamento dei confini, anche interni, i tratti di una configurazione urbana aperta, significa assegnare all’espressione «diritto alla città» anche una valenza di slogan politico. Significa altresì non rinunciare alla progettualità, a un disegno di città che regoli le spinte individualistiche e le logiche da laissez faire. Partecipazione democratica, cittadinanza attiva e nuove forme dell’abitare sono alcuni dei nuclei strategici intorno ai quali avanzare ipotesi per future politiche, per tendere a un’idea di città che sia inclusiva, per tutti e ciascuno.
Una città per tutti. Diritti, spazi, cittadinanza / Criconia, Alessandra. - (2019), pp. 1-202.
Una città per tutti. Diritti, spazi, cittadinanza
Criconia, Alessandra
2019
Abstract
The question of the "right to the city", to recall the title of a famous book by Henri Lefebvre, published in 1968 and returned to the limelight in recent years, is central in an era like the present one in which megalopolises are increasingly putting before our eyes the difficulty, for designers and the political class, of governing the complex and mobile nature of the contemporary urban dimension. The themes raised by that reflection come back strongly today: the dispersion of the city on the territory, the mechanisms of explosion of the urban dimension towards an "outside" and of implosion within it. Reflecting on the right to the city today therefore means tackling crucial issues such as those of the centre-periphery relationship, the gentrification of historic districts, spatial and social inequalities, conflicts, difficult mobility, increased social control, land consumption and environmental imbalances. Through a plurality of interventions by architects, urban planners, sociologists, philosophers, the book defines the contours of the contemporary city, the one that has left behind the modern city of the twentieth century. Proposing a multidisciplinary vision on the cultures of the megalopolis, on the new urbanized territories, on the relationship between space, society and project, which identifies in the inclusion, in the freedom of movement, in the overcoming of boundaries, even internal ones, the features of an open urban configuration, means to assign to the expression "right to the city" also a value of political slogan. It also means not renouncing planning, a city design that regulates individualistic drives and laissez faire logic. Democratic participation, active citizenship and new forms of living are some of the strategic nuclei around which to put forward hypotheses for future policies, in order to tend towards an idea of a city that is inclusive, for everyone and everyone.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.