City on the river. Plural identity and common ground

The radical decline of urban rivers, their loss of identity and of both ecological and social functionality occurred in the second half of the twentieth century when water pollution, privatization and illegal colonization of the riverbanks transformed legendary river valleys into liminal spaces, fatally separated from their urban bodies. Today’s urban regeneration strategies ascribe an essential task to waterways. As ecological corridors, rivers reconnect extensive territories, while, thanks to their urban barycentric position, they are privileged social condensers, physical and ideal spaces of sharing where the common ground and the modern urban criteria of centrality and marginalization may be redefined.