Percorsi di resilienza tra arte e identità. Reinterpretare le infrastrutture storiche

Mediterranean Europe is characterized by a network of historical infrastructures (historic roads, disused railway lines, underused channels), common goods and landmarks that contribute to the identity of the territory. In particular, the railway lines have assumed an increasing cultural value within policies and practices, as well as in territorial and landscape planning that recognize the significant opportunities linked to these networks. Such infrastructures are frameworks for regeneration strategies and can foster “resilience paths” for fragile territories, affected by marginalization and depopulation, stimulating new ways of landscape enhancing and social inclusion. This paper outlines some issues and insights carried out within an international research activity entitled “Resilience Paths. Reuse and relaunch of minor railways for the regeneration of fragile territories. Practices in Italy and Spain”. This activity is aimed at highlighting the strategic role of dismissed infrastructures in regeneration of depopulated and abandoned territories. In particular, the goal of the article is to illustrate the arising interest on historical infrastructures in regeneration policies and territorial planning, outlining main theoretical and operational references for the enhancement of their environmental and cultural features. Furthermore, the contribution intends to deepen the opportunities of enhancement for these linear signs through landscape valorisation, cultural activities and site-specific artworks, supporting the reflection with Italian and Spanish case studies. In this framework, the case study of the Huellas del camino art project developed along the Vía Verde del Antiguo Ferrocarril Vasco Navarro, a disused railway line, is considered and emblematic case as “resilience path” turning a problem of deprivation into an opportunity for the valorisation of cultural identity and the development of sustainable tourism.