Leaf Plan. Towards the ecological transition

During last decades new planning paradigms have been shaping our cities: urban areas have been competing to reposition themselves in the global economic framework, starting the so called “Urban Regeneration” process that lead to the renovation of public space and to the construction of innovative neighborhoods; cities started the implementation of new technological systems, such as transport management systems, water and contamination monitoring systems, smart energy grids and energy efficient buildings, leading to the implementation of the “Smart City”; the demand for new environmental sensitivity in urban planning has led to a new sustainable approach: the words “Regeneration”, “Recycling”, “Re-Naturalization” and “Recovery” tend to identify the new-urban territorial agendas of the beginning of this century. Even though, thanks to the implementation of these planning paradigms, European cities have strengthened their economy, efficiency and livability, in order to respond to the latest challenges, as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2016-30, it is necessary to work on cities with a new holistic approach. At the Habitat III Summit, the New Urban Agenda, in line with the SDG, has been defined and includes the following objectives: providing basic services for all citizens; ensuring that all citizens have access to equal opportunities and face no discrimination; promoting measures that support cleaner cities; strengthening resilience in cities to reduce the risk and the impact of disasters; taking action to address climate change by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions; improving connectivity and support innovative and green initiatives; promoting safe, accessible and green public spaces (UN-Habitat 2018). Now the simultaneous action of three key factors: the post-pandemic social/economic crisis, the new environmental awareness and the sharing information technologies revolution is so deeply changing our lifestyles and the way we imagine and we want the solid forms of our future that all our design knowledge suddenly seems inadequate both as an interpretative tool of the current habitat conditions and as a device capable of generating new environmental, social, economic performances and new beauty and happiness.