CITY PLANNING ARTICLES

Periferia, suburbs, vorort, banlieu, several different words for explaining the same concept, which has to do with the main social and urbanistic disease of the XXth century. A disease which seemed to be impossible to cure and without any antidote or efficient medicine until a few years ago, while it happens to be now -this is the news- suitable for a successful prevention and cure: the suburban condition, that the French writer and president of the Academie Goncourt, François Nourisier, described as a "double caricature of both the city and the countryside". It is now possible to cure the disease, the terrible virus that hits and destroys the natural landscape, like a true metaphor or simulacrum for many illnesses of this contemporary society, and also ruins the urban spaces, built through centuries by the Western civilization, where the quality of life is directly linked to the quality of both Architecture and built environment.

It is now possible to cure the disease, as the experiences collected in this exhibition show, besides many other experiences hopefully currently undertaken all around the world in this present time. Indeed, we know that we can cure the disease only if we have, as true prerequisite, an open view on the overall situation, a clear understanding of the causes and, most relevantly, a clever strategy to deal with.

First of all, the matter has not to do with geography but with the structure of the town. The main problem of sub-urban areas is based on the fact that they are planned by the very beginning as something completely different from the city - urbs - , something inferior to the city - that is sub-urbs -, incapable to define any particular place: hence, the ban-lieu. It is thus evident that, in order to solve the problem, it is necessary to think, plan, and build settlements in terms of cities and urban tradition.

What can we do for the suburban areas, whether central or peripheral? First of all, transform them into true cities, which means urbanizing them by introducing some elements of urbanity within a sub-urban and un-shaped context. But in some cases, we have to make clear that demolition is the only way to follow. The Modernist suburbs, in fact, are often built in such a way that any kind of re-development and creation of a new urban quarter is virtually impossible. In these cases, the physical and morphological conditions, due to the obsolescence of the built fabric, make economically illogic the process of renewal and integration within a new urban system of streets, squares and blocks.

The examples here presented, Bordeaux, Oslo, Marseille, Alessandria, Napoli, Bruxelles, Bayonne, Belfast, etc. showed how a clear policy of demolition and reconstruction can produce a better urban environment.

A Vision of Europe
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