Speakers
Description
This research aims to examine the potential role of planned retreat strategies in the socio-ecological transition of Italian coastal areas, in light of the challenges posed by the contemporary post-growth context.
In Italy, the phase of intense economic growth that characterised the second half of the twentieth century coincided with widespread urbanisation, often occurring in the absence of adequate planning or through the use of inadequate regulatory frameworks. Initially concentrated around major urban centres, this urban expansion progressively spread across lowland areas, radically transforming agricultural and coastal landscapes. Today, the urgency of adopting measures to mitigate global warming, as well as the need to fundamentally rethink not only how but also where we inhabit the planet, is beyond dispute.
In response to the current climatic, demographic, and economic dynamics affecting Italy and most European countries, urban planning is called upon not only to develop widespread strategies of ecological regeneration and reconversion within highly dense and intensely urbanised contexts, often affected by processes of decommissioning and abandonment, but also to critically question the very existence of vast portions of contemporary urbanisation, which are experiencing premature obsolescence for multiple reasons, not always or exclusively linked to the impacts of climate change. From this perspective, it is crucial to explore the role and potential of planned retreat strategies: urban planning approaches capable of decisively addressing the growing uncertainties and vulnerabilities that characterise large portions of contemporary territory, including in the Italian peninsula and across Europe. Investigating such processes entails challenging the prevailing paradigms - both reassuring and illusory - of unlimited growth and risk management, fostering a conceptual shift from the logic of resilience to that of antifragility.
Following an outline of the theoretical-conceptual framework, this paper presents a methodology for identifying the conditions and characteristics that render certain Italian coastal urbanisations particularly susceptible to planned retreat interventions, accompanied by an initial national-scale mapping. The findings highlight that, unlike in other parts of the world, planned retreat in Italy is not solely a strategy to address climate change, but also a means of enhancing safety and accessibility to the coastline, reclaiming public spaces and assets, and preserving coastal landscapes and ecological systems.
In the concluding section, the paper underscores the need to integrate such approaches into existing urban planning instruments, as well as to rethink the education of urban planners and technical professionals within universities. This would promote a culture of demolition that takes into account the socio-economic implications of retreat, the reuse of waste materials produced in the process, and the regeneration of vacated spaces in all their ecological, social, and spatial dimensions.
References
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| Keywords | planned retreat; coasts; degrowth; social equity; ecological balance |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
