Speaker
Description
In the recent debate about the sustainability of our lifestyles in the cities, the current status of small urban settlements and their interdependent relationships are frequently overshadowed and neglected by the so discussed expansion of bigger metropolitan cores. The actual focus of the debate that arises, in terms of spatial nature of metropolitan development, affirms that among bigger metropolitan cores, the social fabric and the economic sectors of these highly urbanized regions are deeply interlinked with the dense network of small and medium-sized towns and rural areas they are placed. A wing of the urban planning debate argues that in current times the tendency to adopt place-based narratives in the forming of metropolitan territorial vision shapes small towns and leads them to have a higher impact on local and regional planning, with a broader vision in order to promote territorial cohesion and wide-area cooperation. This significant role that small towns acquire in proximity and connectivity of metropolitan areas - or entire peripheral regions - overturns the narrative and brings the spotlight on them as new horizons of the future territorial planning practice, making us wonder if small towns can be placed in the wide and articulated debate on territorial planning for sustainable development. Dealing with future narratives and imaginaries of small towns and major metropolitan areas, the debate should propose a shift of perspective from the tendency to focus on negative narratives (e.g. depopulation, economic shrinkage, brain drain, lack of essential services) to a more optimistic view made of simplicity, social ties, short distances, direct contact with political authorities and decision makers. This possible future is always conditioned by actual real challenges linked not only to the spatial dimension of the phenomenon but also to the social and economic one, leading to ask whether the smallness of a settlement can contribute to the improvement or generation of quality exchanges in the community that lives it. Within this panorama, a fundamental step leading to a rebirth and repopulation of these territories passes from new social, economic and cultural dynamics that could land to new networks of these peripheral realities in broader contexts, where proximity becomes an area and represents a real challenge in shaping new place-based policies. This contribution tries to investigate how these very small and peripheral realities can lead to a more inclusive system of territorial governance and to a better improved access to essential services (health, instruction, mobility) and public goods through new different forms of area planning influenced by soft governance dynamics. New tools to support the identification of the potential linked to a specific location as narrative, metaphorical and real basis of a negotiated programming tool (e.g. River Contracts, Contrats d’Axe etc.) that includes multiple actors with the aim to realize or enhance the existing, shape inclusive, resilient relationships between society and the environment and, finally, reach shared urban design strategies and projects aligned with the community needs, as well as a formal commitment to make them operational through the partnership of a plurality of subjects.
References
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| Keywords | small towns; soft governance; place-based; bottom up involvement |
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