Speaker
Description
The City of Naples is facing the complex challenge of dealing with the consequences of a persistent housing crisis. The reconfiguration of public housing settlements, often marked by serious conditions of blight and poverty, represents a structural problem for the city, a long-term emergency to be governed, recently carried out in the framework of National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), that is part of the Next Generation EU Programme.
The ongoing regeneration of the “Taverna del Ferro” housing estate in East Naples, known as the Bronx, marks the beginning of a significant urban transformation in a neighbourhood historically burdened by social and urban decay. The blue fences surrounding the working site can be read as a symbol of the ongoing change.
Environmental and energy transitions are key components of the NRPP project, while citizens’ involvement is a priority in the administration's political agenda.
The town council is striving to develop innovative regulatory approaches, particularly by creating new forms of social agreements that ensure the active participation of local communities in the ongoing transformations. These transformations highlight the need to develop sustainable transformation models capable of triggering public policies that respond to the economic and social needs of the neighbourhood. The objective is to ensure a regeneration process that is not only lasting, but also capable of stimulating new local economies and triggering employment opportunities.
This contribution starts from the results of a mapping activity carried out in collaboration with the "Ex Taverna del Ferro" fight committee and local inhabitants. Just before the opening of the construction site, the primary objective of the survey was to capture an overview of the formal and informal uses of the ground-floor spaces in the Taverna del Ferro residential buildings and the surrounding garages. The mapping was complemented by interviews with key local witnesses from the community and associations.
The case study prompts multiple reflections:
- on local responses to policy inputs coming from EU programmes;
- on institutional challenges to propose new regulatory approaches or changes in current regulations;
- on the role of collaborative mapping and interviews as tools for involving residents in the housing estate regeneration.
The paper explores how expectations and perceptions emerging from the collaborative mapping can be translated into effective project strategies. It highlights the importance of integrating issues such as valorising the informal local economy, improving the quality of public spaces, and preserving the cultural identity of the neighbourhood into regeneration plans. This integration is essential to ensure that transformation does not lead to displacement or social exclusion. In this context, the relational capabilities between the actors involved - administrations, planners and inhabitants - play a central role through participatory governance tools.
Such an approach results in consolidating mutual trust among actors, thus promoting an ‘open’ transformation process where mutual learning is addressed overcoming ordinary boundaries. It also works as a lens for analysing the relationships between stakeholders, uncovering inequalities and power relationships, thus treating potential conflicts during the transformation process.
| Keywords | participatory governance; community engagement; regulatory innovative approaches; housing rights |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
