The city we would like is effectively expressed by the heliography of one urban mapstained by blue, yellow, green and red circles and lines, to ‘noisily’ identify abandoned hospitals, parks and anonymous public spaces.
It is there that we need to intervene, it is precisely there that we can propose and, why not?, even demand, something new and useful, returning to fill and fill with pedestrians (and empty of cars), trees and birds streets, buildings and squares of the historic center and suburbs under the iconic skyline of the Volcano, as the event poster hopes.
This was, in fact, the challenge undertaken by groups of students of the “Concetto Marchesi” Institute of Higher Education of Mascalucia and of the “Boggio Lera”, “Principe Umberto di Savoia” and “Emilio Greco” high schools of Catania which, in recent months, have actively taken part in the project created in collaboration with the degree course in Planning and environmental sustainability of the territory and landscape of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania and coordinated by the teachers Laura Saija and Giusy Pappalardo.
In recent days the young people designers they had the extraordinary opportunity to present their works, in the hall of the Palazzo della Cultura, to the highest officials of the municipal administration of Catania: the mayor Enrico Trantinothe vice-mayor Paolo La Grecathe head of the Urban Planning, Territorial Planning and Urban Decoration Directorate Biagio Bisignani.
The urban map with the works created by the students
A roundup of ideas, suggestions and projects – neatly and effectively expressed – aimed at improve public spaces around the schools of Catania and in some areas of the historic centre, defined during a series of classroom meetings and field inspections which, combining cartographic territorial exploration and qualitative-quantitative investigation methods, allowed us to experiment with the work of the planner and imagine the development of the city, starting from the analysis of both critical issues and opportunities and outlining shared planning trajectories.
Case studies of the path for transversal skills and for the orientation carried out with teachers and tutors of the university were abandoned hospitals like the old Ferrarotto, to be exploited for a community huband the Vittorio Emanuele, the enormous Amts car park in via Plebiscito which could accommodate one students’ huba residual lava front in the area of via Roccaromana which could become a Green Lava Spacethe spaces around the Principe Umberto high school in Cibali neighborhood (for which it is considered extremely urgent to make pedestrian access from the school to the nearby metro station safe).
And again the choice to relaunch social and commercial activities incentral area of the citynow almost for the exclusive use and consumption of tourists, abandoned villas and gardens in the area of via Curia and via Fiorentinothe parks Fenoglietti And Gandhi to be revitalized, and others. Common denominator of the proposals of all the teams, quality and socializing spaceseven intergenerational, almost surprisingly denying the stereotype that this generation is “very social and not very social”.
A moment of the speech of the mayor Enrico Trantino
«It is a great contribution of ideas and energy – the mayor commented immediately Enrico Trantino – which helps us reduce the distance between the administration and the youngest among our fellow citizens, intercepting desires and aspirations.”
«Your projects – he added, addressing the students present, accompanied by some school managers and teachers in charge of the projects – help us to imagine the future of this city, intersecting with the projects that are already underway. And at the same time, they can contribute to increasing the attractiveness of Catania for those who already live there and choose to stay and for all those who may be attracted by the exceptional employment opportunities that will soon open up thanks to significant investments in the industrial sector” .
«Better cities for better life it is not just the title of the latest volume by Sir Peter Hall, one of the greatest scholars of the contemporary city – commented the deputy mayor Paolo La Greca, full professor of Urban Planning at the university -, but it is the ambition we must aim for. Today is an almost unique opportunity to be able to listen to the stories of the critical issues but also the desires of many young people who, looking through their eyes, places, contexts, sociality have communicated their hopes for a better city”.
The deputy mayor Paolo La Greca among the students
«Our university offers quality that is not inferior, often much superior to the universities of northern Italy – added the prof. Paolo La Greca -. They loom immediately great employment opportunities which will guarantee full employment for graduates in disciplines, such as urban and territorial planning, which are essential for governing the processes of ecological transition and adapting our cities to ongoing climate changes”.
Before leaving the floor to task force of university teachers – the professors Alessandro D’Emilio, Alessandro Vitale, Teresa Graziano, Maurizio Spina and Francesco Martinico – who followed the various phases of the project, which also involved other schools in the metropolitan city, the director of the Urban Planning Directorate Biagio Bisignani also wanted to thank the teachers and schools who took part in this initiative and congratulated the students .
«Your projects are a useful asset for the drafting of the Pug, the city’s new urban planning tool – he stated Biagio Bisignani -. What stands out is the great disciplinary in-depth study that comes from a careful exploration of the city and the comparison with the inhabitants, a rigorous preliminary work that would already allow us to systematize these ideas and turn them into ‘drawings’. I really hope that among you there are the future technicians and designers of Catania.”
The students of the four institutes present at the Palace of Culture
