Transforming Disused Places and Spaces for Community Regeneration: A Case Study from the Trento Festival of Economics
The rehabilitation of disused places and spaces can be a powerful tool for regenerating communities and breathing new life into areas that were once neglected. This topic was discussed in a panel at the Trento Festival of Economics titled “Regenerating places to regenerate communities: the care of common goods as a tool for participation”. The panelists emphasized the importance of considering the processes of creation and collaboration of common goods as a common good in itself, rather than just managing an asset.
One example of this is Super Trento, an initiative led by Teresa Pedretti, a partner of Collettivo Campomarzio. The project aims to redesign the surface freed up by the burial of tracks between Scalo Filzi and Muse, with a focus on collaboration and participation. By involving citizens who know and live in the area, Super Trento has been able to co-use spaces and activities that may not have been considered by administrations alone.
Eugenio Petz, from the municipality of Milano, discussed how collaboration agreements can be used as an administrative tool to foster co-planning with active citizenship. Drawing inspiration from successful experiences in cities like Bologna and Verona, he emphasized the importance of engaging citizens who live in challenging neighborhoods in the regeneration process. This approach has led to innovative collaborations between private resources, civic organizations, and public-private partnerships that have breathed new life into disused spaces.
Renato Quaglia shared a unique example of urban recovery in Naples where a large empty monastery has been transformed into a vibrant hub with cooperatives, entrepreneurial activities, and educational facilities. This experience demonstrates how urban revitalization can be achieved even in challenging neighborhoods by leveraging local knowledge and innovative collaborations between private resources, civic organizations
