Ricerc@Sapienza

The aim of the research is to identify theoretical, methodological and operational references that address the relationship between contemporary territories and the territorial cultural framework, composed of a multitude of components, in which the historic centres of small municipalities constitute a widespread element of convergence and structure. The research focuses on them, adopting an integrated approach and a systemic vision in order to identify appropriate tools for their revitalisation within an innovative framework of territorial government.

Indeed, the processes of metropolisation have attacked the pre-existing territorial balances, creating isolated and marginalised areas and giving rise to other pathological phenomena, such as demographic decline and the scarce institutional, productive, infrastructural and urban welfare presence, in a process common to various geographical areas (such as España Vacía, France's Diagonale du vide, eastern Germany and Italian Aree interne).

This requires a strategy of territorial rebalancing that, in an integrated and unified way, substantiates structural/strategic and operational urban planning tools that, by reconnecting urban and territorial reference systems, identify small municipalities as emblematic places of quality to be considered as new "centralities", based on the awareness of the link between the quality of contexts and the socioeconomic development opportunities they offer.

Based on innovative management and governance models, as enabling platforms, inter-institutional and partnership-based, in conformity with the regulatory framework.

The research is divided into 3 Phases: the first for a critical-interpretive contextualisation of phenomena and approaches, the second and third with a methodological-operational and propositive nature, supported by the study of best practices and the experimentation of a pilot case, for the definition and evaluation of the theoretical-methodological and operational references.