Barbara Caselli

The paper adds to the debate on urban transformation, which plays a significant role in improving quality of urban life and liveability of public spaces, as also stated in UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 11. The research aims to test a methodology for identifying an abacus of urban regeneration interventions to enhance attractive and critical nodes through accessibility and inclusivity. The quality of the system of connections between polarities, the promotion of active mobility, zero soil consumption and the renaturalisation of urban spaces are fundamental criteria to define urban regeneration solutions. The proposed approach develops on two levels: a GIS-based spatial analysis of urban data and a participatory process. The innovative planning process is tested on the San Leonardo neighbourhood in the Municipality of Parma, Italy, which allows us to verify the potentials and limitations of the procedure, identifying future work perspectives. Moreover, the application allows us to check the replicability in other urban contexts, possibly envisaging other applications to more case studies. Our results consist of the identification of the vocations and the critical aspects of nodes and axes to regenerate urban space in medium-sized and large cities’ suburbs.

Within the scientific debate on urban regeneration, this paper intends to question possible planning techniques to address the implementation of widespread regeneration interventions in obsolete residential areas within medium-sized European cities, with particular attention to constructing a cognitive framework to locate redevelopment interventions. The widespread urban regeneration approach has yet to be sufficiently explored in the scientific literature, which focuses much more on replacing large derelict areas, though it seems particularly relevant for research and urban practice. This paper aims to illustrate a methodological framework for defining obsolete and degraded areas (at the block scale) suitable for redevelopment. Various criteria are considered, e.g., land use, buildings’ dating, state of preservation, population density, public spaces, and facility provision, and degree of accessibility. The methodological framework is then tested in the medium-sized Italian city of Parma. Data set parameters and threshold values to quantify the previously introduced criteria and perform GIS-based statistical and spatial analysis. The results show 96 areas potentially in need of regeneration, providing an opportunity to reflect on the criteria of suitability and priority for transformation and the framework of past and future planning scenarios.