Territory as a Cultural Asset, between History and Development. A Necessary Discontinuity of/in Urban Planning

Abstract

It is widely diffused and well-known that Contemporary urbanism faces problems and needs which are different from the past, and tackled with ethical tension and social commitment of great cultural value. The pattern of urban sprawl and incorrect local authority choices has, for the most part, been overcome. The need now is to give immediate response to the ongoing changes: environmental, social, and widespread disruption and poverty. New awareness, new responsibility, and a new urban culture is needed. A new way to design the territory in defense of the common good is also needed, which means first of all preserving historical heritage, ensuring fair distribution of rights, evaluating the consequences of interventions in the territory through the application of multi-attribute or multicriteria evaluation techniques. From this comes the need to elaborate a contemporary idea, how we want to build (and defend) our cities of the future and protect the landscape, and how a new design culture can become the road and the engine of this vision.