70
E. Mussinelli et al.
cities 2017). A marked tendency towards an “ecological conversion” derives from
this, where a key role is assumed by the management of non-urban anthropized
landscapes, mainly consisting of rural and peri-urban territories, which constitute
the natural capital to insert an effective green infrastructure of the territory, while at
the same time offering the cities a mix of ecosystem and social-cultural services.
Since these transition areas between anthropized and natural spaces are currently
under strong transformative pressure, in the metropolitan sprawl, the characteristics of the urban and of the rural have basically merged, making up a diffused and
polycentric landscape which led to the formulation of the concepts of “urban-rural
agricultural eco-system” (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology 2002)
and “urban bioregion” (Magnaghi and Fanfani 2010). These areas are a strategic
resource for the regeneration of the built environment, due to the fact they can play a
primary role for the creation of regional and super-local ecological networks. However, a number of specific critical issues remain to which the project must respond:
in these territories, relevant effects of ecological and environmental degradation are
particularly relevant, due to soil consumption from urban expansion as well as the
construction of new infrastructures, while also deriving from a crisis in the agriculture sector, characterized by small-sized companies not being able to face the general
reduction in EU subsidies and the competition of the global market. Thus, the periurban rural areas are fragile contexts, where the value of agricultural productivity
is always less than the income derivable from urbanization. The real risk is that of
further erosion processes, with a drastic reduction in environmental, ecological and
productive values, in addition to the degradation of the landscape and of cultural
heritage and to the consequent crumbling of the social structures typical of rural
communities.
European policies have recognized the structural role of these contexts, promoting
a development of a “suburban agriculture” characterized by multi-sectorial design
and by the integration of economic-productive values, environmental and landscape
peculiarities and social-cultural identities (Mussinelli and Cerati 2017).
These issues traditionally belong to the culture of environmental design, and they
characterize the activities of the research group “Governance, design and enhancement of the built environment” of the ABC Department-Politecnico di Milano, previously coordinated by Fabrizio Schiaffonati and today by Elena Mussinelli. Relevant
and remarkable experimentations regarded, for instance, the integrated planning of
the Parco Naturale della Valle del Ticino piemontese, with actions for the management of its environmental and landscape resources and for the territorial development of the pre-park areas, as well as experiences of territorial marketing plans in
the Mantua Moraine area in the Oltrepò area, from which also derived initiatives for
the establishment of cultural districts and for the promotion of territories through
ecomuseums.
1 More recently the research group carried out a more in-depth study
of the issue of enhancing rural heritage, specifically in the contexts of the Oglio Po
area, of the peri-urban area of Mantua and of the metropolitan area of Milan.
1 For further information, see Schiaffonati et al. 2015.
E. Mussinelli et al.
cities 2017). A marked tendency towards an “ecological conversion” derives from
this, where a key role is assumed by the management of non-urban anthropized
landscapes, mainly consisting of rural and peri-urban territories, which constitute
the natural capital to insert an effective green infrastructure of the territory, while at
the same time offering the cities a mix of ecosystem and social-cultural services.
Since these transition areas between anthropized and natural spaces are currently
under strong transformative pressure, in the metropolitan sprawl, the characteristics of the urban and of the rural have basically merged, making up a diffused and
polycentric landscape which led to the formulation of the concepts of “urban-rural
agricultural eco-system” (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology 2002)
and “urban bioregion” (Magnaghi and Fanfani 2010). These areas are a strategic
resource for the regeneration of the built environment, due to the fact they can play a
primary role for the creation of regional and super-local ecological networks. However, a number of specific critical issues remain to which the project must respond:
in these territories, relevant effects of ecological and environmental degradation are
particularly relevant, due to soil consumption from urban expansion as well as the
construction of new infrastructures, while also deriving from a crisis in the agriculture sector, characterized by small-sized companies not being able to face the general
reduction in EU subsidies and the competition of the global market. Thus, the periurban rural areas are fragile contexts, where the value of agricultural productivity
is always less than the income derivable from urbanization. The real risk is that of
further erosion processes, with a drastic reduction in environmental, ecological and
productive values, in addition to the degradation of the landscape and of cultural
heritage and to the consequent crumbling of the social structures typical of rural
communities.
European policies have recognized the structural role of these contexts, promoting
a development of a “suburban agriculture” characterized by multi-sectorial design
and by the integration of economic-productive values, environmental and landscape
peculiarities and social-cultural identities (Mussinelli and Cerati 2017).
These issues traditionally belong to the culture of environmental design, and they
characterize the activities of the research group “Governance, design and enhancement of the built environment” of the ABC Department-Politecnico di Milano, previously coordinated by Fabrizio Schiaffonati and today by Elena Mussinelli. Relevant
and remarkable experimentations regarded, for instance, the integrated planning of
the Parco Naturale della Valle del Ticino piemontese, with actions for the management of its environmental and landscape resources and for the territorial development of the pre-park areas, as well as experiences of territorial marketing plans in
the Mantua Moraine area in the Oltrepò area, from which also derived initiatives for
the establishment of cultural districts and for the promotion of territories through
ecomuseums.
1 More recently the research group carried out a more in-depth study
of the issue of enhancing rural heritage, specifically in the contexts of the Oglio Po
area, of the peri-urban area of Mantua and of the metropolitan area of Milan.
1 For further information, see Schiaffonati et al. 2015.