Increase natural and public spaces, regenerate brownfields and existing settlements, enhance the historic centre and reconnect the urban region, new job opportunities and co-management regulations
City of Casoria (Naples Metropolitan area)
The city of Casoria is a medium size Italian municipality - 77.000 inhabitants in 12kmq – placed closely the city of Naples suburban.
After the second world war, the city developed rapidly, thanks to the joint effect of public aid as “Mashall Plan” and the proximity to Naples and its mobility infrastructures (port, railway, airport, motorways).
Between the 1950s and 1960s, the rural centre of Casoria was transformed into an industrial hub, and the population increased from 20.000 inhabitants in 1951 to over 80.000 in 2001.
The urban growth has not been supported by adequate public policies, as consequence both manufacturing and residential districts have disorderly developed outside a general framework, in absence of urban planning rules.
In the long run this uncontrolled increase was not helpful for the economic development and since the early 1980s industrial activities start to dismitted.
Today Casoria is characterised by low quality of life, and congested public space, and the large private industrial areas contiguous to the city centre, are abandoned and colonised by a sort of natural “third landscape”.
Additionally, tertiary sector as office complexes and shopping centers located along major mobility infrastructures, have gone bankrupt because of the last financial crises.
As social consequences the unemployment rates around 30% (65% youth unemployment), crime is on the rise, and the most educated and whealthy young people migrate elsewhere.
Main areas of interest
The city of Casoria is engaged in the implementation of and articulated urban regeneration programme aimed at improving urban liveability and overcoming these problems.
The integrated urban regeneration programme is based on the Local Action Plan elaborated during the involvement in URBACT III network “Sub>urban. Reinventing the fringe” (2015-2018) with city of Antwerp (Belgium), Baia Mare (Romania), Barcelona (Spain), Brno (Czech Republic), Wien (Austria), Dusseldorf (Germany), Oslo (Norway), Solìn (Croatia).
Recently (dicember 2022), the city approved the Municipal Urban Plan, which provides a general urban planning framework for the ongoing projects.
In the last years in order to increasing citizens’ trust in public actions and test from experience, some interventions have been carried out as preview of the urban municipality plan strategies.
Respecting the principles of environmental sustainability and social inclusion, the objectives pursued by the ongoing interventions are:
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Increase natural areas ;
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Increase public spaces ;
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Create new job opportunities ;
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Regenerate brownfields ;
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Regenerate existing settlements ;
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Enhance the historic centre;
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Reconnect the urban region ;
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Draw up co-management and civic use regulations.
An important focus of the plan is on environmental sustainability especially on the circularity of resources in the peri-urban sphere (water, energy, waste), and on the relationship between periphery and city centre to promote a trigger transformation effect between the two. At least the city is debate on different forms of co-management of public facilities undergoing transformation as
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Consolidation and restoration of the complex of Carmine’ Church in Piazza Cirillo for the creation of the Religious Tourism Centre;
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Construction of a socio-educational structure for children in the confiscated building in the neighbourhood of Stella;
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Redevelopment of the former court building to house social and health services;
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Redevelopment and energy efficiency of the former municipal building in Piazza Cirillo to create a centre for youth creativity;
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Centre for biodiversity in the building of the Former Air Force Park in Via Michelangelo;
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Art and theatre workshops to support youth creativity - adaptation of existing facilities - M.L. King Contemporary Art Museum CAM Theatre.