Urban regeneration of public housing settlements, in Rome: the case study of San Basilio district

Abstract

The issue of urban regeneration has taken a strong centrality in recent European and national debates, particularly applied in the transformation of suburban settlements. Urban regeneration practices represent a potential tool to steer transformations toward criteria of environmental sustainability and resilience, resulting in reduced land consumption from decreased demand for new urbanization, and increased urban quality and collective well-being. The redevelopment of public housing requires a comprehensive rethinking of its use pattern and integrated and social cohesion tools to act with targeted measures in situations of marginality and physical, social and economic degradation. Working on these pieces of the city becomes fertile ground and a catalyst for opportunities in terms of regeneration of the urban fabric, with benefits and positive impacts, from the local level to a broader scale, driving ambitious measures to combat climate change. The research, articulated on closely related layers − public space and private space, outdoor space and indoor space − from the urban to the architectural scale aims to formulate meta-project guidelines applied to the case study of San Basilio, a suburban settlement of public housing within the city of Rome.