Urban regeneration through technological innovation and functional mixité: a case study in Modena, Italy.

In the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna the economic growth of the Fifities – the so-called economic boom – was based on industrial production, mostly generated by the initiative of small size craftsman cooperatives. The model of development, with strong social character, was based on the initiative of the public administration, that had the political and economical power to trade rural areas at the boundaries of the city and sell them at a very low cost to the new enterprises. After fifty years or relative success, that economic model is facing an economic crisis, due to the globalization of the markets, that is forcing the reallocation of many small and medium sized enterprises in bigger industrial areas or, even, their collapse. Part of the old semi-industrial areas located within the boundaries of the city, are now partially dismissed. In order to regenerate the functionality of these obsolete industrial districts, new strategies are required, based on the promotion of private investments. According to the expectations of the promoters, new guidelines for the reconfiguration of the districts and more flexible urban rules should help in trying to regenerate the areas with the aim of creating new poles for highly specialized craft, creativity and technological innovation. The new initiatives for the regeneration of the districts try to match new functions with high environmental standards (eco-design, green buildings). In this paper we analyze a recent initiative of the city administration for the regeneration of a semi-industrial area in Modena, named villaggio artigiano. This process is based on functional mixité, that is considered a strong antidote to urban sprawl and the urban zoning of the Modern Movement that has separated housing, work places, shops and services. The original structure of the villaggio should be able to facilitate this process of regeneration and reappropriation of public space, based on the technological aspects of architectural design and the potentialities of energy rehabilitation and on-site energy production. The aim is to reach the goal of a zero energy district. This initiative has been widely promoted – the district and its enterprises have their own Web page – and it is supported by some architectural proposals derived from inter-disciplinary workshops that involved many professionals and the University of Bologna.