Città e identità

Can we consider the identity of a place as something changing? An evolving concept? The current debate on this issue is gradually expanding to increasingly large sectors of the population and by now tends to defend uncritically the status quo (static interpretation of the concept of identity), whatever it may be; history shows instead that transformations, even disruptive ones, have contributed to building urban identities (evolutionary interpretation of the same concept). Cities such as Ferrara, Bari, Lisbon and Barcelona are examples of this. The great modern transformations, on the other hand, struggle to be assimilated by the histories of cities. The post-war period saw the urban landscapes upset even in small towns, in the name (perhaps unduly) of modernity, with an introduction of building quantities that were indigestible due to the natural and normal slow pace of evolution of the cities. How will architectural culture over the next few decades deal with remedying the consequent rejection crisis that we have been taking note of in recent decades? The discussion elects the Italian case as emblematic and does not neglect the possibility (or the necessity) of establishing a comparison with the circumstances of other countries, each charged with its own specific characteristics, both in the reading of past events and in the preparation of the tools to operate.