UNA STRATEGIA CULTURE-LED PER LA RIGENERAZIONE DI PISTICCI

At European, national, regional and local level, several strategies are related to culture-led regeneration: creative reuse of common goods, new cultural districts, place branding for cultural heritage. In this scenario, the research aims at responding to a yet open question in culture-led regeneration policies: how a cultural and creative process for an iconic cultural heritage could implement inclusive strategies of urban regeneration through evaluation processes? The paper explains the “Community Branding (Co-Bra)” approach able to combine cultural values, creativity, management models and multi-criteria/multi-group evaluation methods for a culture-led regeneration strategy. Within the framework of Matera ECoC 2019, the Co-Bra method was tailor-made on Pisticci (MT) case study, experimenting a creative community for urban regeneration, starting from the historic centre valorisation: so-called “PLUS hub” - Pisticci Sustainable Urban Lab. The key results of this action-research path are achieved especially in combining economic, social and cultural resources to ensure the sustainable and competitive advantage for local development

Multicriteria Evaluation of Urban Regeneration Processes: An Application of PROMETHEE Method in Northern Italy

The paper illustrates the development of an evaluation model for supporting the decision-making process related to an urban regeneration intervention. In particular, the study proposes an original multi-methodological approach, which combines SWOT Analysis, Stakeholders Analysis and PROMETHEE method for the evaluation of alternative renewal strategies of an urban area in Northern Italy. The article also describes the work carried out within an experts' panel that has been organized for validating the structuring of the decision problem and for evaluating the criteria of the model

The Hubs of Transformation Dictated by the Innovation Wave: Boston as a Case Study: Exploring How Design is Emerging as an Essential Feature in the Process of Laboratorization of Cities

Cities have become nodes of global networks, standing at the intersection points of the flows of capital, goods, workers, businesses, and travelers, making them spots where innovation, progress and economic development occur. Design emerges as an essential feature in this process, which this manuscript defines as the ‘laboratorization of cities’, a cutting-edge urban development paradigm that emphasizes cities as dynamic laboratories for innovation and experimentation. This study explored the spatial hubs of transformation within the knowledge economy, providing an overview of the current models of innovation spaces before focusing on the innovation district of one of the cities that are riding the innovation wave, namely Boston, USA. Information was gathered from observations, exploratory interviews with key stakeholders, and on-desk data. The study has significant implications, spanning from informing global urban development strategies to impacting regional economic planning and national policies. It provides valuable insights into how design, innovation, and urban development are interconnected, potentially reshaping how cities and regions approach their growth in the current knowledge-driven era. Useful lessons can be drawn from the case study analysis, allowing to define valuable tools for policymakers, a forward-looking perspective on the future of the laboratorization of cities and the evolving role of design, providing a roadmap for cities aiming to position themselves as global innovation hubs

The hubs of transformation dictated by the innovation wave: Boston as a case study

Cities have become the nodes of global networks, standing at the intersection points of the flows of capital, goods, workers, businesses and travellers, making them the spots where innovation, progress and economic development occur. Design emerges as an essential feature in this process that this manuscript defines “laboratorisation of cities”, a cutting-edge urban development paradigm that emphasises cities as dynamic laboratories for innovation and experimentation. This paper then aims at exploring the spatial hubs of transformation within the knowledge economy, providing an overview of the current models of innovation spaces, before focusing on the innovation district of one of the cities that are riding the innovation wave, namely, Boston, USA. Information will be gathered from observations, exploratory interviews to key stakeholders, and on-desk data. The study has significant implications, spanning from informing global urban development strategies to impacting regional economic planning and national policies. It provides valuable insights into how design, innovation, and urban development are interconnected, potentially reshaping how cities and regions approach their growth in a knowledge-driven era. Useful lessons are drawn from the analysed case study, allowing to define precious tools for policymakers, a forward-looking perspective on the future of laboratorisation of cities and the evolving role of design, providing a roadmap for cities aiming to position themselves as global innovation hubs

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 3: People

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 3 includes papers from People track of the conference

The evolving nature of town centre management internationally and my advocacy for a strategic global-local approach to practice and research in this profession

Town centre management (TCM) as a practice-based concept has existed in the UK, North America and much of Western Europe for over twenty five years. TCM was first defined by Wells (1991, p. 24) in the academic literature as “a comprehensive response to competitive pressures, which involves development, management and promotion of both public and private areas within town centres, for the benefit of all concerned”. Yet, this concept has evolved considerably since its first inceptions in the 1980s as the public-private partnerships that manage high streets, districts, town centres, quarters and other place formats have themselves faced a period of unprecedented environmental and socio-economic changes in the matrix of our towns and cities. This DProf by Public Works project explores the author’s contribution to this evolving paradigm over a ten year period by advocating a global-local approach to the town centre management profession. Specific knowledge gaps addressed by the author over this period include the contribution of small and medium sized retailers to the vitality, diversity and viability of town centres in a number of European countries, a pan-European classification tool (typology) of town centre management schemes, the development of the UK’s first ever professional and academic qualifications in place management and the founding of the first-ever practice-based international interdisciplinary publication on the management of towns and cities – the Journal of Town and City Management. The author’s transformational learning experience over this period serves as a backdrop for reflection throughout. Finally, insights into the future of town centres are offered along with some of the key strategic challenges that the town centre management profession will need to address in the medium term in order to continue to thrive into the future

Enhancing the Cultural Heritage through Adaptive Reuse. A Multicriteria Approach to Evaluate the Castello Visconteo in Cusago (Italy)

Cultural heritage can play a strategic role in developing a sustainable built environment, contributing to the improvement of the economic, social, and environmental productivity of a city. Human activities are constantly affecting the quality of the environment and altering the ecosystems, which produce negative consequences also on human wellbeing. Within this context, it has been much discussed how cities and the built environment can counteract this process by supporting more sustainable development. Adaptive reuse is defined as “a process that changes a disused or ineffective item into a new item that can be used for a different purpose”, which strongly triggers the sustainable development of cities. It can be recognized as a promoter of economic growth, social wellbeing, and environmental preservation, given its capability of both preserving past values and creating new ones. The adaptive reuse matches the main points of the circular economy, seen as the sustainable economy, which is aimed at the reduction of natural resource extraction and environmental impact by extending the useful life of materials and promoting recovery, reuse, and regeneration processes. Given these premises, the current contribution aimed to evaluate alternative scenarios for reuse in Castello Visconteo in Cusago, located in the Lombardy region (Italy), and understanding how adaptive reuse could contribute to generating new values within a circular economy perspective. In detail, four alternative scenarios were proposed to face the new needs born during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Since both intangible and tangible values must be considered, a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been applied by combining economic and qualitative indicators to define the most suitable function for its adaptive reuse. In detail, the Novel Approach to Imprecise Assessment and Decision Environments (NAIADE) was used to identify the best alternative solution based on the opinions of conflicting stakeholders. The innovativeness of the contribution is given by the combination of different methodologies, the preservation of the memory and the generation of new values, and the consideration of adaptive reuse as a strategy for the achievement of sustainable development within a circular economy perspective

Innovation Districts As A Strategy for Urban Economic Development: A Comparison of Four Cases

Innovation districts are a relatively new strategy in urban economic development. They have been fast gaining attention and popularity, due in part to energetic third-party promotion and the apparent successes of two early adopters: Barcelona and Boston. As additional cities establish and promote innovation districts, it benefits policymakers to possess information regarding their characteristics and suitability as an economic development approach. We conduct in-depth case studies of four innovation districts in the United States—located in Boston, Detroit, Saint Louis, and San Diego—that present contrasting settings, policies, and outcomes. The empirical information is drawn primarily from interviews with the innovation district creators and implementers and the entrepreneurs embedded within them. We assess the expectations, design, implementation, and operation of these innovation districts, with reference to stated and normative policy goals along with theories of regional economic development. Our purpose is to provide scholars and policymakers with guidance as to how, and how well, innovation districts may achieve the aim of urban economic development to generate economic dynamism and prosperity