A-Infos (en) Italy, IFA, UCADI #200 - Speaking of suburbs (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Today, we are witnessing a global phenomenon of "urban concentration of 
hardship and poverty," that is, the progressive influx into urban 
contexts of large segments of the population subject to phenomena of 
marginalization and social exclusion. Unfortunately, these phenomena are 
growing, especially in highly urbanized areas, where there have been few 
attempts to implement inclusive practices and access primary resources, 
such as safe and clean housing, but also green spaces, crucial for 
social interaction.
A serious analysis could only begin with the awareness that 
marginalization is concentrated in these places and the conditions for 
crime and disillusionment are created, where pain, abandonment, and 
anger become two sides of the same coin. If we look at ISTAT data and 
the various and widespread studies of urban sociology and city analysis, 
we cannot help but acknowledge that thousands of young people live in 
contexts utterly devoid of beauty and the stimuli necessary to ensure 
concrete opportunities for fulfillment as members of a so-called civil 
society. ISTAT estimates that over 2 million families live in poverty, 
with over 30% struggling to make ends meet. They live primarily in the 
hinterlands of urban areas. It is therefore clear that the deprived 
outskirts of cities are not only home to marginalized youth, but also to 
poor youth.
The dismantling of production facilities and the relocation of 
manufacturing and industrial activities have contributed to the creation 
of increasingly degraded brownfield sites, left to building speculation 
and speculative real estate investments. These sites, especially in 
tourist-oriented cities, are used to house B&Bs and short-term rentals, 
contributing to the tertiarization of many urban areas.
These general reflections provide the context for further considerations 
regarding the environment and spaces that characterize the outskirts, 
where the idea of impersonal areas, incapable of serving as a source of 
identity, has always prevailed, thus fostering the affirmation of 
negative images. In the suburbs, as in the historic villages, there are 
no cinemas, theaters, libraries, or meeting places. This state of 
affairs therefore needs to be changed and reversed.
It is essential to address the current spatial configuration and rebuild 
connections and links with the rest of the city, not through sporadic 
and improvised interventions, but through organic projects. We must 
choose whether to proceed through "patches," as suggested by Renzo 
Piano, while continuing to delegate assistance and attention to 
socioeconomic issues to volunteers or residual public resources, or to 
intervene with more radical methods. A policy of redevelopment and 
integration of these places becomes necessary through the creation of 
diverse contexts, following the method of participatory urban planning, 
listening, and discussion, deploying cultural resources and innovative 
relationships that become the methodological reference for every 
intervention in the area,
starting from the planning stage and then applying it to the various 
phases of design, construction, and management of the works, once they 
are made available to citizens.
New tools must be implemented to enable the integration of the suburbs 
with the rest of the city and/or metropolitan area, not only in terms of 
economics and transportation, but also in terms of thinking and cultural 
exchange, creating stable tools and systemic opportunities. In short, 
the question of the most appropriate way to combat marginalization and 
social exclusion requires innovative responses to traditional public 
sector intervention methods. These tools must aim to reconnect the 
peripheral context on a large scale, through urban regeneration 
processes based on social and functional integration, in which 
sustainability plays a crucial role, both to minimize environmental 
impact and to maximize the well-being of citizens.
It's clear that such an approach requires new administrative management 
and therefore governance models. Each city has different territorial and 
environmental characteristics, with potential for growth and improved 
quality of life that are stifled by an archaic and inefficient 
administrative system. Cities need to create urban systems based on new 
paradigms of sustainability and digital connectivity, while also 
fostering forms of self-government and participatory democracy that 
foster social integration models fostered by a new offering of quality 
of life and services.

Tonino Coscarella

https://www.ucadi.org/2025/09/04/a-proposito-di-periferie/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en