From “villa” landscape to industrial landscape. And now?

At a time when questions are being asked about how to safeguard the environment, the city, its history and its transformations are the focus of attention. While cities have undergone a whirlwind development over the last century, new scenarios are now opening up that confront us with two distinct realities: on the one hand, new housing models are being proposed in an attempt to reduce their impact on the environment; on the other hand, people are persisting in experimenting with grandiose, futuristic settlements that continue to disrupt territories that are still not very anthropised. The first scenario is the one that characterises much of the western world (which experienced the uncontrolled developments of the 20th century); the second is the one that seems to be found in the middle-eastern (and eastern) world, which is now going through an unprecedented phase of urban development. Models of cities built using sophisticated building technologies; urban layouts designed in absolute freedom: this is the scenario that seems to disregard attention to the environment and our planet. Projects for eco-sustainable buildings, but also attempts to give cities back spaces that have finally been freed from overbuilding, summarise the typical attitudes of a scenario that aims to respect the environment with the ultimate goal of safeguarding the future of our planet. In this context there are excellent opportunities - often untapped - to recover the urban dimension that has characterised our cities for centuries and that has always been in harmony with the environment: industrial development has distorted landscapes characterised by villas and gardens that have now lost their identity and are in search of a new urban, territorial and environmental balance.