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From urban renewal to urban regeneration: Classification criteria for urban

interventions. Turin 1995-2015: Evolution of planning tools and approaches

Article  in  Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal · January 2016

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Giulia Marra M. Barosio

Istituto Superiore sui Sistemi Territoriali per l’Innovazione (SiTI) Politecnico di Torino
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Cristina Marietta Matteo Tabasso

Politecnico di Torino Istituto Superiore sui Sistemi Territoriali per l’Innovazione (SiTI)
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 From urban renewal to urban
regeneration: Classification criteria
for urban interventions. Turin
1995–2015: evolution of planning
tools and approaches
Received (in revised form): 4th March, 2016

Michela Barosio
has a PhD in Architecture and Building Design, with a published thesis on the formal role of industrial settlements in shaping the
city. At present, he is Researcher and Assistant Professor in Architectural and Urban Design at Politecnico di Torino. His research
focuses on the post-industrial landscape as a design topic, cultural landscapes as a valorisation tool, urban morphology as a
design tool and urban quality assessment methodologies. He is the author and editor of several books and articles on these
topics.

Enrico Eynard
holds a MSc degree in Territorial, Urban and Environmental Planning. He studied at the Polytechnic of Turin, and he is now
working on several European projects as a research assistant at the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies
and Planning at SiTI. His research projects and interests focus on urban planning, the built environment and health impacts,
Geographic Information System, data analysis, territory and environmental topics.

Cristina Marietta
graduated as an Architect at the Polytechnic of Turin and has been a researcher at SiTI since 2006, working on urban and
territorial issues, specifically on the intermediate city, urban renewal and public space quality. Recently, she has been working on
impact assessment and Decision Support Systems.

Giulia Marra
has an MSc in Architecture with an international background and experience in the urban sector. She has been involved in
several European projects and networks dealing with urban issues with particular attention to social aspects. She is currently
working as participatory facilitator in urban renewal projects and as a teaching assistant in Urban Planning and Urban Sociology
at Politecnico di Torino. She is particularly interested in bottom-up initiatives and co-creation processes of urban spaces.

Giulia Melis
is an architect with an MSc in History and Conservation of Architectural and Environmental Heritage. Since 2007, she has been
collaborating with SiTI, where she holds a position as researcher in the Urban Planning Unit. She is involved in several projects
on strategic planning and urban renewal, ranging from the EU to the local level. Her main research interests encompass
participatory methods, spatial Decision Support System, reuse of urban areas and the impact of the built environment on
citizens’ health and inequalities.

Matteo Tabasso
holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Politecnico di Torino. Since 1999 he has gained extended
experience in transport and town planning working for both public authorities and research institutions. Since July 2006 he has
been project manager at SiTI, coordinating research and projects in urban planning and redevelopment. The main focus of his
recent experience concerns the relationship between the urban environment and health and between transport and urban
planning.

Matteo Tabasso
SITI, Higher Institute on
Territorial Systems for
Innovation, Via Pier Carlo Abstract European cities have been affected by urban regeneration interventions in the
Boggio, 61, 10138 Torino,
Italy
last few decades, spanning a variety of different types and with different outcomes. This
E-mail: matteo.tabasso@
paper describes and analyses possible classification criteria for urban regeneration
siti.polito.it interventions in order to reach a better understanding of urban regeneration policies and

䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 367
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.

their consequences. A review of the literature on urban regeneration classification criteria

reveals that urban regeneration interventions have gradually shifted from being place
oriented to being people oriented. In view of this, this paper presents a paradigmatic case
study of urban regeneration. The urban transformation of the city of Turin, in northern Italy,
from 1995 to 2015 clearly shows the existence of three generations of neighbourhood
transformations. The first generation involved mainly physical improvement operations in
the area of Spina 2. The second was characterised by social and economic support, as in
the regeneration of the historic neighbourhood of San Salvario. Finally, the third
generation presented an integrated approach, as in the management of the Urban II
programme for the area of Mirafiori Nord, leading to a more contemporary, holistic
approach.

Keywords: Urban regeneration, classification criteria, area-based approach, target-based

approach, holistic approach

INTRODUCTION concerned with urban regeneration

Cities have had to tackle increasingly
complex challenges in recent years. In the
West, these challenges have ranged from
the ‘shrinking cities’ phenomenon to
physical decay, environmental risk
management, heritage preservation,
security, transport and health and social
inequalities. All these topics present both
physical and non-physical issues. The
multiple interrelations among these
challenges are behind the complexity that
has led to a progressive shift in methods of
analysis and tools for managing urban
transformations. Urban transformations
require not only localised initiatives and
planning, but also the deployment of social
and economic tools and regeneration
principles to redevelop distressed areas or
deprived neighbourhoods. And, as the
global economic crisis has engendered a
scarcity of resources, a significant need has
arisen for private and public partnerships,
as well as the concentration of public
funding on interventions that can act as
drivers for urban development.
Nowadays, in the European context,
urban planning and urban management
are no longer focused on urban expansion
and new development, but are more
governance and related planning tools
such as integrated programmes. Therefore,
it is important to agree on the exact
meaning of urban regeneration. Although
urban renewal and urban regeneration are
often used as synonyms, this paper
highlights the differences between the two
expressions, which can help in describing
and understanding different types of urban
interventions.
In the modern age, urban renewal can
be said to date back to the late 19th
century, when European cities were
subject to sanitary engineering to improve
urban health conditions. In that period,
the main metropolises, such as Paris,
Barcelona, London or Turin, transformed
their urban fabric through massive
demolitions and reconstructions, in the
pursuit of air, light and modernity. Urban
renewal is therefore related to operations
based on large demolitions or substitution
of former buildings with new ones, usually
completely different in shape or function.
After World War II, European cities —
and Italian ones in particular — had to
face the historical dilemma between
‘continuity or crisis’.1 Should the massive
war destruction of historical city centres

368 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Vol. 9, 4, 367–380 䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016)
 Urban regeneration project and their impacts: Case study of Turin
lead to a complete renewal of the historic
city, or should the traditional core of cities
be reconstructed following the same
principles, or even the same shapes and
features, of the bombed architecture? The
European architectural mainstream opted
for the urban regeneration approach,
widely recognised as a comprehensive and
integrated vision and plan to solve the
multi-faceted problems of urban areas and
to improve the economic, physical, social
and environmental conditions of deprived
areas. It was seen as a panacea to fight
social polarisation, reinvigorate local
economies and improve the tax base of
cities via socio-spatial and economic
reorganisation, thereby raising their
position in competitive global urban
markets.2 More recently, urban
regeneration processes have often aimed to
counteract urban decay, in contrast to
urban renewal, which is geared mainly
towards fostering new urban development.
Focusing on urban regeneration
operations, one notices that several types
of interventions have taken place in the
last two decades around Europe. One of
the main goals of this research was a better
definition of the different regeneration
approaches through several classification
criteria in order to observe their evolution
in terms of targets, tools and
consequences.
First, this paper provides an overview of
the main classification criteria of urban
regeneration interventions through
contemporary literature. This literature
review has been produced with a view to
the European SOPHIE programme.3 The
classification criteria considered should be
useful in terms of understanding policy
changes, analysing regeneration outcomes
and learning their lessons, and therefore
might be considered significant.
Subsequently, this paper focuses on
target-oriented classification methods to
highlight the evolution of urban
transformation from a more physical
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
approach to an increasingly sociological
and physical generation of interventions.
The third part will look at the urban
regeneration of Turin, which can be
considered a paradigmatic case; in terms of
both the extent of the interventions and
the innovative nature of the planning tools
used there.
METHOD: DEFINITION OF POSSIBLE
CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA FOR
URBAN REGENERATION
INTERVENTIONS
Western countries present similarities
partly attributed to international policy
transfer, which is due in part to
socio-economic and socio-political
development common to all Western
countries, particularly after World War II.
Therefore, it is possible to study the
regeneration phenomenon across Europe.
In order to analyse and compare urban
regeneration interventions across
European countries, classification criteria
have to be set. The choice of criteria will
deeply affect the results of the analysis, as
different parameters can highlight different
aspects and consequences of regeneration
processes.
The most common method of
classification of urban transformations is
chronological classification. This approach
helps in understanding the relationship
between the evolution of urban policies
and trends, the planning instruments used
and the results achieved.4 In this case,
significant periods and significant breaking
points have to be pinpointed to obtain a
classification able to describe specific
phenomena. Naomi Carmon5 identified
three generations of urban renewal
policies undertaken in the USA and the
UK. The first generation is called the ‘era
of the bulldozer’, as the emphasis was on
slum clearance and the built environment.
This approach dates back to the 1930s, but
was still in use until the 1960s in the USA
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 369
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.
and the UK. The second generation of
regeneration interventions took place in
the 1960s and was more focused on
neighbourhood rehabilitation and social
problems. The third generation, between
the 1970s and the 1980s, was centred on
the revitalisation of city centres,
emphasising their economic
development.5 In this case, the
chronological thresholds enable the
scholar to highlight the changing
priorities of regeneration interventions in
terms of physical, social and economic
actions.
From another point of view, the
classification of urban transformations can
be based on the scale of the intervention.
This approach is useful in comparing
interventions with similar characteristics
and, therefore, similar issues. In order to
follow these criteria, the crucial point of
analysis consists in defining meaningful
thresholds to classify regeneration
interventions. For instance, in the Turin
case study, a minimum surface of 50,000
square metres was set for the consideration
of urban interventions. This type of
classification also explains whether the
regeneration processes and policies in
question could have urban, regional or
even national consequences and the level
of influence they have on territorial and
social transformations.6
Related to the scale of the regeneration
processes, the stakeholders involved and
their role in the management of the
operations are also interesting criteria for
classifying regeneration interventions.
Public authorities have traditionally been
the main actors in regeneration processes,
where they can play a passive, a
moderately active or a proactive role, thus
fostering change. But monitoring
regeneration interventions all over the
world, especially in the last two decades,
one can see how increasing attention is
being paid to cooperation between public
and private parties. The field of urban
370 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
regeneration is an interesting area of study
because of its relatively recent experience
with such public–private partnerships.
Various forms of urban regeneration
partnerships have been reported in the
literature.7 Classification based on the
actors driving transformations shows how
new organisations have been created in
many countries by public and private
actors who are working together to
stimulate, guide and implement urban
regeneration processes, and how
public-driven regeneration interventions
are giving way to private–public
partnerships.5
A large part of the international
literature on urban regeneration focuses
on the different planning and management
tools available to manage this type of
process. Accordingly, regeneration
operations can also be analysed through
the evolution and implementation of
planning tools from simple zoning plans to
contemporary complex and integrated
programmes.4 In this sense, one can
distinguish two types of development: the
traditional functional zoning plan, which
only indicates which functions to locate in
a specific area and the maximum quantity
of buildings to be raised, compared with
developments conceived through
integrated programmes, which involve also
morphological, social and economic issues.
The integrated approach to regeneration
built up a framework in which public and
private partners work together with the
aim of improving overall urban quality. In
a similar way, transformations can be
mapped following the evolution of urban
policies that have brought urban
transformations from government-led
processes to more complex governance.8
In this case, urban regeneration
developments can be classified according
to the type of partnership involved and,
specifically, depending on whether the
overall strategy is based on a top-down
vision or on a bottom-up approach.
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016)
 Urban regeneration project and their impacts: Case study of Turin
Regeneration interventions are
sometimes focused on specific targets such
as social housing or dismantled industrial
areas, but also public spaces,9 pedestrian
hubs, waterfronts or specific social targets
such as ethnic groups, or social categories
that constitute the beneficiaries of
regeneration processes. Obviously, though
starting out by focusing on a particular
subject, regeneration processes often have
multiple consequences for the whole
urban structure. The General Master Plan
of Turin, for example, focused on the
biggest dismantled areas of the city (almost
ten million square metres) as
transformation areas, here concentrating
the most important regeneration
operations. The original idea of the plan
was that the regeneration of such centrally
located and large areas — which the
abandoned industries were — would act
as a driver of regeneration for the whole
city. Shifts in the target of the regeneration
intervention are helpful for understanding
the changes in urban policies in Western
societies.
RESULTS: THE EVOLUTION OF
URBAN REGENERATION
INTERVENTIONS FROM
PLACE-ORIENTED TO
PEOPLE-ORIENTED
Focusing on area-based urban
regeneration programmes, a close
examination of urban regeneration
interventions through the different
classification methods described in the
previous paragraph clearly shows that
housing programmes are the core of the
regeneration process. Almost all the urban
regeneration processes considered in the
literature review are centred on housing
programmes. For this reason, despite
national and local peculiarities, some
common European trends in social
housing regeneration policies can be
extended across the urban regeneration
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
phenomenon. Studies on three major
European countries — France, Germany
and the Netherlands10 — highlighted
three major periods of post-war housing
regeneration across most of Europe: area
clearance (1945 to early 1970s); housing
renewal and the shifting role of
governments (mid-1970s to mid-1990s);
and integrated policies (mid-1990s to
early 2010s). This historic overview also
demonstrates that urban regeneration has
changed over time from a technical
discipline to a complex process that
integrates an increasing number of aspects
and actors, carrying out activities on
different scales, with a variety of often
similar strategies and methods. Even if
Wassenberg and van Dijke’s research11
does not concern urban regeneration in its
broader sense, but is focused on the field
of housing renewal, the policy orientation
that the research identifies in housing
renewal in deprived areas can be extended
to all types of urban regeneration
interventions. Wassenberg and van Dijke’s
approach is substantial, as it is one of the
first analyses that highlight the evolution
of the urban regeneration phenomenon.
The author states that three types of
policies can be distinguished within any
integrated area-based approach:
— Place-oriented policies aim to create
better places; including physical
measures to regenerate buildings and
the housing stock, to take care of the
urban environment (streets, public
spaces, playgrounds, greens) and to
provide or improve facilities such as
shops, restaurants, pubs, entertainment,
sports and transport to make the area
more attractive for both locals and
outsiders. Renewal policies aiming to
improve the urban public space are
among the most recent examples of the
place-oriented approach. Comparing
two cases studies — Rotterdam and
Dublin — where public space was
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 371
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.
regarded as essential to urban renewal,
specific research shows how
municipalities actively sought to
improve public space with a view to
attracting private investment.9
— Organisation-oriented policies aim to
improve the system and the functioning
of institutions, including improving
management, tuning the horizontal or
vertical organisation and involvement of
residents or the market sector.
Efficiency, collaboration and
partnerships are the main features of
this category. The current shift from the
management of urban transformations
to the governance of the regeneration
processes is the main consequence of
this type of policy. Among the most
recent examples of organisation-
oriented policies is the concept of the
‘Smart City’, promoted by the EU as a
highly effective tool to improve the
interrelation between citizens and
institutions actively supporting
regeneration processes. Aiming towards
the same goal, local governments are
encouraged to develop the European
digital agenda to improve the quality of
life of citizens and businesses through
easy access to online learning
(e-Learning), teaching (e-Education),
administration (e-Government) and
health (e-Health).12
— People-oriented policies focus on better
lives for residents, containing social
measures for individual improvement
(schooling, employment, debt relief,
alcoholism, psychological problems) and
social cohesion measures aimed at
better social relations. Research carried
out in the Netherlands and Denmark8
point out some key success factors for
this type of policy: focusing on the
empowerment of the inhabitants of
specific neighbourhoods, replacing
universalism with targeted policies and
integrating the policies of various
departments and fields.
372 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
Urban regeneration interventions not only
present different strategies and approaches,
but are also characterised by different
methods and actions used to put into
effect the general aims, often through a
participatory bottom-up approach. The
Performance Based Building Thematic
Network (PeBBu)13 identifies five
typologies of actions able to actualise
urban policies: economic development,
physical improvement, environmental
actions, neighbourhood strategy and
training and education.
The research summarises these
typologies of actions into two
measurement categories to understand
better their relationships with overall
strategies.
The first category concerns physical
measures that range from
built-environment improvements to
environmental actions. Physical measures
include all those interventions aimed at
delivering better urban environments,
improving and sustaining the visual
attractiveness of towns and cities and
ensuring more efficient use of land
through new construction, renovation and
maintenance projects. Furthermore, this
category includes the development of
transport infrastructure, car parking and
public transport facilities and road policies.
It can also incorporate environmental
concerns, such as energy, quality of land,
food system, agricultural demands and use
of water systems and mineral resources.
Both built-environment improvement
and environmental actions are usually
linked to complex transformation plans
affecting large geographical areas, with
different actors involved to optimise
economic resources. They are also based
on public initiative and normally do not
require the involvement of citizens except
in the later stages of the design.
The second category deals with
socio-economic measures, including
economic development and social support.
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016)
 Urban regeneration project and their impacts: Case study of Turin
Figure 1: Classification of urban regeneration policies (elaborated by SiTI)
The regeneration process has to be
economically sustainable to achieve its
goals and be successful. Therefore, it has to
increase public investment and attract
private investment while fulfilling both the
economic and social needs of local people.
The PeBBu research13 points out several
specific actions to achieve these goals.
Among them can be cited the most
significant ones, ranging from dealing with
the social and economic issues of transport
projects, to financing and funding
brownfield, engaging the community in
the conception process, as well as tackling
low-demand housing, improving housing
conditions, preventing gentrification,
improving education, training for
in-demand skills, promoting a culture of
enterprise and innovation, and tackling
urban joblessness.
Merging the two types of regeneration
policies and the four typologies of actions
illustrates a clear trend in the evolution of
urban regeneration interventions. Owing
to the economic context — or to a rising
awareness of the complexity of urban
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
ORGANISATION
ORIENTED
(type B)
transformation — place-oriented policies
have progressively given way to
people-oriented approaches. Related to
this phenomenon, it is also possible to
observe that physical actions were the core
of early renewal operations, while social
support actions are the core of more
recent urban regeneration (see Figure 1).
The next challenge will be to look for
a new holistic approach able to combine
physical and socio-economic measures in
urban regeneration strategies.
A PARADIGMATIC CASE STUDY OF
URBAN REGENERATION: TURIN
1995–2015 —THREE GENERATIONS
OF NEIGHBOURHOOD
TRANSFORMATIONS
The evolution process of urban
regeneration intervention theoretically
described in the above paragraphs may be
better understood through the
examination of a paradigmatic case study.
For the relevant size of the areas involved
in the regeneration process, and for the
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 373
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.
wide range of types of regeneration
actions undertaken, Turin’s urban
regeneration has been selected as a
paradigmatic case study.
In the mid-1990s, in order to tackle the
de-industrialisation phenomenon, the City
of Turin started to address the issues of
urban redevelopment and urban
regeneration through the General Urban
Master Plan, approved in 1995. Two key
factors were affecting the transformation of
the city at that time and led to different
intervention strategies. On the one hand,
the crisis of Fordism, which left more than
six million square metres of disused
industrial areas, meant it was necessary to
deal with a large urban ‘emptiness’.
Moreover, investment for the 2006 Olympic
Winter Games gave a further impetus to
urban transformation. A huge amount of
national and transnational resources, both
public and private, was invested in Turin,
and major projects of urban transformation
were developed. The General Master Plan
featured the regeneration of a system of
dismantled industrial areas located close to
the railway that passes through the city.
These areas as a whole are called the ‘Spina
Centrale’ (literally the ‘central backbone’)
because, owing to their extent and central
location, they were seen as structuring the
entire city transformation set out in the
Plan. From 1995, many diverse urban
recovery and regeneration processes were
launched following the Plan’s indications. In
addition, integrated projects to improve
urban quality, to reinforce the social fabric
— either in urban semi-central
neighbourhoods such as Porta Palazzo and
San Salvario or in public housing blocks (by
the means of Urban Recovery Programmes,
Neighbourhood Contracts and Local
Development Actions) — were set up to
rebuild social cohesion in areas where
identity and quality of life conditions were
deteriorating. In this vein, a specific
programme called ‘Progetto Speciale
Periferie’ (Suburbs Special Project) was
374 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
activated in 1997 to intervene in the urban
environment on habitat and structural
settings, and also on social dynamics of
peripheral areas. At the city level, urban
regeneration was triggered by
place-oriented policies through physical
improvements as per the General Master
Plan. Later, in the past decade, the City has
tried to link urban regeneration and
integration policies. Focusing on
people-oriented policies, economic
development and social support tools, the
city is attempting to incorporate an
intercultural and inter-sectoral dimension in
all its policies (housing, labour market, social
services, culture and education, transport,
urban life). The urban question requires a
complex approach: the city is a complex
organisation that needs area-based projects
for regenerating the urban fabric of districts,
but also ‘second generation’ policies focused
on housing to ensure quality of life for
citizens and to achieve an urban quality
standard composed of services, a good
functional mix and good connections.
Representing the most important urban
regeneration interventions carried out in
the city of Turin in the period 1985–2011,
Figures 2 and 3 show the evolution from
mainly physical intervention to much
more integrated approaches, through the
implementation of social and economic
actions.
Among the many regeneration
operations undertaken by the City of
Turin since the approval of the General
Urban Master Plan, three specific actions
have been selected to highlight the
evolution from a mainly physical approach
to an integrated approach. The two first
paradigmatic case studies of urban
transformation in Turin, Spina 2 and San
Salvario, can help in understanding how
urban regeneration operations have
evolved from place-oriented to
people-oriented policies, shifting from
urban transformations mainly concerning
the physical improvement of the city to
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016)
 Urban regeneration project and their impacts: Case study of Turin

Physical improvement

Social and economic support

N
0 1.250 2.500 5.000 Meters Integrated interventions

Figure 2: Urban regeneration interventions in Turin (1985–2015)

operations more focused on social and ‘urban transformation areas’ were

economic support for inhabitants. The
third case study, Urban II — Mirafiori
Nord, represents the latest generation of
urban transformation, which aims to
integrate both physical and
socio-economic actions.
First generation of neighbourhood
transformations: Physical improvement
of ‘Spina 2’
From 1996 to 2000, Turin was trying to
digest the social and economic effects of
deep industrial restructuring and,
consequently, take care of brownfield sites.
Most of the interventions on these
processing areas were decided in the
General Master Plan, in which so-called
designated to regulate the reuse of
brownfield sites and solve the problem of
‘urban voids’. In this sense, the urban
transformation related to the Olympic
Winter Games of 2006 acted as a catalyst
for the acceleration of a set of
transformations that could have been
implemented in a much longer time. First,
those that involved the reuse of former
industrial areas are located along the
so-called ‘Spina’.
The Urban Transformation Programme
on the ‘Spina 2’ area — corresponding to
one of the four areas of the ‘Spina
Centrale’ — was approved in 1998. The
entire project aimed at the regeneration of
dismantled industrial areas by burying the
railway and redeveloping urban spaces.

䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 375
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.
Physical improvement
Social and economic support
N N
0 1.250 2.500 5.000 Meters Integrated interventions
Figure 3: Four main stages from a physical to an integrated approach in Turin’s urban regeneration
The Spina 2 masterplan is characterised by
a model similar to traditional boulevards,
where the central part caters for private
and public vehicle transport, while the
sides are car parks and green areas. Starting
from 2000, new functions were located in
this area in accordance with the General
Master Plan: the new Porta Susa railway
station, the expansion of the courthouse in
the former prison next to it, the
skyscraper designed by Renzo Piano to
host the Intesa Sanpaolo Banking
headquarters, an exhibition space in the
former Railway Workshops (OGR), the
university campus established by doubling
the size of the Polytechnic’s buildings, a
Media Village for the 2006 Winter
Olympic Games (now converted into a
university residential campus), as well as
important housing developments. The new
Porta Susa railway station, redesigned as
376 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal
Physical improvement
Social and economic support
0 1.250 2.500 5.000 Meters Integrated interventions
modal interchange on three levels with
the aim of reinforcing Turin’s rail hub, can
be considered the symbol of the
transformation of the whole area.
The nearly 40,000 square metres of
housing development built in the area of
Spina 2 represent a significant portion of
the 200,000 square metres of new
residences planned for the Spina as whole.
Studies based on the Real Estate
Observatory of Turin,14 highlight how the
huge amount of moderately priced new
housing developments constructed on the
‘Spina’ held down the prices of the whole
new housing market. In conclusion, the
‘Spina 2’ programme, aimed mainly at
physical improvement, generated urban
vitality in the area, combining strongly
with surface transport — with the railway
station and with the subway — and also
creating a functional and visual axis at
Vol. 9, 4, 367–380 䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016)
 Urban regeneration project and their impacts: Case study of Turin
‘Corso Mediterraneo/Castelfidardo’,
which forms an important connection
between the area of Spina 2 and the urban
context of Turin.
Second generation of neighbourhood
transformations: Social and economic
support of the ‘Agenzia di Sviluppo
Locale: San Salvario’
The ‘Agency for Local Development’,
formally established in the neighbourhood
of San Salvario in 2003, is a perfect
example of people-oriented urban
regeneration through social and economic
support action. Local development action
for urban regeneration acts as a trigger for
regeneration processes through local
development, the redevelopment of public
space, tackling social exclusion and
supporting the process of integration of
new residents and active citizenship. Local
actions are financed through ordinary
funds of the municipal administration and
are promoted and implemented by the
agencies, committees and local associations
with the cooperation of the municipality.
The Agency for Local Development in
San Salvario started in 2003 when —
despite the influence of the Olympic
Games in bringing investment for the
rehabilitation of areas and buildings in
critical condition — a lack of major
economic public investment was causing a
stalemate in urban transformation, which
persists to this day. The San Salvario
neighbourhood has been characterised,
since the 1990s, by a high percentage of
foreign citizens, densely populated and
with a high concentration of commercial
activities, restaurants, hotels and craft
shops. The multi-ethnic character of the
neighbourhood is clearly visible; the
presence in the same neighbourhood of a
Waldensian temple, a synagogue and a
mosque next to several Catholic churches
is very significant. Owing to the massive
presence of illegal immigration and to a
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
widespread drug trade, the San Salvario
neighbourhood was affected by urban,
social and commercial decay. The
programme of the Agency for Local
Development of San Salvario, a non-profit
organisation that aims to improve the
quality of life by acting through the social,
economic, environmental and cultural
actions is organised into four main fields
of action: the first relates to the built
environment through redevelopment of
public and private spaces; the second
concerns economic and commercial
development to incentivise the
establishment of new businesses and to
facilitate the allocation of funding; the
third looks at social development and
training for development initiatives; and
the fourth is focused on cultural planning
and communication.
Concerning the built environment, a
handbook on how to maintain residential
buildings is published by the Agency. This
handbook explains how to improve the
quality of living, through tips on materials
and techniques appropriate to buildings
from the 19th century, highlighting
degradation factors and preventative
interventions to raise inhabitants’
awareness of the preservation of heritage
buildings.
The Agency also helps to manage the
‘Regeneration Plan’ (PRU — Piano di
Recupero Urbano) for the revitalisation of
two courtyards in Via Nizza. This Plan
involves the use of microsurgical urban
operations to start a transformation of
urban neighbourhoods from the inside.
This process of urban regeneration, still
active, has so far produced positive results,
reaping satisfaction among citizens.
The Agency works with the San
Salvario community in economic support
actions such as ‘Accedo’, for the business
improvement of economic and
commercial activities already established or
yet to come to Via Nizza.
The ‘Casa del Quartiere’, a sort of
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 377
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.
neighbourhood centre, was created by the
same Agency, to both host and develop
cultural and social activities. Located in an
early 20th-century refurbished former
public baths, it promotes social gathering
and cultural communication between
different ages and cultures.
The main objectives of the Agency were
generally achieved by limiting the
phenomenon of gentrification,
strengthening the ethnic identity of the
neighbourhood, including actions in the
poorer segments as much as possible, and
promoting social cohesion. Finally, the
active involvement of local people is
essential, by interacting with them from
the early stages of projects and
maintaining a continuing relationship
during the implementation phase, while
also encouraging an understanding of the
initiatives undertaken.
Third generation of neighbourhood
transformations: The integrated
approach of ‘Urban II — Mirafiori Nord’
Adopted in 2001 by the city of Turin, the
Urban programme was promoted and
financed by the European Union to
encourage development and improve the
quality of life in the former industrial
neighbourhood of Mirafiori, in the
southern suburbs of Turin. To tackle the
effects of the deindustrialisation process,
funding was directed towards interventions
to initiate processes of social, physical and
economic transformation. The innovative
features of the initiative are the integrated
approach, the management of programmes
at the local level, involvement of residents
and well-defined response times.
Within the area considered, there is a
coexistence of different forms of
settlement: workers’ houses, private houses
and quality residential complexes. The area
was characterised by several critical
socio-economic issues: a high rate of
unemployment, low qualifications; high
378 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
aging ratio; low level of school attendance;
poor social cohesion; and strong sense of
isolation from the metropolitan context.
The urban context was also seriously
degraded and polluted. All these reasons
made Mirafiori Nord an area ripe for
intervention, through measures to
promote integration, rehabilitation and
enhancement. Covering approximately
25,000 inhabitants and an area of over two
million square metres, the transformation
programme was defined along three main
axes as per the guidelines issued by the
European Commission. The Green Axis
concerned physical recovery and
environmental sustainability; the Blue Axis
aimed to create knowledge and
infrastructures for economic development;
the Red Axis focused on social
integration, cultural growth and tackling
social exclusion. Concerning physical
recovery and environmental sustainability
(Green Axis), the main planned
interventions consisted of the
rehabilitation and reuse of historic
abandoned buildings (Cascina
Roccafranca), promoting recycling,
improvement in terms of quality and
liveability of public spaces (piazza Livio
Bianco), and a rethink on mobility (along
the artery of Corso Tazzoli–Via
Gaidano–Via Dina) by promoting
alternative transport and reducing vehicle
traffic. The Blue Axis helped to support
actions geared towards starting new
businesses, training projects and coaching
to access the labour market. The Red Axis
set up a community centre, participative
public art initiatives, as well as a project to
promote the neighbourhood’s memory
and culture.
The Urban II programme for Mirafiori
Nord ended in 2009 and can be
considered a paradigmatic case of the
integrated approach, as it involves several
types of transformation, including physical,
economic, social and cultural. The
regeneration — driven by a large and
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016)
 Urban regeneration project and their impacts: Case study of Turin
diverse partnership — succeeded in
engaging a large part of the population,
resulting in a positive image and broad
visibility.
The three paradigmatic case studies
proposed reflect a more general
phenomenon. Urban transformations
characterised mainly by physical
interventions often led to social
segregation. This happens because renewed
neighbourhoods attract wealthier people,
inducing a rise in housing costs and
therefore the departure of lower-class
inhabitants. But urban interventions
focused on social and economic policies
aiming to counteract social inequalities and
foster social cohesion often have no impact
on the built environment or urban space. In
an effort to improve the social, economic
and physical environment, a new approach
to urban transformation is gaining traction:
holistic urban regeneration.
CONCLUSION: TOWARDS A HOLISTIC
APPROACH
Urban regeneration is well defined by
Francesco Musco15 as an integrated policy
promoted by a partnership of public and
private stakeholders, aimed at
comprehensive, long-lasting and holistic
renewal of degraded urban areas from a
wide range of points of view (physical,
environmental, social and economic). That
is why strategic and tactical principles for
a new generation of urban regeneration
policies and programmes are very much
needed, especially as ambitious outcomes
in term of social equity, economic balance,
cultural identity and city prestige are
expected to enhance urban quality of life
through urban regeneration programmes.
The term ‘regeneration’ is usually
related to the idea of urban decline and to
the opportunity of economic and social
interventions. But what if urban
regeneration were considered a response
to new requirements expressed by today’s
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1752-9646 (2016) Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
industrial and commercial system? This is
particularly evident in the changing of
spatial pattern in areas that have shifted
from a manufacturing-based system to an
economy centred on mass distribution and
new technologies, such as the area of
Spina 3 in Turin.15 In that sense, Vincenzo
Meo4 has stressed how regeneration
should also aim for land-saving and
tackling urban sprawl. Hence, in his
opinion, regeneration processes should
involve not only substituting parts of the
city, but also densifying and improving the
compactness of the city fabric.4 Having
been area based, then target oriented,
nowadays the common tendency in urban
regeneration policies is their ‘holistic’
approach, ie addressing physical, social and
economic issues together16 as a
combination of several horizontal policies
— physical, social, economic, ecological,
cultural, psychological, financial and others
— depending on the local context.
Furthermore, in the last decade, after the
focus on social and economic features, and
not only on the physical dimension of
urban transformation processes, two more
key areas have been added to urban
agenda in order to improve liveability in
cities: integration and safety. At the same
time, the decentralisation of budgets for
urban transformation from national
governments to municipalities and
provinces, but also to private stakeholders,
is engendering a more tailor-made
approach, increasingly dependent on the
local context.17 This is one of the reasons
why, throughout Europe, urban policies
for deprived areas have become
increasingly concerned with issues of
ethno-cultural diversity and segregation. In
the last few years, the intercultural issue
has become well established, resulting in a
large number of practices and projects
explicitly targeting immigrants in
particularly difficult conditions and based
on the notion of dialogue, mutual
exchange and social interaction.
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 379
Barosio, Eynard, Marietta, Marra, et al.
In conclusion, physical, social and
economic issues of urban regeneration
seem to be strongly related, but their
relationship may engender unexpected
consequences. An interesting analysis of
Rotterdam’s case study draws on the
economic and social values connected to
urban regeneration.17 Focusing on
spatial-economic issues, this study reveals
potential conflicts between the social value
and market value of regeneration
interventions. This specific case study
shows how much a holistic approach is
needed in defining and assessing complex
urban regeneration operations.
The concept of the holistic approach
can be upgraded following Breese’s thesis
on urban regeneration.18 Breese states
that, even when a particular social group,
or a particular theme, might be the
primary focus of a regeneration
programme, all dimensions come into play
in the delivery of the programme, so the
design and management of regeneration
activity need to take account of all the
operational dimensions. In this sense,
operational dimensions, which are
inherent in any human activity, and which
are of particular relevance to the delivery
of public services, help to make sense of
the complexity of the context within
which regeneration programmes take
place, and they are therefore a good
starting point for a holistic approach: the
new challenge for urban regeneration.
References and Notes
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agreement 278173. SOPHIE aims to generate new
380 Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal Vol. 9, 4, 367–380
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