Civic activation experience for the requalification of “lungomare” in Naples: the award “La Convivialità Urbana [Urban Conviviality]”

Abstract

The award “La Convivialità Urbana [Urban Conviviality]” is promoted in order to support a participated architecture characterized by a project approach and methodology that comprehend not only urban aspects of the place, but also economic and social, cutting down multidisciplinary walls, contaminating knowledge and creating new models of sharing and cooperation for a sustainable urban requalification process. Focus of this presenting paper is the interpretation of the experience of the award “Urban Conviviality” as opportunity to reflect on best practice within approaches of civic activation, even if necessarily distinguished by the prescribed initiatives in the field of participation search shows that this shift goes hand-in-hand with a review of the integration policies in the country. The politics of integration correspond in fact to a policy response to various social problems (such as discrimination, racism, intolerance. Lens through which is possible to trigger bottom-up initiatives as support to institutional activities, the civic activation becomes nodal point for creating critical mass necessary to construct a good base for the pursuit of community widespread interests. The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact that the award has had in achieving community interest and activate synergies related to the issue of waterfront. This experience is meaningful because it has been registered a continuity in the participation, local community interest and relevance of year-by-year selected themes; each of them could catch and interpret the current socio-politic emergences. Calling young professions and local community to develop and evaluate urban requalification proposals for their city, has trigged a circle of critical mass, debates, meeting and growing awareness related to urban, social and economic issue.