Scali ferroviari, da infrastruttura a risorsa urbana

Of the vast real estate assets of the Ferrovie dello Stato, the Italian railroads, rail yards have represented the most conspicuous, but least visible and valuable part: the rail yards have almost always been the farthest part of the railway area, a more or less extensive barrier. Accommodating highly specialized, morphologically heterogeneous functions, these areas have always been inaccessible, introverted. The rail yards, which were initially developed at the edges of the city, have over time become wedged into the urban structure, which has prevented their expansion and re-organization, accelerating the decline and abandon caused by the profound technological innovation that has radically transformed railway transportation. But various European experiences demonstrate that these areas, which the railroads no longer need, can conversely become a valuable urban resource for the cities that surround them: a “reserve” of space in the heart of the built fabric available to host the functions and facilities necessary to improve urban quality and the range of available services. In various Italian cities, the rail yards have become a focus of design considerations aimed at reclaiming their value for the city, seeking to enhance their potential and to hypothesize configurations that could contribute to the regeneration of the contemporary city, not without some limits and feasibility constraints. The revitalization of rail yards, as spaces for strategic urban regeneration, becomes one of the most interesting themes in the city planning debate about new configurations for cities, but more importantly a significant challenge for planning, that in addition to stitching together the different parts of the city, must be able to retrieve their meaning and their quality