Innovation in the regeneration of the historic centers in Sicily: Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (Me) Giuseppe Gangemi | Giuseppe Gangemi

THE CASE OF BARCELLONA POZZO DI GOTTO IN SICILY The recent history of urban planning of the city of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, after a troubled gestation period that begins with a contest for PRG in 1963, begins with the approval of the General Urban Plan of 1979. The approved plan, after the disruption of the one presented by the designers from the City Council, provides a capacity of population of 88,000 inhabitants, with an increase of 53,000 in twenty years compared to 35,000 inhabitants previously existing . The residential areas undertake a total of 530 hectaresof land, of which 18 hectares of the historical center with 4,000 inhabitants, 312 hectares of area B (existing city, largely free of buildings) for 57,000 inhabitants and 200 hectares of areas of unnecessary building expansion for about 27,000 inhabitants. The rules for the “Zone A” provide just "transformation". The title itself states very clearly the way in which historic buildings has to be “transformed” – nor protected neither restaured: the "transformation" refers to the number of elevations, the maximum height, the minimum distance, the setback distance. There is nothing else ; not even a word about the protection and preservation of historic urban fabric and artefacts, some of which has got an high architectural value. The 2007 P.R.G of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in Sicily, is based on a residential capacity of 47,000 people for the next twenty years, with an increase of around 5,000 people over the initial 42.000 (Barcelona is one of the few cities with a population balance also active in the last decade). The total of 47,000 inhabitants are spread over 300 hectares; then 230 hectares less than the PUG from the previous year. The provision of areas of building expansion has been to eliminate about 110 hectares from the previous one. Instead of the containment of building areas, there has greatly increased the public areas for equipment, services and parks (+ 179%), as well as production activities (+ 103%). The overall population density of the old territorial PUG was 15 inhabitants/ha, while in the new P.U.G. has a value of 8 ab / ha. If the dimensional comparison between old and new town plan, although briefly, prefigures a scenario of urban and land use characterized by the containment and savings of the soil resource, the comparison between the extent and residential capacity in the historical center (zone A) between the two urbanistic instrumemts , states with equal evidence the philosophy of rehabilitation and restoration of existing buildings: in the old PUG the historical center was extended 18 hectares with a population capacity of about 4,000 inhabitants ; in the new PUG it extends 86 hectares and assumes a capacity of 11,600 inhabitants and a population density of 135 inhabitants / ha. Therefore, the additional processing for the recovery of historic centers, which are exposed here in summary, seek to adapt the general urban development plan, the new PUG, without resorting to the traditional processing of the detailed plan. It is believed that this Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto is one of the first applications in which a conclusion has been reached with the guidelines and directives contained in the regional regulation; hence the experimental nature of this project, which will allow the direct intervention in the historic center (building permit without the prior urban preventive intervention , or subject to executive detailed plan). So the City Council intended to take the most innovative aspects regarding the regulation of territorial government for the recovery of the historical center, proposing an application that is still new and original, but offers all the prerequisites regulations, technical and spatial policy because his methodology is applicable to all general urban plans, and then to all town centers.