Urban regeneration: examples and best practices from Europe and the world

Hoped for, discussed at all levels and often invoked as a possible panacea for all the ills afflicting the suburbs, urban regeneration is one of the hottest topics of the present. In fact, we live in increasingly dense cities – Milan is a good example, with its 106.7 square kilometers of urban area already built up out of a total of 181.8 – where it becomes vital to recycle whatever has already been built by converting and redeveloping degraded or disused sites: abandoned factories, disused railroad yards, office complexes that are no longer functional, and much else. The phenomenon is certainly not new. In fact it can be said to be as old as the city, since makeovers of the existing have been a common practice since ancient times. There is no shortage of historical examples, from Victorian London to Baron Haussmann's Paris.  

Urban regeneration today goes hand in hand with sustainability in most cases. The recovery of disused structures and already built spaces involves the use of eco-friendly materials and renewable energy resources. There is, however, a downside: the real risk that these processes, generally applied to outer-city areas that are not very attractive as real estate, will rapidly increase the value of houses and land, pushing the most vulnerable sections of the original population even further out. This is stressed by the sociologist Giovanni Semi in his latest book Breve manuale per una gentrificazione carina (Mimesis). Semi adopts an antiphrastic approach to the issue. The other side of regeneration is “that belt of neglected development, where the expulsions generated by regeneration/gentrification end. If rents rise or available housing shrinks, where do those who lived in the regenerated areas go?” In short, what are the requirements of a regeneration project in order to be good and not simply charming? “Actually, we should ask ourselves above all who it is good for,” Semi explains. “If an area were redeveloped so as to make it cheaper, rich in services, open to use and accessible by everyone, then I would consider it positive.” So let's see what is happening outside Italy and the strategies being adopted in some large European and extra-European cities.  

Copenhagen, first in the class

The Danish capital is one of the most advanced cities when it comes to environmental sustainability. It has long topped the rankings of the “greenest” and “smartest” cities, and is on its way to becoming the world’s first zero-emission city. Its most significant projects in recent years included redevelopment of the old port of Nordhavn, one of Copenhagen's historic sites, with large factory buildings occupied by past industries, later disused, and the berths for ships. This area has been radically redeveloped to a masterplan by COBE architects and today houses a new, vital quarter of the city that retains its links with the sea and the most recognizable elements of the former docklands. A more recent example is Fælledby, begun in 2019, which will redevelop a site previously used as a landfill not far from the center of Copenhagen by building a new neighborhood based on harmonious coexistence between the inhabitants and nature. The all-timber development designed by Henning Larsen seeks to preserve the microclimate and local fauna with the inclusion of numerous green spaces, and even shelters for birds and bats integrated into the facades of the buildings.  

Barcelona, the pioneer

The so-called “Barcelona model” has been setting the standard since the 1990s, especially with regard to urban planning policies in seaports. As another example of the redevelopment of docklands, its waterfront is still one of the most widely studied and copied cases. Here, the most celebrated urban regeneration project (recipient of the Mies van der Rohe Award Emerging Architecture Prize in 2022) is the La Borda cooperative housing project, built just before the outbreak of the pandemic. The recovery of a disused area in the city center was closely overseen by the 28 members of a cooperative, who then became the inhabitants of the complex, who share a series of amenities and spaces. This is a passive building with active inhabitants, characterized by an exemplary design inspired by Scandinavian models, with great care lavished on the needs of those who work from home, a factor greatly appreciated during the lockdown.