Progettare spazi pubblici nella città storica. Una piazza ecologica e inclusiva a Pavia / Designing Public Spaces in the Historical City. An Ecological and Inclusive Square in Pavia

The open spaces of historic cities can be understood as a vast palimpsest, where historical events have been layered, transformed, erased, interpreted, and rewritten to respond to the needs and aspirations of different periods of habitation. Each intervention has the potential either to conceal or to reveal the traces of previous ones – erasing their presence, reviving them in their original form, reinterpreting them as symbolic signs, or attributing to them renewed meanings. This dynamic is accompanied by the ongoing necessity to design and build for re-inhabitation, adapting to the demands of contemporary society, which today are more diverse and mutable than ever. In the European context, after the sacrifice made on the altar of modernity – when the semantic dimension of public space in historic areas was stripped away to allow vehicular traffic to penetrate ancient urban centers – there is now a renewed recognition of the values of public space. These values encompass identity, memory, inclusiveness, the promotion of new lifestyles, and environmental rebalancing. Squares are once again regaining their historic role as places of transit and encounter, accessible to all inhabitants and users of the city. Within the framework of the DORIAN research project at the University of Pavia, an innovative design approach to public space is being developed. Its objective is to define a new model of urban quality that integrates the symbolic and formal recovery of built heritage with a socially and ecologically sensitive perspective. This approach combines historical knowledge with contemporary insights and technologies, aligning with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Starting from historical reconstruction, surveys of the existing conditions, sociological studies engaging local communities, and environmental analyses, the project aims to produce design scenarios through a research-by-design methodology. These scenarios are intended to provide public administrations with strategic guidelines for shaping policies of public space regeneration. Alongside the theoretical assumptions of the research, the paper presents a regeneration proposal for piazza Berengario in Pavia (located in the south-eastern quadrant of the historic center). Currently used for vehicle transit and parking and lacking formal identity, the square is reimagined through principles of reintroducing nature to mitigate the impacts of climate change, fostering social inclusion by creating accessible spaces for different user groups – particularly vulnerable populations – and enhancing the historic context in which it is embedded.