Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)

Some cities or neighborhoods with a specific socio-economic vocation suffer the phenomenon of change and abandonment, which generates socio-functional and economic redefinitions. This has also happened to the city of Bologna which, over the last 150 years, has experienced a rapid process of economic...

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Main Author: Filippo Pistocchi
Format: Article
Language:Portuguese
Published: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco 2019-07-01
Series:Revista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais
Subjects:
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufpe.br/revistas/index.php/revistamseu/article/view/240794
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author Filippo Pistocchi
author_facet Filippo Pistocchi
author_sort Filippo Pistocchi
collection DOAJ
description Some cities or neighborhoods with a specific socio-economic vocation suffer the phenomenon of change and abandonment, which generates socio-functional and economic redefinitions. This has also happened to the city of Bologna which, over the last 150 years, has experienced a rapid process of economic development, moving from a primary sector economy to a economy based on the industry, to then end up with the most advanced specializations in the tertiary sector. Thus, industries and factories (which had attracted a substantial national workforce) were closed. This has produced the formation of numerous «urban voids», which have turned into abandoned and degraded areas, such as in the Bolognina neighborhood. The consequence was initially the abandonment by the resident population: dwellings remained empty were subsequently occupied by new arrived inhabitants. At first this transition generated contrasts between the pre-existing citizens and the new ones. For this reason, the municipal administration has initiated a series of interventions, aimed on the one hand at the regeneration of the neighborhood in its ethno-socio-economic peculiarities, on the other at the refunctionalization of abandoned areas, to the point of generating a partial process of gentrification. With reference to the territorial Municipality data and according to some published essays and field researches through the Bolognina neighborhood (site inspections and conversation with residents), this article confirms the idea that urban gentrification, urban transition, and urban regeneration are territorial processes in opposition to each other. Each of them can have characteristics and features that are appearently typical of the others, but which, taking shape in a particular territory, are complex geographical phenomena.
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spelling doaj-art-995240c32a55477c9d421b60bb6a20122025-08-20T02:27:49ZporUniversidade Federal de PernambucoRevista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais2238-80522019-07-018110.51359/2238-8052.2019.240794Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)Filippo Pistocchi0Adjunct Professor of Political and Economic Geography (BA) and of Geography (MA) at the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna - ItalySome cities or neighborhoods with a specific socio-economic vocation suffer the phenomenon of change and abandonment, which generates socio-functional and economic redefinitions. This has also happened to the city of Bologna which, over the last 150 years, has experienced a rapid process of economic development, moving from a primary sector economy to a economy based on the industry, to then end up with the most advanced specializations in the tertiary sector. Thus, industries and factories (which had attracted a substantial national workforce) were closed. This has produced the formation of numerous «urban voids», which have turned into abandoned and degraded areas, such as in the Bolognina neighborhood. The consequence was initially the abandonment by the resident population: dwellings remained empty were subsequently occupied by new arrived inhabitants. At first this transition generated contrasts between the pre-existing citizens and the new ones. For this reason, the municipal administration has initiated a series of interventions, aimed on the one hand at the regeneration of the neighborhood in its ethno-socio-economic peculiarities, on the other at the refunctionalization of abandoned areas, to the point of generating a partial process of gentrification. With reference to the territorial Municipality data and according to some published essays and field researches through the Bolognina neighborhood (site inspections and conversation with residents), this article confirms the idea that urban gentrification, urban transition, and urban regeneration are territorial processes in opposition to each other. Each of them can have characteristics and features that are appearently typical of the others, but which, taking shape in a particular territory, are complex geographical phenomena.https://periodicos.ufpe.br/revistas/index.php/revistamseu/article/view/240794city centreurban regenerationneighborhoodinclusionBolognina
spellingShingle Filippo Pistocchi
Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)
Revista Movimentos Sociais e Dinâmicas Espaciais
city centre
urban regeneration
neighborhood
inclusion
Bolognina
title Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)
title_full Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)
title_fullStr Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)
title_full_unstemmed Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)
title_short Geographical transition of urban areas. When regeneration not necessarily means gentrification. A case study from Bologna (Italy)
title_sort geographical transition of urban areas when regeneration not necessarily means gentrification a case study from bologna italy
topic city centre
urban regeneration
neighborhood
inclusion
Bolognina
url https://periodicos.ufpe.br/revistas/index.php/revistamseu/article/view/240794
work_keys_str_mv AT filippopistocchi geographicaltransitionofurbanareaswhenregenerationnotnecessarilymeansgentrificationacasestudyfrombolognaitaly