Civic design per una nuova urbanità responsabile

What is the meaning and the role of urban planning and design in the context of the global change? The answer to the question can be partially found in those practices that have most highlighted the ability of spatial design to synthesize heterogeneous and sometimes conflicting environmental and social demands, functional needs and urban materials. On the theoretical level, the contribution resumes the concepts of “capital design” (Crane, 1960) and “civic design” (Scott Brown, 1990), proposing to integrate them in order to identify a specific area of urban design with a strong public direction, which, in the light of contemporary needs (summarized in four pairs of keywords: sustainable-resilient, green-healthy, liveable-inclusive and smart-creative) can act as a design paradigm at the service of a new “responsible urbanity”.