Rethinking urban habitat: the green challenge in planning experimentation for building reuse in the city of Prato

How Municipalities will be able to overcome technical barriers in addressing urban revitalization implementing more sustainable planning policy? The involvement of research institutes and the support of universities as driver of co-design process represents a key success factor in the preliminary phases of recovery interventions within the delicate systems of existing districts and disused industrial areas. The need to think about best strategies of reuse and regeneration before the formulation of fully defined projects is clear. Universities can guide public administration to achieve these goals in complex contexts, also encouraging partnerships with private or public investors. The paper presents the experience shared with Municipality of Prato intervening in a dense of overlap of productive, residential, and social fabric, and obtaining the honourable mention from the Common European Sustainable Built Environment Assessment in the category of developing retrofitting projects in 2019. These processes fostered participation in PINQUA national programme, to support Social housing retrofitting actions and revitalization of urban space to implement well-being and quality of life. Municipality of Prato uses building recovery as a tool for change supported by sociology, architecture, and art, based on the awareness that environmental sustainability can only take place if integrated with circular economy and urban resilience