City of Proximity: A Participative Methodology to Evaluate and Regenerate Residual and Underused Urban Areas

This paper returns the first stages of preliminary investigation for a research path that involved the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Kore University in Enna, the Interateneo Department of Science, Design and Territorial Policies of the Polytechnic University of Turin and the Department of Architecture of Roma Tre University. The proposed research pathway, still in its early stages, is aimed at the definition and the application of a methodology to select the most suitable and effective locations to perform local urban transformations on abandoned, residual, unused, and underused places. The purpose is to provide local communities with services that are not available on a small scale, to achieve the realization of the x-minute city model or the neighborhood city. The realization of an x-minute city model accomplishes several Missions of Italian NRRP, especially in relation to Sustainable Mobility, Inclusion and Cohesion, and Health. It encompasses the reduction of daily distances, the decongestion of main urban roads, which contribute to decarbonization, and the improvement of citizens’ well-being by realizing a human-scale environment. The final result of the research project will be achieved through the application of logic, tools, and methods drawn from the field of appraisal. They will allow considering at the same time multiple and heterogeneous variables and endogenous/exogenous characteristics, synthesizing them into indicators for global evaluation. After outlining the structure, path, objectives and expected results of the research, the paper tries to outline the outcomes of the preliminary investigations.