Città storica, welfare urbano e fruizione degli spazi pubblici. Firenze

In past times, Italian historical cities have been able to synthesize the Vitruvian concept of aesthetics and the Vulgar one of social life. How can we elegantly integrate sanitary facilities respecting people, urban context and environment? How can we promote collective use of spaces, innovation and welfare around cultural heritage in the historical city, the city of differences? Usually described simply as neutral spaces and technological systems, sanitary facilities are shared spaces able to change the way human bodies and communities meet. They are spaces where gender, culture, religion, hygiene, health, environmental issues and economy are physically expressed. In contemporary houses, there is vibrant creativity around restroom design. On the other hand, this same space as a public service has to face the lack of design effort, generating dull volumes that encourage neglect and decay. It is necessary to rethink the city as a democratic, ethical, and aesthetic place, starting from the design of these spaces: a service for all, full of choices and meanings. Decisions on their shape and location can generate opportunities for socialization and civic care of urban spaces, they can enrich the debate about universal design and the concept of privacy. The chosen technologies to build, manage, maintain and cover them can face the topic of sustainability positively and educationally. These are criticalities and possibilities that grow when public space and sustainable development overlap with the complexity of the Italian historic city and the necessity to preserve site integrity. To have a dialogue between the historical city and its inhabitants’ needs it seems necessary to merge these reflections in a new model for the stratified cities like Florence, generating new guiding tools for public administration (PNRR Mission 1).