A Participatory Design. The Near Future of Quality Public Space Planning

Public spaces are essential elements for ensuring the psycho-physical well-being of residents. They are places of citizenship rights, helping to build a sense of community, civic and cultural identity, and acting as catalysts for economic development and new models of community interaction. The post-pandemic era has significantly reinforced the role and meaning of public space, highlighting the need to develop new design approaches for its use, along with the creation of new interactions between space and the body. Given the disorder and uncertainty left by the pandemic period, the proposed contribution, drawing from the “Torino Cambia” initiative by the City of Turin, with the “FUORI—The Public Exterior of the City” project (supported by the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo as part of the second edition of the Next Generation We call for proposals), brings to light a virtuous form of a participatory process aimed at drafting a project for the urban regeneration of Piazza Crispi, a public space in the Barriera di Milano district of Turin. The City of Turin, with the intention of putting the voice and uses of residents at the center, alongside the expertise of municipal professionals and technicians, aimed to develop and adopt participatory tools to redefine the concept of public space in the post-pandemic era and subsequently define possible guidelines for the design of the area transformation. The goal is to efficiently use both material and immaterial resources and ensure that everyone has the right to live in a cohesive and high-quality public city.