Territories of culture between regeneration and social innovation. An Italian experimentation

Abstract

Once reactivated and integrated within urban networks and services, cultural heritage can become a driving force for Social Innovation, a place of culture, which is given back to collective life and returns to be considered a common good. Among the urban regeneration processes – which identify the city as the field of action of Social Innovation – the reflection focuses on the reuse of abandoned cultural assets, present in various small and medium-sized realities with high artistic and cultural value. In this context, the research aims at providing theoretical premises and meta-design prefigurations, with reference to European addresses and good practices. In closing, the paper illustrates the outcome of an experimentation on the Italian territory.