From 17th to 20th November 2020 will take place the 17th edition of “Urbanpromo Progetti per il Paese“. The event, in addition to framing social housing in the great theme of the urban regeneration, develops further variations of this current imperative.


Regeneration of abandoned public spaces through expressions of active citizenship is a session curated by the Cariplo Foundation. In various cities we are seeing the engagement of citizens who come together to promote cultural and social activities using abandoned urban spaces. As a result of this, in many cases these spaces become centers of cultural production and trigger points for urban regeneration processes. Among the numerous experiences started, some are selected for their ability to answer fundamental questions: what is the cultural project? What is the relationship between the cultural project and public real estate? What is the administrative tool used to grant the public good to private entities? Which is the economic model that supports the project? What is the capacity of the initiative to produce effects on the reference territory?

Disused real estate complexes, in particular publicly owned ones, offer the opportunity to carry out incisive interventions on the urban form, quality of life and economic development, with projects that can change the face of the city. The presentation of the projects that are sparking important urban redevelopment processes makes known the investment opportunities that open up in our cities, the evolutionary trends of the real estate markets, the urban and architectural solutions adopted in problematic contexts, the forms of financing and management that are emerging.

Other themes are proposed and developed within the ample peculiar partnership of Urbanpromo.

Despite the difficult situation in the sector, Confcommercio Imprese per l’Italia confirms its participation in Urbanpromo. Confcommercio’s presence is motivated by the awareness that the presence of companies operating in commerce, tourism, services and transport is essential for the vitality of the city. After the previous editions of Urbanpromo, that have made known the urban regeneration design laboratories activated by Confcommercio in many cities, in the post Covid 19 cities, that reorganize an important line of thought, food sees an important way to reinvigorate the territories and the city.

Territory, food of the city“. In the context of the general theme just mentioned, for its specificity, a focus deserves the requalification of covered markets: Porta Palazzo in Torino (Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo), Mercato Comunale Certosa in Genova (Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo), Piazzale Ferrara in Milano (Cariplo). These experiences allow us to question about the development of one of the fundamental contexts for sustainability and the quality of life, that is the relationship “territory, food and city”.

International conference. “The new communities and the strategic value of knowledge. How cognitive processes can motivate politics, guarantee the usefulness of the plan, offer a way out to the emergency “. Conference based on a call for papers, created in collaboration with the Urbanistica and Planum magazines. The abstracts submission phase has ended. For the accepted abstracts, the deadline for submitting papers is 20 September 2020.

The current priorities of the Regions in the government of the territory: urban regeneration and contrast of the land consumption. The measures that the Regions are taking to direct and make the action of municipal urban planning tools incisive. INU renews the periodic occasion for a dialogue with the Regions.

The last two editions of Urbanpromo that took place in Milan had an important moment in the exchange of experiences and views between the Planning Councilors of numerous Italian cities. We intend to renew the initiative by submitting to the evaluation of the councilors the proposals of INU to make urban regeneration programs effective.

The role of culture in promoting urban requalification processes has multiple forms: the protagonism of museums and cultural institutions, the historical-architectural and landscape resources of cities, brands and promotion networks following the example of Unesco Creative Cities, activating tools such as integrated culture plans for the enhancement of cultural assets and activities, innovation and social growth.

Cities with a port have unique opportunities and problems. For their institutional competences, the Port System Authorities deal with a space – the port- which is intermediate between the terrestrial system and the marine system. The settings and methodologies adopted to draw up the port town plans are relevant not only for their contents, but also for their interdependencies with the city planning. The cruise terminals, their role and their prospects deserve a focus, as an outpost of the port in the city.

Sustainable development strategies for mountain areas” is a theme that Urbanpromo intends to develop in collaboration with UNCEM. The initiative returns, with insights, on some issues at the center of the conference “The government of the mountain territory in the European area“, organized by INU in Riva del Garda on the occasion of its 2019 National Congress. In particular, we want to place the emphasis on innovative initiatives promoted to combat depopulation by leveraging forms of sustainable local economic development. Examples include the Ager project on mountain agriculture (16 banking foundations, Cariplo leader) and the AttivAree project for the enhancement of resources in internal areas (Fondazione Cariplo).

The Adriatic city is a long linear conurbation that crosses, in more or less continuous ways, five regions: Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise. Originally, the Urbanpromo program intended to address, for all its extension, planning themes such as sea crossings, areas of the former colonies, the beach belt, stations of the metropolitan transport system and port management. The long lockdown did not allow us to develop these themes for the entire Adriatic coast. A first exploration regards the Adriatic city of Romagna and Marche.

The Association of the Cities of Wine pays particular attention to the planning of the wine growing areas, which aims to enhance the synergistic relationship between the quality of the territory with the quality of the wine. For over twenty years, its “Guidelines for the enhancement of wine-growing areas in urban planning” have guided the development of urban plans. The updating of the “Guidelines” aims to direct planning tools towards promoting the excellence of the territories.

Urbanpromo Giovani. Preparatory seminar for the 2021 Contest and the related final Workshop. The seminar will be streamed with various university locations.

Finally Urbanpromo will host one of the conferences that make up the celebrative program for the 90th anniversary of the INU. These are conferences that merge the political and cultural commitment of the Institute on issues that are relevant today with the themes that characterize its history as a body of high culture and technical coordination.