Children-Oriented Urban Regeneration: An Inclusive Co-design Approach for the Italian Recovery Processes

Italy is a country highly vulnerable to natural disasters and their effects have been amplified by climate change. Moreover, its inner areas are undergoing a process of depopulation, population ageing and financial marginalisation. Post-emergency urban regeneration (fast-track project), however, has been done mainly from a financial perspective and in some cases seen as an opportunity to build back better, responding to the complex issues of ecological and digital transition. So, how can regeneration processes answer the complex questions of equity, collaboration, health and green spaces? The complexity of these processes can be approached by simplifying the target, narrowing it down to the most sensitive segment of the population in terms of perceptions, health, responsiveness and justice: children. Using child-oriented indicators then means promoting gender equality and creating more sustainable and inclusive regeneration projects. In this framework, individual citizens, associations and networks are more effective and ready to intervene and collaborate with administrations (open government) than national policies that struggle to translate general guidelines into place-based projects. Collaboration also means networking different competences involving several dimensions of citizens’ well-being. This work aims to orient existing methodologies for regeneration to the gaze of children, playing an active role in co-design processes, with a free, intuitive, inclusive vision and ensuring that the city is truly a right for all. The research is the result of inter-disciplinary work that seeks to promote an integrated vision of design through experimentation in four areas: urbanism and architecture, social science, inhabitable nature and health, and engaging graphics.