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Novara's urban plan faces global challenges
Novara's urban plan was assigned by an international competition
to architect Gianfranco Pagliettini in March 2000 and approved by
the City Council in March 2001.
With over than 100,000 in habitants, Novara is the second town of
Piemonte, after the regional capital Torino. The town is located
on the Torino-Milano axis, but a long way from Torino (90Km) and
closer to Milano (35Km). Novara was part of the 'Lombardo-Veneto'
state (whose capital was Milano) until the middle of the 19th century
and also in 20th, and grew towards Milano: actually, it is Piedmontese,
but a satellite of the Milanese metropolitan area.
Context
From certain points of view, this ambiguous status appears positive
in terms of the urban development: it is useful for the main sectors
of local economy, such as publishing (De Agostini), foods (Pavesi
- Barilla), and chemicals (Donegani, Alcoa), while the position
at the crossing point between the north-south continental (Genova-Germania)
and east-west (Lyon-eastern Europe) axis strengthens its role as
exchange centre. On the other hand the town is immediately adjacent
to the north-west plain of rice-cultivation, one of the last agricultural
Italian regions not in decline, in spite of the strategic difficulties
of the market and the contamination from such production, more and
more in conflict with quality requirements of urban life. All these
activities support the whole urban economy: Novara is one of the
few north-west Italian towns not to suffer demographic decline over
the last 30 years.
Perhaps the only structural similarity with the other Italian medium-sized
towns is the dimension. As a matter of fact where other towns have
almost always grown like true urban states since their medieval
role of the 'Liberi Comuni', Novara has always been complementary
to Milano, which has neither supported the growth of autonomy and
urban identity, nor reinforced the central role in its own hinterland.
This non-protagonist condition reveals itself in the same morphology
of the modern town: with a development pattern not sufficiently
aimed at the image and functionality of the new neighbourhoods and
at the urban and rural landscape: an historic centre with fundamental
renewal, expansion along the roads, high density and mostly uniform
typologies, and public spaces often inadequate and lacking in quality.
In spite of this image, the urban functionality appears to be adequate
and the quality of life, according to socio-economic and cultural
indicators, is one of the best of Italy.
Globalisation
But in recent years, suddenly Novara has become aware that the traditional
intermetropolitan relationships, in which it has grown, are changing:
the shock of globalisation is arriving with the effects of large-scale
infrastructure interventions which impinge directly on the town:
- the new intercontinental airport Malpensa 2000 located less
than 25 km from the city (when nearly 50 km from Milano)
- the high speed Lyon-Trieste railway connecting the northern
railway (to Sempione) and the southern railway (to Genova) in
Novara.
The growing demand for space, infrastructure and services for
logistics means that the town has two choices:
- inertia, becoming simply a port centre and definitively a satellite
of Milano.
- assertiveness, assuming a role of new centrality for the mobility
of people and goods in the north west of Italy.
The city is aware that it is not well enough prepared to play
this role:
- the railway facilities and organisation are inadequate
- the accessibility to highways and motorways from the industrial
and logistical areas is inadequate
- the logistical locations and services are inadequate
- the hotel facilities are poor and, overall, the general attractiveness
of the town is low.
Urban plan
Novara's 2000 urban plan tries to meet the challenge at two levels:
the restoration of the historical deficit of urban identity and
territorial centrality and the timing of the regeneration, to be
able to take part in the field of the main European intermodal platforms.
The choice is to profit from the change to find a new dimension
and quality in the main elements of continuity.
The urban plan moves toward the reconstruction of a general outline
of sustainable development by:
- the reorganisation of the traffic system in order to reduce
drastically the transit traffic in the urban central area and
facilitate the access of goods directly to the main roads;
- the relocation of industries to more accessible places, with
the re-use of abandoned areas, very important to find new space
for public amenities ( urban-wide parks);
- the development of logistics locations with sufficient dimensions
(more than 2,000.000 square metres) for intermodal platforms;
- the reorganisation of the central railway area, which will
continue to be the centre for railway intermodality:
- to improve the efficiency of the passenger station also in connection
with Malpensa airport;
- to realize better accessibility for the hotels;
- to link urban and industrial areas, and research and university
centres with the proposed new technological scientific growth
pole (pharmacy and innovative chemicals);
- the redesign of the townscape, now neglected and lacking in
identity, by:
- the redefinition of urban periphery , presently incomplete or
neglected;
- the reconstruction of the 'gateways to the town';
- the upgrading of ancient monuments and historic heritage, in
the historic centre and over the whole area;
- the provision of new types of building at lower densities;
- the realisation of a clear framework of parks and green areas
, up until now deficient, starting from the borders and linking
a new green belt around the edges of the towns, along the rivers,
with a network of cycle paths and footpaths to the countryside
where the plan supports the revival of the traditional vegetation
and the transformation of intensive cultivation into a traditional
and ecological one.
Strategy and results
The Novara plan procedure provides for punctual and continuous consultation
with developers and public and private parties involved, beginning
with those responsible for the large-scale infrastructure and services
to individual owners.
In particular, in addition to institutional relationships, the
plan's aims must be developed in conjunction with the major infrastructure
operators, with private actors, with industrial operators, and also
with farmers.
As regards the procedure Novara has tried out all the latest tools
(PRUSST, PRIU). In any case, their effects are limited only to some
sectors of the town and they cannot involve all aspects in a unitary
strategy. The plan, also in accordance to these new tools, proposes
an important innovation, emerging from a recent national debate
The main aspect of this innovation is the particular attention paid
to the balance between the 'feasibility' of interventions and their
'equity', aiming to:
- introduce new choices without altering the local land market
with respect to the old urban plan;
- enable equal potential profits from simila land, without considering
public or private planning land uses; aim for the realization
of all the services required, of environmental and landscape improvement
at 'zero cost', and the assignment of the cost to the profits
of private interventions.
The results seem to confirm the value of this strategy: the plan,
just approved by the civic administration, proves to be working
and, with the other active planning tools, is showing its first
results:
- the agreements between the municipality and TAV spa have established
that the construction of a high speed railway must be carried
out in conjunction with a new road system in the north of the
town. The intervention will be in line with the urban plan both
for environmental improvement and for the realization of a part
of the green belt and, last but not least, the complete reorganization
of the electrical energy network (in agreement with ENEL), thus
eliminating existing electro-magnetic pollution in residential
areas;
- a workshop involving Ferrovie spa, the municipality and other
public and private parties is to redesign the new central railway
system, and has attracted the attention of the competent ministry
which has proposed funds for structural interventions;
- the CIM (intermodal platform), which has carried out its first
interventions and approved sizeable expansion projects, is facing
a growing demand for facilities and installations;
- some industrial operators are projecting relocations to and
reconversions of abandoned areas according to plan proposals;
- the private actors are responding in a positive way. They are
developing interventions, projects and programmes and are demanding
that the civic administration make a precise commitment to speed
up the procedures, which under the current legislation are too
slow, in order to realise rapid implementation.
Gianfranco Pagliettini
Links:
Novara urban plan
http://www.acturban.org/biennial/ElectronicCatalogue/Novarra/novara.htm
Novara urban plan
http://www.fausernet.novara.it/~lccalber/Lavoro2_2ING.htm
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