Laterza (IT

PROJECT SCALE — L – urban + architecture LOCATION — Laterza, Puglia POPULATION — 15,171 inhab. STRATEGIC SITE — 7 ha / PROJECT SITE — 3 ha

SITE PROPOSED BY — City of Laterza OWNER OF THE SITE — City of Laterza POST-COMPETITION PHASE — Workshop on the site with the rewarded teams

Gianfranco Lopane — Mayor of the City of Laterza

1. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE SITE MUTATION? The system of the three squares, which used to be the main places of social sharing, has lost its role over the years, depriving the city of a strongly identity space. Thanks to the Europan competition, we wanted to open the reflections on these spaces that, due to their morphological characteristics, are also at the centre of the problem of mobility, the lack of relationship with the natural landscape and the problem of water management.

2. HOW CAN THE SITE BE INTEGRATED IN THE ISSUES OF PRODUCTIVE CITIES? HOW DO YOU CONSIDER THE PRODUCTIVITY ISSUE?

In recent years Laterza has been discovering the real touristic, cultural and naturalistic vocation of the area, which represents a new important productive resource. Thinking about the squares as connecting elements of these resources is necessary for the city, which must adapt to new ways of life, to new systems of mobility and space sharing. Private and public resources must be systematized and urban and territorial marketing actions must also be implemented with new accommodation functions for the territorial tourism system.

3. HAVE YOU ALREADY DEFINED A SPECIFIC PROCESS FOR THE URBAN AND/OR ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE AFTER EUROPAN COMPETITION?

Laterza wished to host the National Results Forum, with the award ceremony for young designers, the national exhibition of the Laterza and Verbania projects, and two intense days of workshops with the award-winning designers so as to involve the city in the experience of Europan and in the European debate. The theme of squares is a public theme dear to citizens and their active participation is important. From the workshop results, Europan Italia has drawn up a dossier illustrating the process, from the competition to the map of possible interventions on the system of the squares, which will represent a sort of manifesto to be also used for requests for public and private funding. We hope that this methodology can have effects on the territorial scale and represent, for the other cities as well, a guide for their regeneration and enhancement.