UniversitĂ Iuav di Venezia
erasmus intensive program UPC Barcelona TU Delft KU Leuven Iuav Venezia
Recycling city Lifecycles, embodied energy, inclusion
Preliminary Report Lorenzo Fabian, Emanuel Giannotti, Paola Viganò Eds.
29.6 > 9.7.2012 Palazzo Badoer
lifelong Learning Programme
European postgraduate Masters in Urbanism UPC Barcelona, TU Delft, KU Leuven and Universitá IUAV di Venezia
29.6 > 9.7.2012 Palazzo Badoer RECYCLING city L if e cycles , em bodie d ene rgy, inclus ion Lorenzo Fabian, Emanuel Giannotti, Paola Viganò eds. maps and editing of reports: L. Fabian, E. Giannotti, P. Viganò with: A. Curtoni, M. Girelli, V. Lenna
research group “Ignis Mutat Res”: IUAV Venezia: P. Viganò (scientific coordinator) P. Bagatella, S. Causin, L. Fabian, E. Giannotti, B. Secchi TRIBU énergie: B. Sesolis, SUPSI Lugano: D. Fornari associated expert: V. Bonifacio, anthropologist, Cà Foscari
Università Iuav di Venezia
coordination and organisation of the IP: L. Fabian, E. Giannotti, P. Viganò tutors of the IP: UPC Barcelona A. Cuellar, J. Moreno Sanz TU Delft B. Hausleitner, M. Sanchez, S. Tiallinji, D. Zandbelt
s c u o l a d i d ot to r ato dottorato in urbanistica Palazzo Badoer San Polo 2468 30125 Venezia, Italy
KU Leuven C. Nolf IUAV Venezia L. Fabian, E. Giannotti, P. Pellegrini, B. Secchi, P. Viganò Cà Foscari Venezia V. Bonifacio
pubblicato da / published by: © June 2012 Università Iuav di Venezia Fondamenta dei Tolentini, 191 30135 Venezia, Italy www.iuav.it
SUPSI Lugano Davide Fornari Parson school New York B. Mc Grath, M. Mitrasinovic CVUT Prague M. Jedrychowicz, K. Maier, Z. Zavrel website of the IP www.iuav.it/recyclingcity administrative organization of the IP Maria Gatto, Ufficio Relazioni Internazionali Iuav character Fago Off Sans, Foundry Journal revision/translation of English D. Ronayne
2
RECYCLING CITY
Lifecycles, embodied energy, inclusion
01 A DESIGN AND RESEARCH WORKSHOP 1.1. lifecycles 1.2. embodied energy 1.3. inclusion 02 HYPHOTESIS 2.1 first hyphotesis: a redistribution of energy 2.2 second hyphotesis: new synergies 2.3. starting out from the existing 03 FOUR _FIELDS _fields: recycling spaces 3.1. the crisis of small and medium enterprises 3.2. aging populations and migrants 3.3. the diffuse city after peak oil: a territory in transition 3.4. the food crisis and the ecological footprint 04 CASE STUDIES 4.1 Camposampiero 4.2 Mestre 4.3 Fusina
3  1. r e c yc l i n g c i t y
0 1 A DESIGN AND R ESEA RC H WORK S H O P
world Energy consumption, temperature, and world natural disasters, GWP, GINI coefficient source: OMA/AMO, Roadmap 2050; OECD, Divided we stand; J. Bradford DeLong, UC Berkley
100%
wood
coal
oil gas
1800
1850
6 
1900
1950
1.1 lif ecycles We recycle things that are subject to a life cycle. Parts of cities, objects, materials: talking about the city as something that can be recycled makes us think about its rhythms, life cycles, metamorphoses. Recycling is not just reusing, but, if we follow the analogy with the organic world, it puts forward a new life cycle. If, beyond the contradictory and short-term outcomes of many interventions, we accept the idea that the city is a resource and that it can be recycled in parts or episodes or as a whole at the end of the different life cycles, then the cities in their making and unmaking are “renewable resources,” and recycling cities is an essential strategy that cuts across the scales and themes of the contemporary urban question: the environmental crisis and evermore frequent extreme phenomena, the progressive divide between rich and poor, forced or denied mobility that points towards new exclusions. Speaking of lifecycles entails recognising the dynamics of transformation, that occur gradually or via swift changes; that can be the sum of many small actions or the result of a few great undertakings; that respond to local processes or that are the consequence of more ample social and economic crises. global temperature
Gross World Product
natural disasters
renewable energies: wind, solar, hydro, etc.
GINI: US GINI: IT GINI: DE GINI: SE nuclear
2000
7 1. r e c yc l i n g c i t y
2050
2100
8
1.2 embodied energy Embodied energy is the energy “trapped” in the body of the territory. The hypothesis is that in tackling environmental and energy saving issues one should not limit oneself to the more common questions of use and production, but the reflection should also be extended to the energy implicitly contained in the material deposited throughout the territory (embodied energy). Hence that a construction, an infrastructure or a building represents an energy value that should be exploited, so as to avoid further consumption via new constructions and demolitions. This extended use of the concept of energy enables the stock of materials that today gives form to the Veneto città diffusa to be dealt with as a potential starting off point, leading to a broader process of recycling of the territory. Considering the lifecycle of a building, meaning the energy required to create, to use and (should it be the case) to dispose of the same, very often recovering what already exists is a lot more energy efficient than demolishing and rebuilding. This is equally true for a dwelling, an industrial building or for an infrastructure, hence a project for recycling the city or the territory has aboveall a significance in energy-, as well as in economic, social and cultural terms. All the same, a recycling process has its costs (Roegen). Hence the reuse and the adaptation of existing constructions is justified when there is a demand, meaning when conditions are created for a new lifecycle. Making hypotheses as to those conditions enables one to better pinpoint which constructions and which portions of territory might be involved in a recycling project.
9 1. r e c yc l i n g c i t y
embodied energy in veneto The map represent the embodied energy of the territory. It was realized for the research “Ignis Mutat Res” by assigning energy indicators to the land use map processing: L. Fabian and TRIBU énergie 2012 data source: land use map of Veneto Region
1 0
energy consumption in veneto The map represent the energy consumption of the territory. It was realized for the research “Ignis Mutat Res” by assigning energy indicators to the land use map processing: L. Fabian and TRIBU énergie 2012 data source: land use map of Veneto Region
11 1. r e c yc l i n g c i t y
1 2 
source: corinne land cover + ISTAT processing: V. Tsioutsiou 6 3
6.30 - 9.41
9
4.11 - 6.29
12
2.88 - 4.10
15
1.74- - 2.87
18
1.37 - 1.73
21
urban square meters
24
immigrant population /
27
immigrant intensity
km 30 0
immigrants intensity
1.3 inclu sion When parts of a city or portions of a territory go through new cycles one inevitably comes across the intersection of social dynamics, with an influx of new population and the expelling of others, creating marginalisation or incentivating inclusion. Thus recycling is not synonymous with restoration or restructuring. It does not only consider the material parts of the city but also its social and political dimensions. Recycling also comprises the necessary resignification of the relations between the different social groups that cross the contemporary territory, as well as the necessary redefinition of the elements that obstruct the social mixité and the mobilisation of things and people. From this point of view inclusion means redistribution of resources, social mixité and territorial isotropy, with the idea that a diversified and weakly hierarchized fabric is not only preferable, but also has a better resilience and capacity to adapt to change.
13 1. r e c yc l i n g c i t y
13008.01 - 21140.00
3904.01 - 13008.00
1610.01 - 3904.00
727.01 - 1610.00
304.01 - 727.00
immigrants 2010 source: ISTAT processing: V. Tsioutsiou
1.00 - 304.00
immigrants 2004 source: ISTAT processing: V. Tsioutsiou
12
9
6
source: corinne land cover + ISTAT processing: V. Tsioutsiou
1 4 
industrial density
immigrants intensity industrial intensity
3
0
0.104 - 0.17
15
0.06 - 0.104
18
0.042 - 0.06
21
0.02 - 0.042
24
0.003 - 0.02
27
industrial area / total area
km 30
15  1. r e c yc l i n g c i t y
source: corinne land cover + ISTAT processing: V. Tsioutsiou
immigrants intensity agricultural density 3
0.71 - 0.81
0.55 - 0.71
0.27 - 0.55
6
0.1 - 0.27
0 - 0.1
9
industrial area / total area
12
agricultural density
6.30 - 9.41
15
4.11 - 6.29
2.88 - 4.10
1.74- - 2.87
18
1.37 - 1.73
21
urban square meters
24
immigrant population /
27
immigrant intensity
km 30 0
2 . hypothesis
0. TREND SCENARIO SCENAZIO 0
heating of buildings electricty for buildings
fossil fuel transportation
1.1.WHAT COSAIF… SUCCEDEREBBE SE… …RIDUCESSIMO DRASTICAMENTE IL CONSUMOENERGETICO …THE CONSUMPTION OF THE BUILDINGS WOULD BE REDUCED?DEGLI EDIFICI?
heating of buildings electricty for buildings
fossil fuel transportation
����������������������������������� �
2. COSA SUCCEDEREBBE SE…
2. WHAT IF… …RIDUCESSIMO IL CONSUMO DI PRODOTTI PETROLIFERI DEL SETTORE …THE FOSSIL FUEL BASED TRANSPORTATION WOULD BE REDUCED? TRASPORTI?
heating of buildings electricty for buildings
fossil fuel transportation
3. COSA SUCCEDEREBBE SE… …PRODUCESSIMO CON FONTI RINNOVABILI L’ENERGIA DI CUI NECESSITIAMO?
2 0
2.1 first hypothesis: a redistribution of energy The coming years should necessarily feature a considerable reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. To deal with climate change the European Union has recently approved an integrated strategy governing energy that sets ambitious objectives for 2020 and 2050, that go well beyond the limits set by the Kyoto protocol. The hypothesis is that the environmental and energy question, the EC and international policies for containing consumption and emissions, the debate on climate change would imply in the coming years a profound revision and restructuring of the materials that constitute the cittĂ diffusa, and its building stock, affecting both its grain and density; a revision of the systems of mobility and accessibility, a redefinition of the relation between urbanized space, space for agriculture and spaces for water. More in general the EC policies suggest the progressive transition from a model based on the exploitation of fossil fuels to an energy model of distributed generation, based on the widespread organisation of small and medium-sized power stations spread across the territory. Thanks to widespread generation in some sectors the reduction in consumption and emissions will be less difficult to attain. The energy consumption of buildings, for example, could be drastically cut in just a few decades. Transportation, even if posing greater problems, could be another field where energy consumption could be considerably reduced. The same can be said for agriculture. The manufacturing sector though is the one which presents the greatest difficulties. Excluding for the time being a strong delocalisation, that would be unadvisable for a series of reasons, or a radical change in the productivity paradigm, which for the moment does not appear to be plausible, production will have to continue to draw on energy resources while attempting to cut CO2 emissions into the atmosphere as much as possible. In this perspective areas of production, even in the event of evident disuse, should be conceived as a reserve for a future process of reindustrialisation.
energia
recycling energy
datas and schemes: S. Causin, Energia Diffusa, thesis in Architecture, IUAV
21  2.h y p oth esi s
riciclo
Thermoelectric and hydroelectric plants of Veneto central area.
2 2 
power lines
+
hydroelctric plants
main thermoelectric plants
maps and diagrams: L. Fabian 2012, Source of data: - Provincial Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia Ctr (regional maps) - PTCR 2009 (regional territorial coordination plan) of the Regione Veneto; - PTA 2006 (water protection plan) of ARPAV (Vene- to environmental protection agency). -CLC 2000 land cover
thermoelectric plants
hydroelectric plants
CO2 emissions
production of electricity
burner
production of electricity water
turbine turbine OIL
pumps water CO2 emissions
production of electricity
burner
production of electricity water
turbine turbine COKE
pumps water
The paradigm of centralized production
X
From centralized to diffuse production
23  2.h y p oth esi s
pumps
2 4
energy potential of the territory the map represent the energy potential of the territory. It was realized for the research “Ignis Mutat Res� by assigning energy indicators from the land use map processing map: L. Fabian with TRIBU energie2012, Source of data: - reelaboration land cover map of the Vento Region
25  2.h y p oth esi s
SYNERGIES at the territorial scale heat - cold: bio cogeneration plant heat pump with ground collector geothermal electricy: PV technology wind turbine bio cogeneration plant SYNERGIES at medium scale heat - cold: bio cogeneration plant heat pump with ground collector geothermal electricy: PV technology wind turbine
SYNERGIES at the scale of small groups heat - cold: bio cogeneration plant heat pump with ground collector electricy: PV technology small wind turbine
SYNERGIES at the scale of the building heat - cold: solar collector heat pump with ground collector electricy: PV technology small wind turbine
2 6 
2.2 Second hypothesis: new synergies A sizeable reduction of consumption is not liable to be achieved by sectorial plans while neglecting a systemic approach to the problem. Here the space variable becomes highly important. Proximity in fact enables new synergies to be found between different activities and actors. At the same time the demands of recovery, exchange and bartering for an efficient exploitation of energy resources have highlighted the limits of models essentially conceived as autarkic. The hypothesis is that the energy objectives laid down might be achieved thanks also to a constitution of new energy synergies and geographies. New energy alliances that in the cittĂ diffusa might come about on different levels and scales. In the territories of settlement dispersion smallscale synergies, tending towards autonomy, will be conceivable, that place the areas of dispersed single family homes in relation with the spaces of agriculture, the spaces of water and of small production and manufacturing activities. Among the small and medium consolidated urban nuclei, broader synergies of scale via the creation of efficient systems of public transport and energy consortiums on a local scale will be plausible. On a territorial scale system of relations the larger towns and cities will once again play a key role, where indeed thanks to their density, their critical mass and their infrastructures, their facilities and the manufacturing and production activities that have arisen in the same they become the area within which to experiment more ambitious energy synergies. The different scales of these strategies could be mixed together and superimposed on each other. Here the cittĂ diffusa is conceived as a huge palimpsest capable of incorporating and reconfiguring the local energy synergies and on which to draw the fundamental outlines for a system of energy exchange conceived on a territorial scale.
27  2.h y p oth esi s
2 8
2.3 THird hypothesis: starting out from the existing The città diffusa appears to be in a crisis and is certainly going through deep-set changes. This seems true for the manufacturing and production system based on districts of small and medium-sized concerns, for the dispersed settlement model, for the capillary infrastructure built in order to manage and regulate the use of water, for the model of mobility, for the most based on the use of the private automobile and on the ready availability of fossil fuels. What is more, a process of hierarchization seems to be underway, demonstrated by the recently built infrastructures and those programmed for the future, from the many projects in the process of undergoing approval and by the dynamics that traverse the productive fabric. These processes highlight how the restructuring of the territory (to adapt the same to the new cycles) does not necessarily entail a reuse of the existing. Rather, at times it accelerates both the processes of disuse and abandonment, as well as those of the urbanisation of new areas, leading to the construction a new geography of territories that have won and others that have lost (often lying alongside each other). In this way, the economic crisis and the stagnation of growth do not necessarily lead to a reduction of land use, on the contrary increasing the production of waste and the use of agricultural terrain. All the same, as André Corboz pointed out, the territory is not a disposable container, nor is it a replaceable consumer product. Each territory is unique, hence it has to be ‘recycled’. The metaphor that Corboz proposed was that of the palimpsest, that is a territory resulting from continuous cancellation and rewriting, in which the changes have to be made carefully, so as not to produce holes like in a parchment that has been scratched too much (Corboz 1983). The recycling perspective at any rate entails loss and always has a cost (Rougen 1971), but offers a more careful mode of transformation, starting from the evaluation of what already exists. It enables the preservation of the embodied energy, but also the biodiversity or the social fabric that are deposited in the area. The hypothesis is that the recycling project of the città diffusa cannot be implemented through the contemplation of abstract models and formulas. The recycling will be at the same time specific and local. It will have to come to terms with the materials and infrastructures that comprise the città diffusa, with the rationality and evolutionary criteria that underlie the same. In this sense, an abstract model of ecological city cannot be said to exist. Rather, the most ecological city is one which already exists (that hence doesn’t need to be built), that will have to be reconceived and modified on the basis of the needs of energy saving, reduction of CO2 emissions, of safeguarding the environment, etc. From this point of view the territorial infrastructure of water and asphalt, the small and medium consolidated urban nuclei, the long filaments constituted in the organisation of settlement dispersion, the space for agriculture and production play a fundamental role. These are materials to start off from for a broader process of recycling that should include the entire territory.
29 2.h y p oth esi s
3 0
Existing territory red: water gray: residential buildings black: industrial buildings
31  2.h y p oth esi s
3 . fo u r _fields
_4 fields: A deposit of embodied energy The highly accessible area around the railway station, the abandoned or underused productive, commercial, residential areas, the agricultural space and the deposit of devices for governing water represent a deposit of embodied energy to be requalified and exploited.
3 4 
3. questions about _fields, energy and recycling
_fields: recycling spaces Brownfields are the abandoned and polluted areas of production that require important reclamation work, Greenfields are green and agricultural spaces undergoing reuse. Greyfields are the underused spaces: from ex commercial areas, with good infrastructural facilities, to aged “shoe-boxes� formerly hosting small enterprises, that do not present the same problems of pollution of some surfaces hitherto used for production activities. More in general _fields are the contemporary spaces of change. Spaces awaiting a new conceptualisation, areas on which an important quantity of embodied energy are concentrated, that find themselves at the end of a cycle in that they have been built or maintained around a paradigm of fossil energy, that are highly infrastructured and, for the selfsame reason, privileged fields on which recycling strategies can be experimented. The following 4 themes attempt to pinpoint few critical elements of the present condition of the Veneto region in which some _fields emerge for recycle strategies:
35  3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
3 6
_field 1 : Recycling wareho uses
37  3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
_fields 1: In red the small and large productive areas, in black the port and airport areas, in grey the commercial and service areas
3 8 
AD DIZIONE
a
b
the crisis of small and medium enterprises ELEVATO _field 1: recycling warehouses
temi
3.1 SO TTRAZIO NE
dismissione
01
1
2
S OTTR AZ IONE
3 E LEVATO
a
1
province of Treviso STRATEGIE DI PROGETTO DEDFR GHJOL LQWHUYHQWL VXJOL HGLÀFL
4
1
6% 2
=78 milioni mq
According to some estimates, in the province of Treviso alone at least 20% of industrial warehouses are disused or underused.
3
20%
STRATEGIE DI PROGETTO DEDFR GHJOL LQWHUYHQWL VXJOL HGLÀFL
If this were true this means that 18 million sqm of built surface is available in the province of Treviso alone and around XXXXXX millions in the entire area of the central Veneto. souce: Corriere della Sera del 08/06/2010
13 datas and schemes: M. Netto, Ipotesi di Rigenerazione delle aree produttive del Veneto. Il caso di Silea, thesis in Architecture, IUAV
39 3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
13
source: carta tecnica giugno 2008
2
4
6% of the surface is destined for productive and commercial activity
Ipotesi di Rigenerazione
4
Ipotesi di Rigenerazione
temi
3
2
01
dismissione
1
In the current phase of crisis and economic transition the production model of the Veneto is going through a process of rethinking and profound redefinition. The most evident spatial consequences of the transformation underway are made manifest by an ever greater quantity of unused or underused industrial and productive buildings. 1 In particular the production model based on the dispersed warehouse appears to be going through a crisis, expressed in its various declinations of warehouse as well as dwelling plus warehouse, along with the system of the “flexible” districts that made the fortune of the Veneto in the last decades of the twentieth century. At the same time it is indeed the environmental and energy themes that enable what is left of the disused warehouses and the infrastructures that support the same to be identified as a potential starting point for a possible rethinking of the territory of building dispersion. In the hypothesis that the economic crisis persists, it is plausible that the problems that already today affect the dispersed productive fabric will increase and that hence they can be 2 taken on as a potential _field. b
4 0
_field 2 : Recycling the habi tat
41  3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
_fields 2: In red the small and large productive areas, in black the port and airport areas, in grey the commercial and service areas
4 2 
3.2 aging population and migrants _field 2: recycling the habitat Analysing the figures of the buildings passed down to us it is evident that buildings of the sixties-eighties present the main energy problems but not only that: they are buildings that are by now old, they require renovation, where the systems are obsolete and the building technology used entails a high energy wastage. At the same time these comprise a sizeable part of the building stock and for this reason constitute a widespread _field that intersects various types of situations. A case in point would be that of the single family home that, due to the children that lived there leaving home and the aging of the parents that built it, suddenly becomes too large and expensive to run. Another example would be the apartment building in the most important urban centres, whether a public building project or multiple ownership, affected by processes of decay that often accompany problems of marginalisation made more evident by an evermore fragile and rapidly changing social fabric.
’50s -’60s
- - - - - - ‘70s - ‘80s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - vacancies period of construction of buil source: censimento ISTAT 2001 dings - building stock divided of construction, by period with the relative energy consumption source: Censimento ISTAT 2001, Censimento ISTAT 2011 - -
43 3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
Types with a High energy wastage
’50s-’60s Single dwelling on a plot of land, on staggered levels BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES: Loft with rafters / supporting beams and hollow flat tiles Roofing in partitions and hollow flat tiles or rafters / suppor beams and hollow flat tiles ting Pillars-in reinforced concrete Wall plugging 25 cm thick in hollow bricks Partitions in 8 cm hollow brick Window fittings in brass/aluminium with single glass (often double- window) - CRITICAL POINTS: Facing- in any direction Heat bridges in correspondence with the supporting structure - Large gaps (3/4 facings) with inefficient window fittings No gaps or cavity walls internal lining No No thermal insulation Non existent ground insulation in ground floor rooms, loose stone foundation below raised floor levels - No ground waterproofing Oil boilers - RESULTS: The layout of the internal areas does not exploit the sun, or facilitate the ventilation of the rooms… Formation of mildew and damp stains in correspondence with - the heat bridges Great -heat dispersion due to lack of insulation, inefficient window and heat bridges - fittings - - - ESTIMATED ENERGY CONSUMPTION: CLASS G: > 170 kWh/sqm/year - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
4 4
‘70s
Block building with several dwellings BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES: Supporting structure in reinforced concrete Loft with rafters and hollow flat tiles Roofing in partitions and hollow flat tiles or rafters Wall plugging 25 cm thick in hollow bricks Partitions in 8 cm hollow brick Window fittings in brass/aluminium with single glass (often double window) CRITICAL POINTS: Facing in any direction Heat bridges in correspondence with the supporting structure Large gaps (3/4 facings) with inefficient window fittings No thermal insulation Insulation inexistent Oil boilers RESULTS: The layout of the internal areas does not exploit the sun, or facilitate the ventilation of the rooms… Formation of mildew and damp stains in correspondence with the heat bridges Great heat dispersion due to lack of insulation, inefficient window fittings and heat bridges
ESTIMATED ENERGY CONSUMPTION: CLASS F: 120-170 kWh/sqm/year
datas and schemes: S. Causin, Energia Diffusa, thesis in Architecture, IUAV
45 3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
‘80s Largescale semi-detached houses with basement BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES: Supporting structure in reinforced concrete Supporting structure in reinforced concrete Loft with rafters and hollow flat tiles - Roofing in partitions and hollow flat tiles - Wall plugging 25 cm thick in hollow bricks, thermal insulation thick and internal lining with hollow bricks 6 cm thick - 4 cm Partitions in 8 cm hollow brick - Window fittings with double glazing CRITICAL POINTS: Facing in any direction - Basement not insulated or waterproofed - Poor thermal insulation Great volumes that require heating Extensive green surfaces that require tending to RESULTS: layout of the internal areas does not exploit the sun, or - The facilitate the ventilation of the rooms… - Formation of mildew and damp stains in correspondence with - the heat bridges / rooms not waterproofed / cooling of under-used areas: waste of thermal - Heating energy - - - ENERGY CONSUMPTION: - ESTIMATED CLASS E: 90-120 kWh/sqm/year
4 6
_field 3 : Recycling the in fras tr uc tures
47  3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
km 30
27
24
21
towards “no Car“ an overall strategy for the spaces of high accessibility souce: Chang, Fabian, Secchi, Viganò 2012 Verso il NO Auto processing starting from: dati censimento ISTAT 2001, land cover of Regione Veneto, train network Effesse
4 8
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
3.3 the diffuse city after peak oil. A territory in transition _field 3: Recycling the infrastructures The energy crisis, the climate changes and the economic crisis demand a drastic drop in the consumption of fossil fuels, that will change the way we move around, perhaps radically so. Probably a progressive reduction of the use of the automobile will be seen, in favour of other forms of mobility: private (bike, on foot, etc.), public (bus, tram, train, etc.) and shared (car and bike sharing, car pooling, etc.). These changes will reasonably also imply a deep reconceptualisation of the deposit of networks and infrastructures of mobility that down through the centuries has formed and structured the Veneto cittĂ diffusa and for this reason can be interpreted as a _field harbouring an enormous quantity of embodied energy to be reconceived and exploited. On the one hand this can in part be done starting from existing resources, incorporating them in a network, on the other hand more radical changes in lifestyle and the physical consistence of the infrastructures will be required. The railway network could for example constitute the main support leading to the redesign of new modes of public transport. This would entail the exploitation of the areas around the station, spaces of great accessibility where applying a scenario of the progressive reduction of the use of the private automobile would be plausible. In the same areas the space freed up by the automobile (garages, service stations, carparks) would become the fundamental support upon which a process of redesigning the public spaces of the cittĂ diffusa could be enacted. In this hypothesis the territory is defined by a high inten-city (very well served by public transport) and a low inten-city where different modes of transportation must be imagined.
= 2km = 5min
= no car
the No Car space
The No Car space is the space defined by the isometrics of 2km calculated starting from the railway station. A space where one can imagine the abandoning of the private automobile in favour of the bicycle, the use of which integrates perfectly with regional rail transport. In the No Car space the railway station can be reached in less than 5 minutes on a bicycle. The connection of the No Car spaces enables the construction of the sustainable mobility corridors on a territorial scale.
= HIGH accessibility
= 5min
The High Accessibility space MICROBUS
The High Accessibility space is the space defined by the isochrone of 5 minutes drive calculated starting from the railway station, on which an efficient system of public transport alternative to the train should be organized and that might function in synergy with the same (in red on the map). In the High Accessibility area any type of public transport is capable of reaching the railway station in less than 5 mins.
popolazione distribution of population according to accessibility 1018723 30x30km 624167 area 5min. area 2km 415648
1018723 624167 415648
49  3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
low accessibility high accessibility highest accessibility
T. Individuale
7%
14%
78%
5 0
_field 4 : Recycling AGRICU LTUR E s
51 3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
_fields 4: In gray the agricultural space, in black the water network
5 2 
3.4 the food crisis and the ecological footprint _field 4: recycling agriculture
situazione esistente
Agriculture today has strongly industrialised and mechanised systems, that have spread progressively to increase output and profits (the green revolution). All the same this type of production presents two main problems: it furthers the use of fossil fuels (used for producing fertilisers, weed killers, to fuel agricultural vehicles and for the transportation over extremely long distances of today’s food products); it has strong environmental consequences, with a high production of CO2, pollution of the surface and groundwater, impoverishment and erosion of the soil, reduction of the biodiversity. To this one has to add the paradox that the agricultural space of the Veneto accounts for 40% of the surface territory of the città diffusa, being a production sector that would not be capable of sustaining itself economically without the aid of EC subsidies. For all these reasons, many sustain that agriculture needs to be deeply reconceived, reducing the production and consumption chains as much as possible (recovering a local and seasonal dimension) and, aboveall, using solar energy instead of fossil fuels. The necessary reconceptualisation of these _fields has important consequences, in terms of organisation of the territory and the transformation of the landscape. The special condition that features across the territory of the Veneto where urban spaces, spaces of production and spaces of agriculture are in a close and deep relation with each other becomes a field in which possible horizons of growth can be experimented within a scenario of food selfsufficiency. Aboveall, this could lead to the undermining of the consolidated idea that in terms of energy problems and environmental sustainability compact towns and cities are more efficient. A reconceptualisation to this degree though also brings with it various issues, the main one being relative to the dispute over the territories now occupied by agriculture: spaces to be used for food selfsufficiency, for the expansion of the city, for the expansion of biodiversity, but also for the production of renewable energy.
02 in linea a bordo campo
03 diffuso campo per campo
01 concentrato ai margini delle strade
02 diffuso a bordo campo
03 diffuso campo per campo
01 neo bocage
02 filari nord-sud
03 boschi est-ovest
A. Curtoni, G. Mazzorin, Forest Network EMU European Master in Urbanism 2009-2010 research: Pipes and Sponges (Venezia 2008), B. Secchi e P. Viganò, (coordinamento scientifico) Gruppo: L. Fabian, P. Pellegrini con S. Catinella, Dao Ming Chan, V. Ferrario, L. Velo.
53 3. fo u r sc en a r i o s
nuovi boschi
depurazione dell’acqua
01 concentrato ai margini delle strade
4 . on-the-spot inv est igat ion in between high inten-city and low inten-city
5 6
57 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
5 8
ca m posampiero
Camposampiero is a municipality of the province of Padova and part of the Camposampierese confederation, meaningfully representing the spatial and productive logics of the territory of the città diffusa. Among these, the distinction between small and big enterprises in Veneto Region is very subtle and rarely related to the dimensions of the shed or number of workers: the 48% of the sheds in the Padua area occupies less than 3.000 sq m and the 63% has less than 25 workers. The territorial organization depicts the capillarity of the productive system, working in synergy with infrastructures – water and asphalt - and the residential needs: a cultural landscape reflecting the local entrepreneurial spirit. In the current economical situation this consolidated rationality is challenged by the need to reduce costs as well as energetic dispersion, both human and combustible. The need to have a more efficient accessibility to the main infrastructures of transportation, to develop synergies among resources, different phases and devices of production is determining the progressive coagulation of productive platforms, encouraged also at the level of territorial planning. In this framework, in 2011 the Confederation of Camposampiero, made of 11 municipalities, having an average ratio of 1 enterprise each 10 habitants, has been founded having as one of the main objectives the development of a new territorial logic, able to maintain and improve the current level of competitiveness.
59 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
4
3.5
4.5
6 0 
industries
housing
railway
roads
water
Camposampiero Small urban centers alongside the railway, an old road connecting Padova with Castelfranco and a new highway (autostrada del Santo). On the east side starts the roman grid structure.
5 Km
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 Km
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 Km
TRAIN STATION AREA
INDUSTRIAL PLATFORM
ribbon settlement
61 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
ca mposampiero
6 2 
63 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
the “diffuse” city
6 4
65 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
6 6
m estre
Mestre is the most populated of the six urban boroughs of Venice mainland (Carpenedo, Marghera, Favaro Veneto, Chirignago, Zelarino, Tessera) with 170.000 inhabitants. The intervention proposed for the railway station aims at upgrading the current spatial and infrastructural potential to the level of an advanced multimodal polycentric node, organizing the intersection among the national/international scale of the high speed train system, the regional scale served by the SFMR and the metropolitan scale recently crossed by the new tram system. The intervention should improve the efficiency of the station and update its representative role, but should also enhance the porosity of this part of the city activating dismissed functional parts of the railway system, existing public spaces and some vacant sites along the rail lines. The ambitions of this intervention should be developed in an urban context characterized by the progressive settlement of migrant population, often occupying the houses in the surrounding areas, as a result of speculative policies in relation to real estate availabilities and values. Issues related to social and living conditions of the inhabitants in these parts of the city – among others – are progressively brought to light by the initiatives promoted by local, community based organizations and other not for profit actors.
67 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
4
3.5
4.5
6 8 
industries
housing
railway
roads
water
Mestre The railway divides Mestre and Marghera.
5 Km
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 Km
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 Km
TRAIN STATION AREA
productive tissue
industrial platform
69 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
m estre
7 0 
71 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
mestre train station area
Mestre
Campalto
Porto Marghera
7 2 
73 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
mestre train station area
Mestre
Campalto
Porto Marghera
7 4 
75 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
7 6
f u sina Fusina identifies an area of the mainland of Venice, more precisely part of the municipality of Marghera on the mouth of Brenta river. From this point Vallone Moranzani a strip of terrain of 3 km reaches Malcontenta, connecting two very different landscapes: bucolic at west, industrial to the east. Fusina is considered as the future point of access to Venice. The strategy of actualization of the role of the port of Venice at a national and internal level, makes converge different projects implying on one hand the protection of the coast lines of the historical center of Venice from the heavy traffic of ships; on the other the creation of the spatial and infrastructural premises for the reclamation of the polluted lands of the industrial pole of the city. The ex industrial area of Alumix previously specialized in the metalworking is an example of the transformations interesting the Area of Porto Marghera towards a progressive introduction of logistics, commercial and other tertiary activities. The dismissal of the electroduct of Fusina gives the possibility to imagine new functions for the existing pylons, in this way designing the corridor of Vallone Moranzani as a new public space, through which the delicate balances of the lagoon could be re-established and appreciated. To the south, the wetlands of Cassa di Colmata A will very soon become accessible, thus fulfilling the need for a green site expressed by the inhabitants of the area. In the framework of the debate on the processes of industrial conversion, new ecological cycles are thus being imagined, designing the landscapes of new cultural and natural synergies.
77 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
4
3.5
4.5
7 8 
housing
railway
roads
water
Fusina Fusina lyes when the old Brenta river arrive into the lagoon and stands between the Marghera industrial area and the “barene� on the south. Here there some of the most important electrical plants of Veneto and there is a point of access to Venice (by boats), that the Municipality wish to enlarge, augmenting its capacity.
industries
0
5 Km
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 Km
0
0.5
1
1.5
2 Km
TRAIN STATION AREA
energy powerplant
79 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
f u sina
8 0 
81 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
porto marghera and the lagoon
8 2 
83 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion
porto marghera and the lagoon
8 4 
85 4 o n -th e-sp ot i n v e st igat ion