Restoring the Porosity of Naples: a community-based design approach

Abstract

This paper explores how restoring the porosity of the urban environment can set the bases for a community-based approach that encompasses all phases of design process, from analysis to the proposal. The study uses the case of East Coast of Naples, with a focus on the Case Nuove and Mercato del Ferro areas, the first districts to be built outside the former walls of the city, and their relationship with the Mercato, the historical neighbourhood that was developed behind the city walls. The three are institutionally one administrative entity and share an increasing lack of porosity that manifests itself in visible and invisible barriers, problematic social issues, and low quality of the urban environment. Building on spatial analysis, urban design exploration and stakeholders' analysis, the paper sheds light on how to provide a spatially just alternative for the inhabitants of East Naples by restoring porosity. The design proposals presented in the paper, build on an analysis of the power structures among stakeholders and a study of the uses and appropriation practices by the residents and different communities. This has been achieved by understanding how to assess porosity and inform the design. Echoing Paola Viganò's work, the paper identifies different qualities of porosity, namely (1) porosity of material, that is how the block, the main material of the urban environment, is composed and relates to the street space; (2) the porosity of fragment, referring to the visible and invisible barriers in the area, that may have been the result of historical traumatic events; and (3) the diagnosis of the social issues that are affecting the health of the local communities. These were explored through a combination of insights from urban morphology, urban sociology and environmental psychology. On site observations and interviews allowed for identifying several micro-histories and collect information about what is invisible in the area, painting a more diverse and complex picture of the socio-spatial fabric of the area than expected, often overlooked in planning and urban design practice. Thus, this study highlights the need for developing place-based approaches that revolve around the people's experience of urban space and bridge the gap between professionals and the everyday reality of the citizens, bringing the interest of the communities back to the core of the design and restore the Porous City.