An Innovative Approach to Re-activate Inner Areas. The Case Study of the Appennino Basso Pesarese - Anconetano

The contribution describes the work with and on the territory—and the results it generated—carried out as part of the “RESETtling APPennines” thesis, a concluded research project that explores new transformation dynamics and strategies for the valorisation of the built heritage of the Italian inner areas for their restart. The approach is multidisciplinary and trans-scalar and focuses on architectural and urban composition and design, using different tools, including photo campaigns, interviews, dialogue with local actors and ICT & 3D Data. A sequence of methodological steps allowed the discovery of the area’s intrinsic qualities and potential and the consequent definition of regeneration strategies aimed at activating new economies and new life cycles. The case study is the municipality of Cagli. Here, the dialogue with the community and the local administration has allowed to understand how to deal with reactivation strategies: a fundamental research phase of transition between the reading of the territory and the elaboration of design visions, in which methods and tools have been investigated to involve the citizens in a sensitive planning, up to the prototyping of a Reactive Map, based on point clouds. Different tools and methods facilitated a dynamic exchange between the perspectives of locals and the skills of the researcher-designers, ensuring that the proposed interventions, the output of the research, were grounded in real-world needs and aspirations.