I paesaggi della contemporaneità e le nuove progettualità. L'esperienza degli orti urbani a Roma

CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPES AND NEW PLANNING: THE URBAN VEGETEBLE GARDENS EXPERIENCE IN ROME The concept that lies at the basis of this paper is the awareness of the different solutions that could be given by each administration to realize a sustainable regeneration of urbanized lands. In the following pages, the main intention is to reflect on the choices made by the city of Rome to make the most of its rural heritage. Farm parks, urban vegetable gardens, farmer's markets, educational farmhouses: there are many ways to meet the new requirements of a territory's administration that tries to avoid the "urban focused" tendencies of planning, sharing instances of innovation, development and participation. In particular, if we focus the attention on participation, stimulating social integration in the planning logic - "participative democracy" - we can favour the protection and "rehabilitation" of places and landscapes. The selected subject, which is considered through the perspective of rural space's rarefaction, suggests a reflection on the meaning that the urban vegetable gardens can have as an "instrument" to regenerate the urban contexts, exposed to a continous urbanization process. The creation of the urban vegetable gardens can represent the right choice to guarantee the required integration between the agricultural productive use and the urban and environmental aims. Thus, the most internal or marginal areas could be seen as resources to assure an enduring quality of landscape.