Reusing infrastructural networks is a development driver in European political agenda, especially related to slow mobility strategies and sustainability goals, as well as a topic in the scientific debate on place-based regeneration processes. The issue is particularly relevant in territories far from the main urban centres and from the so-called cultural attractions, such as the cases of small villages and inner areas in Italy, which suffer marginalization processes, with reduction in economic activities and services, low levels of accessibility and subsequent depopulation, ageing and abandonment. In these contexts, the landscape is often a potential asset that could be enhanced also by reusing the existing infrastructure networks. Indeed, reusing abandoned territorial capital and improving accessibility are key issues identified by the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas to regenerate these places and sustain local development processes. In recent years, many initiatives concern the reuse of disused railways as opportunity to enhance the infrastructure - in terms of historical value and engineering heritage - but also the territorial capital of the crossed places, which the infrastructure can contribute to connect or re-connect in a systemic approach. In the international experiences, the initiatives mainly concern, on one hand, the design of greenways based on replacing disused railway track in routes for slow mobility activities, on the other hand, the reuse of railway lines for tourist and recreative activities, especially in case of historical railways and those crossing valuable landscapes, the so-called panoramic trains. Data highlight a growing interest and success of tourist railway initiatives in which the train is not only a vehicle for travelling, but also a proper tourist destination and experience. This trend is also developing in Italy, which has a huge disused railway heritage. Initiatives of volunteers and socio-economic stakeholders as well as institutional ones have started, sometimes based on collaboration with each other, also thanks to the activity of networks such as the Alliance for Slow Mobility (A.Mo.Do.) aimed at promoting synergy among actors at local and national level. However, the offer is still fragmented, characterized by limited planning and many cases are in an experimental phase, that should be followed by a broad overall strategy supported by adequate hospitality services, intermodality and infrastructure facilities. Bottom-up initiatives characterized the experience of the Avellino-Rocchetta Sant'Antonio railway, a historical line of the Campania Region that links the city of Avellino with the "Alta Irpinia" inner area, case study within the ongoing research project "Territorial imbalances and marginalisation processes. The landscape as a driver for place-based fegeneration of inner areas and small villages" at CNR IRISS. The research assumes sharing goals with the local actors as a value for implementing a place-based regeneration process, based on relations among people, places and territorial resourses. In this perspective, the tourist train can represent an element to re-connect physical networks of the territory - infrastructural, settlement, productive, environmental ones - with the immaterial networks and the social networks. Actually, some strategical conditions that could support the success of initiatives of reuse of railway are related to the concept of network, referring to their integration in a territorial development plan, especially in a perspective of regeneration. Opportunities and weaknesses can be analyzed with reference to the physical subsystem and to the economic, cultural and social subsystems.
Il riuso delle reti infrastrutturali è riconosciuto come un potenziale driver di sviluppo nell'agenda politica europea, soprattutto in relazione a strategie di mobilità lenta ed obiettivi di sostenibilità, e rappresenta un focus del dibattito scientifico relativo a processi di rigenerazione place-based. La questione è particolarmente rilevante in territori lontani dai principali centri urbani e dai cosiddetti attrattori culturali, come i piccoli borghi e le aree interne italiane, che subiscono processi di marginalizzazione, caratterizzati da riduzione delle attività economiche e dei servizi e da bassi livelli di accessibilità. In questi contesti, il paesaggio è spesso un potenziale asset la cui valorizzazione potrebbe essere supportata dal riuso di reti infrastrutturali. Riuso del capitale territoriale abbandonato e miglioramento dell'accessibilità sono anche temi chiave della Strategia Nazionale Italiana per le Aree Interne, finalizzata a rigenerare questi territori e sostenere processi di sviluppo. Negli ultimi anni, molte iniziative riguardano il riuso di ferrovie dismesse come opportunità per valorizzare l'infrastruttura - in termini di valore storico e patrimonio ingegneristico - ma anche il capitale territoriale dei luoghi attraversati, che l'infrastruttura può contribuire a collegare o ricollegare in un approccio sistemico. Nelle esperienze internazionali, le iniziative riguardano principalmente, da un lato, la progettazione di greenways ottenute dalla conversione di tracciati dismessi in percorsi per la mobilità lenta, dall'altro, il riuso di linee ferroviarie per attività turistiche e ricreative, soprattutto nel caso di ferrovie storiche e di quelle che attraversano paesaggi di pregio, i cosiddetti treni panoramici. I dati evidenziano un crescente successo di iniziative turistiche in cui il treno non rappresenta solo un veicolo per viaggiare, ma una vera e propria destinazione ed esperienza turistica. Questa tendenza si sta sviluppando anche in Italia, dotata di un considerevole patrimonio ferroviario in disuso. Sono state avviate iniziative sia bottom-up, promosse da attori socio-economici e culturali, sia istituzionali, talvolta basate sulla collaborazione reciproca anche grazie all'attività di reti come l'Alleanza per la Mobilità Dolce (A.Mo.Do.) il cui obiettivo è promuovere sinergie tra attori a livello locale e nazionale. Tuttavia, l'offerta è ancora frammentata, caratterizzata da una pianificazione limitata e molti casi sono in una fase sperimentale, alla quale dovrebbe seguire una strategia complessiva ed integrata, supportata da adeguati servizi di ospitalità, intermodalità e infrastrutture. Iniziative bottom-up caratterizzano l'esperienza della ferrovia Avellino-Rocchetta Sant'Antonio, linea storica della Regione Campania, che collega la città di Avellino con l'area interna dell'Alta Irpinia, caso studio nell'ambito del progetto di ricerca "Disequilibri territoriali e processi di marginalizzazione. Il paesaggio come driver di rigenerazione place-based per aree interne e borghi" in corso presso il CNR IRISS. La ricerca assume la condivisione degli obiettivi con gli attori locali come valore per la realizzazione di un processo di rigenerazione place-based, basato sulle relazioni tra persone, luoghi e risorse territoriali. In questa prospettiva, il treno turistico può rappresentare un elemento di riconnessione delle reti fisiche del territorio - infrastrutturali, insediative, produttive, ambientali - con le reti immateriali e le reti sociali. Al concetto di rete sono riconducibili alcune condizioni strategiche che potrebbero sostenere il successo delle iniziative in un'ottica di rigenerazione, evidenziando opportunità e punti critici in riferimento al sottosistema fisico e ai sottosistemi economici, culturali e sociali.
Linee ferroviarie e valorizzazione del paesaggio. Orientamenti e sperimentazioni
Stefania Oppido
2020
Abstract
Reusing infrastructural networks is a development driver in European political agenda, especially related to slow mobility strategies and sustainability goals, as well as a topic in the scientific debate on place-based regeneration processes. The issue is particularly relevant in territories far from the main urban centres and from the so-called cultural attractions, such as the cases of small villages and inner areas in Italy, which suffer marginalization processes, with reduction in economic activities and services, low levels of accessibility and subsequent depopulation, ageing and abandonment. In these contexts, the landscape is often a potential asset that could be enhanced also by reusing the existing infrastructure networks. Indeed, reusing abandoned territorial capital and improving accessibility are key issues identified by the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas to regenerate these places and sustain local development processes. In recent years, many initiatives concern the reuse of disused railways as opportunity to enhance the infrastructure - in terms of historical value and engineering heritage - but also the territorial capital of the crossed places, which the infrastructure can contribute to connect or re-connect in a systemic approach. In the international experiences, the initiatives mainly concern, on one hand, the design of greenways based on replacing disused railway track in routes for slow mobility activities, on the other hand, the reuse of railway lines for tourist and recreative activities, especially in case of historical railways and those crossing valuable landscapes, the so-called panoramic trains. Data highlight a growing interest and success of tourist railway initiatives in which the train is not only a vehicle for travelling, but also a proper tourist destination and experience. This trend is also developing in Italy, which has a huge disused railway heritage. Initiatives of volunteers and socio-economic stakeholders as well as institutional ones have started, sometimes based on collaboration with each other, also thanks to the activity of networks such as the Alliance for Slow Mobility (A.Mo.Do.) aimed at promoting synergy among actors at local and national level. However, the offer is still fragmented, characterized by limited planning and many cases are in an experimental phase, that should be followed by a broad overall strategy supported by adequate hospitality services, intermodality and infrastructure facilities. Bottom-up initiatives characterized the experience of the Avellino-Rocchetta Sant'Antonio railway, a historical line of the Campania Region that links the city of Avellino with the "Alta Irpinia" inner area, case study within the ongoing research project "Territorial imbalances and marginalisation processes. The landscape as a driver for place-based fegeneration of inner areas and small villages" at CNR IRISS. The research assumes sharing goals with the local actors as a value for implementing a place-based regeneration process, based on relations among people, places and territorial resourses. In this perspective, the tourist train can represent an element to re-connect physical networks of the territory - infrastructural, settlement, productive, environmental ones - with the immaterial networks and the social networks. Actually, some strategical conditions that could support the success of initiatives of reuse of railway are related to the concept of network, referring to their integration in a territorial development plan, especially in a perspective of regeneration. Opportunities and weaknesses can be analyzed with reference to the physical subsystem and to the economic, cultural and social subsystems.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
