Based on a series of studies and mapping excercises, it is evident from the landscape evolution of Cremona that there were many pockets of empty spaces and unutilized land that increased with time starting from the 2000s. That was directly proportional with the abandonment of argicultural lands as well.
Furthermore, there were contaminated soils in the industrial areas, which was actually of great contribution to making Cremona one of the most polluted cities in Italy in terms of soil, air and water. By studying the ecological, infrastructural, urban and social systems, a disconnection between large green areas in the city was observed, as well as between the city and Po River, which once was a key destination for social gatherings and recreation activities in nature.
The project collects a series of maps first to identify these issues and by mapping large abandoned areas of industrial wastelands around the city, it tends to recover them by reusing, colonizing and designing new innovative solutions.
Therefore, the project gives four main ideas:
- Urban integration by connecting the city centre to the river Po and the identified abandoned areas;
- Revitalization of abandoned lands and buildings by transforming and adding new functions;
- Ecological interventions by creating a new agricultural system that would reduce the agricultural pollution, further forestating the existing green areas and planting new vegetation as city pocket parks, as well as along the agricultural land.
- Socio-ecological integration by connecting people with nature through urban parks, soft mobility paths and other small urban interventions in human scale that would raise public awareness towards pollution.
In order to test the general strategy, the project jumps to different sites and scales of interventions, starting with City Centre, Raffineria, Bosconello, Caserma Col di Lana and Piattaforma Ecologica.
Collaborators: Anthony Nicolas, Edera Kana, Enkelejda Zekaj, Marina Riad, Nada Elsayed, Nouran Sherif & Reem Hafez
