Mobility for public space. Inter-City laboratories in the design for new urban capillaries

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of public space design with reference to sustainable, soft, and active mobility. It outlines a line of research that explores the possibilities of applying a multidimensional vision of the very concept of mobility in the contemporary city. This, indeed, expands by intercepting the many ways in which movement takes place and generates activity in urban contexts. The field of experimentation is the city of Naples, where many intermodal nodes – significant for public transport as well as from urban point of view – have been investigated. The adopted research methodology saw a very significant phase, which is presented in the article, in the construction of a panorama of comparisons of best practices and case studies to be analysed in relation to Naples. The comparison, starting from the concept of “dynamic model” (Montaner, 2011) and ultimately understood as an inter-city laboratory, has allowed for a general reflection on the transformative possibilities for mobility design in relation to public space. This kind of study has enriched the design proposals elaborated on the city of Naples and improved the definition of an abacus of possible architectural actions for the creation of new urban capillaries.

Keywords: active mobility, public space, infrastructures, dynamic model, Naples