The role of water management in European regeneration strategies. From problem to opportunity

Abstract

Among the research and experimentation paths about urban regeneration, the environmental issues have stimulated new ways of action, not only in terms of defence and preservation of the resources, but also in terms of proactive urban and territorial resilience strategies. These strategies merge an eco-landscape perspective, as well as morphological, functional and infrastructural ones in a complex, integrated and non-sectoral design dimension, toward a model of urban resilience that is considered a relevant operational reference, but also a significant collective value, on which to re-establish not only the forms of the urban landscape but also the sense of the collective use of spaces. In this context, the most advanced national policies in Germany and France, overcome the concept of ecological networks towards the concept of green infrastructure, a multifunctional network based on natural capital and ecosystem services. Green infrastructure is configured as a “resilient frame” for the prevention and mitigation of hydrogeological risks and adaptation to climate change, a structure for saving and recycling water resources, and a matrix of public spaces. This concept heads toward a holistic interpretation of water management issues. The case studies of the Ruhr Valley and the Seine Valley show emblematic water management strategies that face the complex challenges of environmental and socio-economic regeneration of some relevant European industrial urban areas giving important opportunities to drive territories beyond crisis and urban planning toward new operational references and collective values.