The ambition of alpha territorialisation in cities in crisis. The case of Turin

Keywords: alpha territorialisation; Turin; post-fordism
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 65

Abstract

The topic of alpha territorialisation challenges territories with different issues, scales of government and spatial planning. This research focuses also on the city of Turin, in the North-West of Italy, an interesting example of a former industrial city. For almost a century, Turin has been known as the one-company-town of Italy, whose social and economic profile revolved around the FIAT industry (automotive sector) and its satellite factories (Bagnasco, 1986).
In the last decades, the local authorities have pursued the attempt to surpass the Fordist past, outlining new directions of change. Since the 1990s, in the domain of urban planning, land use plans aimed at real estate investments fostering urban developments, while in Turin’s peripheries urban regeneration programmes tackling socio-economic inequalities were implemented, showing the different paces of the urban governance/government. The idea of cities as places of leisure and consumption (Zukin, 1995; Clark, 2004; Aytar and Rath, 2012) was implemented attracting mega-events and wealthy classes (such as tourists, creatives, young middle-class, temporary residents, etc.). Nevertheless, most of these ambitions remain unrequited in the reality. The low value of land, the problems in the governance/government field, the proximity to Milan and the scarce relevance in the international scenario make Turin an unattractive location for investors.
Nowadays, Turin is experiencing a deep economic and social crisis that reinforced inequalities, showing its weaknesses both in the national and international scenario. The current situation dramatically reveals the critical role of second-tier cities in the alpha territorialisation processes.