The stretch of coastline between Noto and Pachino, an extraordinary palimpsest of Mediterranean history and culture, is crossed by a disused railway line: the southernmost wine railway line in Italy. Its likely reactivation has rekindled a broad debate on the fate of this area, evoking ancient and long-standing and recent problems that are clearly in need of a solution. Indeed, both the exacerbated exploitation of the land for private interests, as well as the absence of infrastructures capable of satisfying the needs arising from the unprecedented presence of new kinds of stable residence, make it imperative to create a territorial scaled project that can reset the available resources and generate a collective vision for the future. Urged by these premises, the opportunity of the research developed for MedWays has therefore enabled verifying that reclamation of the area comprising the former railway line could be a chance to conceive of an enduring territorial framework, intended for slow mobility, open over time for restructuring for other forms and uses. A route to tell the story and not just to connect. Not only this, but moreover to avoid the eventuality that this infrastructure will become yet another isolated, soon abandoned, project, we also believed it necessary to think of off-shoots including services, relational infrastructures, which although aimed at solving the problems encountered in the various centres, are designed following a broader vision offered by the overall regeneration of the former railway line.
Il tratto di costa compreso tra Noto e Pachino è uno straordinario palinsesto di storia e cultura mediterranea attraversato da un tracciato ferroviario in disuso: la ferrovia del vino più a sud in Italia. La sua probabile riattivazione ha riacceso un ampio dibattito sul destino di questo territorio richiamando problematiche antiche e recenti che sono alla palese ricerca di soluzione. Infatti, tanto lo sfruttamento esasperato del suolo a favore di interessi privati, quanto l’assenza di infrastrutture idonee a soddisfare le esigenze poste dall’inedita presenza di nuove forme di stanzialità, rendono improrogabile la realizzazione di un progetto a scala territoriale utile a riposizionare le risorse disponibili e produrre una visione collettiva per il futuro. Quindi, sollecitati da tali premesse, l’opportunità della ricerca sviluppata per MedWays ci ha permesso di verificare che il recupero dell’area compresa dall’ex tratto ferroviario potrebbe costituire l’occasione per immaginare un’ossatura territoriale resistente, destinata ad una mobilità lenta, disponibile nel tempo ad essere ricomposta secondo altre forme ed usi. Un percorso per raccontare e non soltanto collegare. Ma non solo, per scongiurare l’ipotesi che questa infrastruttura diventi l’ennesimo progetto di una linea isolata, e presto abbandonata, abbiamo anche considerato necessario pensare a delle diramazioni comprensive di servizi, delle infrastrutture relazionali, che seppur rivolte a risolvere le problematiche riscontrate nei vari centri, sono pensate in funzione della visione d’insieme offerta dalla rigenerazione complessiva dell’ex tracciato ferroviario.
‘Along the line’ between Noto and Pachino. Disused railway infrastructure and spatial planning for the Sicilian coastline
Marzullo Calogero
2022-01-01
Abstract
The stretch of coastline between Noto and Pachino, an extraordinary palimpsest of Mediterranean history and culture, is crossed by a disused railway line: the southernmost wine railway line in Italy. Its likely reactivation has rekindled a broad debate on the fate of this area, evoking ancient and long-standing and recent problems that are clearly in need of a solution. Indeed, both the exacerbated exploitation of the land for private interests, as well as the absence of infrastructures capable of satisfying the needs arising from the unprecedented presence of new kinds of stable residence, make it imperative to create a territorial scaled project that can reset the available resources and generate a collective vision for the future. Urged by these premises, the opportunity of the research developed for MedWays has therefore enabled verifying that reclamation of the area comprising the former railway line could be a chance to conceive of an enduring territorial framework, intended for slow mobility, open over time for restructuring for other forms and uses. A route to tell the story and not just to connect. Not only this, but moreover to avoid the eventuality that this infrastructure will become yet another isolated, soon abandoned, project, we also believed it necessary to think of off-shoots including services, relational infrastructures, which although aimed at solving the problems encountered in the various centres, are designed following a broader vision offered by the overall regeneration of the former railway line.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.