La rigenerazione sostenibile del tessuto storico: il caso studio di 'città alta' a Bergamo.

Within the long-standing debate on new urban planning and regeneration strategies, the fate of old towns plays an essential role. Today, in fact, historic cities have to face hard challenges, in a global framework that presents new problems and that clamor for as many innovative solutions. We are therefore talking about a complex issue of great interest (as showed by the countless meetings that have been organized at national and local level in recent years), but still to be deepened. An issue that involves the political class, the professionals, the operators of the sector and the citizens, and this although it is one of the topics that have shaped and characterized the Italian specialist debate in the second half of the 20th century, and originated its greatest contribution to the international urban planning. Confronted with market pressures, historic cities are now threatened by both old and new dangers, in the face of which existing regulations do not allow adequate solutions. In particular, there is a widespread tendency to the depopulation, to the loss of traditional production and commercial functions and, in many cases, to consumption phenomena, due to the growing of mass tourism. These are not isolated cases but a generalized trend which if, on the one hand, sees the industry of tourism as an important driving force for development of historic centers, on the other hand induces significant negative consequences that careful planning should be able to counteract. Through the case study of the Upper city of Bergamo - in the past, an unhealthy place that following Luigi Angelini's Recovery Plan has been adapted to the contemporary human life without losing its identity - this paper intends to make a reflection on the current situation and to hypothesize possible solutions.