Community-based data for a new taxonomy of abandoned places

The fragilities of the Italian territory are characterized by a multiplicity of 'minor' aspects that are difficult to be detected, mapped and interpreted. Abandoned places are very common ‘everyday’ landscapes elements which are not always characterized by widely evident phenomena of environmental and physical degradation. It is necessary to activate innovative knowledge-making tools to read and to understand the complexity of this places filling the lack of information concerning their characteristics (i.e. taxonomy, localization, etc.) and the relationship between their fragility and the repercussions on physical space. Open data and citizen science represent a great opportunity to produce new knowledge both for the preservation of vulnerable urban landscapes and to support urban regeneration projects and policy decisions. Through open-data participatory mapping actions the local and community knowledge can easily emerge in a structured and organized way. Official digital sources are often unable to adapt and incremental processes of place knowledge making. For this reason, a set of digital infrastructural facilities must be conceived and implemented, adopting the most advanced information technologies, in order to produce opensource, interoperable and interactive Dataset (i.e. Landscape Digital and Geographical Models). This digital infrastructure requires a wide variety of heterogeneous (qualitative and quantitative) data sets, collected and managed to remain open both for endless sharing and for control and technical verification actions. Openstreetmap is an emblematic example of a re-adaptable tool for mapping fragile and abandoned places: the modular depth of its geodatabase allows it to be customized with great ease. Using a tool like OSM avoids the risk of making the information inaccessible and non-reusable ensuring that a very large community (i.e. citizen, policy makers, stakeholders, etc.) can use and share. In this way the raw material of territorial research becomes a common ground without further complicated steps helping further subsequent interpretations and actions.