C O N T E X T 1 0 8 : M A R C H 2 0 0 9 33 MICHAEL TAYLOR Urban conservation in Italy To English eyes, Italy achieves an enviably high degree of completeness in the conservation of its historic towns. A study visit provided an inside view of Italian policy and practice. My study visit in autumn 2008 to selected towns in central and northern Italy left some of my initial questions unanswered, but provided an inside view of aspects of Italian policy and practice. The Italian Constitution includes the protection of natural and cultural assets by the state among its 12 fundamental principles.This commitment is the starting point for the current legislative basis of conservation in Italy, the Law of Cultural and Landscape Heritage of 2004. This law includes and consolidates earlier legislation of 1922 and 1939. Article 1 of the law sets out the purpose of the protection and improvement of cultural heritage as ‘to preserve the memory of the national community and of its territory and to promote the development of culture’. It sets out this objective as a task for all parts of Italy’s complex governmental structures, an obligation of public bodies whose principal responsibilities lie outside the conservation field and as a duty on owners of designated assets. There is a single legal code covering all types of historic assets. Article 10 of the law defines cultural heritage widely as items of special artistic, historic, archaeological and ethnographic interest. This ranges from museum, gallery, archive and library collections to archaeological or historic industrial sites, buildings, parks and urban streets and squares. Vernacular architecture and selected contemporary buildings can be included. The complex legal code goes on to set out arrangements for the designation by the culture ministry and protection of assets in the categories identified. These include the role of the national government agency, the Soprintendenza, and sanctions for breach of the law. Ancona (population 101,000) is the capital city of the region of Le Marche. Throughout its history it has been a busy port. This strategic function made it a target of bombing by the Austrians in 1915 and of over 150 air raids by the RAF in 1943/44. Ancona also suffered major earthquakes in 1930 and in 1972. The latter event displaced 90 per cent of residents in the historic centre. A plan of 1988 detailed sites for development affected both by bombing and seismic activity. The city council, the comune, took responsibility for much of the reconstruction after the 1972 earthquake, including buying damaged properties, repairing or rebuilding them and selling back to the previous owners. Some buildings still await repair but much of the 1988 plan has now been implemented and new housing has been pieced into the small-scale historic layout of the city. Underground parking ensures that large parking courts do not intrude into a close-grained townscape. Architectural styles for new housing development are modern and this led to some criticism from the public. Piazza del Popolo, Ascoli Piceno
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=