EXAMENSARBETE INOM SAMHÄLLSBYGGNAD, AVANCERAD NIVÅ, 30 HP STOCKHOLM, SVERIGE 2019 Urban form, public life and social capital - a case study of how the concepts are related in Calabria, Italy SOFIA HULDT KTH SKOLAN FÖR ARKITEKTUR OCH SAMHÄLLSBYGGNAD Abstract The aim of this thesis is to investigate the urban structure of two Italian towns based upon physical structure and social function. The towns are Bova and Bova Marina in the ancient Greek part of Calabria, Area Grecanica. This is done by answering the research questions about how the urban structures are and what preconditions there are for public life and in extension social capital. This is also compared to the discourse in research about Calabria as a region lacking behind as well as the Greek cultural heritage. The thesis was conducted during one semester spent in the area and based upon qualitative research in form of observations of the towns, mapping, textual analysis and interviews. The results showed that the urban form of the two towns differ from each other because of their history and their localisation. Bova is an ancient town in the mountains that is separated through topography, and therefore conserved with many old structures but few inhabitants, suffering from out-migration. Bova Marina is placed on the coast of the Ionic Sea, south of Bova and connected to the region by train and roads, while Bova is mainly connected to Bova Marina. Bova Marina was founded as a town in late 19th century and expanded a lot because of the railroad. It is a town with inconsistent walking network, a lot of traffic and houses in bad condition. Due to this the conclusion was that the urban form in both towns are seemingly bad for public life, but the observations showed that there was intense social activity in public spaces nevertheless which generates social capital. Despite this the social capital is in research presented as bad in the Area Grecanica, something that might have to do with a history of being neglected as well as lack of control over their own area. Keywords: Public life, Calabria, Urban planning, Social capital Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible through great guidance from my two supervisors, Marcus Adolphson at KTH and Flavia Martinelli at Università degli Studi Mediterranea in Reggio Calabria. Thank you Marcus for your continuous support and great discussions and for finding the subject interesting. Thank you Flavia for great insight in and input on the country’s, region’s and area’s situation. Thank you also to John Robb for giving me such great information, enthusiasm and for your earlier conducted research. I also want to thank my dear friend Sarah Brunzell for support throughout the sometimes extremely confusing process of writing a thesis. I also want to thank the wonderful family X in Bova Marina for helping us with absolutely everything. You know who you are. This made our stay in Calabria an absolute delight and you made us feel like we belonged. You gave us great insight of your region and your life. This made the thesis feasible but it also made you our very dear friends. Thank you so much! Lastly but mostly I want to thank my family. My partner Anton, thank you for keeping up faith in the thesis when I did not, for always wanting to hear and know more, and thank you for being such a wonderful and fun person to share a life with. And Arthur, this was made possible because of you, and you are what I am most grateful for in life. 2 Table of contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. 2 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 5 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................... 6 DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS ......................................................................................................... 8 AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................... 9 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................. 11 HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF CITIES ...................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 GREKO-ROMAN WORLD – 7TH CENTURY BC TO 13TH CENTURY ............................................................... 11 2.1.2 THE MIDDLE AGES – FIFTH TO 15TH CENTURIES ................................................................................... 12 2.1.3 THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND MODERNIZATION ON URBAN FORM ............................................ 12 2.1.4 FASCIST ARCHITECTURE IN ITALY ....................................................................................................... 12 MORPHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF CITIES .............................................................................. 13 2.2.1 URBAN CYCLES AND URBAN ORIGINS ................................................................................................. 13 2.2.2 PLANNED AND UNPLANNED CITIES .................................................................................................... 13 2.2.3 TOPOGRAPHY AS A DETERMINANT FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT ............................................................... 14 2.2.4 SYNOECISM ................................................................................................................................... 15 SOCIALLY FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATIONS OF CITIES ........................................................................ 15 2.3.1 PLANNING AND PUBLIC LIFE ............................................................................................................. 15 2.3.2 SOCIAL CAPITAL, PUBLIC LIFE AND URBAN FORM .................................................................................. 16 2.3.3 SOLIDARITY ................................................................................................................................... 16 SPECIFIC FINDINGS BY OTHERS ............................................................................................. 18 BOVA MARINA ARCHEOLOGICAL PROJECT (BMAP) ....................................................................... 18 CASE STUDY REPORT AREA GRECANICA – CALABRIA ........................................................................ 18 THE MARINE OF CALABRIA ....................................................................................................... 20 INTEGRATED APPROACHES AND INTERVENTIONS FOR THE REGENERATION OF ABANDONED TOWNS IN SOUTHERN ITALY .......................................................................................................................................... 21 EMPIRICAL PROCEDURES ..................................................................................................... 22 PROCEDURES ........................................................................................................................ 22 METHODS AND DATA .............................................................................................................. 22 4.2.1 DATA ........................................................................................................................................... 22 4.2.2 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND SPECIFIC METHODS ................................................................................. 23 4.2.3 CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................. 24 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ........................................................................................................... 25 A BRIEF HISTORY OF BOVA AND BOVA MARINA ............................................................................. 25 3 ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN THE TOWNS .......................................................................................... 27 THE INTERLINKAGE BETWEEN THE TOWNS ..................................................................................... 27 BOVA MARINA TODAY ............................................................................................................ 30 5.4.1 STRUCTURES ON A LARGER SCALE ...................................................................................................... 31 5.4.2 ROAD NETWORK AND ACCESSIBILITY .................................................................................................. 33 5.4.3 BUILT ENVIRONMENT...................................................................................................................... 37 5.4.4 FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF SOCIAL LIFE ................................................................................................ 39 BOVA TODAY ........................................................................................................................ 41 5.5.1 STRUCTURES ON A LARGER SCALE ...................................................................................................... 41 5.5.2 BUILT ENVIRONMENT...................................................................................................................... 45 5.5.3 ROAD NETWORK ...........................................................................................................................