CAPACities Competitiveness Actions and Policies for Alpine Cities INNOVATIVE POLICIES FOR ALPINE CITIES Alpine Space Small Local Urban Centres Innovative Pack INNOVATIVE POLICIES FOR ALPINE TOWNS Alpine Space Small Local Urban Centres Innovative Pack Programme Alpine Space - Project CAPACities (Competitiveness Actions and Policies for Alpine Cities) Lead Partner RL: Regione Lombardia (Italy), General Directorate Ecological Networks and Landscape, Via Galvani, 27, 20124 – Milano (MI). Responsible: Luisa Pedrazzini (luisa_pedrazzini@ regione.lombardia.it). Internet: www.regione.lombardia.it. LI: DI Herbert Liske (Austria), Chartered Engineering Consultant for Urbanism and Regional Planning, Kaiser Franz-Josef-Ring, 6, 2500 – Baden bei Wien. Responsible: Herbert Liske, Patricia Liske-Weninger ([email protected]). Internet: www.liske.at. AMGI: Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenia), Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Novi trg, 2, 1000 – Ljubljana. Responsible: Janez Nared ([email protected]). Internet: giam.zrc-sazu.si. NTA: National Tourist Association (Slovenia), Vošnjakova cesta, 5, 1000 – Ljubljana. Responsible: Janez Sirše. Internet: www.ntz-nta.si. IUG: Institute d’Urbanisme de Grenoble (France), 14, avenue Marie Reynoard, 38100 – Grenoble. Responsible: Gilles Novarina ([email protected]) Internet: www. iug-grenoble.fr. CAUE84: Conseil d’Architecture, d’Urbanisme et de l’Environnement de Vaucluse (France), Avenue de Fontcouverte, 2, 84000 – Avignon. Internet: www.caue84.fr. LAMORO: Società Consortile Langhe Monferrato Roero (Italy), local development agency, Via Leopardi, 4, 14100 – Asti (AT). Responsible: Sonia Abluton ([email protected]). Internet: www.lamoro.it. RAVDA: Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta (Italy), Department of Territory and Environment, Località Grand Chemin, 34, 11020 – Saint-Christophe (AO). Responsible: Ermenegildo Del Degan ([email protected]) Internet: www.regione.vda.it. RP: Regione Piemonte (Italy), Directorate of Strategic Planning, Territorial Policy, Construction, Regional Spatial Planning Office, Corso Bolzano, 44, 10121 – Torino (TO). Responsible: Giovanni Paludi ([email protected]). Internet: www. regione.piemonte.it. GR: Graubünden Canton (Switzerland), Graubünden Office of spatial development, Grabenstrasse, 1, 7000 – Chur. Responsible: Alberto Ruggia ([email protected]). nternet: www.are.gr.ch. INNOVATIVE POLICIES FOR ALPINE TOWNS Alpine Space Small Local Urban Centres Innovative Pack Editors: Andrea Bocco Paolo Zeppetella Authors: David Bole Diana Giudici Gilles Novarina Janez Nared Luca Tomasini Luisa Pedrazzini Maddalena Micheletto Paolo Pileri René Guerin Milano, Torino, Ljubljana 2011 INNOVATIVE POLICIES FOR ALPINE TOWNS Alpine Space Small Local Urban Centres Innovative Pack Project coordinator: Luisa Pedrazzini (Regione Lombardia). Editors: Andrea Bocco (Politecnico di Torino), Paolo Zeppetella (Regione Piemonte). Graphical layout: Paolo Zeppetella. For the specific credits of texts, images and figures, see the backcover of each chapter. Publisher: Založba ZRC/ZRC Publishing, Ljubljana Represented by: Oto Luthar Printed by: Birografika BORI d. o. o., Ljubljana Printrun: 1500 copies © Partners of CAPACities Project 2011 This publication is a result of project CAPACities, financed by Alpine Space programme. The publication is the result of a collective work. Contributors: RL: Luisa Pedrazzini, with Cinzia Pedrotti, Francesca Putignano. Finlombarda S.p.A.: Francesco Cannatelli, Antonella Pisano. Politecnico di Milano (DIAP - Department of Planning and Architecture): Guido Codecasa, Diana Giudici, Elena Granata, Arturo Lanzani, Giulia Pesaro, Paolo Pileri, Luca Tomasini. LI: Herbert Liske, Patricia Liske-Weninger. AMGI: Janez Nared, with David Bole, Jerneja Fridl, Petra Rus. NTA: Janez Sirše, with Nina Pečoler, Miha Bratec. IUG: Gilles Novarina, with Teodoro Vales. CAUE84: René Guérin, with Hélène Aubert, Anne Charpentier, Marc Jadot. LAMORO: Sonia Abluton, with Valentina Scioneri. RAVDA: Ermenegildo Del Degan, with Maddalena Micheletto (project manager), Caterina Naldi (administrative consultant). RP: Giovanni Paludi, with Guido Baschenis, Francesca La Greca, Paolo Zeppetella. Politecnico di Torino (Dipartimento Casa-città): Gianfranco Cavaglià (coordinator), Andrea Bocco, Nadia Battaglio, Francesco Stassi, Corrado Curti; Gian Vincenzo Fracastoro and Guglielmina Mutani (Dipartimento di Energetica). GR: Alberto Ruggia, with Davide Marconi Key words: Innovation, Alpine Space, Local Resources, Competitiveness, Actractiveness, Small Local Urban Cetres. CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 711.435(234.3) 911.375(234.3) INNOVATIVE policies for alpine towns : alpine space small local urban centres innovative pack / authors David Bole [et al.] ; editors Andrea Bocco, Paolo Zeppetella. - Ljubljana : Založba ZRC, 2011 ISBN 978-961-254-254-2 1. Bole, David 2. Bocco, Andrea 254887168 Contents Executive summary 7 1 Project presentation 11 2 Methodological framework 15 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Attractiveness of towns in Alpine context 17 2.3 Competitivnes of towns in Alpine context 21 2.4 Small Local Urban Centres versus Mega Cities 22 2.5 Definition of the Alpine Space Small Local Urban Centre (AS-SLUC) 25 2.6 Basic features of AS-SLUCs according to our methodology 31 3 Representation of Alpine Space peculiarities 39 3.1 Preliminary remarks 41 3.2 CAPACities Alpine context 42 3.3 Demographic dynamics 47 3.4 Economic trends 52 3.5 Final remarks 56 4 Pilot actions 59 4.1 Introduction 61 4.2 Actions for competitiveness improvement 61 4.3 Pilot Projects description 63 4.4 Different territorial contexts 96 4.5 Challenges and topics 97 4.6 Implementation and innovative approach 99 4.7 A first evaluation of Pilot Projects 102 5 Thematic guidelines & tools 111 5.1 Small Alpine towns and territorial planning 113 5.2 Thematic guidelines - Introduction 116 5.3 Thematic guidelines 123 5.4 Tools - Introduction 144 5.5 Tools 153 Executive summary According to CAPACities findings, the main strengths of the Alpine region are Human and Territorial Capital. Both are often hidden. The development of the Alpine region depends at a large extent on the strengthening of the relationship between these components. The main aim of the project has been to develop the potential of Alpine Space Small Local Urban Centres (hereinafter also “AS–SLUCs”) through an integrated and trans- national approach, innovative urban policies, and creating alliances with the neighbouring MEtropolitan Growth Areas (MEGAs), both inside and outside the Alpine Space. The project goal responds to a new approach to territorial governance which aims at integrating different issues – such as multifunctional urban uses, environment and culture, sustainable tourism, etc. – in spatial development strategies, through the design of tools able to promote innovative urban activities, pursuing the EU Lisbon Agenda applied at the local level. These ambitious objectives have been reached through the development of innovative actions in town and country planning, as well as in social policies targeted to specific groups such as women, youth, aged people. Integrated strategic Local and Regional Actions and Plans to improve the quality of life and the competitiveness of Alpine centres – as well as 7 Pilot Projects exploiting cultural, environmental, landscape, tourism, economic assets – are the main tangible results of CAPACities, often attained through participatory activities. The AS-SLUCs Innovative Pack contains a selection of the best outcomes achieved, which include also the steps which in our experience need to be taken to carry out innovative projects enhancing the hidden territorial capital of small Alpine towns. Such outcomes are here collected and discussed, making them available to those who might be interested in testing them in other territories. Sharing a spatial framework: Alpine Space is not an homogeneous region The first step of the project dealt with pointing out the specific features of small towns in mountain areas. This was a preliminary activity, needed to focus the object to be shared among the partnership. This step put in evidence a first problem in analysing such a complex space: the difficulty to collect complete and homogeneous data for the whole Alpine region, at least at NUTS 3 statistical level. A shared definition of “small urban centre” in the Alpine region was drawn using two basic indicators – the number of inhabitants and job density –, functional to express the degree of centrality of a given settlement. The thresholds of such indicators may vary according to a third datum: the elevation of the municipality. The attractiveness of Alpine Space is unevenly distributed, and is certainly unique. But small and medium-sized Alpine towns are threatened on two fronts: the lack of economic opportunities due to declining economic factors (accessibility, small population and workforce size, etc.), and the “suburbanization” from larger peri-Alpine MEGAs, which can on one hand cancel the genuine inner-Alpine cultural and economic identity and on the other hand can offer opportunities to these centres. As a result of this analysis, AS-SLUCs emerged as a new category of urban structures in the Alpine area, which is different from those in other contexts, starting from the “intuitive” evidence that mountain centres possess special features that constitute their potential; although these characteristics