Changes in Vision - Urban Landscapes: Environmental Networks and Quality of Life - page 50

Congress for the New Urbanism based in Chicago, USA, which proposed
measures for land consumption in American cities.
In the last chapter of this volume, the case study of the “ diffuse Adriatic
city ” is discussed, which, prompted by experience already gained in the field,
aims to produce methodological advancement regarding:

1. The interpretation and evaluation of urban complexity through transdisci-

plinary quality indicators that develop mutual correlations and adaptabil-
ity to the context of interest.

2. The construction of an integrated body of knowledge of the city aimed at

urban governance, making use of those parameters that best interpret the
policies and decision-making strategies that are developed in the different
territories.

6.2 Initial Experiences in Urban Regeneration

In 1993, the American Society of Landscape Architects adopted a “ Declaration
on Environment and Development ”, which is still current. This stated that it
is necessary to start from the landscape connecting different components if we
want to preserve the Earth. New transverse approaches are therefore necessary
to face the themes of urban regeneration from new angles, assaying the fertili-
ty of conceptual development that faces the study of complex systems. In these
new visions, nature is clearly called to make a relevant contribution to improv-
ing the quality of life, which is obtained by redesigning the urban landscape.
For some time now, important international schools have concentrated on stud-
ies and examinations of the relationship between ecology and urban design.
One is the traditionalist “new urbanism” that was developed in the USA, start-
ing from theories and projects developed by the Leon brothers.
Another is the environmental/technological theme, which is attributed to
Sir Richard Rogers and Sir Peter Hall. The main concrete result is the United
Kingdom Urban Task Force (“ Towards a Strong Urban Renaissance ”,
2005), in which a national program for the sustainable transformation of urban
areas was drawn up. In different works produced by this school of thought,
intervening in the urban landscape represents an opportunity to solve problems
such as bad environmental quality (with particular attention to essential
resources, such as air and water), a high consumption of nonurbanized land,
the absence of neighborhood identity, the lack of improvement in areas and
buildings representative of the community, and the lack of public and collec-
tive spaces . In regeneration processes in European cities, to answer the rights
of the city, the environment, and the home, the questions to be faced can be
organized into three large groups:

• The themes of parks and open and green spaces (linear and point) in the

city and the immediate context .