Industrial city regeneration: synergic strategies and solution for industrial heritage refurbishment. The Lecco city case study in Italy

A complex process of transition is affecting industrial regions were the traditional industrial economical activities are decreasing since the past Century leaving the urban context more poor in terms of functions, activities and identity and leaving large urban portion unused. The phenomenon implies a deep and complex metamorphosis of the whole complex urban systems and isolated refurbishment interventions cannot represent a feasible solution. The regeneration of urban and territorial systems requires strategic visions able to support the transition towards renovated identities and functionalities for the whole city. Despite problems coming both from social change and the property market, urban regeneration allows to overcome some critical points of contemporary cities for achieving some durable development in terms of economics and of social and environmental condition. The urban vision defines polices for the reactivation of the whole urban context in which single interventions could be activated in different period and by different stakeholders. It provides the framework for single interventions working as nodes of a complex organic system. In Lombardy, small cities are often characterized by a minor and dispread industrial heritage. To preserve the cultural and architectural value of this heritage the identification of new sustainable functions is crucial and it has to be integrated in a large strategic urban vision. The paper presents a theoretical reframing and the outcomes on the multi-scale and interdisciplinary regeneration based on the Lecco case study that is characterized by a historical iron industrial identity now almost dismissed. The first part focuses on the urban dimension presenting a developed assessment method supporting the inventory of built environment resources and the identification of promising new functions. The second part shows the architectural refurbishment process presenting the guidelines developed for the Area Biokosmes in Lecco.