The slow line as an opportunity to regenerate heritage in the fragile areas: the case of VENTO project

The topic dealt with is the tangible and intangible widespread heritage located in the fragile areas of the northern Italy, crossed by the river Po. Here the idea of the line is defined through its thickness, that is the heritage that we want to discover and evaluate, and for which the line represents an opportunity to become a hinge, an anchor and a flywheel, in order to regenerate fragile territories. To undertake this investigation, we will use the VENTO cycle route as case study for applying this analytical approach. VENTO is a territorial project, designed by Politecnico di Milano and part of a network of paths on a national scale decided by the Italian Ministry, that uses a cycle route along the river Po as an opportunity to regenerate fragile areas from Venice to Turin. In this research VENTO proposes itself as an experimental laboratory which provides the possibility of reversing the work perspective on territory. This research, by identifying, mapping and trying to evaluate the heritage along VENTO, will investigate ontologically the relationship between fragility and heritage and how it can change according to this new perspective of the line.