INFRASTRUCTURE FOR COLLECTIVITY: BUILT HERITAGE AND SERVICE PLANNING IN THE CITY

The paper proposes a reflection on the potentialities of the existing ecclesiastical heritage in the urban context – with particular reference to the one related to the catholic “parish complexes” –. The research introduces a reading of such particular heritage, with the aim of valorizing and innovating its system – widespread and diffused in the Italian cities – which is passing through a phase of reconsideration and regeneration, due to the changing of cultural and social needs of the multicultural citizen. The objectives of the research lie in the elaboration of tools and methods for the analysis and the re-signification of the parish heritage, this one conceived as a potential actor in the “collective services” supply chain of the “public” city. The research uses the city of Milan as a privileged area of study, by virtue of the diffusion and capillarity of the heritage, the consolidated social and cultural tradition linked to it, as well as the degrees of innovation and experimentation in progress regarding the “subsidiary” planning of services. The results of the research consist, initially, in a “systematization” of the contribution of different disciplines on the specific topic; secondly, they represent an analytic study about the context of Milan, supported by a multiple-case study analysis, framing some hints of innovation related to users, services, spaces and management of the parish heritage.