The Community Health Centers: A Territorial Service in the Post-pandemic City

The global pandemic has placed health back at the center of political agendas. In particular, territorial health has become a relevant issue because it guarantees primary care close to citizens and reduces the influx of patients in large hospitals. The Community Health Center is a structure that provides these guarantees, which is being enriched with social and health-care services. The contribution presents the first results of the Coltivare_salute.com research, developed at the Politecnico di Milano as part of the Polisocial Award 2020. It presents the Community Health Center as a service and critically reflects upon the guidelines for its design proposed in Italy and United Kingdom. Subsequently, it highlights the issues of health in the urban plans of the city of Piacenza, the case study of the research, and develops some specific surveys. Furthermore, with respect to the case-study, the contribution discusses some criteria for the design of new Community Health Centers, conceived as opportunities for urban regeneration. In conclusion, it underlines the values and criticalities of the proposal elaborated by the research, which calls for a greater integration between health policies and territorial planning.