(Dis/Re)articulate the identities of contexts: places as platforms for community regeneration and interdependence

The article reflects on the cultural, social, and political role of the ‘place’ construct for a meaningful social regenera- tion of communities within the dynamics of culture, power, and economy. We focus on the role of public spaces in the framework of an action-research project — SMOTIES — to to foster the development of deeper relationships and civic engagement in remote and semi-rural European contexts through participatory processes. It involved the community of Albungano, a town of approximately 500 inhabitants in the Basso Monferrato area (Italy). The research reflects on design as an aesthetic and political language and on recog- nizing place-rooted collectives and cultures by rearticulating the area’s social and cultural foundations with its communi- ties to enable all voices to be heard and to make interactions with and through the environment. The research approach is positioned in the interplay between participatory design, foresight methodologies, design for social innovation and relational design.