La dimensione degli spazi aperti nel processo di conservazione e valorizzazione del paesaggio storico urbano

Public spaces’ design must be integrated, from the beginning, with the ur- ban process because of its belonging to the cultural heritage, particularly in the historic urban landscape where it is important to preserve the universal value of those sites safeguarded by UNESCO. It’s self-evident that public open spaces have their own identities and their requalification passes through integrated processes based on the conservation of the existing buildings: that’s why a few Management Plans of UNESCO’s World Heritage cities have been compared. The attention has been focused on some specific interventions in order to identify the major targets and their executive tools, projects and actions. A synthetic and visually effective scheme has permitted to group those interven- tions into categories that have been useful to find out the ranges of open spac- es’ design. The results of these investigations are part of the research and test activities currently considered for the UNESCO site of Mantova and Sabbioneta, for sure an excellent area of applicability because of its urban shape, molded in years by the Gonzaga family.