La rete delle fortificazioni della città metropolitana di Reggio Calabria nel sistema dei parchi tematici urbani e periurbani

The theme of urban parks, including fortified landscapes, qualifies as one of the central arguments for urban liveability which, in the current phase of transition towards the future metropolitan structures of the city of Reggio Calabria, involves aspects of population density, mobility, infrastructure and spaces for leisure activities for a more sustainable city. The reasons behind the project of the urban park system connected to the fortification network lie in the recognized need to promote revitalization and enhancement actions for these extraordinary places/artifacts, by shifting attention to the concepts of safeguarding and dialogue for the connection with the peri-urban environment, intended as a system in continuous evolution, to which to relate the choices that affect the balance of the relationship between the city and its cultural background.The fortifications that be part of the urban belt of the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria, built in the second half of the 1800s to defend the Strait, today represent a remarkable architectural heritage, as well as cultural, often in good conservation conditions, which can be used in a functional for the entire metropolitan city. In the area that extends from Scilla to Motta San Giovanni, as in a system of outpost terraces on the Strait, 21 fortified structures (towers, motte, forts and castles) are located, unique in type but above all for their strategic position. Today these structures that overlook the Strait can become prestigious observation points and recreational-cultural containers. Some of them already recovered and returned to the community (the Arghillà technological Park and the "south" fort of Pentimele in Reggio Calabria; the Poggio Pignatelli fort in Campo Calabro) offer innovative artistic-museum, eno-gastronomic, environmental and recreational with musical events, exhibition spaces, museum areas, nature trails.The innovative approach of the Charter of Corfu and the Net that derives from it lies in interpreting the fortified heritage and military architecture as living and dynamic elements for the territories and social fabrics that host them, aiming to give places characterized by such remains an international dimension. Here, that these architectures on outpost terraces on the Strait can become a network of landscape sites of extraordinary environmental and cultural value with innovative quality thematic functions for the metropolitan city. The paper intends to investigate these issues in detail and present a specific design experience of networking and enhancement of the former powder magazine in the Ciccarello district, whose urban redevelopment is now a candidate to become one of the key projects for a plan to enhance the identity from the point of view of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria.