The Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) plays a crucial role in urban regeneration processes, focusing on actions and interventions aimed at urban, environmental, and social regeneration of run-down urban areas. The CDP's multiple guises demonstrate its complexity as a state-controlled private actor, with its role ranging from financier to promoter and consultant. In this article, we present two different cases of urban regeneration: the recovery of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome and the Osteria Social Club in Florence. The recovery of the former Zecca seems to focus more on modernizing architecturally valuable assets. It paid particular attention to the energy and environmental standards of the building complex, while neglecting, in part, the social dimension of recovery, marked by concepts of urban “regeneration” and “redevelopment”. Numerous citizen protests and political interpellations followed the intervention, highlighting these limitations. On the other hand, the recovery of the former “Casone” is a “virtuous” example of Cassa’s intervention, displaying a broader urban and social scope. It involved new forms of community participation and inclusion, linking the right to housing to urban regenerations in the context of a smart city.
CASSA DEPOSITI E PRESTITI AND ITS BEING “JANUS-FACED” IN URBAN REGENERATION PROCESSES
Vanessa Manzetti
2024-01-01
Abstract
The Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) plays a crucial role in urban regeneration processes, focusing on actions and interventions aimed at urban, environmental, and social regeneration of run-down urban areas. The CDP's multiple guises demonstrate its complexity as a state-controlled private actor, with its role ranging from financier to promoter and consultant. In this article, we present two different cases of urban regeneration: the recovery of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome and the Osteria Social Club in Florence. The recovery of the former Zecca seems to focus more on modernizing architecturally valuable assets. It paid particular attention to the energy and environmental standards of the building complex, while neglecting, in part, the social dimension of recovery, marked by concepts of urban “regeneration” and “redevelopment”. Numerous citizen protests and political interpellations followed the intervention, highlighting these limitations. On the other hand, the recovery of the former “Casone” is a “virtuous” example of Cassa’s intervention, displaying a broader urban and social scope. It involved new forms of community participation and inclusion, linking the right to housing to urban regenerations in the context of a smart city.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
