Management of the image of the city in urban planning: experimental methodologies in the colour plan of the Egadi Islands

Abstract

The debate over the value of the image of a city, which since the 1960s has been gaining wider room for reflection, has arisen as a criticism against the reductionism of the Modern Movement and highlighted the value of the qualitative aspects of an urban landscape. The question asked is if urban planning can in some way govern the image of a city. An investigation into which tools and strategies are necessary to defend the narrative of a city, its identity and its genius loci against the homologating forces that are transforming contemporary cities. The article explores the theoretical principles and methods being experimentally used to qualitatively manage the urban environment. Research investigates the innovative experimentation being carried out in Italy that has brought about the compiling of colour plans, and questions what their characteristics should be, so as to be effective in the management of the quality of an urban image. In order to focalize these crucial aspects, the case of the colour plan for the Egadi Islands is presented, illustrating the methods elaborated for the individualization of the characteristics connoting its local urban landscape and the strategies adopted to cope with the risks to which they are exposed.