Urban Blight and Redevelopment: An Urban Participation Path

Abstract

This paper pays particular attention to one of the many participatory models present in the landscape of urban and territorial planning. Specifically, the ACTION PLANNING model was chosen; a model used in Anglo-Saxon countries to identify the problems and needs of the inhabitants of a given territory, through the involvement of interested parties or stakeholders. The model is applied in Sicily, to Villaseta, a small rural settlement, located southwest of the city of Agrigento, which consists primarily of affordable and social housing. It is a suburb without identity, left to itself, where – despite the valuable cultural, historic, scenic, and most importantly human resources – one notes the presence of degradation, hardship, and social exclusion. The quality of life is poor, the housing requires serious restoration work, and a large number of public spaces are unused due to decades of failure in the management policies of the local government.