Territorial Connection and Cohesion - The Case of Agrigento Inland Area

Abstract

The EU turns his attention to the city, as evidenced by the proposal (2012) for a new Regulation of the European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF) for «sustainable urban actions» provided for by the Europe 2020 strategy. This document provides for that 5% of the resources allocated at national level should be set to «Integrated actions for sustainable urban development», delegated to cities. Therefore, the creation of financial instruments for Research and Innovation in Europe, is not a completely new and the Horizon 2020 is an driving of the wider Europe 2020 strategy. The aim of this strategy is to propose a model of development for Europe, which aims to raise levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion through a process of structuring smarter, sustainable and inclusive. The small cities- 5683 on 8093 Italian municipalities [2]- are often «settlements located in areas not easily accessible (...) areas subject to depopulation»[3] have grown, for centuries, over themselves, creating complex layers within the building heritage which await a discovery to learn about the culture and the civilization from which they originated and which have governed the transformation processes. The culture is a «primary factor of urban creativity (...), the city's identity that has its roots the program schedule of history and extends its branches in the future» [4], awaiting a new model of development local self-sustainable combining protection, conservation, enhancement of resources and economic recovery.