GREEN INFRASTRUCTURES AND ECO-PLANNING: THE AVERSA CONURBATION

Contemporary cities and territories are undergoing structural transformation both morphologically as well as in terms of social, political, economic and symbolic relationships; such new urban conditions have also led to loss of identity. The planning discipline takes two opposing positions on this topic: one vacillates on accepting these models as contemporary urban landscapes with indifference toward problems like sprawl and land consumption, while the other adopts a critical viewpoint and seeks tools and spaces to redefine the contemporary city if not as a fait accompli, at least as a structured fact. The second viewpoint often coincides with peri-urban and regional landscape planning and design. It is not only the solid that produces the form of void space, but it is the void that penetrates the solid, redefining and requalifying it, giving form to the urban settlement. Green infrastructure plays an important role in this context. This paper begins with an overview of the green economy to then examine some definitions of green infrastructure. It proceeds to analyze the functions and performances of ecosystems for humans provided by green infrastructure and presents a design proposal for green infrastructure in the Aversa Conurbation in the wake of the Regi Felix project by Andreas Kipar for the environmental regeneration of Regi Lagni area. The paper concludes with some general remarks unrelated to the specific territorial context.