From the Medina to the Metropol. New integrative approach for sustainable revitalization of the historic center in the metropolitan cities!

The thesis ‘From the medina to the metropole new perspectives on North Africa's urban identity’ focuses on the preservation of urban identifiability from the unplanned urbanisation and global impacts that regional cities are increasingly exposed to. In essence, this research is an investigation for an appropriate interpretation of regional architecture aiming not only on the renewal and the preservation of traditional achievement as a way to reinforce urban identity but also on the set of new means and alternatives to formulate a bridge of reconciliation between the traditional and modern pattern within the context of cultural permeability and uniqueness as a basis for a future urban identity particular to the North African cities. Besides their importance for the attractiveness and localization; cultural heritage is often considered a convenient base for the Identity formation, not only for the tourist industry or urban branding and marketing, but also as an important thematic framework for new urban developments. These opposing positions in addressing traditional architecture have left a clear mark and continue to have an impact on current developments decisions where sometimes the tension is still overstated to create unique space experiences. The example in the segregation between tradition and modernity in city of Algiers is not only clearly visible in spatial structure and visual form, but also in urban marketing activities, as well as in general strategic planning. The polarizing approach does not seek compromises, but focuses on the best features of the two poles, creating ambiguous identities, which are justified by different uses and target groups. However, these two forces in certain cases inevitably overlapping bringing questionable design. In any case, past and architectural heritage today has to serve as an important element for strategic future planning which has to play a crucial role in the reconciliation between the two poles; but how?. We consider that the dependencies are certainly very complex, but one of the most important features of the cities is the changing and negotiating of compromises. In every major conflict, a suitable compromise is deliberately required through planning. Since cities tend to maintain their existing identity on the one hand, and on the other hand strive to enrich it with some additional elements, with global ideas playing an important role, the transformation will usually occur as a continuous process. The interplay of conservation, transformation and modernization of the building stock in the identity development of local cities will help in creating a continuous process of development, in this case, the desired pieces of the past and the tradition are chosen, which are afterwards renewed and supplemented with some new functions and peculiarities attributed to the present needs. The connections between existence, transformation and modernization in the formation of identity require contradictory constellations, which, however, can be recognizable urban identities as a part of the continuous process of building local urban identity. Last but not least, in the case of Algiers the complex long-term planning and management; has to direct the urban changes in order to secure certain continuous development goals as an opportunity to clear planning errors from the past, where the remaining tradition and heritage has the potentiality not only as a starting point for identity formation, but also can be seen as a powerful generator for contemporary development. The significance of the present research on urban identity and change in the example of Medina of Algiers is presented in a broader and local context, since a comprehensive understanding of the global processes is necessary as well as its impact on the local level. The empirical study on the impact of colonization, globalization and change would contribute to the research work in order to develop efficient ways of preserving localization and identity in the contemporary world from a closer perspective. In this way a research gap in the literature on urban identity is addressed which is characterized by a lack of empirical studies that takes into account the effects of globalization and change in a in the context of individual case studies. City analysis gave an insight into the previous, current situation and possible future scenarios. The most important result of the present research is probably the proof that the urban identity is of high significance, as the backbone for any sustainable planning. Finally, the present research also seeks to open up a new perspective on these issues and serves as a possible inspiration for planners. Due to the fact that the subject itself is in the development process and relatively new, there are many other areas than possible fields for future research.

La tesi "Dalla medina alla metropoli nuove prospettive sull'identità urbana del Nord Africa" si concentra sulla conservazione dell'identità urbana minacciata dall'improvvisa urbanizzazione e dagli impatti della globalizzazione ai quali le città sono sempre più esposte. In sostanza, questa ricerca è un'indagine per un'interpretazione adeguata dell'architettura della regione nord africana, Algeria in particolare, che mira non solo al rinnovamento e alla conservazione dei pattern insediativi tradizionali, - operazione intesa come strumento per rafforzare l'identità urbana -, ma indaga anche sull'insieme di nuovi strumenti e sulle alternative che essi consentono, per formulare un ponte di riconciliazione tra il modello tradizionale e quello moderno. Questo, nella convinzione del valore della unicità ma anche della permeabilità culturale come base per una futura identità urbana sia pur all’interno della dimensione metropolitana che in particolare anche le città nordafricane hanno raggiunto.