REGENERATION AS A DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. CROSS COUNTRIES ANALYSIS: ITALY, BELGIUM AND SPAIN

The aim of the research is to analyse the state-of-the-art of Italian railway heritage, in particular the mismanaged stations, disused railway lines, the National action-plan of railway reconversion, the role of the Public Administration in the requalification and regeneration processes and the impact that these processes have on territories in terms of social and environmental sustainability. After an analysis of the literature on the processes of territorial change, such as regeneration and requalification (Borri, 1995; Evans & Shaw, 2004), the research focuses on the analysis of the causes of dismiss and abandonment of the stations and railways and on a cross-country analysis of Italy, Belgium and Spain. The research methodology applied to the case study, mainly qualitative, is based on the document analysis (Bowen, 2009), with the aim of "registering" the unused Italian, Belgian and Spanish railway assets, analysing reuse methodologies and the stakeholder engaged.