Transformative Factors of Post-Industrial Urban Spaces in China and Italy

Both Chinese and Italian cities have faced significant transformations in the post-industrial era, in particular the path towards more socially integrative urban spaces in the face of social, political and economic transitions. Based on a literature review and selected case studies from China and Italy, this article attempts to shed light on the processes and dynamics of the redevelopment of their urban spaces in light of the transition to a post-industrial period. A shift in the economic and political apparatus is always associated with challenges and opportunities, as well as with social and spatial impacts, which can sometimes result in irreversible damage or successful development experiences. Although using different approaches and strategies to face the different constraints in the transitional period, particularly the rising land value, what emerged from both the Chinese and the Italian experience is an alternative sensitivity towards the protection and reuse of the pre-existing industrial urban fabric, an approach mostly based on reducing the practices of demolition and total replacement, and increasing focus on the engagement of local communities as an integral part of the decision-making process. In spite of the eort to produce qualitative urban spaces oriented to balance the physical and social transformations, achieving socially integrative cities is still a challenge in both urban contexts.