Report Group2

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Spatial Planning and Housing Policies:

Creating Community Living Spaces

Site of Study: Caserma Masini

Erasmus Intensive Programme 2014

Bologna, Italy

5 - 15 March 2014

Report


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Spatial Planning and Housing Policies: Creating Community Living Spaces

Britain

University of the West England Bristol

Luke O. Grattarola

France

Universit Franois Rabelais

Ludmilla E. Pommier Morel

Germany

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universitt Hannover

Sheila Fett

Italy

Alma Mater Studiorum Universit di Bologna

Eleonora Fabrizio

Netherlands

Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

Bram P. Van den Groenendaal

Roumania

Universitatea din OradeaCarmen G. Dragoi


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Contents1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 3

1.1. History ............................................................................................................ 31.2. Demography - Economy ................................................................................ 31.3. Location of the site ......................................................................................... 5

2. Site analysis ......................................................................................................... 63. Spectrum appraisal .............................................................................................. 74. Critical analysis of the existing policies and local initiatives ................................. 9

4.1. SWOT analysis ............................................................................................ 105. Creation of effective and sustainable housing policies ...................................... 12

5.1. The problem of housing in Bologna ............................................................. 125.2. Strategies and actions for sustainable housing ........................................... 13

6. Masterplan proposals for the creation of community living spaces .................... 156.1. Association ................................................................................................... 196.2. Phasing ........................................................................................................ 196.3. Spectrum Appraisal ...................................................................................... 20

7. References ......................................................................................................... 23


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1. Introduction

This report concisely analyses the social housing scenario in Bologna, Italy. Taking

into account the national, regional and municipal levels of policy as well as local fac-

tors such as the demand for housing and certain needs of the city during this eco-

nomic crisis.

1.1. History

The city of Bologna first became an urban centre under the Etruscans, and became

a free municipality in the Middle Ages. For one century it was the fifth largest Euro-

pean city based on population. (Bertocchi 2014)

The most important buildings were constructed between the 12th and 14th century,

which has set the heart of the city apart: among them were the Two Towers, tradi-

tional symbol of the city and the Basilica of San Petronio. (Bertocchi 2014)

Famous for its large number of porticos and for its two towers, the city nowadays has

a well-preserved historical centre thanks to a careful restoration and conservation

policy which began at the end of the 1970s. (Guerzoni no date)

1.2. Demography - Economy

Bologna is the principal city of the Emilia-Romana region in northern Italy and is the

seventh largest city in Italy in terms of population. (Evangelisti 2014)


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Evangelisti 2014

The Bologna Metropolitan Area was counting 990,600 inhabitants in 2012 and is

waiting for 56,000 residents more for 2024. However, the rise in the average age of

the population in this area is predicted. (Bertocchi 2014)

The Municipality of Bologna has a population of 385,000 within 206,000 households.

In 2011, the part of people with a foreign background is 13.7% of the total population

of Bologna. (Bertocchi 2014)

Bologna is home to the oldest university of Europe and nowadays has a student

population of almost 100,000 with 38,000 who are temporary residents adding to

the youth and vibrance the city has to date. (Evangelisti 2014)

However, the citys economy is also based on industries, since it is a centre for Ita-

lys hi-tech industries. Bologna is also a popular trade-fair venue.


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2. Site analysis

As a team we visited the site and examined the area under the spectrum appraisal

criteria that can be seen on the next page, as well as a SWOT analysis which identi-

fies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the particular site and

surrounding areas possess.


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3. Spectrum appraisal

Below is a spectrum appraisal we did for the site showing strengths and weakness of

the site in its current state.

Source: Shaping Neighbourhoods (2010) pp. 67


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4. Critical analysis of the existing policies and local initiatives

The analysis of the policy initiatives that affect our decisions for our site we found

three policy documents at the municipality level that bare strong weight towards de-

velopment, those being outlined in the Bertocchi (2014):

Municipal Structural Plan (PSC)

This particular set of document provides the vision for the city for the near future.

The seven cities initiative of enhancing Bologna, focussing on seven different areas

that all have particular development strategy that can be integrated into the city. The

city of the hill concept has been noted to affect our site, as it is noted that the hills of

Bologna have been primarily utilised by private housing and residents, but this con-cept enhances accessibility, connections and areas of interest to the hills from this

particular part of the city. Our site is located within the historical centre is a

UNESCO designated area, so all heritage must be saved and restored and also fits

in with the City of Eastern Via Emilia which aims to connect the east of Bologna to

the city centre by reducing private traffic and improving public transport system.

Municipal Operational Plan (PUV)

Due to our specific site being a former military barracks, we must take into account

the PUV, which specialises in this particular topic. Stating specific information that

must be taken into account, such as a Kindergarten, parking spaces, residential

housing of which 30% must be affordable, temporary housing, commercial units,

artistic facilities, private and public garages, restaurants and social services must be

provided on this particular site.

Town Planning and Building Regulations (RUE)

This set of documents sets very specific functions that are and are not allowed,

through dimensions of spaces required, volume of the building required, material

uses (same as are in the locality), same colour as surrounding areas, waste man-

agement systems, no Industrial uses.

The housing policies we must take into account set from the Municipality of Bologna


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Social Housing policies for low-income households

The Municipality owns 12,391 dwellings and in order to apply for such low-income

housing certain conditions must be met in order to apply:

- To be in an economic situation (low-income which is on average 1000!or less per

month and with no ownership of any properties)

- You must be living or working in Bologna.

A.M.A. - Metropolitan Agency for dwellings to rent (private and public)

This is a public/private partnership between by the Province, the Municipalities and

all tennants and landlords. (Bertocchi 2014) The cost is reduced by 30% compared

to market prices.

Special programmes (co-housing, self-renovation)

Co-housing for young people is a project financed by the youth department of the

government. Such projects house up to 45 people, but have no limits, living in a col-

laborative way with about 10% common space provided.

Self-renovation programmes are when people who wish to live in specific develop-

ments join and co-operate in the renovation through unpaid labour for up to 900hours. Which enables lower rents to be incorporated to those who have put in work-

ing hours and live there in the future.

Community projects

Community projects involve empowering local participation and community building

to improve social cohesion in a specific locality. This can be achieved by providing a

wide range of cultural and art in all popular districts, a network of community gardens

for social housing, creation of common spaces in order to allow for social mixing.

4.1. SWOT analysis

Below is a table analysing the policy that bares weight in the locality of the site, the

PSC, PUV and the RUE. As well as other policies such as UNESCO designation.


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5. Creation of effective and sustainable housing policies

5.1. The problem of housing in Bologna

It is evident through the PSC, PUV and RUE that there is a problem of Housing in

Bologna:

There are 83,000 market tenants, 42,000 people with a mortgage (45% of the popu-

lation) and 24,000 tenants in public houses. (Bertocchi 2014)

The number of evictions for non-payment of rent in bologna metropolitan area has

increased from 490 in 2001 to 1,540 in 2012, with 1,029 in the municipality of Bolo-

gna alone in 2012. Compared to the other cities of the Region, Bologna has the

highest number of evictions, and the level of these evictions has tripled in 10 years.

(Bertocchi 2014)

Such issues have lead to long waiting list for a public house in Bologna Metropolitan

Area (BMA), with figures of 15,000 households applying, 63% of which from the city

itself and 45% of these households are composed of migrants from abroad. The

need of social housing in Bologna is illustrated by this waiting list on which 90% of

households have an income lower than 8,550!per annum. (Bertocchi 2014)

On average, only 650 public dwellings are assigned each year whereas the city

would need at least the double, which accounts for the long waiting list. (Bertocchi

2014)

94% of the waiting list have applied for social housing require 4 per household,

therefore the size of these social houses do need to meet these demands or the list

will go on.((Bertocchi 2014)

In 2011, the rate of population having obtained a grant for housing is only 2,61% ofresident in BMA which shows there is a struggle to meet payment dates.(Bertocchi

2014)

Finally 45,000 people in BMA are waiting for a public house or obtained a grant

to pay the rent. ((Bertocchi 2014)


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5.2. Strategies and actions for sustainable housing

Such issues as outlined above as well as the strict regulations outlined by the PSC

and especially the PUV which has been mentioned on prior pages have lead certain

criteria to be needed to support and enhance the social housing concept in the BMA.

In order to achieve the list of criteria, we worked collaboratively by electing relevant

ideas from each different nationality to incorporate all aspects of our different plan-

ning systems.

The following table shows the criteria we elected and our recommendations of how

to incorporate the criteria into our development.


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6. Masterplan proposals for the creation of community living spac-

es

This development evolved from our ethos creating communities and opportuni-

ties by bringing together multiple functions, diverse social use and the empower-ment of the people.

Our idea about creating a community living space contains a lot of different func-

tions. It isnt just about social housing. It is about finding a place to stay, when you

cant go anywhere else. Its about temporary living and also about finding a place to

stay forever.

The Masterplan will be our way of meeting our ethos in our own unique strategy.


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MASTERPLAN

Description of its functions, note practical changes, how we met criteria and link back

to the policies

This is our final Masterplan which takes into account the weaknesses and threats of

the SWOT analysis as well as enhancing the strengths and opportunities. With this

plan we feel we have met our criteria as mentioned before by providing the following

set of functions.

The municipality set conditions for the development through the PSC and PUV. We

were able to meet our criteria through these functions, but by taking our ethos in re-

gard, we have added some. In the following text the functions of the Masterplan are

outlined and a detailed description of how our criteria has been achieved.

A Kindergarten On the south west corner of the plan, the previous building

was demolished because of the safety, poor quality and structural change

was needed. A new building is to be added, providing for 1000sqm of kinder-

garten which equates to 6 classes of children, safe playing area in the central

part of the building as well as good access to the inner part of the site. The

safety of the children is not the only good thing; the environment is also taken

into account by utilising the natural light, adding solar panels and green roof.


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Also by removing the existing building we are creating another entrance to the

square on the west part of the site from Via Borgolocchi.

Parking spaces Provisions underground of 1 space per private house but

also for other residential developments who wish to purchase them for a fee

from the association. This enables for finance to be made back on the devel-

opment. With 1 entrance with a traffic light system which minimised the

amount of land used for access. Also trees to be planted within the car park to

allow for natural light in from the square, as they grown through the ceiling of

the car park.

Residential housing of which 30% must be affordable On the site there will

be 2 types of social housing which will be outlined later. The floor level of the

development will be 6774sqm of which1254sqm or 16 apartments will be

temporarily social housing with an option to stay through buy outs or higher

rents. This is located above the museum on the northern part of the site cov-

ering 2 floors. 1278sqm or 40 units will be for student accommodation on the

eastern part of the site over 3 floors as well as accommodating shared facili-

ties and communal areas as well as balconies and open roofs for those on the

third floor that acts as a private space. This equates to 37% social housing

which has exceeded the target.

Temporary Housing - As mentioned above 1254sqm will be temporary hous-

ing, this enables tenants to stay for up to 2 years. If tenants have no job, then

jobs will be provided on site in the number of facilities. Whilst providing these

other functions, external employment can be sought. This means with safer

employment, there is an option provided to stay beyond the 2 years through

increasing the rent or partial buy in to the development through a mortgage

system. This means throughout time the social housing will become mixed

leading to an ever diverse population. It also means that social housing will

forever be bringing in money and therefore financially sustainable.

Commercial units On the south of the site in the existing building, the bottom

floor is partial removed and pillars are inserted to provide better visuals and

access to the site. Also a small bakery and cycle repair shop are located on

the ground floor facing the square and the street that increases permeability

and encourages the use of cycling in the area.


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Artistic facilities On the north of the site, on the ground floor as mentioned

before will be a museum which is in remembrance of the movement against

the fascist regime that took place in this very building during the 1940s.

Restaurants and social services On the north west of the site on the groundfloor will be a restaurant accessible from the via Borgolocchi and the square.

It also gives a great opportunity for a terrace onto the square and utilising nat-

ural light. The facilities can also be used by people staying the hostel and stu-

dents. The kitchen also feeds the kindergarten and the library which means it

is sustainable. Other social services such as the library on the north of the

site, providing good student environment and learning facilities for locals and

the kindergarten. Also the Community centre, where local meetings can be

held for the community, local businesses, local clubs as well as skills retrain-

ing for local people and other organisations. Finally the social gardening facili-

ties which provide goods for restaurant use as well as being sold in the week-

ly market which aids it in being self sufficient.

There are also other facilities that the community demanded and us as developers

wished to provide making the development hospitable to local needs. Those being:

Hostel Due to lack of hostels in the city centre, it would be a good idea to

provide such here. The hostel weve planned is in the north of the site above

the restaurant and will be able to provide beds for about 50 people; making it

a function supports the finances of the development. Its a good addition be-

cause friends and relatives could reside here and encourage diversity within

the development and in the city through different travelling parties staying.

Veranda This acts as a green entrance to the community centre and en-

hancing the social gardens. The current one will be removed due to the as-bestos within the structure, but the metal structure will remain and shall be

covered with a glass roof and greenery covering the poles.

Square Located in front of the restaurant and museum, it provides space for

restaurant and museum activities as well as hosting the weekly market. For

this cars will be allowed to enter but once a week for the market only. Also cy-

cle provisions such as bike racks and CCTV will be installed. Located here will

also be small separate units for recycling and general waste, where rubbish


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will be held underground and removed weekly during off peak time to mini-

mise disruption.

Park between the bakery, bike shop and kindergarten will be a small park

for all to access, with a wide range of biodiversity and areas for relaxation.

The park will consist of 2 layers one beginning in the garage underneath with

the trees planted within will sprout through into this park acting as

shrubs/bushes.

Private apartments In the south of the site, above the bakery and cycle re-

pair shop will be 6 luxury private apartments on 3 floors, which will be made

possible by adding a level to the already existing and thus providing a nice

view of the area. Constructed of modern materials and balconies are added.

These will be made for sale rather than rent, to finance the start of the project.

Also solar panels will be installed to the roof of this complex which contributes

to power of the homes and shops on the ground floor.

6.1. Association

We would also like to set up an association for the development that includes a

number of parties such as the municipality, the developers, local citizens and entre-

preneurs. The association will be able to make decisions concerning the site, such

as maintenance schedules, employments, rules, tenants and financing. Its important

that all people are involved in the development are empowered, especially those

who will live there and those in the surrounding streets. The association can meet

weekly or monthly, but all parties must be present for decisions to be made.

6.2. Phasing

For the development to be successful it must be implemented through phases, we

propose 4 phases:

Phase 1- Build the social centre at in the north of the development. It allows the cur-

rent occupiers to still have a place within the site for their social activities and there-

fore would be able to integrate within the development more easily. The rest of the

development will be built at a better rate if there is no interference from the occupi-

ers. Including the demolition of the veranda which includes getting rid of the asbes-

tos to let building of the community building to start as soon as possible.


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Phase 2 Demolition of any buildings and the creation of the parking lot and access

point. This includes the demolishing of the building on the south-west corner of the

site, the small building in the south-east corner (entrance of the parking lot).

Phase 3 The building of the private apartments: adding a layer on top and modern-

izing the building. Also the building of the student apartments: Restoring the build-

ings state and adding a floor on different places. Because its important to make

money at the beginning of the project we have to make sure that these houses will

be sold and rented. In order to make that more likely to happen its necessary to in-

clude the park in this phase.

Phase 4 The building of the social housing, hostel, restaurant, the square and the

kindergarten, to provide more services for the already existing inhabitants and its a

much safer site so the kindergarten can be built. This phase will also encourage the

start of the weekly market use.

Phase 5 The building of the library and the museum as enough money would have

been generated from the prior stage to fund these smaller projects. The building of

the museum doesnt cause too much disruption in the neighbourhood as its a small-

er project. Also the library is accessible from Via santo stefano so children wont be

affected either.

6.3. Spectrum Appraisal

This spectrum appraisal is made after the development is proposed and can be

compared to the previous one made during the site analysis phase.


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As you can see by the spectrum appraisal above, it has completed a very good ap-

praisal compared to the one completed during the site analysis stage. There have

been vast improvements throughout every category especially Social capital, JobOpportunities, Renewable Energy, Mixed Use and Pedestrian Access. These

improvements are due to satisfying our criteria as mentioned before.


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7. References

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Routledge.

Bertocchi, I., 2014: Presentation from the 7th of March 2014: Erasmus intensive pro-

gramme. Spatial planning and housing policies: creating community living

spaces. Housing policy and urban planning in Bologna new programmes

and policies. Comune di Bologna. Housing Department. Municipality of Bolo-

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Evangelisti, F., 2014: Presentation from the 7th of March 2014: Conservation and

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