The city of Well-Being. The Social Responsibility of Urban Planning

The paper proposes a reflection on the role of urban and environmental planning in promoting actions to improve the health and well-being of the life of the inhabitants for a sustainable, safe, healthy and socially inclusive city. The methodological reflection will be based on the principles and methods of reference to orient the Urban Master Plan towards more health-friendly urban models and specific experiments of measures, urban projects, operational and programmatic tools and on the evaluation of the achieved performance effectiveness. Through the experiences gained by the European “Healthy Cities” movement and by some Italian cities that were characterised by urban quality, resilience, eco-sustainability and active public health promotion policies, it is possible to understand the most appropriate methods for a full and conscious involvement of local communities in the contribution linked to the progressive improvement towards a city of well-being. The specific interest concerns sustainable mobility, the connectivity of urban ecological networks, the climatic well-being of the urban organism, the conformation of common spaces suitable for a high architectural, urban and relational quality. These themes are indicative of the search for a progressive improvement of life in resilient and safe cities that present interesting and engaging places to counteract the urban “ailments” favored by poor physical, relational and socio-cultural isolation. The scale of reflection addresses the connections with the territory, capturing the different scenarios and planning potentials between the central, consolidated and “completed” areas of the cities and the peripheral areas usually deficient in common spaces, services and connections.