Programma Innovativo Nazionale per la Qualità dell'Abitare (PINQuA) - National Innovative Quality of Living Programme

The area included in the PINQuA programme for the historic centre of Genoa is the one included in the Central East Municipality I and encompasses the Urban Planning Units of Prè, Maddalena, and Molo, and, to a lesser extent, San Nicola. The proposal involves the implementation of 19 interventions aimed at improving urban greenery, public spaces, and accessible, safe routes. These interventions are designed to enhance and expand public spaces, green areas, and pedestrian pathways for the benefit of citizens.

Aligned with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, these projects will transform the existing context to improve the quality of life and safety within the entire pilot area. Additionally, the interventions aim to reconnect the medieval fabric with the nineteenth-century city, restoring forgotten public spaces to the inhabitants and users, and increasing the currently limited greenery in the historic "heart" of the city.

The proposals focus on making public spaces more accessible, safe, and well-equipped, promoting a vision of high-quality, accessible living. It also seeks to regenerate existing cultural spaces to serve the housing, logistics, and tourism sectors in the area.

A key aspect of the interventions is to address social housing: increasing and improving the availability of social residential housing, enhancing the housing mix, and designing new residential areas with services dedicated to housing. This will be achieved through widespread improvements to public residential buildings and the development of places or spaces dedicated to initiatives and social services that support the housing community.

Download the INVEST IN GENOA 4.0.

Download the book (in Italian)

Chapter summaries (in English) (491.08 KB)

The book describes the fortunes of the Historic Centre of Genoa and traces the events that have renewed and requalified it through the restoration, recovery, and reinterpretation of individual elements, complexes, and ancient aspects. Moreover, it questions the present conditions and addresses crucial issues to continue (or rather resume) a process that today appears slowed down and at times contradictory. 

The book is written in Italian but contains useful pictures and maps for workshop participants. Chapter summaries (in English) are conceived only in support of the IX EAAE Conservation Network Workshop activities.

Roberto Bobbio, Stefano Francesco Musso (2020). Centro storico. Problemi e prospettive. Genova. ANCSA, Gubbio.

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A Walk Through the Historic Centre of Genoa

Download the map

A Walk Through_EAAE_A3.pdf (10.07 MB)

 

 

A brief brochure on the "Albergo dei Poveri" in Genoa

To ease the study visit to the Albergo dei Poveri complex in Genoa, a short text containing images and useful information is available for download.

Information on the Loggia della Mercanzia (Loggia di Banchi) in Genoa

The Loggia della Mercanzia (also known as Loggia di Banchi or Loggia dei Mercanti) is a historic building in the historic centre of Genoa. It is located in Piazza Banchi, on the corner of Via San Luca, in the ancient Sestiere della Maddalena, not far from the church of San Pietro in Banchi, in the commercial heart of the old city.

To ease the study visit to the Historic Centre of Genoa and to introduce participants to the latest discoveries in the Loggia della Mercanzia (Loggia di Banchi), a summary in the English language is prepared only in support of the IX EAAE Conservation Network Workshop activities and is available for download.

Information on the votive shrines (edicole votive) in the Historic Centre of Genoa

The edicole votive or votive shrines of Genoa represent a fragile yet significant aspect of the city’s cultural heritage. Votive shrines in Genoa are deeply embedded in the city's history and urban fabric, symbolising not only religious devotion but also the political and economic organisation of the city.

To ease the study visit to the Historic Centre of Genoa and to introduce participants to this peculiar cultural heritage, a summary of the article by Rita Vecchiattini and Cecilia Moggia titled "Edicole votive del centro storico di Genova. Progetto di valorizzazione di un patrimonio storico artistico e popolare" and published in the ISCUM Bulletin "NAM - Notiziario di Archeologia Medievale" is provided only in support of the IX EAAE Conservation Network Workshop activities and is available for download.

The Historic Centre of Genoa through Fabrizio De André's music

The Historic Centre of Genoa is both a physical place and a symbol of the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of society—beautiful and harsh, cultured and raw. Fabrizio De André (Genoa, 18 February 1940 – Milan, 11 January 1999), one of the most iconic Italian singer-songwriters, had deep ties to Genoa, his hometown, which profoundly influenced his music. The Genoese context is fundamental to understanding his work, as it provided the cultural, social and emotional backdrop for much of his songwriting. At the same time, walking through the narrow streets and listening to his music can be just as evocative of the real atmosphere that the narrow alleys evoke in the people who walk through them. In particular, two of his songs, "La città vecchia" (1974 Canzoni, Produttori Associati PA/LP 52, LP) and "Via del Campo" (1967, Volume 1, Bluebell Records BBLP 39, LP), capture the lives of those on the fringes of society, drawing parallels with the transitory nature of life in a port city, where people come and go and where a melting pot of cultures is reflected in its inhabitants.

Following are links to these two songs. Lyrics English translations are available by clicking on the titles mentioned in the text above.