Suburbs, Tor Bella Monaca: this is how a symbolic place of decay is transformed into a welcoming and socializing space

ROME – Today, 14 July, the first regenerated sector of Largo Mengaroni, the main square of Tor Bella Monaca, reopens to the public. The intervention is an integral part of the CRESCO educational regeneration sitepromoted and entirely financed by Paolo Bulgari Foundationin collaboration with the DICEA department of the La Sapienza University of Rome and with theCubo Libro cultural associationand created with the support of the Environment Department of Rome Capital (and of the VI Le Torri Municipality.

A square worthy of the name. The restyling of the large public space aims to restore a square worthy of the name to the district, after years of serious neglect: a beautiful and comfortable place for relaxation, recreation and entertainment for residents of all ages; a space for the reconstruction of community ties; an outdoor classroom for educational work with the youngest. A common good to be guarded and kept together.

A place-metaphor of decline. Until a few months ago, Largo Ferruccio Mengaroni, the main square of Tor Bella Monaca, represented the perfect metaphor for the unstoppable decline of the very concept of public place. Built over twenty years ago in place of an esplanade used for parking as part of a European project, the square provided the largest public housing district in Rome with a positive meeting place, complete with a gushing fountain full of fish , new trees, lampposts, games for children, shady gazebos.

Vandalism and the fountain that never gushed. Born with the best intentions, the project had ended in the bud in the worst way, between unfinished equipment and vandalism. The fountain stopped gushing almost immediately, the fish instead of multiplying ended up roasted, the small concrete cube initially conceived to house a refreshment point, never finished and never tested, soon became a drug dealing centre. In a few months, the new Largo returned to being a simple space between two buildings, and the cards of the project, as if by magic, evaporated.

The beginning of the recovery. The recovery of the square began some time later: some inhabitants in fact reappropriated the abandoned cube, cleaned it of the syringes and made it a first deposit of books; subsequently, thanks to some young volunteers, the space became the seat of a small cultural association, the Book Cubea reference point for 15 years for mothers and children.

The inspiration of the new project. From the encounter with this small educational outpost and with the DICEA Department of the La Sapienza University, which has been engaged in research activities at Tor Bella Monaca for years, gave rise to the inspiration for the new redevelopment project of Largo Mengaroni which we are partially inaugurating today in Tor Bella Monaca, within a much larger educational regeneration site that combines many different skills and works above all in support of the educational community.

The novelty is the participatory planning. The new intervention was born on very different bases compared to twenty years ago: if at the time the project was top-down, today it is the result of a long participatory planning process with the inhabitants, local associations and the institutions themselves. If in the 2000s the intervention ended with the inauguration of the unfinished square, our project actually begins today with the commitment to use this opportunity to strengthen the educational and community fabric of the neighbourhood. The goal is to encourage the creation of a real collaboration agreement that allows local associations and citizens, in alliance with the institutions, to bring the square to life with daily care activities, initiatives and events. A very difficult challenge that represents the very heart of the “educational” regeneration site.

The financing. If twenty years ago the direction and funding of the intervention were European, today the new initiative is promoted and entirely financed by a philanthropic institution – the Paolo Bulgari Foundation – which channels important private resources to support the school and the public space, within the most public neighborhood in Italy.

A new social philanthropy. In recent years in Rome the action of Third sector and a new social philanthropy helps us to broaden the same public vision of the city: public is not “standing on the tree” of state property, it is not a mere free space (between two buildings), but above all it is what is capable of producing, in the general interest, citizenship and real participation.

* Giulio Cederna, director of the Paolo Bulgari Foundation