Requalification of social housing settlements: the case study of L'Aquila

The study focuses on a paradigmatic city with regard to the degraded state of buildings and urban environments on which it is wanted to intervene for arranging a sustainable regeneration. So like in many peripheral realities, it has been identified a settlement system for mono-functional poles whose evolution in polycentric sense passes through relocation, downsizing and differentiation of services and aggregation spaces. In this case, the localization of the built in a mountainous area rich in high environmental quality, suggests a city project based on an "ecological footprint" ante litteram (the settlement dimension proportioned to the agricultural productivity for the alimentary needs, to the presence of the forest for the energetic and constructive necessities, to the local stone finding for the con-structive requirements). The goal is to update the ancient sustainability with new standards based on indicators, which evaluate the use of the natural resources to regulate the house settlement dimension and the lim-its to be placed to their growth.