The Soil Project of The Cycle Network as A Contribution to Urban Resilience

In Italy and, even more, in the Mid Adriatic Region of Abruzzo, there is a separation between the cycle network and the management of rainwater resulting from extreme atmospheric events. The cycle network is framed as a contribution to slow mobility. Urban flooding is treated as a continuing emergency. From the perspective of sustainable development and urban resilience this separation has a very negative impact. The goal is to overcome separateness. And imagine the cycle network as a soil project that, in addition to supporting the transit of bicycles, is able to contribute to a better collection and management of rainwater as an alternative to the sewer system. The hypothesis of the cycle network as a soil project obliges us to broaden our gaze to those cities that have transformed water from an agent that generates dangerous conditions, into a strategic resource. Boston, San Rafael, Zwolle Enschede, Copenhagen and Philadelphia went in this direction. Methodologically, the projects and intervention programs of the cities will be compared with reference to three kinds of interdependent spaces. The network space (reserved for transit) and the materials used to build it (porous asphalt, underground channels for the flow of water). The space associated to the network with the Green Stormwater Infrastructures that contribute to increase drainage. The context space crossed by the cycle network and the relationships it establishes with the open space of the city. The comparison aims to bring out some useful lines of action to guide the actions of the urban plan in Italy and, even more, in the Mid Adriatic Region of Abruzzo. The general idea underpinning this paper is thinking about the cycle network as the infrastructural part of a larger soil project capable of triggering processes of sustainable development and urban resilience.