Verso insediamenti urbani sostenibili tra partecipazione e inclusione

One of the goals of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is dedicated to make «cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable»; this topic can be reached only approaching the design of the urban environment in a new way, focused on the real people’s needs and involving the users in the decision process. Moreover, it is necessary that architects, engineers, urban planners and designers have not only the knowledges and the technologies to develop the right solutions but also the sensitivity to involve the users in several moments of the design process. So, it is important to prepare the new professionals not only from a technical point of view but also from a cultural and social awareness. The paper shows the methodology applied by a researching group of the University of Pavia, working on urban analysis with students attending a high school in order to understand difficulties and opportunities of Voghera urban downtown. The project was developed together with ANMIC, a National Association that takes care and helps of persons with disabilities to live safe and independent and represents an approach that can be applied in several Italian towns, developing participating and inclusive design process that carries out solutions that can satisfy a large number of users respecting their needs and abilities. The output of this 5 months research is a map recording the different levels of accessibility and usability of some paths in Voghera and the new point of view of the students involved, that tested the professional activities in field.