Vol. 1 No. 1 (2010): BOLOGNA HISTORIC CITY

In 1970 the Municipality of Bologna published the book "Bologna centro storico", which included methodologies and criteria that had guided the plan of conservation of the historical center, approved in 1969, along with analysis and insights on the city, such as photographical census, morphological, typological and sociological studies. A wide, documented, persuasive survey, in order not to freeze a situation, considered permanent, but to create, on the contrary, "an ancient city for a new society", as defined by Pier Luigi Cervellati. The book accompanied an exhibition with the same title at Palazzo d'Accursio, where drawings of the Plan were exhibited, in a careful process of communication and publication towards citizens.
The city of Bologna has the great merit to have pursued, during the twentieth century, good management practices and land development, so that it can be considered, in a local sense, as a virtuous example of urban governance and, in a national level, as the site of cultural ferment for discipline urbanism. Forty years later, the launch of a forum of discussion on the historic city of Bologna is the opportunity for critical reflections regarding contents and methodology of the Plan and the outcomes of its applications in the urban context, in order to promote, from the project "Bologna centro storico", the vision of a" Bologna città storica", renewed and adapted to contemporary.
The first part of the issue, in the HISTORIC CITIES section, contains the proceedings of the conference held on 10-11 December 2009 in Bologna, at the Faculty of Engineering, promoted by the Department of Architecture and Territorial Planning and by the Doctorate Course in Building and Territorial Engineering at University of Bologna. The event was developed under the patronage of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Emilia-Romagna Region. http://www.ibc.regione.emilia-romagna.it/wcm/ibc/eventi/cittastoricheconvegno.htm.
The second part of the issue, in the FORUM section, contains the results of the discussion forum, developed after the conference, during 2010, among various stakeholders. The Forum is intended to be the the starting step of a process, wider and more structured, gathering critical issues, ideas and guidelines regarding the historic city, at different levels, from researchers, city users and citizens, in order to identify possible actions to upgrade, evaluation and renovation historical values.

Edited by Luisa Bravo