Urban Fragmentation and Community Involvement A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH THROUGH COLLECTIVE MENTAL MAPPING Abstract
Social fragmentation is a major challenge in contemporary urban planning and has a direct impact on social cohesion. This study focuses on developing a practical method for actively involving communities in decision-making in the urban context, with the aim of strengthening social solidarity. By analysing specific experiences with different communities, we gather perceptions and needs, highlighting critical areas that contribute to social fragmentation. Documented experiences contribute significantly to our methodological framework, emphasising the importance of actively engaging communities for more inclusive urban design that responds to local needs. Collaboration between designers and communities emerges as central to equitably distributed solutions that promote cohesive and participatory urban fabrics. By examining the impact of involving communities in the design process, the paper explores how this approach can promote spatial quality. It concludes with practical guidelines for implementing a participatory approach to urban design, based on concrete experiences and meaningful outcomes. In conclusion, the study suggests the potential role of a dedicated professional - a mediator fluent in both community and professional languages - to navigate and bridge the gap, ensuring a more harmonious and responsive urban landscape. Keywords cognitive mapping, participatory design, defragmenting communities, spatial research methods Introduction The field of urban design covers a vast and complex scale of intervention and requires the involvement of numerous interests and needs. To ensure any successful intervention in the urban context, it is necessary to involve the community that will experience the developments carried on by the project, which can be done through various methods and tools. Therefore, we assume that the fragmentation of the contemporary city is due to the lack of interaction between those who design the space and those who use it. We believe that in order to achieve a sensitive defragmentation of urban space, it is possible and necessary to start by facilitating dialogue between all those involved and representing different interests. In these terms, we can speak of differentiation and definition of space [from the Latin definition 'to delimit', from finis 'to limit'], rather than of fragmentation, and we can define it as a necessary practice in order to prevent urban areas from becoming homogenised. This practice needs to take some distance from the modernist practice of zoning, now outdated in the name of a better
text + images by Elisa Cordaro Giovanni Telve