How to combine the Smart City and the historic centre: suggestions from a case study

The study prepared by the University of L'Aquila and described in this chapter uses the principles of Smart City to structure a possible new model of development of historic centres, thus hypothesizing a new design path of forms and relationships in a logic of resilience. The incipit is the activity of experimentation of innovative technologies for urban development that is affecting the historic centre of L'Aquila in the progress of its post-earthquake reconstruction phase 2009. These are innovative projects detached from a general strategy development of the city which also considers the spatial aspects, and of which the consequence on the urban system is still unclear. It is precisely on this subject that the research is concentrated, that is on the understanding of how the accelerated and autonomous transformations of a historic centre of considerable extension and historical-monumental value, affect its structures and systems, and how much these transformations respond to the new needs of society and the contemporary city. We believe that this combination of innovative principles and tools can develop in an integrated way the new settlement themes in coherence with Smart growth, not only connected to new technologies but also to the effects of climate change and to new urban design and planning applications (new urbanism, tactical urbanism, etc.).