POST COVID ROME: "BEING IN THE WORLD" AND URBAN METABOLISM

Abstract

This paper aims to propose a reflection on how the city of Rome is reacting to the social and urban consequences caused by the pandemic situation. Starting from the analysis of urban densification and hyper-densification – and their correlations with globalism – the paper also intends to underline a broader phenomenon linked to the progressive “abandonment” of large cities. In fact, the pandemic phenomenon risks catalyzing two trends currently at an embryonic stage in Italy, generating a scenario with uncertain consequences: on the one hand, the loss of urban attractiveness could suggest a progressive “abandonment” of large cities; on the other hand, cities may have to deal with the need to stop sprawl phenomena and promote greater densification of the urban perimeter. Furthermore, the pandemic is showing how, at the base of the emergency, there is a problem of spaces and that beyond the social distancing, which will end as the contagion began, it will be the architect’s task to help the community to overcome the memory of the trauma experienced, leading to a greater awareness of taking care of spaces and urban metabolism.