Healthy Cities and post-disaster reconstruction in multi-hazard areas: the case of Ischia

The Healthy Cities concept, introduced by the WHO in 1986, promotes a systemic approach to urban well-being based on the integrated implementation of environmental, social, and economic policies. The Italian Healthy Cities Network translated these principles according to local specificities, while contending with pervasive structural and environmental vulnerabilities. Yet, implemented strategies often overlook the exposure of residents to significant hazards. The Reconstruction Plan of the Island of Ischia represents an innovative, forward-looking case of post-disaster spatial planning, integrating risk mitigation, territorial regeneration, and public health promotion. Following the 2017 and 2022 disasters, the Campania Regional Government - supported by the scientific expertise of the Department of Architecture at the University of Naples Federico II - promoted a paradigm shift from the traditional “as it was, where it was” approach towards a more integrated, resilience-oriented, and sustainability-driven model. The Plan is grounded in an interdisciplinary spatial analysis that interweaves geomorphological vulnerability, settlement patterns, and landscape and heritage values. A particularly innovative aspect is the programmed relocation strategy, to transfer settlements from hazard-prone zones to pre-infrastructured, safer sites. Planning decisions aim to reduce hazard exposure, limit land take, enhance quality of life, and foster the emergence of adaptive and resilient landscape configurations. The case of Ischia defines an emerging paradigm for planning in fragile territories: an adaptive urbanism that reconciles collective memory, risk dynamics, and spatial transformation, turning reconstruction into a proactive tool for future-building, well-being promotion, and the pursuit of sustainable livability.