Drawing a new town: artistic experiments for urban regeneration

Urban art has become one of the primary aspects of the collective request for regeneration and improvement of aesthetic quality in contemporary spaces, as an element that can transform the perception of a site through the filter of culture, creativity and artistic awareness. The importance of small but focal ideas to renovate small pieces of town provides a new energy for the process of planning and contributes to create an educational environment for all the inhabitants, often promoting values of involvement and solidarity, sustainability and creativity. “Drawing a New Town” is a small urban acupuncture design in the railway station of Cicciano, a suburb of Nolan district, affected by a severe loss of identity due to its rapid transformation from a rural village to a small town. Reading these tracks, hearing the voice of people, observing the mobility flows and the neighbourhood behaviour, our design purposes a retraining solution for marginal contexts by using art and participation. Our contribution intends to investigate how an artwork can modify the spatial experience into urban places, to get a new value as driver of new urban visions.