Coastal Roads: An Atlas for the Socio-Ecological Transition of Coastal Territories

This chapter aims to set out the goals and initial outcomes of an ongoing research project supported by the REACT-EU FSE Program and led by the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with Maudlab—PoliMi and Transform Transport. The research focuses on road space as a crucial element for the socio-ecological transition of most fragile territories. By reinterpreting the streets, car parks and other contiguous open spaces as a continuous artefact that characterises the main background of our daily life, it is possible to pay attention to the quality and resilience of much of the territory crossed. This research hypothesis was tested in Italian coastal areas that are most vulnerable to anthropic pressure and climate change phenomena. The fragilities and opportunities were analysed within some significant buffers, including the coastal freeway and urban roads, which are crossed by different geomorphologic and settlement structures. The analyses are aimed at drawing up a trans-scalar Atlas, which relates coastal roads to demographic, socioeconomic and environmental data, describing quantitative and qualitative aspects and showing criticalities and potentials in different national contexts. The Atlas of Coastal Roads is proposed as an operational tool useful for elaborating national-scale and place-specific interpretations; orienting stakeholders, policies and projects towards systemic knowledge and actions; and highlighting new scenarios.