The community and public spaces: ecological thinking, mobility and social life in the open spaces of the city of the future

The roots of the present crisis of public urban spaces in the modern and contemporary city can be traced back not only to the history of the early vision of the planning movement to which the city planning discipline dedicates much attention, but also to the history of scientific thinking, the measuring eye that all of us—specialists, administrators, intellectuals and citizens alike—have used on it from the 17th century up to the present day. Recognition of these roots allows us to distinguish the fruitful from the sterile among the many directions offered by the various projects for the city of today and the city of the future. In the recent emphasis placed on the concept of community—in the interpretation offered here—lies the basis and motivations of some of the most interesting guidelines for an in-depth study and really innovative approach to the problems of city traffic and the closely associated problems of the reappropriation of a social dimension of public space for the city of the future.