Green Phlegrean Network: progettare percorsi verdi per la salute e l’accessibilità ai Campi Flegrei / Green Phlegrean Network: designing green routes for health and accessibility in the Phlegrean Fields

he concept of walkable, widely used in anglo-saxon literature to describe environments that support pedestrian mobility, lacks an exact equivalent in Italian. This paper introduces the term percorribilità pedonale to capture the structural, perceptual, and environmental qualities that encourage walking. Walking, historically rooted in both rural and urban forms of mobility, has progressively lost centrality with post-war urban sprawl and motorized transport, yet is now being reconsidered as a public health resource. The notion of green exercise, walking in natural settings as a therapeutic practice, has gained increasing recognition for its benefits on physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. However, access to green infrastructure remains uneven, particularly in fragile territories. The Phlegraean Fields, a densely inhabited volcanic caldera marked by seismic, hydrogeological, and environmental risks, provide a paradigmatic case for exploring how inclusive design can foster both health promotion and risk awareness. Building on international literature and methodological frameworks from forest therapy trails, the study adopts a multiscalar assessment integrating site and path criteria. Three representative sites (Monte Nuovo - Lago d’Averno, Monte Gauro, and Riserva degli Astroni) were analyzed through GIS mapping, descriptive data, and field evidence. Results highlight significant differences in accessibility, perceptual quality, and exposure to geological risk: Monte Nuovo - Lago d’Averno offers the most accessible conditions; Monte Gauro represents a more selective but immersive experience; while the Riserva degli Astroni combines guided accessibility with environmental education. The analysis reveals how percorribilità pedonale can be translated into practical evaluation grids that connect landscape qualities with user-centered accessibility. In conclusion, the paper advocates for site-specific and resilient design strategies in high-risk areas, proposing a modular green infrastructure network capable of enhancing inclusiveness, well-being, and landscape awareness in the Phlegraean Fields.