Safer public spaces in Naples as a port city

The city can be seen as a social process composed of a combined action of plans and free activities, depending by human wishes and needs. Contemporary cities are under the pressure of migratory flows and particular social transformations, as a result of globalization process. Particularly, the port cities are emblematic examples of contemporary cities where the huge flows of activities and migrants could exacerbate the social conflicts and increase the fears in urban public realm. The analysis of city from a perspective of safety is a significant characteristic of urban planning culture in contemporary society. Urban landscape is impoverished leading into a defensive shell: the crescent number of gated communities; new forms of privatization of traditional public space such as malls but also airport stations, museums, galleries (quite similar) with shops, police surveillance and cctv systems; large public spaces designed without attention in new developments which rapidly decline are only some examples. New conflicts between local population and migrants are multiplying creating a new challenge to tackle of for urban planning. So, new problems are summing up to old ones in urban public realm: in the last half century, after the Second World War, the emergent “car-society” created new feelings of unsafety simply crossing streets and squares. The enormous growth in traffic oriented urban design to give priority to motor vehicles over people and pedestrians, and the urban landscape became unattractive and inhospitable. A growing fracture between user and public space emerged in last decades. Nowadays, this fracture is amplifying caused by new feelings of unsafety towards crime, physical degrade, migrant populations and consequently new barriers (mental and physical) are rising in urban landscape. In the paper it will be presented a methodology applied to analyse contemporary urban landscape giving particular attention to safety and planning design in some case studies from city of Naples, a representative port city where flows of migrants and different activities are increasing with a consequent emerging decline of many neighbourhoods.