Strategic Vision of a Euro-Mediterranean Port City: A Case Study of Palermo

Italian harbours assume a decisive role in order to develop an Euro-Mediterranean web for maritime transportation. The geostrategic position of the Italian peninsula can be seen as a logistic platform at the centre of the maritime trades in the Mediterranean area, giving to its port cities the role of gateway of economic flows. The port poles, meant as hubs, are able to attract investments and create economic growth and territorial development through new operative models of urban recovery and management. The recovery, maintenance and management strategies have to consider the environmental characteristics and distinctive features, respecting the identity of the places as concrete evidence of history, a source of intellectual development and, therefore, cultural richness. In this sense, the current planning "Palermo capital of the Euro-Mediterranean area" imagines the whole city, and not just its harbour, as a "gate city", a sustainable and cosmopolitan city, in the view of a recentralization of the Mediterranean area. The research tests an evaluation method for the urban renewal, which increases the active role of stakeholders in terms of participation and access to the decision-making process.