Eternal City / Evolving Metropolis

Urban growth in modern Rome

This project analyzes the development and planning strategies employed in Rome from the Risorginemto (Italian Reunification, 1871) to the present. It focuses on a region of Rome known as Fori - EUR. This region stretches southward from the historical center, including the Forum, Coliseum, and Piazza Venezia, following the outward expansion of the city. The expansion includes areas such as Testaccio, Ostiense, Garbatella, and the EUR.

Rome’s historical planning phases are defined according to the sequence of planning generations described by Italian urban theorist Guiseppe Campos-Venuti. The project charts planning phases of contemporary Rome's history, from reunification (Risorgimento), modernization (modernizzazione), the post-war reconstruction (ricostruzione), the mid-century expansion (espansione) which followed the 'economic miracle' in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s, until the contemporary generation of transformation and metropolitanization (trasformazione/metropolizzazione). These maps traces three urban elements across each generation: structures (edifici), open spaces (spazi aperti), and transit infrastructure (viabilita').

These planning phases were born out of the series of official Master Plans in Rome, known as the Piani Regolatori (PR) and later Piani Regolatori Generali (PRG), the most recent of which was released in 2008. The 1883/1909 set of PR’s (Piani Regolatori) exhibit early planners’ desires to modernize Rome along the lines of other major European cities, which had seen major infrastructural and socio-economic growth in the decades prior to Italian industrialization. In 1931, during the Fascist period in Rome, the continued modernization took on a more authoritarian approach, with an expansive plan being drawn up by Marcello Piacentini (no relation), including the continued modification of the Fori area. Post WWII, Rome’s reconstruction saw a massive expansion far beyond the original boundaries of the historic city. Thus, the 1962/65 PRG was the first to detail the full Comune di Roma, extending far beyond the original border of the city. The current PRG of 2008 seeks to organize and classify Rome as an inclusive system, a network of connected centralities which create a "city of cities." The primary tool for organizing the city becomes classifying areas for various uses with the larger region in mind.

Another important element of the analysis is the construction of the three primary systems of urban typology. The System of Settlement (Sistema Insediativo) charts the historical urban fabric, highlighting various ‘tessuti’ or urban textures across planning generations. The city is separated into four primary categories, Historical City, Consolidated City, Restructured City, and City of the Transformation. The System of Service and Infrastructure (Sistema dei Servizi e delle Infrastrutture) shows the various public and private services, and primary transportation infrastructure. The System of Environment (Sistema Ambientale) provides a particular picture of the relationship between environmental structures, such as the river, and important urban and architectural structures.