Port territories, urban history documents: interventions at the port of Genoa and the challenges of preservation

Abstract

Old port areas are privileged territories for studies of urban history. In different geographic and sociocultural contexts, the presence of port structures provides relevant information on the processes of urban occupation and social appropriation of the environment. Due to the characterization of some of these areas as sites of historical and cultural interest, the interventions of urban renewal in certain port contexts showed a problematic to be faced: the elaboration of projects attentive to the history documents found there.
In view of this situation, this study aims to analyze the proposed urban intervention projects for the port area of ​​Genoa, Italy. The interventions in progress lead us to reflect on the issues involved in the treatment of port heritage, from the study of port-city relations, to the importance of the dialogue between preservation and urban planning. Ultimately, the article stresses the need for an investigative stance aimed at understanding the epistemological relationships between History and Design.