Casaralta District
Casaralta District is an urban regeneration project that transforms over 50,000 square meters of former disused industrial land into a new open, green, and permeable urban system, capable of reconnecting the Bolognina neighborhood between Via Ferrarese and Via Stalingrado and engaging in dialogue with the major transformations currently underway in the metropolitan area of Bologna.
The project concept is based on the idea of continuity: physical, environmental, and symbolic.Casaralta District is conceived as an urban hinge between its industrial past and a new sustainable future, maintaining the city’s density while giving back public space, greenery, and urban quality.The masterplan integrates next-generation housing, services, hospitality facilities, and neighborhood retail around a large central public space, with no additional land consumption and a significant removal of impervious surfaces.More than half of the area is dedicated to public spaces and amenities. The urban park, covering over 20,000 square meters, represents the heart of the project: an environmental and social infrastructure that improves the microclimate, enhances biodiversity, and provides new pedestrian and cycling connections between the neighborhood, the Caserma Sani, and the surrounding urban system. The park design combines permeable paving, rain gardens, tree planting, and multifunctional green areas, integrating nature-based solutions for stormwater management and climate change adaptation.
The park is envisioned as an inclusive and flexible space, capable of accommodating diverse activities: play areas, spaces for sports and well-being, and a green agora for social interaction and leisure. Within it lies the “Bosco della Memoria” (Forest of Memory), the symbolic element of the project, which translates the site’s history into a living and evolving landscape feature, transforming a place marked by industry into a space of collective care and urban renewal.