“Sostenibilità urbana”: dal quadrato al cerchio, dal confronto parlamentare a quello creativo, la diversità come risorsa

Abstract

This article points out the three main changes needed to make urban sustainability the leading criteria for economic, social and cultural development. These changes although enacted and implemented since the ’80s, find strong resistances mainly because they are part of a more general paradigm-shift (as defined by Thomas Kuhn) and they are bound to be seen as “nonsensical” until they reach a critical threshold. They are: 1. the centrality of space, from square to circular; 2. the shift from a communicational style based on argumentation (I am right you are wrong) and parliamentary procedures, to one based on active listening (to explore the other’s point of view and focus on interests instead than positions) and creative confrontation aimed to maximize joint gains; 3. diversity as a resource: knowing how to transform diversity into a common good and why a third part, a neutral facilitator is most of the times needed.