Territories, Conflicts and Urban Peace Building

Journal title WELFARE E ERGONOMIA
Author/s Gabriella Esposito, Giuseppe Pace, Gaia Daldanise, Luisa Fatigati, Stefania Oppido, Stefania Ragozino, Maria Patrizia Vittoria, Erlisiana Anzalone
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1 Suppl.
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 173-191 File size 470 KB
DOI 10.3280/WE2026-001-S1010
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Peacebuilding and nonviolent conflict management are essential conditions for the sustainability of contemporary forms of living. Namely, the concept of urban peace as a daily process of mediation, recognition, and coexistence between differences, tensions, and demands for social justice, turns urban spaces, and public space in particular, into core elements of the debate. Public spaces represent both the theatre of inequalities and a potential laboratory for coexistence. On the one hand, they are places for listening, thoughtfulness and tolerance, where practices of peaceful coexistence can find their expression. On the other hand, they become theatres of conflict and power imbalances when cities become places of violence, with different types of actors unable to engage in productive dialogue with one another. Sometimes, this is supplemented by armed conflicts that consume urban spaces, generating profound social and territorial transformations and leaving material and symbolic traces that research is called upon to address, to develop practices capable of promoting coexistence between divided communities and protecting the most vulnerable subjectivities. Urban studies, in which urban planning, sociological and economic disciplines are cross-pollinated, can make an important contribution to peace-keeping and peace-making processes, both in terms of interpreting phenomena and promoting transformative actions. The paper discusses some of the interdisciplinary research in which CNR-IRISS researchers are engaged in the field, working on issues related to urban peace through mutual learning processes with municipalities and territorial actors.

Keywords: urban peace; action-research; urban regeneration; co-design.

  1. Cognetti F. (2016). Ricerca-azione e università. Produzione di conoscenza, inclusività e diritti. Territorio, 78(3): 40-46.
  2. De Backer M., Melgaço L., Varna G. and Menichelli F. (2018). Order and Conflict in Public Space. New York & London: Routledge.
  3. Dell’Era C. and Landoni P. (2014). Living Lab: A methodology between user-centred design and participatory design. Creativity and innovation management, 23(2): 137-154.
  4. Dolci D. (2020). L’educazione. Roma: Edizioni di Comunità.
  5. Dotson A.B., Godschalk D. and Kaufman J. (1989). The Planner as Dispute Resolver: Concepts and Teaching Material. Washington D.C.: National Institute for Dispute Resolution.
  6. Elfversson E., Gusic I. and Rokem J. (2023). Peace in Cities, Peace through Cities? Theorising and Exploring Geographies of Peace in Violently Contested Cities. Peacebuilding, 11(4): 321-337. DOI: 10.1080/21647259.2023.2225914
  7. Arnstein S.R. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4): 216-224. DOI: 10.1080/01944366908977225
  8. Beall J., Goodfellow T. and Rodgers D. (2013). Cities and conflict in fragile states in the developing world. Urban Studies, 50(15): 3065-3083. DOI: 10.1177/0042098013487775
  9. Belingardi C.F.M., Poli D. and Ragozino S. (2025). Prospettive femministe sulla città. Vivere insieme tra cura, ecologia e giustizia spaziale. Collana Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Studi e Ricerche per l’Innovazione, vol. 7. Roma: CNR Edizioni.
  10. Belingardi C.F.M., Esposito De Vita G., Ragozino S. and Viderman T. (2024). (Re)producing everyday life: urban commoning through care. Contesti: Città, Territori, Progetti, 1: 4-15.
  11. Björkdahl A. (2013). Urban peacebuilding. Peacebuilding, 1(2): 207-221. DOI: 10.1080/21647259.2013.783254
  12. Byrne J. and Gormley-Heenan C. (2014). Beyond the Walls: Dismantling Belfast’s Conflict Architecture. City, 18(4-5): 447-454. DOI: 10.1080/13604813.2014.939465
  13. Boal F. (1996). Integration and Division: Sharing and Segregating in Belfast. Planning Practice and Research, 11(2): 151-158. DOI: 10.1080/02697459650036305
  14. Bollens S.A. (2006). Urban planning and peace building. Progress in Planning, 66 (2): 67-139.
  15. Esposito De Vita G., Ragozino S. and Mady C. (2024). Embracing Urban complexity: The experience of the AESOP Thematic Group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures. TRIA (Territorio della ricerca su insediamenti e ambiente), 17(32): 5-20. DOI: 10.6093/2281-4574/11015
  16. Esposito De Vita G., Trillo C. and Martinez- Perez A. (2016). Community planning and urban design in contested places. Some insights from Belfast. Journal of Urban Design, 21(3): 320-334. DOI: 10.1080/13574809.2016.1167586
  17. Forester J. (1999). The Deliberative Practitioner. Encouraging Participatory Planning Processes. Cambridge Mass.: The MIT Press.
  18. Forester J. (1998). Considerazioni su quel che dovremo intendere per pratica di piano. CRU, 9-10: 82-98.
  19. Greenwood D.S., Singer L. and Willis W., editors (2021). Collaborative Governance. Principles, Processes, and Practical Tools. London: Routledge.
  20. Stratis S. (2025). Transformative Urban Practice: Supporting the Commons in Spaces of Conflict. Design and Culture, 1-32. DOI: 10.1080/17547075.2025.2530253
  21. Vittoria M.P. (2020). Quanto vale l’azione di comunità per l’economia locale? Il dibattito tra «Istinti e Istituzioni» nel processo di formazione e consolidamento dei commons urbani a Napoli. Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, 1-2: 249-275. DOI: 10.1432/97632
  22. Vittoria M.P. (2019). Comunità artigianali, riutilizzo di edifici dismessi ed entrepreneurial discovery. Alcuni casi emersi dalla realtà napoletana. In: AAVV, a cura di, L’Artigianato Artistico in Campania. Saperi, pratiche e collaborazione in rete per lo Sviluppo del Territorio. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  23. Vittoria M.P., Ragozino S. and Esposito De Vita G. (2023). Urban Commons between Ostrom’s and Neo-Materialist Approaches: The Case of Lido Pola in Naples, Southern Italy. Land, 12,524.
  24. Wennmann A. and Oliver J. (2019). Urban safety and peacebuilding. New York & London: Routledge.
  25. Capone N. (2022). Rapporto sui beni comuni a Napoli: Atti e documenti (2011-2021). Napoli: Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici.
  26. Saija L. (2007). Prospettive di ricerca-azione nella disciplina urbanistica. FOLIO, 49.
  27. Sarno F. (2017). Basta un muro. Rinascite urbane tra arte e colore. In: La città creativa. Spazi pubblici e luoghi della quotidianità. CNAPPC, pp. 563-571.
  28. Choay F. (1965). L’urbanisme. Utopies et réalités. Paris: Editions du Seuil.
  29. Gusic I. (2022). Peace between peace(s)? Urban peace and the coexistence of antagonists in city spaces. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 16(5): 619-640. DOI: 10.1080/17502977.2022.2129330
  30. Hasic T. (2004). Reconstruction Planning in Post-Conflict Zones: Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Community. Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology.
  31. Low S., Taplin D. and Shield S. (2005). Rethinking urban parks: Public space and cultural diversity. Austin: University of Texas Press.
  32. Lynch K. (1960). The Image of the City. Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies Series. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
  33. Mazmanian D.A. and Kraft M. (2009). Toward Sustainable Communities. Transition and Transformations in Environmental Policy. Cambridge Mass.: The MIT Press.
  34. Montessori M. (2023). Educazione e pace. Milano: Xenia Edizioni.
  35. Nalbantoglu G.B. and Thai W.C. (1997). Postcolonial Space(s). New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
  36. Oppido S., Ragozino S., Micheletti S. and Esposito De Vita G. (2018). Sharing responsibilities to regenerate publicness and cultural values of marginalized landscapes: case of Alta Irpinia, Italy. Urbani Izziv, 29: 125-142.
  37. Pace G. (2021). Heritage Conservation and Community Empowerment. Tools for Living Labs. In: Pace G., Salvarani R. editors, Underground Built Heritage Valorisation: A Handbook. Proceedings of the First Underground4value Training School. Roma: Cnr Edizioni, pp. 197-234.
  38. Pullan W. and Baillie B. (2013). Introduction. In: Pullan W. and Baillie B., editors. Locating Urban Conflicts. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  39. Ragozino S., Esposito De Vita G. e Oppido S. (2022). «Normality was the problem!» Femminismi e Commoning nella riproduzione sociale della città. CRIOS, 24: 74-81. DOI: 10.3280/CRIOS2022-024009
  40. Robinson L.D., Cawthray J.L., West S.E., Bonn A. and Ansine J. (2018). Ten principles of citizen science. In: Citizen science: Innovation in open science, society and policy. UCL Press, pp. 27-40.
  41. Esposito R. (1998). Communitas: Origine e destino della comunità. Torino: Einaudi.
  42. Esposito De Vita G. (2013). Segregative Power of Violence in Belfast and Naples: Exploring the role of public spaces reconnecting divided societies. In: Madanipour A., Knierbein S. and Degros A. editors, Public Space and the Challenges of Urban Transformation in Europe. New YorK: Routledge, pp. 169-182.

Gabriella Esposito, Giuseppe Pace, Gaia Daldanise, Luisa Fatigati, Stefania Oppido, Stefania Ragozino, Maria Patrizia Vittoria, Erlisiana Anzalone, Territori, Conflitti e Costruzione della Pace Urbana in "WELFARE E ERGONOMIA" 1 Suppl./2026, pp 173-191, DOI: 10.3280/WE2026-001-S1010