Depopulation and abandonment in the mountain villages of Abruzzo: degradation and resource. A reversible process?

The topic of depopulated towns has been dealt with an approach aimed to their re-functionalization, sometimes producing results very far from history and from the meanings that those places represent. Now this issue is dealt with a different perspective, considering that the abandonment can be considered a resource, and not just a cause of degradation. The abandonment permitted to preserve the authenticity of these places and today is an important source of attraction. While this renewed interest could contribute to the material conservation of buildings, it may also modify them irreversibly. The earthquakes of 2009 and 2016-2017 have produced new abandonments and they are causing reconstructions that significantly alter the towns and the landscape. Considering the results in progress, there is a general lack of understanding of historical buildings considered exclusively as “real estate” to refurbish. The reflection on depopulated centers cannot be limited to the reuse but must experiment different modalities, based on the significance of the places and the values to be preserved. The history and the relationship with the territory prefigure other possibilities; today new sensitivities encourage the "returns" to mountains as alternative choices towards the models of today's society. Mountain villages offer the possibility of experimenting with new forms of sociality, economy, hospitality but they must be considered as an integral part of the landscape to protected. Spopolamento e abbandono nei paesi montani d’Abruzzo: degrado e risorsa. Un processo reversibile? Il tema dei paesi spopolati è generalmente trattato con un approccio finalizzato alla rifunzionalizzazione, producendo risultati talora molto lontani dalla storia che quei luoghi rappresentano. Se visto con una prospettiva diversa, l’abbandono può essere considerato una risorsa e non solo una causa di degrado; esso ha permesso di preservare l'autenticità dei luoghi ed è oggi un'importante fonte di attrazione, soprattutto in contesti di interesse ...