Palazzo Merulana is a symbol of the regeneration of the city of Rome, it hosts Riscatti di città, an exhibition project about contemporary urban development of Rome. Curated by TWM Factory and H501 City Hub, in collaboration with CoopCulture.

Since 2019, the young creative hub TWM Factory has been focusing on the exploration of the city of Rome, targeting places and methods of regeneration. The exhibition displays two large maps, one dedicated to abandoned buildings and redeveloped places (around 430) and the other one to informal cultural centers (more than 250) which, as Nicola Brucoli, one of the curators, explains: “informal cultural centers are demonstrating their regenerative power of territories and communities, just think that 30% of these have opened in the past two years and that more than 50% are run by people under the age of 35".

The two maps are also available online on the interactive crowd-mapping platform **https://riscattidicitta.firstlife.org/ **co-created with the Computer Science Department of the University of Turin, using the FirstLife tool. The online maps tool represents an opportunity to involve citizens in mapping and as well as in testing new models of governance that allow all urban actors to be active players in the process of social recovery, eco-centredness and digital transition of the contemporary urban environment. In addition to the maps, the exhibition includes two photographic projects, a series of illustrations, a green installation and a gallery of ongoing projects in the field of urban planning and sustainable mobility, an urgent issue, especially in a complex city like Rome.

The mix of examples and projects, research and media suggest that “Riscatti di città” is an opportunity to build a collective dialogue, in which young people are the key actors. (It should be the responsibility of the institutions involved, the politicians and also of the economic world to capitalize on the ideas brought together by this exhibition project) 

Nowadays, regeneration is a choral action that crumbles as soon as the soloists impose themselves by virtue of better performances. It is time to subvert the narrative!

For info on the exhibition and for the calendar of related events: https://riscattidicitta.it/