Imagining Basso Isonzo: The evolution of an urban agro-landscape park

The indefiniteness of certain green areas in the urban peripheries creates a multiplicity of imaginaries in the minds of the people who cross these places. Based on interviews, methods of participant observation and conversations conducted in Basso Isonzo, Padua, Italy in 2022-2023, this work examines the diverse perspectives of residents, citizens and Padua’s municipal administration on the area of Basso Isonzo, the interpretations of its spaces, the memories tied to it, and the interpersonal connections among locals. The lack of boundaries defining a perimeter of the area, of signs claiming one specific name for each zone, and the decades-long battle to protect the agricultural landscape vocation of Basso Isonzo, are all elements that have led to an imaginative competition on the scope of the area and its portrayal. Because of the multiple and contradicting regulatory variants carried out by several city administrations, Basso Isonzo is still a patchwork zone – undefined and, at times, multi-named. While the place is currently stuck in this limbo, the workers and residents of Basso Isonzo, through their imaginaries of the place, are already making Basso Isonzo something real, despite hesitation by the administrations. Thanks to their actions, they are giving life to the urban agro-landscape park of Basso Isonzo – a reality that does not, concretely, exist.