NETWORK AS SPACE OF OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SICANI AREA IN SICILY (ITALY)

Starting from the renewed interest in marginal territories that has emerged in the scientific debate and in the field of territorial policies, the contribution explores the Sicani Area in Sicily (Italy), as a paradigmatic case of marginality and as a hybrid context that needs to increase awareness of its own hidden qualities and to develop territorial branding strategies. Departing from the framework of the B4R Branding4Resilience research project of national interest the aim of the University of Palermo research is to define the requirement for a more inclusive settlement model in the Sicani Area to re-balance existing asymmetries by recharging peripheral areas with new centrality. The paper discusses case study analyses and first results of the co-visioning phase of the research project: a process of strategic spatial visioning to recompose in a coherent territorial vision the system of relationships in place, identifying a branding strategy and increasing the community’s transformative capacity. The work in Sicani territory in Sicily offers a framework for the region’s development to develop relational models that can open up design-driven knowledge production for broader spatial strategies that support administrations in formulating development policies.