UN NUOVO PARCO PER UN PAESAGGIO ANTICO STORIA E CRONACA DI UN PAESAGGIO DELLA CAMPAGNA URBANA DI PALERMO

Palermo’s landscape was characterized by centuries of wonder. The contemporary city has swallowed up a large part of it. It’s still surviving an exceptional scenery of the landscape of an area more than twenty times higher than that of the historical city. Today, a few surviving urban green areas also have a role in countering the increase of “heat island”, phenomenon that manifests itself with average temperatures of 3-5° C higher than those of the surrounding green areas, and that involves the growth of energy consumption for summer air conditioning of buildings. Green urban areas also play an important role with regard to hydrogeology and provide a vast reservoir of biodiversity. With the waiver by the regional administration to build a huge business center for 3500 people, the occasion promises of protection and transformation this hige and strategic area in a park, that is a large green area (90,000 square meters,) abandoned for decades with very little care. In this area are resisting Opuntia indica plants and Citrus plants, some specimens of trees of great quality and small rural historic buildings. The park would enhance the environmental functions and provide citizens with a place consistent with the historical landscape and culture, consistent also with the needs of a modern city.