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ABSTRACT
In 1961 Carlo Doglio (1914–1995) left London, where he had spent the previous six years studying Town Planning (among other things), to join the poet, activist, and social worker Danilo Dolci in leading the development plan of one of the poorest and most marginalized Italian regions: Sicily. Doglio’s actions were guided by a constant dissatisfaction with a model of society that excluded communities from the decision-making process. In Sicily, he saw this as an opportunity to use technical knowledge and experience to achieve a different model of social organization, based on social cooperation and voluntary action. As a militant planner and anarchist, he believed that the planning process had to be structured from the bottom-up in order to offer choices that could be freely discussed and appropriately fulfilled, by the community. Based on original documents from the planner’s archive, this study provides an overview of his work in Sicily, the place where his theories and practices best express his identity as a planner. Although this article offers a detailed examination of Doglio’s work, it also introduces the notion of urban and regional planning as a form of social action and as a means to promote a new form of society, built on pro-active and cooperative communities.
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on my doctoral research on Carlo Doglio and his legacy for Italian planning theories and practices. The research benefited from the support of several people who, at different stages, gave me their critical feedback. I am grateful to all of them. Special thanks to Prof. Michael Hebbert, who encouraged me to present this work and to Daniele Doglio, for his time and useful advises. Thank you also to the journal’s editorial team for the language support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Stefania Proli holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Bologna (2007) and a PhD in Urban Planning and Techniques from the University of Brescia (2011). Her PhD thesis, which focused on the legacy of the Italian planner Carlo Doglio, has been awarded by INU (the Italian National Institute for Town Planning) in 2012. Her main research interests lies in bottom-up planning theories and practices, community empowerment and social sustainability. Since 2011, she has been Research Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer at the Department of Architecture of the University of Bologna.
Notes
1 Mazzoleni, “The Concept of Community,” 328.
2 Letter to Giancarlo De Carlo, 8.04.1954, Archive ‘Carlo Doglio’, Castelbolognese (ACD).
3 Olmo, Urbanistica e società civile, 102.
4 Ibid., 51.
5 Pasqui, “Pianificazione come argomentazione,” 108–109.
6 Bobbio, “Prefazione,” 8.
7 Ciacci, “Giovanni Astengo urbanista militante,” 34.
8 See Ferrarotti, Il senso del luogo.
9 Palermo, Trasformazioni e governo del territorio, 53.
10 Di Biagi, “La città pubblica e l’Ina-Casa,” 6.vf.
11 Anti-fascist political party based on the ideas of a liberal socialism theorized by the intellectual and radical liberal Piero Gobetti (1901–1926).
12 Doglio, L’equivoco della città giardino.
13 See Doglio, “Viaggio alla ricerca della pianificazione urbanistica.”
14 See Mazzoleni, “The Concept of Community.”
15 See Wise, “The Origins of the Regional Studies Association” and Doglio, “Un campanello d’allarme.”
16 See Doglio, “Il gesto sacro” and “Ritratto su sfondo giorgiano.”
17 Cole, “The Future of Socialism.”
18 See Wise, “The Origins of the Regional Studies Association” and Hopkins, “Regional Planning as Subversive Knowledge.”
19 Doglio, “Federalismo comunitario,” 742 (English translation of the author).
20 Mazza, “Technical Knowledge and Planning Actions.” See Kropotkin, Mutual Aid and Reclus, L’Homme et la Terre.
21 Ibid.
22 Mazzoleni, “Pianificatore libertario,” 26–27.
23 There is a rich literature on the social activity of Danilo Dolci in Sicily, whose work (especially in his time) was more appreciated abroad than in Italy. For example, see McNeish, Fire Under the Ashes; Mangione, A Passion for Sicilians; and Riggio, Planning with the Poor.
24 About community centres’ work, see Bess, Realism, Utopia and the Mushroom Cloud.
25 For example, Cassa del Mezzogiorno [Fund for the South], an Italian public body created to finance industrial projects aimed at economic development of southern Italy.
26 Centro Studi e Iniziative per la Piena Occupazione, Danilo Dolci e la sua opera, ACD.
27 Dolci, La struttura maieutica e l’evolverci.
28 See Cullen, “‘The Italian Gandhi’ Lives Up to Title.”
29 Doglio, “Dialogo tra un pianificatore regionale e un economista.”
30 Mazzoleni, “Un laboratorio di sviluppo comunitario.”
31 Doglio, Letter to Danilo Dolci, 04.01.1961, ACD.
32 Doglio and Alasia, “Come l’albero dalla terra” (English translation of the author).
33 Centro Studi e Iniziative per la Piena Occupazione, Programma di lavoro del sotto-gruppo socio-urbanistico.
34 Letter from Carlo Doglio to Danilo Dolci, March 24, 1961 (Archive ‘Carlo Doglio’, Castelbolognese).
35 Mazzoleni, “The Concept of Community,” 329.
36 Intended, in broader terms, as a misuse of human, economic and natural resources, and of creativity resources and talents, as it is investigated in Danilo Dolci’s inquiry report, Spreco.
37 See also Biehl and Murray, The Politics of Social Ecology.
38 Centro Studi e Iniziative per la Piena Occupazione, Relazione di Carlo Doglio, ACD.
39 Doglio, “A quale piano miriamo e come ci vogliamo arrivare?”
40 Doglio, L’equivoco della città giardino, 5.
41 Doglio, Letter to Danilo Dolci, 24.03.1961 (Archive ‘Carlo Doglio’, Castelbolognese).
42 Centro studi e iniziative per la piena occupazione, Relazione di Carlo Doglio, ACD.
43 Mazzoleni, “Un laboratorio di sviluppo comunitario.”
44 On the dam on the river Jato, see Parrinello, “The City-territory.”
45 Mumford, The Transformations of Man.
46 Garimberti, Leone and Montalbano, “Paesaggio, comunità, territorio.”
47 Mazza, “Technical Knowledge and Planning Actions.”
48 Barbera, L. (Gibellina, 12.05.2009). Interview by S. Proli. In Proli, “Un approccio alla pianificazione urbanistica.”
49 Mial and Mial, “Community Development – U.S.A.”
50 Bess, Realism, Utopia and the Mushroom Cloud, 190.
51 See Rubino, Palma e Licata; Leone, Territorio e società in Sicilia; Vinay, Giorni a Riesi; Tuccio, Il Villaggio di Monte degli Ulivi a Riesi; and Jourdan, Un villaggio chiamato Riesi.
52 Doglio, “Analisi della situazione siciliana” and Doglio, “Appunti per un pensar concreto.”
53 Doglio, Letter to Tullio Vinay, 4.02.1964 and 24.02.1964, Archive of the Christian Service, Riesi (ACS). See also Doglio, “Elementi per l’identificazione del soggetto della pianificazione territoriale.”
54 Carta, “L’urbanistica negli anni della nostra formazione,” 38.
55 Doglio and Urbani, La fionda sicula, 190.
56 Mazzoleni, “Pianificatore libertario,” 24.
57 See Doglio and Urbani, La fionda sicula, 38–39.
58 Ibid., 62–63.
59 Friedmann, “Notes on Societal Action.”
60 Palermo, Trasformazioni e governo del territorio.
61 Bonafede, La pianificazione in Sicilia.
62 Palermo, Trasformazioni e governo del territorio, 347.
63 Cannarozzo, T. (Palermo, 16.11.2009). Interview by S. Proli. In Proli, “Un approccio alla pianificazione urbanistica.”
64 Trapani, Verso la pianificazione territoriale integrata, 36–37.