THE STRATIFIED GROWTH OF CHIETI FROM ROMAN TIMES TO TOMORROW: A NEW, GEOLOGY-BASED CONSCIENCE IN CITY PLANNING AND RENEWAL

Abstract

Human settlement grew around and at the foot of the hill of Chieti partly conditioned by the local geological and geomorphological characteristics, and partly transforming them. The hill is vulnerable, due to its geological structure and geomorphological evolution. Following the stratification of human activities and the intense construction activity on the hill, particularly after the Second World War, monuments and both ancient and recent buildings suffered several stability issues. Three of the city’s most important archaeological monuments are taken as emblematic of the interplay between local geology and human impact. The analysis shows that sound knowledge of how Quaternary geological processes operated in time and space needs to become a permanent part of urban planning policy and urban renewal. In fact, the latter have to be strongly sensitive to the equilibrium between the impact of human activities and environmental geology, and able to predict how existing infrastructures respond to the effects of climate change (e.g. new rainfall regime). Geological culture is the basis for redesigning the city with less, or no, use of concrete and more widespread use of bioengineering.