Keywords

1 Introduction. Lanzo Valleys and the Metro-Mountain Perspective

In the past twenty years, the relationship between Lanzo Valleys and the urban area of Turin was expressed in multiple ways through a reinterpretation of local resources and their promotion, within local planning at different levels.Footnote 1 Nevertheless, the framework of design actions and the related recognition of strategic elements were put to the test both in the COVID-19 pandemic phase and in the current post-pandemic phase (German Environment Agency 2021).

The aim of this chapter is thus to investigate—through the analysis of institutional and territorial plans—the development processes and main strategic assets following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the rise of a metro-mountain framework. To take on a metro-mountain perspective (Dematteis et al. 2017; Corrado 2021; Corrado and Durbiano 2018) means referring to new local configurations that abandon the classic city-countryside and city-mountain dichotomies to consolidate, instead, “urban” and “rural” as parts of the same system and elements that create territorial added value.

Lanzo Valleys area (Fig. 8.1) includes urban areas where the various services are concentrated (Lanzo, Ciriè) and that serve as the possible hubs of a metro-mountain system; an intersection essentially corresponding to the peri-urban Alpine area, in a strategic position with crucial access points of the Turin metropolitan area (Turin–Ceres railroad, Caselle Airport, SP 1 provincial road of the Lanzo Valleys from Turin to Balme, SP 2 from Turin to Germagnano) and, finally, a medium–high valley area that experienced, already in the pre-pandemic phase, a scattered rebirth related to the hybridization of tradition and innovation developed, in part, by new dwellers and, in part, by a new way of being mountaineers (Corrado 2014; Bender 2012).

Fig. 8.1
A map of Turin highlights the Lanzo Valleys in the north west.

Lanzo Valleys in the Turin metropolitan area

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2 Research Methodology

To respond to the goals of this research, the analysis activities were articulated into four levels of investigation: the first level concerns the discussion of the reference framework of the broad-spectrum territorial institution plans currently in force; the second level concerns the strategic plan of the metropolitan area; the third level concerns the analysis of plans created in relation to national projects about inner areas (PNRR, national recovery and resilience plan 2021); the fourth level puts the attention on local mechanisms related to the pandemic and post-pandemic situation and its effects on the area.

The analysis phase was supported by a specific focus on the strategic role of protected areas for biodiversity, health, and well-being. Such protected areas, especially in the most marginal and fragile areas such as inner areas and mountains-are strategic assets to develop an integrated and sustainable territorial project, by promoting and establishing a network of natural, cultural, and identity-making heritage. Within this framework, the Lanzo Valley offers relevant, strategically protected areas connected to the metropolitan area that respond to the growing demand for sustainable and proximity tourism—well underlined by the COVID-19 pandemic—to develop metro-mountain enhancement policies that may provide a mutual benefit to the cities and valleys.

2.1 Elements Emerging from the Analysis

As for the first level of investigation, upon observation of the PTR (regional territory plan, Table 8.1) approved in 2011 and from the PPR (regional landscape plan, Tables 8.2 and 8.3) approved in 2017, we gathered what the large-scale paths for Lanzo Valleys area. Above all, the promotion of natural (mostly water, forest, and agro-silvopastoral) resources is in the scope of making Lanzo Valleys a regenerator of crucial ecosystem services for the entire urban/metropolitan network. Secondly, attention to the urbanization process, both in terms of latent potential and in terms of criticalities due to decommissioning, depopulation, and de-qualification of the built heritage. Finally, an implementation of actions to protect, safeguard, and promote the rich natural heritage of the area.

Table 8.1 Planning directions for Lanzo Valleys
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Table 8.2 Ongoing dynamics of Lanzo Valleys
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Table 8.3 Strategic paths for Lanzo Valleys
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Upon analysing the Strategic Plan of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the second level of investigation, the relationship between the area and the Turin conurbation or—even more—with the entire metro-mountain system emerge. Such a relationship is essentially expressed in three directions:

  • Digitalization, innovation, competitiveness, and culture: increase the ability to create value in the different economic sectors (agriculture, tourism, services through cooperation in business networks, creation of supply chains, promotion of the area and its products);

  • Infrastructures for sustainable mobility: take advantage of the current transformation of commuting cycles to improve the connectivity and accessibility to and of the metropolitan area;

  • Inclusion and cohesion: promote equal opportunity for personal and community development in the different parts of the metropolitan area.

The third level of investigation allowed us, instead, to have an outlook of local projects as outlined in the PSL (local development plan), approved in 2014. The GAL (local action group) of Lanzo Valleys, Ceronda, and Casternone, which has drafted the plan, identified three lines: sustainable and accessible tourism; promotion of local architecture and landscape; development and innovation of local supply chains and production systems. These lines have been additionally implemented through the improvement of local governance in order to overcome the-present territorial fragmentation, through the enhancement of the tourist offer—as the pandemic has underlined—and through the definition of a sustainable forest sector.

Many of such elements in the projects are included in the SNAI (national strategy for inner areas) designed in 2013 and developed by the Agenzia per la coesione territoriale (agency for territorial cohesion). The SNAI has selected 19 municipalities belonging to the Unione Montana di Comuni delle Valli di Lanzo, Ceronda e Casternone and Unione Montana Alpi Graie (mountain unions of the Lanzo Valleys-Ceronda-Casternone and Graian Alps) as the beneficiaries of government resources through specific framework agreements. The aim is to reduce marginality of this area through multiple and integrated actions related, in general, to the improvement of essential services and the redefinition of the relationship with the Turin metro-mountain area. The main expected results of the strategy include the inversion of the negative demographic trend and the implementation of public services (health care, education, mobility, and digital connectivity). In order to reach this aim, certain actions have been taken as summarized in Table 8.4.

Table 8.4 Strategic action for Lanzo Valleys (SNAI)
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In the aims of PNRR, the municipalities of Lanzo Valleys have growingly focused on the “green revolution and environmental transition” trajectory, acting—in particular—on the infrastructural and technological adjustment of the Canavesana and Turin–Ceres lines. A renewed metropolitan railroad system, with a more relevant role for the valley terminal stations, may reduce travel time even from the Caselle airport.

Finally, the fourth level of analysis highlighted the territorial dynamics of the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. Throughout the summer of 2020—the year of the pandemic crisis—the outdoor sector witnessed a drop in tourism activities, a reduction in foreign tourism, and support to demand mainly related to proximity tourism. During the same period, it emerged from the OTR (Regional Tourism Observatory, 2021) data Piedmont Region recorded + 19% in arrivals and + 23% in overnight stays in the mountain area in the June–July 2020 period. Also in the past few years, the number of accommodation facilities in Lanzo Valleys was essentially stable in municipalities, with a maintenance of the existing structures or an increase in certain locations: 7 accommodation facilities and 31 beds were added in Ala di Stura over the 2018–2020 triennium; Groscavallo added 2 new facilities and 16 beds. The pandemic has thus underlined the fragility and the need for such areas both in terms of renovation of the tourist sector and in terms of design, with a certain degree of regard towards the most vulnerable groups.

2.2 Focus on the Area: The Protected Areas for Biodiversity, Health, and Sustainable Development

Protected areas are an essential resources for biodiversity, ecosystems services conservation, health, and well-being, and for a sustainable territorial project (SDGs, UN Agenda 2030 2015, CBD 2010–2020, CBD Post-2020 Biodiversity Targets, EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030), and also given the challenges presented by the great environmental and social changes (Dudley et al. 2017) and the international sustainability goals (UN SDGs).

As special areas that are “custodians” of the precious natural and cultural territorial value system (Gambino and Peano 2015), protected areas play a strategic role in the development of cultural/social/economic sustainability and in the enhancement policies of the park territory and its context, especially in the most fragile, inner, and marginal areas, to respond to a growing demand for nature and sustainable and proximity tourism, as suitably underlined by the post-COVID-19 emergency (Voghera et al. 2019, 2021; Hockings et al. 2020).

Especially in urbanized areas, nature parks and protected areas also confirm themselves as well-established “laboratories” for experimentation of integrated conservation and development policies and careful projects exportable to the wider territory for local communities, in line with the “new conservation paradigms” affirmed in Durban in 2003 (IUCN 2003 “Benefit beyond boundaries”, Phillips 2003).

From an integrated conservation and development perspective, sustainable tourism—widely affirmed in protected areas at international level in its various forms of ecotourism and nature-based tourism (Leung et al. IUCN 2018; ECST-European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, EUROPARC Federation 1991 and 2010, IUCN WCC Marseille Resolution 130-Strengthening sustainable tourism’s role in biodiversity conservation and community resilience)—is indeed among the most effective sectors for nature parks and protected areas to play the role as strategic nodes of a wider territory and potential drivers for development (Peano 2013): key assets to invest in to trigger promotion and enhancement processes and dynamics and create networks of resources, subjects, and projects, contributing to reverse the trend of weakening, marginalization, and abandonment that often characterize mountain, inland, and fragile areas by favouring, instead, the taking-care of territories, in line with the SNAI and other initiatives and projects developed in this direction at national level (APE. Appennino Parco d’Europa project, the “ParchiAperti” Platform -Federparchi and other partners initiative; “Sentiero dei Parchi”-MATTM, CAI-Club Alpino Italiano; Manifesto of Camaldoli promoted by SdT-Società dei Territorialisti; MATTM, ASTER 2013 Report and MATTM 2015 Report).

In particular, the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (ECST), launched by EUROPARC Federation in 1991 and subscribed by numerous European protected areas, offers great relaunch opportunities for the territories including protected areas as a methodological and certification tool—both for nature parks/protected areas and local tourism operators and businesses—based on a voluntary agreement between all the local actors and communities interested in creating and implementing a common strategy.

In this framework, the study area shows significant potential and opportunities in the perspective of a desirable alliance between mountain and city that may benefit both. An important natural, landscape, historical/cultural, and identity-making heritage with different features in the three Valleys (Viù Valley, d’Ala Valley, Val Grande Valley—the latter subject to the proposed creation of a natural regional park “Alta Val Grande”) as well as a great variety of contexts, from the wilder pre-Alpine areas to the rural, urban, and peri-urban contexts. The territory also boasts a solid tradition and vocation for natural, cultural, and proximity tourism (a Turin tradition of mountain climbing ever since the late-1800s) that satisfies the growing demand for nature, health, and quality tourism close to the city. It is a high-quality urban-mountain environment that boasts a set of protected areas including Nature Parks, Nature Reserve, Natura 2000 Network Sites, part of the Royal Parks system including La Mandria Nature Park (a “green lung” of the metropolitan city of Turin). These resources are key elements in the “Corona Verde” (green crown) strategic project, subject to intense planning, management, and design activity coordinated by the regional administration. Considering the Lanzo Valleys, are of particular interest the Ponte del Diavolo Nature Reserve—a place of special historic, geological, and symbolic value—and the Zona di Salvaguardia della Stura di Lanzo River (part of the Stura di Lanzo SCI—Site of Community Interest), whose territorial contiguity allows the presence of an important ecological corridor. In addition, there are the SCIs of Grotte di Pugnetto and Pian della Mussa, the Colle del Lys provincial Nature Park (especially interesting from a historic/cultural, architectural, and landscape values), the Vauda Nature Reserve, and the Monte Lera Nature Reserve.

A set of strategic resources for the enhancement of the territory as well as sustainable and outdoor tourism, which may be noticed from the existence of trails and projects, in some cases promoted in partnership with the protected areas (e.g. the Ve.La project, which the Ente Parchi Reali is a partner of). In particular, we hereby report the creation of an articulate network of cycling/walking paths, tourist itineraries, and trails connecting the Lanzo Valleys with the metropolitan context, including the Corona Verde Stura, a network of cycle/pedestrian paths linked with the “Corona di Delizie” Royal Residence network and Ciclostrade della Stura di Lanzo cycling/walking itineraries; the StouRing project, a circular route of mixed-use (cycling, walking, touring) paths joining Lanzo, Venaria, and Borgaro, as well as involving the Vauda and the Ceronda and Casternone valleys; the Ve.La project—in progress—that is a 125 km (78 mi) itinerary of cycle paths along the Sturadi Lanzo River in the Lanzo Valleys and the “Corona di Delizie”, in continuity with Turin and the River Po cycle path; the GTA (Great Alpine Crossing) in the Lanzo Valleys; the Tour della Bessanese in the Northern Graian Alps; the Anello Ceronda MTB (ACM), a cycling/touring itinerary starting from Lanzo Torinese, crossing the high points of the Stura di Lanzo River, climbing back up the valleys of the Ceronda and Casternone rivers, then reaching the trails around Colle del Lys.

The features and values referenced offer a significant opportunity for the development and enhancement of the territory in a metro-mountain view through the activation of integrated strategies and system policies, the promotion of innovative forms of sustainable tourism related to places, history, nature, and the development of innovative housing models in the perspective of a restored balance of the relationships between the mountain and city.

3 New Metro-Mountain Relationships for Local Sustainability

Metro-mountain projects developed in this area and beyond (consider in Susa Valley) represent an increasing effort to redefine development policies and programmes within a local framework that appears growingly complex and multi-level (Corrado 2021). The elements identified and investigated in this research study show how the COVID-19 pandemic provided a new lever for relevant change in the local production and living sectors. Such fields growingly intersect and give life to new forms of urbanity that find expression in the experimentation of innovative activities and forms of residency (Perlik 2011) focused on quality of life and natural heritage (Keller 2010).

In relation to the pandemic period, the various local stakeholders have grown the consciousness of the importance to network on the patrimonalization process, or as Bonomi (2020) said, they have grown more eager to desire of local community to which the subjects belong. Therefore, adopting a proactive approach strengthens the strategic value of local dynamics and becomes the core of “territorial care” (Magnaghi 2021). The final goal is to reach a “transformative resilience”: one based on overcoming the temptation to return to “how it was before” or a restart based merely on quantitative growth (Cortile dei Gentili Scientific Committee 2020), by implementing actions to:

  • intensify and redefine the metro-mountain relationship by working on proximity and interdependence, with a special focus on the experimentation of forms of governance and local agreements;

  • improve accessibility to reduce the marginality of inner areas through the strengthening and greater efficiency of local transportation (modernization of the Turin–Ceres railroad and implementation of terminal stations in the valleys, innovation in car-sharing and carpooling systems);

  • develop more attractive living policies through actions to highlight the values and quality of the territory (environment, socialization, landscape) and improve the related policies (essential services, energy-forestry policies, real estate requalification);

  • work on an idea of a local laboratory to support innovation in various sectors—from soft tourism to green economy, etc.;

  • capitalize the co-design results with the community to respond efficiently and effectively to the internal/external demands of the system.