ViaSalaria is an itinerant workshop of urban and territorial planning that from August 17th to September 1st 2017 had brought a group of 24 students and young researchers to walk from San Benedetto del Tronto (AP) to Ostia, from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenean sea, following the path of the ancient Salaria road and crossing the areas affected by the 2016 earthquakes.

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The project is promoted by DIST (Politecnico di Torino) with the contribution of a wide range of local public and private actors including INU Marche, Italia Nostra Ascoli Piceno, University Consortium of Piceno (CUP) and Ikonemi Association of Photography, and with the patronage of five local administrations (Ascoli Piceno, Acquasanta Terme (AP), Arquata del Tronto (AP), Antrodoco (RI) and Fara in Sabina (RI)).

 

With a total of over 300km of distance walked, the group partook in a training and research experience, entirely self-financed, focused on the issue of the post-earthquake recovery. During the 16 days of the walk, the participants have studied the ongoing process of reconstruction by meeting local administrators and communities, visiting the damaged villages, and discussing with local experts and researchers about the many layers of the problem. The focus had been on understanding the political, social, and planning impacts of the catastrophe. Moreover, the team reflected upon the multiple trajectories, whilst also the gaps and limitations of the recovery phase. The main topics studied were the analysis and interpretation of the new living practices of populations rooted out from their former contexts of life; the study of the new social and spatial orders affirmed by the ongoing reconstruction process; the investigation of the mismatches between regulation and action.