Renovation of the INA CASA – Porta Vecchia district’ of the Municipality of Monopoli

PINQUA (Mission 5 Component 2 – Investiment 2.3 )

The goal of the investment is to develop new public residential buildings to address housing challenges, especially focusing on existing public assets and revitalizing degraded areas. The emphasis is on green innovation and sustainability. The investment consists of two main strategies, both executed without using new land:

Upgrading and expanding social housing, enhancing urban quality, improving accessibility and safety, addressing housing shortages, and boosting environmental quality. This involves employing innovative models and tools for urban management, inclusion, and well-being.

Targeted initiatives on public residential buildings with significant strategic impact nationally. The selection of funding proposals will be based on indicators that assess the environmental, social, cultural, urban-territorial, economic-financial, and technological-processual impacts of the projects.

The investment is financed by the Recovery and resilience plan by EUR 1.4 billion.

The project involves the reconstruction of the original access routes to the historic center through the closure of the breach in the city walls and the reuse of the old path that curves around Casa Pipoli, built on the remains of the bastion of the ancient city gate.

The morphological design stems from an analysis of the site’s transitional context, positioned between two urban settlement models: the organic layout of the old city and the rational structure of the modern one, both bordering the coastal landscape of Cala Portavecchia. Given the high scenic and visual value of this open coastal space, the project aims to enhance the visual corridor opening from Via Cadorna toward the sea by creating an open, unobstructed area. Lowering the pedestrian walkway level improves visual continuity toward the city walls and the small offshore islet.

The restoration of the historical access level to the old town requires lowering the current walkway by about 1.2 meters, thus restoring the original elevation of the buildings along Via Portavecchia overlooking the seafront. A new system of ramps and stairs will reconnect the seafront promenade to Via Papacenere. The direct route connecting Via Cadorna to the ancient Portavecchia Gate will remain as an emergency and service access for residents of the historic center.

Lowering the promenade’s elevation reduces the height difference of the sea-facing parapet from 3.00 to about 2.00 meters. This will be achieved by replacing the existing concrete retaining wall with a new wave-breaking structure featuring a concave profile to dissipate the kinetic energy of incoming waves.

The design reinterprets the “high ground” layout of Cala Portavecchia as it appeared between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The new segmented wave wall maintains the alignment of the existing promenade while creating breaks for stairways and ramps leading to the beach, placed both at the ends and at a central point parallel to the shoreline.

The new seaside square forms a gently sloping terrace descending toward the sea, with a smoother gradient than the access route to the historic center (which reaches up to 6.5%). This sinuous descent is designed to enhance accessibility, eliminate architectural barriers, and make the space fully inclusive and universally usable.

This project is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility with EUR 2.820.00,00