Ancona station to be

In the context of climate change affecting Europe, the Adriatic coast represents an interesting case study due to its continuous urbanization. One of the most pressing issues is the relocation of the railway inland. While local authorities have proposed projects that retain the railtrack along the coast, this thesis work argues for its removal in favour of an alternative with more benefits: a new integrated public transport system that connects the city of Ancona to the future station along the new route of the Adriatic railway.
This solution gives the opportunity to rethink the area bordering the track, which is articulated in a peri-urban environment in the south, a compact suburban belt and the infrastructure landscape of the station yard and the harbour industrial zone. The designed transit system consists of both light rail and trolleybus routes that activate regeneration processes in different strategic areas.
In particular, around the Montedago university campus a new public space is implemented to improve pedestrian access and encourage the integration between locals and students, acting as a driving force of daily sociality. In the Vallemiano district, a new LRT stop is introduced to remove barriers that cause spatial and, consequently, social fragmentation between neighbourhoods. The former slaughterhouse complex becomes an academic and multifunctional facility in the city’s core. Finally, the railway yard serving the Ancona centrale station is redesigned not only to combine the freight track serving the harbour and the LRT terminal station, but also to provide the city with a green lung by desealing the cemented area to create a new park.
The challenge of the whole work is to emphasize the distinctive strengths of a medium city as Ancona with an efficient transit system that requires expensive effective actions to strongly improve the urban lifestyle in order to achieve a future of resilience and attractiveness of the Central Adriatic conurbation.

Bibliography

• Settore Fonti energetiche, rifiuti, cave e miniere. (2022). Piano regionale di adattamento al cambiamento climatico [white paper]. Regione Marche.
• Capuano, A. (2020). Streetscape. Strade vitali, reti della mobilità sostenibile, vie verdi. Quodlibet.
• Dondi, L. (2022). Transizioni abitabili tra urbano e rurale: spazi aperti e linee d’acqua come elementi progettuali strategici. LetteraVentidue.