As with many other deltaic territories, in the Po Delta land and water, man and nature are opposed and integrated, conflict and assimilate each other in a process as old as the delta’s own formation. (Bertoncin 2004) Instability, incessant change and a constant search for balance are the normal conditions of this terri- tory, which only at first glance may appear to have been unchanged for centuries (Bondesan 1990). On the contrary, it is precisely the uncertainty of its geographies, be they physical, social, economic or cultural, that most characterize this area. Conceptions of the area as a land of conquest and a hopelessly depressed area have long dominated the collective imagination of the Po Delta, today threatened by problems that jeopardize its balance once more. Seawater intrusion, coastal erosion, scarcity of fresh water, increasingly extended periods of drought, marine eustatism exacerbated by the pressures of climate change (Ministry of the Environment 1995, IPCC 2012), are pushing for a reshaping of the geography of this area, found once more to be fragile but at the same time harboring a great potential for innovation.
Po. In a constant search for a balance
maria chiara tosi
2012-01-01
Abstract
As with many other deltaic territories, in the Po Delta land and water, man and nature are opposed and integrated, conflict and assimilate each other in a process as old as the delta’s own formation. (Bertoncin 2004) Instability, incessant change and a constant search for balance are the normal conditions of this terri- tory, which only at first glance may appear to have been unchanged for centuries (Bondesan 1990). On the contrary, it is precisely the uncertainty of its geographies, be they physical, social, economic or cultural, that most characterize this area. Conceptions of the area as a land of conquest and a hopelessly depressed area have long dominated the collective imagination of the Po Delta, today threatened by problems that jeopardize its balance once more. Seawater intrusion, coastal erosion, scarcity of fresh water, increasingly extended periods of drought, marine eustatism exacerbated by the pressures of climate change (Ministry of the Environment 1995, IPCC 2012), are pushing for a reshaping of the geography of this area, found once more to be fragile but at the same time harboring a great potential for innovation.
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