The role of seasonal tourism in fragile territories : the case of Solanas, Sardinia

Since the post-war period Italy has been invested by an epochal phenomenon of redistribution of population, economies and urban materials from highlands to lowlands, from the hinterland to the coastline. Moreover, since the 1970s, the development of the Mediterranean coastal territories assumed a character strongly oriented to tourism too, altering the balance sedimented through the years in these areas, converting many slow landscapes into intermittent territories triggered by specifc seasons and monocultural activities. This proposal intends to refect on the possible development weaving the destinies of such realities, in the awareness that the reactivation of these territorial systems could be led by the rediscovery of connections and emergencies often forgotten, silent traces able to give back values to these tired landscapes. Working through interconnected territorial structures means to consider their networks and their tangible and intangible capital, and this is an indispensable exercise in order to rethink our country and some of its reiterated development models. Starting with a few days of interdisciplinary seminars that took place in between Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano, and the organisation of a workshop on-site, Solanas was identifed as an emblematic case, a valley able to explore these issues. Located in the south of Sardinia, annexed to the territory of Sinnai due to its ancient transhumance role, today it remains detached from the main inhabited centres, suffering strong isolation from welfare systems during the low season, and the exploitation of landscape resources because of mere tourist purposes during the high season. This condition of seasonal contraction, unfortunately rarely accompanied by a medium-long term planning, can be retraced along many other coastal areas of Mediterranean countries, becoming a specifc fragility of our reality to take into consideration.