INDUSTRIAL AREAS. A SURVEY, ANALYSIS AND APPRAISAL OF THE POTENTIAL FOR CONVERSION OF DISUSED INDUSTRIAL AREAS IN TICINO

This research, promoted by the Università della Svizzera italiana, Accademia di architettura di Mendrisio, through i.CUP (Institute for the Contemporary Urban Project) laid the ground for establishing an observatory of industrial buildings that would give special attention to their fall into disuse and – at the same time – explore the scenarios for appraising the scope for converting potentially disused buildings and land. The study of disused industrial buildings in Ticino revealed considerable scope for the reuse of potentially disused industrial buildings. The data on buildings put to industrial use show that the number of industrial premises in Ticino is 3,681 and that they occupy 2,743 land parcels. The surface area covered by these buildings amounts to 2,503,335 square metres, corresponding to 8.7% of the total area of land built on in the canton. Land parcels accommodating at least one building put to a mainly industrial use account for 14,349,282 square metres of land in Ticino, equal about to 6% of the overall building area of Ticino Canton. Of the above land and building stock, 1,120 buildings (casting off 30.4%) covering a total surface area of 804,591 square metres (casting off 32.1%) (corresponding to the built surface of Bellinzona commune) qualify as potentially disused and the land parcels accommodating them number 813 (casting off 29.6%), 7,058,532 sq m (casting off 49.1%), equating to about half the surface area of Bellinzona commune. An approximate estimate of the volume of the buildings surveyed (the average height is 6 metres) yields a value of 5,000,000 cubic metres.