- The impact of globalization on the local society, in relationship with its spaces, of the borough ‘San Cristoforo’ in Catania (Sicily)    130 kb by    Timpanaro, Caterina | catetimpa@yahoo.it    Short Outline The ancient borough ‘San Cristoforo’ in Catania: a ‘community spaces’ local policy as opportunity of democratic planning facing globalization-related issues, in a ‘fourth world’ Mediterranean area. A case study about the reduction of social inequalities and the empowerment of local communities, in evolution, achieved through a project of their common life spaces. Abstract THE CORE THEME My case study is about the reduction of social inequalities and the empowerment of social subjects in a historical, poor, neglected and isolated neighborhood of Catania achieved through the project and the management of their private-public life spaces. On one hand it will be preserved and optimized local resources (identities based on solidarity and familiar values, pre-capitalistic modes of construction and care) against the negative globalization effects; on the other hand it will be included both the social changes and the urban spaces transformations due to Globalization. The case study is the subject of my doctoral thesis (that will be finished in November 2003) which is part of a wider research conducted by the ‘Laboratorio per la Progettazione Ecologica ed Ambientale del Territorio” (Dipartmento di Architettura e Urbanistica - Catania). Considering that it is necessary to look carefully into different approaches in different contexts, my personal contribution might offer suggestions to the demand for analysis, understanding and interpretation of the relationship among urban and social morphologies, in particular demands related to the transformation of ‘community spaces’ due to globalization. I also think that my research allows to compare different development possibilities of one of a typical ‘fourth world’ example offering a perspective that can help in finding common values to the valorisation of local resources to reduce the gap between ‘dominant’ and ‘subordinate’ city and to give opportunities of equity planning. In the end, this study might offer a further opportunity to open up a discussion on the effects of planning at the local level related to the socializing democratic processes. Starting at local level planners could learn people to know the possibility of their state of being, and to develop their sense of belonging to and of responsibility towards the global context. That’s one of the way for an ‘integrated diversity’ against the global political and economical forces. Keywords community-spaces, empowerment, social-subjects Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2003: Planning in a more globalized World   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper