Towards a Connected and Regenerative Urban Ecosystem: Aniene & TiburtinaVirginia Chavarría Elvir, Gregoire Jadoul, and Maria Konstantina Tsigka

Rivers and Roman consular roads constitute monumental territorial figures of exceptional historical, geographical, and spatial value. Deeply embedded in collective imaginaries and mental maps, they operate as enduring references through which Romans perceive and understand their city. Building on this premise, the vision for Rome 2050 positions the Aniene River and Via Tiburtina as strategic axes capable of guiding future urban development, reconnecting fragmented territories, and transforming isolated pieces of exceptional value into cohesive urban and socio-ecological systems. This vision targets spaces currently perceived as obsolete, marginal, or at risk of abandonment, revalorizing them to strengthen both urbanity and ecological resilience.

The strategy promotes the adaptive reuse of underutilized industrial and military sites, while also questioning and redefining the oversized infrastructure nodes that constitute the centralities of Rome’s General Urban Plan, orienting them toward productive, sustainable, and socially inclusive uses. Industrial areas would be strategically redensified, vehicular dominance reduced, and low-car transport and bicycle networks introduced, including along the Aniene River, reinforcing it as a continuous ecological corridor and backbone of sustainable mobility.

The project unfolds through two complementary readings of the city. Viewing Rome as a Living Garden emphasizes the interconnection of natural, cultural, and social landscapes, conceiving the city as a living system capable of responding to present and future challenges. This reading highlights how Rome produces recognizable identities and archetypes across its territory, giving meaning to each fragment within the whole. Viewing Rome as a Great Collage, by contrast, interprets the urban fabric as a complex patchwork where historical layers, infrastructures, and social practices coexist, overlap, and sometimes collide. Ancient walls, bustling roads, and modern interventions intertwine unevenly, generating moments of harmony and abrupt contrasts, making the city’s layered history and temporal depth visible in its rhythms, movements, and juxtapositions.