Table Of ContentRaumFragen: Stadt – Region – Landschaft
Marcello Modica
Alpine Industrial
Landscapes
Towards a New Approach for
Brownfield Redevelopment in
Mountain Regions
RaumFragen: Stadt – Region –
Landschaft
Reiheherausgegebenvon
OlafKühne,ForschungsbereichGeographie,EberhardKarlsUniversität
Tübingen,Tübingen,Germany
SebastianKinder,ForschungsbereichGeographie,EberhardKarlsUniversität
Tübingen,Tübingen,Germany
OlafSchnur,BereichForschung,vhw–BundesverbandfürWohnenund
Stadtentwicklunge.V.,Berlin,Germany
RaumFragen:Stadt–Region–Landschaft|SpaceAffairs:City–Region–Landscape
Im Zuge des „spatial turns“ der Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften hat sich die Zahl
derwissenschaftlichenForschungenindiesemBereichdeutlicherhöht.MitderReihe
„RaumFragen: Stadt – Region – Landschaft“ wird Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wis-
senschaftlern ein Forum angeboten, innovative Ansätze der Anthropogeographie und
sozialwissenschaftlichen Raumforschung zu präsentieren. Die Reihe orientiert sich
an grundsätzlichen Fragen des gesellschaftlichen Raumverständnisses. Dabei ist es
dasZiel,unterschiedlicheTheorieansätzederanthropogeographischenundsozialwis-
senschaftlichenStadt-undRegionalforschungzuintegrieren.RäumlicheBezügesollen
dabei insbesondere auf mikro- und mesoskaliger Ebene liegen. Die Reihe umfasst
theoretischesowietheoriegeleiteteempirischeArbeiten.DazugehörenMonographien
und Sammelbände, aber auch Einführungen in Teilaspekte der stadt- und regionalbe-
zogenen geographischen und sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung. Ergänzend werden
auchTagungsbändeundQualifikationsarbeiten(Dissertationen,Habilitationsschriften)
publiziert.
Herausgegebenvon
Prof.Dr.Dr.OlafKühne,UniversitätTübingen
Prof.Dr.SebastianKinder,UniversitätTübingen
PDDr.OlafSchnur,Berlin
Inthecourseofthe“spatialturn”ofthesocialsciencesandhumanities,thenumberof
scientificresearchesinthisfieldhasincreasedsignificantly.Withtheseries“RaumFra-
gen:Stadt–Region–Landschaft”scientistsareofferedaforumtopresentinnovative
approachesinanthropogeographyandsocialspaceresearch.Theseriesfocusesonfun-
damentalquestionsofthesocialunderstandingofspace.Theaimistointegratedifferent
theoreticalapproachesofanthropogeographicalandsocial-scientificurbanandregional
research.Spatialreferencesshouldbeonamicro-andmesoscalelevelinparticular.The
seriescomprisestheoreticalandtheory-basedempiricalwork.Theseincludemonographs
andanthologies,butalsointroductionstosomeaspectsofurbanandregionalgeograph-
icalandsocialscienceresearch.Inaddition,conferenceproceedingsandqualification
papers(dissertations,postdoctoraltheses)arealsopublished.
Editedby
Prof.Dr.Dr.OlafKühne,UniversitätTübingen
Prof.Dr.SebastianKinder,UniversitätTübingen
PDDr.OlafSchnur,Berlin
Marcello Modica
Alpine Industrial
Landscapes
Towards a New Approach for
Brownfield Redevelopment in
Mountain Regions
MarcelloModica
Freising,Germany
ThepresenttextisacopyofadoctoraldissertationsubmittedtotheTechnicalUniver-
sityofMunichinMarch2021,withthetitle“AlpineIndustrialLandscapes.Towardsa
NewApproachforBrownfieldRedevelopmentinMountainRegions”.Thedissertation
was successfully defended on 9th July 2021 in front of a commission composed by:
Prof. Dr. Sören Schöbel (head), Prof. Dr. Udo Weilacher (first supervisor), Prof. Dr.
StefanSiedentop(secondsupervisor).Theopenaccesspublicationwasfundedbythe
Dr.MarschallStiftung(TechnicalUniversityofMunich,DepartmentofArchitecture).
Thisbookwasmadeavailableas“openaccess”withfinancialsupportfromtheWerner
KonradMarschallandDr.-Ing.HorstKarlMarschallStiftung,TechnischeUniversität
München.
ISSN2625-6991 ISSN2625-7009 (electronic)
RaumFragen:Stadt–Region–Landschaft
ISBN978-3-658-37680-2 ISBN978-3-658-37681-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37681-9
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2022.Thisbookisanopenaccesspublication.
Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
InternationalLicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), whichpermitsuse,sharing,
adaptation,distributionandreproductioninanymediumorformat,aslongasyougiveappropriate
credittotheoriginalauthor(s)andthesource,providealinktotheCreativeCommonslicenseand
indicateifchangesweremade.
Theimagesorotherthirdpartymaterialinthisbookareincludedinthebook’sCreativeCommons
license,unlessindicatedotherwiseinacreditlinetothematerial.Ifmaterialisnotincludedinthe
book’sCreativeCommonslicenseandyourintendeduseisnotpermittedbystatutoryregulationor
exceedsthepermitteduse,youwillneedtoobtainpermissiondirectlyfromthecopyrightholder.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt
fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis
bookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernorthe
authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontained
hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwith
regardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ResponsibleEditor:StefanieEggert
ThisSpringerVSimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerFachmedienWiesbaden
GmbHpartofSpringerNature.
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Abraham-Lincoln-Str.46,65189Wiesbaden,Germany
“Amansetsouttodrawtheworld.Asthe
yearsgoby,hepeoplesaspacewith
imagesofprovinces,kingdoms,
mountains, bays,ships,islands,fishes,
rooms,instruments,stars,horses,and
individuals. Ashorttimebeforehedies,
hediscoversthatthepatient labyrinthof
linestracesthelineamentsofhisown
face.”
JorgeLuisBorges,TheAlephandOther
Stories
“Eachcityreceivesitsformfromthe
desertitopposes.”
Italo Calvino,InvisibleCities
Firmly Embeded and Transformed
A foreword by Udo Weilacher
The Alps are characterized by specific natural conditions with a far-reaching
impactonthelivesof14MillioninhabitantswithintheAlpineConventionarea1.
In the course of the Anthropocene, the impact of man is getting increasingly
powerful, also on the so-called “Green Heart of Europe”. Since in the middle of
the 19th century, the change of the Alpine environment was accelerated due to
the increasing industrialization of all areas of life and manufacturing. When the
heavy industries invaded the main valleys of the Alps, the ecologic, economic
and social structures were transformed dramatically and new cultural landscape
patterns occurred: Alpine industrial landscapes.
Marcello Modica in this publication clearly points out, that there is a need to
carefullyinvestigatethetransformationofAlpineindustriallandscapes.Sincethe
1980sthestructuralchangeinglobalindustrialproductionresultedinacrisisthat
hittheperipheralmountainregionsparticularlyhard.Manyspatialplanningdisci-
plines, amongst them landscape architects, are actively dealing with the question
of how to possibly (re)integrate brownfields sustainably into the landscape. This
workisbasedonaveryspecificunderstandingofthetermlandscape:“Landscape
isnotanaturalfeatureoftheenvironmentbutasyntheticspace,amanmadesys-
temofspacessuperimposedonthefaceoftheland,functioningandevolvingnot
according to natural laws but to serve a community.”2
1PermanentSecretariatoftheAlpineConvention,(Ed.).(2017).GreeningtheEconomyin
theAlpineRegion.ReportonthestateoftheAlps,Insbruck,p.21
2Jackson,J.B.&Horowitz,H.L.(Eds.).(1997).LandscapeinSight.LookingatAmerica,
NewHaven,pp.304–305.
vii
viii FirmlyEmbededandTransformed
Every “manmade system of spaces”, its topography, specific soil, water and
climate conditions has a decisive influence on all human life. It is therefore
obvious that industrial conversion in the Alpine context has to follow different
rules than in densely populated metropolitan lowland regions. Marcello Mod-
ica is developing crucial components for these rules and clearly illustrates, that
the industry in the Alps is firmly embeded into a complex landscape structure
in spatial proximity to smaller municipalities. These communities are almost
always overextended with the conversion of large industrial wastelands, and the
researcher therefore introduces sustainable planning strategies that can be used
by local and regional actors to start the conversion of brownfields.
Such a complex task cannot be mastered by a single professional group
alone. Therefore, it is very foresighted, that Marcello Modica takes up an inter-
disciplinary position, supported by the International Doctoral College “Spatial
ResearchLab”ofwhichhewasamemberbetween2017and2020.Modicaalso
profits from his experiences as the project manager of a 3-year interdisciplinary
research project, led by the Technical University of Munich from 2018 until
2021.RegionalprojectpartnersinAustria,France,ItalyandSlovenia,aswellas
many renowned researchers from five universities worked on the transformation
of Alpine industrial landscapes (trAILs), funded by Interreg Alpine Space pro-
grammeoftheEuropeanUnion.CommittedscientistslikeMarcelloModicawill
playanimportantroleincomplextransformationprojectsinthefuture.Iamper-
sonallyverypleasedthatmyteamattheTUMchairforLandschapeArchitecture
and Transformation and I were able to support him in making his professional
careerandIpersonallycongratulatehimverymuchonthisimportantpublication.
Acknowledgments
This work is the result of an intense, challenging and truly exciting journey.
Therefore,Itakethisopportunitytothankallthosewhocontributedtomakethis
achievement possible.
First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my main supervisor
Prof. Dr. Udo Weilacher, for genuinely grasping my initial research interest and
for giving me the opportunity to concretely realise this potential. His remarkable
commitment as critical reviewer, his openness to confrontation and his constant
scientific support were essential to foster my progress and to reach this final
result. A special thanks goes also to my second supervisor Prof. Dr. Stefan
Siedentop, whose constructive interest for my research topic was a great source
of motivation and innovation as well.
Alongside, I would also like to thank all the participants to the International
DoctoralCollegeIIISpatialResearchLab,whocontributedtomakemyPhDjour-
ney a unique formative experience. Thanks to Professors Undine Giseke, Bernd
Scholl,MarkusNeppl,AndreasVoigtandtutorsAndreasNütten,MarkusNollert,
Julian Petrin, Eva Ritter for their always focused critiques and the strong sci-
entific and educational commitment, as well as to my doctoral fellows Amelie
Rost, Leevke Heenschen, Lena Flamm, Manuel Hauer, Lisa Stadler, Radostina
Radulova, Yvonne Siegmund, Peter Stroms, Isabella Schuster, Andreas Kurths,
Mathias Niedermaier, Monika Wätcher, Roman Streit, Theodora Papamichail,
Mahdokht Soltaniehha for the friendly and open exchange.
Iwouldliketooffermyspecialthankstoalltheformerandpresentcolleagues
attheTUMChairofLandscapeArchitectureandIndustrialLandscapes,fortheir
spontaneous comments and enriching thoughts on my work, specifically Diana
Böhm, Lars Hopstock, Sonja Weber, Jonas Bellingrodt, Nicole Meier, Martin
Augenstein, Lynn Hennies and Antonia Koukouvelou. A heartfelt thanks goes
ix
x Acknowledgments
to Traudl Hirscheider, for her constant support in research-related administrative
issues,andespeciallyforherwonderfulabilityincreatingauniquehome-feeling
out of a workplace. I would also like to warmly thank Martina van Lierop from
the TUM Chair of Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, for the many
inspiring ‘coffee&cake’ PhD-meetings we had during these years in Freising.
This dissertation was largely developed and completed within the framework
of the EU-funded Interreg Alpine Space project trAILs—AlpineIndustrialLand-
scapesTransformation, which run from 2018 to 2021 under the supervision and
coordinationofProf.Weilacherandme.Inthisrespect,Iwouldliketoacknowl-
edge all the friends and colleagues from partners institutions in Italy, Austria,
FranceandSloveniaforhavingenabledthisoutstanding,mutuallearningprocess.
IwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetothemanystakeholdersfromtheAlpine
regionwhosharedwithmetheirvaluableexpertise,dedicatingtimeforinterviews
and exchanges. In particular, I would like to thank personally the ‘gatekeepers’
ofmycasestudies,fortheiroutstandingsupporttomyfieldworkactivitiesacross
Italy,France,AustriaandSwitzerlandduringsummer2018:AlessandraPellegrini
(Comune di Ponte Nossa), Mario Balduzzi (Comunità Montana Valle Seriana),
EugenioSeghezzi(ComunediPremolo),MathieuJanin(SLSsas),RogerCohard
and Alain Daramy (Mairie Le Cheylas), Tonis Antzoulatos (Communauté de
Communes Le Grésivaudan), Hintner Heinz and Josef Blößl (Rohrdorfer SPZ
GmbH), Josef Dillersberger (Gemeinde Schwoich), Tamar Hosennen (Regions-
und Wirtschaftszentrum Oberwallis), Renzo Theler (Theler AG), Raphael Matter
(Constellium Valais).
Adoctorateisfirstandforemostalifeachievement.Inthisrespect,myutmost
gratitudegoestomymotherMariaandmyfatherGiovanni,whoalways encour-
agedandsupportedmeinfollowingandrealisingmydreams,nourishingmylife
with passion, creativity and ambition. I dedicate this work to them.
