Along the River Temo in Bosa, Sardinia

Waterfront regeneration represents a challenge for designers as the decline of traditional maritime commerce, once the very reason for the prosperity of a city on water, has made former docklands and brownfields available. River towns, punctuated by neglected loading docks and their associated industrial warehouses can now use these spaces to promote the sustainable development of the city on water. This excursus presents the case of the small ancient town of Bosa, situated along the river Temo in Sardinia, and analyses urban factors and proposals that benefit from the uniqueness of the town’s natural and cultural resources, to relaunch the development of the area with a low impact on the fragile habitat and an environmental sensitive design as a primary concern. It maintains that the key role played by the river in the evolution of the town-water relationship informs the process as it engages the urban fabric to promote spatial interaction between the waterfront and the surrounding urban areas. Current trends and planning guidelines for waterfront regeneration are applied to the specific case study to test the significance of a small-scale approach to the general discussion.