Listening park

The project concerns the creation of the urban park “Parco dell’Ascolto” located in the Ex CIGAS area overlooking Riva IV Novembre and Via Andrea Palladio. The intervention is part of the urban regeneration programme and the improvement of the urban fabric of the Municipality of Cittadella and falls within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan PNRR M5C212.1. The project concerns the redevelopment of abandoned and/or unused areas of the city, in this specific case Ex Cigas, overlooking the sixteenth-century Walls between Porta Vicenza and Porta Padova. The project enabled the recovery and reuse of a heavily built-up and paved area with non-draining surfaces equal to 42% of the surface area, eliminating structures with asbestos parts in an urban park with great recreational, cultural and social potential. There are many suggestions that make it usable by users of all ages, with equipment for children but also young people, intended for adults and the elderly to carry out physical activity outdoors with gymnastic – calisthenic equipment. The park is crossed by paths that connect the residential neighbourhoods to the area of the centre and the Walls. Inside the park, a small square equipped with monolithic benches, multi-purpose platforms, a stepped seating area with a semicircular square with a dancing fountain at its centre, a large well-equipped play area, a large lawn for free use-play-events, an area with relaxation benches, calisthenics equipment and slow mobility facilities, a sensory garden in corten steel tanks, are the elements that characterise the area. As regards the composition of the greenery, it is well known how positively it influences the human psyche, determining: relaxation, stress reduction, colours, sounds, scents, thermal sensations (shade and sun, the humidity of the undergrowth or the clear air) and tactile sensations (the texture of bark, shrub leaves, grass and soil) determine pleasant sensations that the project seeks to enhance.

The careful use of native and renaturalised tree and shrub species has allowed the creation of a balanced environment within the park, but also to raise the ecological level and guarantee greater biodiversity.

This park has been designed with attention to every detail, starting with the lighting with lighting fixtures that ensure excellent visual comfort as well as the control of light pollution, with particular attention to consumption, which requires reduced electrical power. An irrigation system covers all surfaces, both lawn and shrub or ground-cover areas, with a system that can be managed remotely via wi-fi connection and a water saving system.

Public wi-fi connection is guaranteed in all areas, the opening and closing of the park gates is automatic and control of the area is guaranteed by a video-surveillance system with cameras connected directly to the Municipal Police headquarters.