Messina Waterfront Masterplan and Polycentre

The Messina Waterfront Masterplan and Polycentre is a two-stage competition winning design for Messina, Sicily undertaken by Urban Future Organisation in association with urban consultants Camerana and Associates and Favero e Milan Engineering, with Andrew Yau as lead designer. The project addressed a number of critical questions facing historic Mediterranean coastal cities. These included: How can sustainable social and economic urban development be stimulated in balance with the sea and natural environment? How can sustainable social and economic urban development be stimulated without undermining a city’s historic identity? How can existing urban culture and ways of life be enhanced? and How can a Mediterranean climate be maximized for day lighting, ventilation and energy harvesting? The core of the design approach was the development of four layered urban fields incorporating environmental strategies to engage with and extend the existing city. These were an infrastructural system of urban parks and natural-recreational attractors, green residential and commercial interventions, public spaces at a pedestrian scale and a new coastal field. This was strategically completed with a multi-functional Polycentre next to the archaeological remains of the 17th century La Real Cittadella and Bastion Santo Stefano. The project is currently awaiting the finalisation of geological surveys before going into the next phase of implementation.