Regenerating Former Military Sites in Italy. The Dichotomy between ‘Profit-Driven Spaces’ and ‘Urban Commons’

Abstract Within the last decades, the reorganisation of the Armed Force left many voids in the territories. Being located in highly lucrative and desirable locations, former military sites can be redeveloped into either profit-driven spaces or proper urban commons. This paper focuses the attention on the Italian case and scrutinises former military barracks in the dichotomies between the generation of profit-driven spaces and urban commons. Also, the analysis questions the actual role of these voids in guaranteeing the right to the city, especially in times of severe shortage of public resources to undertake urban regeneration processes.