Il fenomeno delle seconde case in ambito turistico: proposta di linee guida per il loro riutilizzo

Since the 1960s, "bricks and mortar" has been one of the main types of investment for Italian families, representing a driving sector for the whole economy. Construction and real estate market of secondary dwellings, which often took place without appropriate territorial planning, quickly transformed Italian landscapes, especially for tourist locations. Today, the socio-economic conditions are strongly changed: the consumption of soil and the impact on the environment of this phenomenon, combined with an increasingly low economic return, cannot be considered sustainable anymore. This article refers to a research that has investigated the critical issues related to unoccupied second homes, with reference to residential tourism. A strategy, based on alternative methods of management and on architectural and energetic improvements, was developed to encourage a more continuous use of these buildings, which would provide clear positive effects on the community, administrations, tourism operators and the environment itself. The case study of a building in Bardolino (VR), on the east side of Lake Garda, is presented. For this dwelling, currently used for short periods per year, a partial reconversion, flexible and therefore reversible, is proposed, transforming the building in useful services for the community, e.g., offices, public halls, homes for temporary workers, etc.