OMERO’s research activities are organised along seven main thematic axes, concerning: events and sports; culture and tourism; housing and institutions; social inclusion and exclusion; technology, sustainability and smart cities; urban food planning; health.
Events and sports
This has been the original research topic of the center, focusing on the social, economic, cultural, tourist and spatial impacts of events, at different geographical scales. Events are broadly conceived, as they include Olympics, other sporting events, cultural phenomena, as well as buildings and infrastructures characterized by huge spatial and mediatic impact. Secondly, OMERO promotes researches and debates on the relationships between sports and the city, both at the level of daily practices of the inhabitants, and in relation to public policies, overlapping with themes as participation, youth policies, public health.
Culture and tourism
Culture is a crucial element in urban and regional development strategies. The research line focuses on the analysis of the economies of culture, culture-driven development and regeneration policies, creative cities, tourist promotion, and critical aspects related to such phenomena.
Housing and institutions
Home ownership, home access and home use have multiplied and complexed in recent decades, as a consequence of the huge transformations that have affected the urban sphere. For their part, public policies and spatial planning have often proved incapable of effective management, as the housing crisis clearly shows. This line of research focuses on housing and living spaces in their complex relationship with institutions, be them public and private, formal and informal.
Spaces of inclusion and exclusion
Cities are commonly understood as spaces of variety and difference. This line of research explores the role and problems connected to urban minoritarian groups, interstitial spaces, forms of social visibility and invisibility, daily life practices of “marginalized subjects”, and possible actions to promote cohesion and coexistence.
Technology, sustainability, smart city
Technological and social innovation are at the heart of many contemporary urban development strategies. This research line promotes critical analysis of smart city models, exploring the role of new technologies in shaping the urban experience, and the visions and practices of sustainable development.
Food planning
The relationship between food and the city is explored according to multiple perspectives, which include the supply and management of production chains, distribution through public services, reduction of food waste and recovery, promotion of social justice and health through food policies, and the analysis of critical urban phenomena linking food consumption with gentrification.
Health
This research line explores the relationships between public health and urban space. This theme is particularly relevant in the contemporary scenario of the pandemic and post-pandemic city, but it also relates to other problems at different geographical scales, from that of the body to that of control and management of public health at an urban and regional level.
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All images are subject to copyright. Credits (from the top): Paris © Panagiotis Bourlessas, 2010; Bologna © Panagiotis Bourlessas, 2015; Antwerp © Panagiotis Bourlessas, 2011; Athens © Panagiotis Bourlessas, 2015. OMERO’s logo: created by Roberto Rota | Aterote