COMMUNICATIONS IN TURIN. MAKING URBAN 2 VISIBLE AND RECOGNISABLE IN MIRAFIORI NORD:
a huge coloured logo to make the Urban
program recognisable; an itinerant show on the Infobus, totems, a newsletter
and a website. The management of PIC (Community Initiative Program)
communications in Mirafiori Nord is entrusted to the Urban 2 Committee,
which uses internal resources to plan and monitor institutional communications
and the various campaigns carried out to accompany the launch and the
progress of Urban 2 projects. Thus, the strategy is to rely on internal
resources and enhance their communication skills in order to create
a homogeneous project and to ensure the constant monitoring of the information
and promotion activities of PIC interventions. Moreover, it was decided
to develop a visual identity: the first communication activity
performed was to produce a huge coloured logo to make the presence of
Urban 2 in the territory immediately perceivable. This visual identity
logo is used in all the communication activities of the program. The
initial stage of the program was publicised with a campaign using the
Infobus, a bus fitted out with an itinerant show about the project,
which moved around the zone, illustrating the various Urban 2 projects
and distributing gadgets (chocolates and shoppers) to the residents.
The installation of totems at strategic points within the Urban 2 area
"marks" the territory during the entire duration of the PIC, offering
the residents information at different levels of detail: the big Urban
2 logo and the general layout, which can be perceived from cars riding
by, enable people to familiarise with the visual identity of the program.
The text, for those who stop and read it, explains what the PIC is meant
to accomplish in Mirafiori Nord and the main projects associated with
the three axes. The communication channels opened between Urban 2 and
the citizens during the initial stage were strengthened over time through
different tools. In particular, newsletters issued every four months
played an important role, each issue presenting a significant activity
undertaken by the PIC, whether at the starting stage or nearing its
conclusion. The newsletters are distributed door-to-door, for free,
to the 15 thousand families living in the area. Signboards also proved
useful. On building site fences, next to the signboards required by
the applicable regulations, huge panels describe the renewal project
underway and show virtual images of what the place is going to be like
at the end of the intervention. It was decided to make a major investment
in web communications: the site of Urban 2 in Turin, www.comune.torino.it/urban2,
can be navigated in Italian and an English version will soon become
available, it has many pages, pictures, information, downloadable documents
and up-to-the-minute news. It is one of the main communication tools
of our PIC. The website is visited by about 15 thousand contacts per
month. In order to preserve the memory of the work accomplished by Urban
2, and the way the places were like before and after the requalification
interventions, the Urban 2 Committee has decided to produce a number
of photographic reports and entrusted the task to professional photographers.
This documentation is often used for the production of various publications,
such as an institutional brochure, in Italian and English, illustrating
the general lines of intervention of the program in Italy and abroad.
In order to publicise some initiatives or projects of special interest,
ad hoc communication campaigns are promoted, which can be more or less
complex depending on the type of intervention they refer to. For each
communication campaign, a visual identity logo is produced to accompany
the project throughout the time duration of the PIC; in different renderings
as a function of specific needs, this logo is used on information materials
such as signs, billboards, gadgets, and furnishing elements for the
premises housing the various initiatives. Being persuaded of the importance
of appropriate information at every level, the Committee has been working
during all these years on the creation of communication channels meant
both for the residents of the area and for the many actors participating
in the program in different roles. Among the initiatives aimed for the
"insiders", of special significance was the production of a CD-Rom,
in Italian and in English, for the presentation of all the communication
work performed until the end of 2003, describing the individual products,
providing information on the strategies adopted, and offering indications
on the technical characteristics of the numerous materials published.
A conference entitled "The 1000 days of Urban 2" was held on
10 December 2004: a day of work to discuss the results achieved up to
that point; it was attended by all the professionals concerned and many
citizens who expressed fresh enthusiasm on a celebratory occasion such
as the 1000 days of Urban 2.
