"What is 'Voice from the Community'?"
The "Voices of the Neighborhoods" project, an initiative by Urban Lab Torino in partnership with the City of Turin, is set to release ten brochures starting from mid-October. Each brochure represents a macro-area within the city and is the culmination of a listening campaign that reached 10,000 Turin residents.
The campaign, which spanned 2024 and the first half of 2025, involved representatives of 320 local institutions and 50 associations and committees. Various types of meetings, including workshops, individual interviews, guided walks, and laboratories, were organized in each macro-area to gather insights.
Indoor activities were held in Torino Quartiere Houses, youth aggregation centers, cultural hubs, and libraries, while outdoor activities utilized a cargo bike named "Alfonsina," covering over 400 kilometers.
The brochures will contain a summary of the collected voices from their respective macro-areas, as well as an emotional map. These emotional maps, created by ten artists and illustrators involved in the project, provide a visual representation of the feelings and sentiments associated with specific places within the neighborhoods.
The emotional maps highlight where people feel safe, connected, anxious, or isolated, helping urban planners and local authorities understand the emotional landscape alongside physical conditions. Themes often emerge around belonging, identity, social cohesion, and urban challenges.
Some of the ten macro-areas included in the project are San Salvario, Lingotto-Filadelfia, and Nizza Millefonti. The brochures will be available at various locations, including neighborhood libraries and Torino Bibliobus, as well as at the Urban Lab Torino headquarters in Piazza Palazzo di Città.
The short-term goal of the campaign is to collect information to intervene in the territory, with the long-term aim of fostering a more inclusive and emotionally sensitive urban environment. The project is an excellent example of community engagement and collaboration, demonstrating the power of collective voices in shaping the future of our cities.
For the latest specific reports or visual materials from "Voices of the Neighborhoods," I recommend reaching out to the organizations involved in Turin or visiting their official project webpages or local cultural institutions.
The brochures, upon release, will offer a glimpse into the average lifestyle in the city's various neighborhoods, as they encompass a summary of sentiments expressed by residents. Additionally, the home-and-garden section for each brochure may provide insights into the feelings of safety, connection, and community within specific community spaces such as libraries and local centers.
