Palermo’s urbanisation

Clementina Catania, Annachiara Perna, Alessandra Piazza, Sophia Tarantino, Luca Vancheri
 The foundation
The city of Palermo was created by the
phoenixes in the eight century. It was
made in a sort of natural port that was born
by the point of convergence of the rivers
Kemonia and Papireto which formed in the
mouth a large bight, ideal for attack and
refuge. These days what remains from this
big inlet is the old port of “la Cala”.
Thanks to its location, Palermo has always
been a centre of mercantile transit and
trade.
 General process of urbanisation
The urban planning of Palermo was
highly influenced by the dominations
that have occurred over the years,
presenting now a huge variety of
environments and views that make the
historical centre as a place on its own,
very different from the so called “new
Palermo”, result of the uncontrolled
expansions in the second part of the
20th century.
 The arabic palermo
After the arab conquest in 831, the city entered a long
era of expansion. The first arabs who surrounded
Palermo, besieged themselves in the oldest part of the
city that they soon called “al qasr” (strengthen place)
from here the denomination of Cassaro.
The increase in population resulted in the emergence
of new districts across the rivers such as the
Albergheria, near the Kemonia, or the Schiavoni
behind the Papireto. The Arabs, however, maintained
the original Punic-Roman structure. In 937 a fortified
town called al-halisah, better known as Kalsa, was
built in the area east of the Cala, in which was based
the emirate.
 palermo’s crisis in 1848
The kingdoms of Naples and Sicily had always
maintained independent institutions until 1816, when
they were united by the Fundamental Law of the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Sicilians did not like
that dominion, so a revolution was organized in Palermo
in 1848. King Ferdinand of Naples answered these
protests by sending Francesco Saverio Del Carretto, who
with brutal tactics re-established order. He set in place a
policy of repression. In addition to the punitive
measures, they also contributed to tension: the deep
contradictions present between the development of
societies and the political arrangement of the Bourbon
system, exacerbated by the crisis of the sulfur industry,
and the division of municipal state land caused
widespread conflict between the nobility and the
bourgeoisie, rich and poor peasants.