Strolling city centers: the issue of accessibility versus the recovery and conservation of historical pavements

The historical center of a city is the place where urban functions are mainly concentrated and where architectural language plays a relevant role into setting the system of relationships be-tween public and private spaces. In this context, the system of pavements takes a relevant role, helping to shape the public spaces and their prevailing use. We cannot deny the role that a welcoming, accessible and easily walkable urban environment plays for the social inclusion in the community. The issue of the pavement’s accessibility is important for the use of public spaces, influencing the opportunity to make them walkable, thus deeply affecting their full us-ability and safety in use. Working on pedestrian pathways in urban areas requires a cultural ex-change among different disciplines, in order to identify strategies and methods of intervention to upgrade the practicability of the whole city.