Parco degli Acquedotti, Rome
Parting from the doubtful premise, that Democracy "includes" the possibility of freely walking through the city, among different people, cultures and impressions, I shall, in the light of recent experiences, try to express a personal feeling. It seems opportune to start with this reflection: in the present democratic system the fear of citizens calls for a system of survellance that, in the end, cannot be justified. Armed with the facts, we can confidently say that in Italy the relationship between the public and the police is heavily weighted in favour of the police. Inspite of the risk of limitting liberty, people seem inclined to accept the removal and the control of public meeting places, (including benches) where foreigners and others make themselves "at home".
Benches, then, are real "indicators" of democracy in a country, a first hand witness of the impossibility of a political solution. So those in power feel compelled to provide "emergency solutions". The prohibition of the piazza as a meeting place, is only the last in a series of tendencies developing inside big cities in the West : from Paris to London, New York to Rio de Janiero, benches are seen as suspect places where tramps, layabouts and immigrants can find refuge. Against them, urban regulations become extemporary solutions that some policemen take it into their heads to adopt. In Europe the only city which attempts to resist these kinds of measures, is Barcellona. Here a series of benches are positined along the Rambla, its most typical street, so people may pause and sit down at their leisure. Returning to Rome, and more precisely to the Parco degli Acquadotti (inside the better known Regional Park of the Via Appia Antica) in the the Tuscolano area, we find there are almost no meeting places, but a flexible use is made of benches. Boys, for example, are induced to place benches where thery like, so as to create the most accessible meeting places. This has led to the absurd situation of benches on the higher ground beyond the Acquaducts, with all the attendant risks to the monument and persons that are to be expected.
Parco degli Acquedotti, Rome
The old, on the other hand, need to be able to watch people pass ,to make new friendships, to pass the time and to be in peace. They need to choose one place so as not to tire themselves too much, just within the the park but having access to the area outside it. Here also, the bench does not have a "home" but must continually be moved to answer particular needs. The third group of persons is much more various and numerous, centred on the care or surveillance of children, that of mothers, baby sitters and grandparents. These prefer to have the bench near their little ones so they can watch their movements. In this case, the the bench is positioned in the interests of the children, so the service of control and guardianship of the area does not relate to benches in fixed places, but benches placed where is most convenient for people, within certain limits.
Benches are no longer benches. They are home, club, sitting room,store-room, but above all they can be a suitable place for part of an election campaign.
And on occasions, politicians have spoken out agiaist this freedom in the use of benches: "benches must be positioned there"or "these are the priorities". One consequence, however, has been, new benches of horrendous masses of stone disposed at great distances one from the other, able to seat only two persons; This has made the bench a hostile object to many people, and its duel aspects or
possibilities are simply incomprehensible to most. It is possible to sit but also easy to slip comfortably down and, far from indiscrete eyes, even make love. The many uses that the benches lend themselves to , breaks up the isolation of individuals in the contemporary metropolis contributing to a new form of sociality.
The rupture between community and place has led to a lack of recognition and violence.
At Bologna in the 70's during the student demonstrations the mayor forbade sitting on the ground. In Rome in the 90's certain measures aimed, under the pressure of powerful associations of shopkeepers, at discouraging sitting down in the piazza. In Palermo, the authorities managed to prevent tourists and young people leaning against walls. Also in Palermo, in the 60's, an obscene plan was launched, of restructuring the entire historic centre, one of the very worst in the history of western cities. Streets inside cities have now lost their status, benches have become the places par excellence for the the old and for impecunious lovers. "To stay on a bench" has become a synonym for being a drop out. The bench is the place where all those end up who are not longer useful to the productive process and have to accept the logic of emargination. In this connection it is enough to recall that in the Paris of the 70's , it was forbidden to lie on a bench and the many pantomine actors in the parks, were regularly reprimanded and threatened by the police. It was as if the bench was the dangerous limit between sitting in a dignified manner and letting yourself go "down the slope to ruin". Sitting down to rest is, if it is not in line with prevailing regulations, an obscene act, a temptation to sexuality. (Not to forget that in Roman parks it is possible to sunbathe in scanty costumes, but forbidden simply to lie back on a bench). It is as well not to forget this. The body stretched out arouses sexual feelings.
Our society prefers to call itself "sick" rather than recognise the contradictions on which it is founded. Perhaps the most important and evident consequences in cities of today, are the complete prerogatives of some. That is, adults who produce and consume, who travel by car,who are strong. The city is remote and hostile,however, for the weak members of the community who need a re-assuring communal ambience which is acessible, safe and coinvivial.
