La creatività artistica e la valorizzazione socioculturale dei centri storici minori. Il caso della riqualificazione dei “sette cortili” di Favara (Sicilia)

The socio-cultural development is often expression of the spontaneous creativity of actors involved in the art world by creating some innovative events that promote new places of leisure and trigger a process of urban regeneration and tourist attraction. The creativity is often a key component to affirm the identity and the cultural peculiarities of the area.Favara, a rural village of Agrigento hinterland, in recent years has jumped to the headlines for the collapse of crumbling houses in the historic center, but more recently the same town was given by the media ample importance for the realization of an initiative of artistic creativity which aims to recover and promote the local identity through the redevelopment of the deteriorated part of the old town.The idea of the project, initiated by private individuals, was to create a contemporary cultural and tourist center in an area called “Sette Cortili" through the creation of art galleries and exhibition spaces both temporary and permanent, a center for contemporary architecture, state of the art places of accommodation and day suites spa, residences for artists, designers and architects, meeting spaces, innovative places for cultural, recreational and dining events and high-design stores. An environment, therefore, of diffused redevelopment not only in architectural terms of physical spaces experiences, but also through the social organization of cultural activities, installations of works and contemporary art exhibitions, music concerts, theater performances by street artists, projections of films, architectural competitions, book presentations and much more. A social and economic reality initially difficult but that in a few years has turned from an experimental laboratory to a place of leisure, frequented by local visitors, but also by many tourists, attracted by the originality of the initiative.