The dual-use city: urban military geographies in ordinary Cagliari

The relationship between military presence and the city is a central node of militarism and urban dynamics. In contemporary cities not directly involved in warfare, this presence takes shape in both material forms (offices, barracks, logistical infrastructures, training areas) and immaterial forms (memory, signs, events). These elements create a continuous dialogue between past and present, as well as between local contexts and broader geopolitical dynamics. Simultaneously, this presence interact with urban development policies and the daily lives of citizens, influencing the city’s evolution. Within this context, formal and informal dual-use spaces arise, illustrating how the boundary between military and civilian spheres becomes blurred across urban geographies and questioning how cities “at peace” are involved in the long chains of warfare. This research aims to explore the interactions between so-called “military” and “civilian” spaces, examining the impact of military presence on urban processes and how militarism and war preparedness are expressed at the local level. Focusing on Cagliari, a medium-sized Euro-Mediterranean city not directly involved in conflict, serving as the capital of Sardinia - a region hosting numerous training areas for the Italian Armed Forces and NATO - the study delves into various dimensions of formal and informal interactions between local actors and the military. These include: the representation of the contemporary city and urban regeneration efforts; the socio-spatial footprint of military infrastructures; and the everyday dynamics that develop around military installations, along with the relationship between residents and these sites. This PhD research in Political-Economic Geography was conducted between 2021 and 2024 at La Sapienza University of Rome, under the supervision of Daniele Paragano (UniCusano) and Rachel Woodward (Newcastle University). It included fieldwork in the city of Cagliari and two visiting periods at Newcastle University and the University of Toronto (Tutor: Matthew Farish). The research culminated in a thesis structured into five chapters. The first chapter, titled “Framing Urban Military Geographies”, presents the theoretical framework of the thesis, bringing together critical military studies, urban studies, and Henri Lefebvre’s theory on the production of space. Specifically, the literatures on critical military geographies and urban geopolitics focus on key aspects of militarism and the role of cities in militarisation processes. I enrich this approach by drawing from urban studies, engaging in the debate on ordinary cities to highlight how medium-sized cities serve as valuable sites for observing urban processes; and in the debate on the multidimensionality of the urban to show how governance, representations, and everyday life serve as a prism to capture the different facets of military power. In this context, Henri Lefebvre’s theory operates in the background, offering a dialectic between spatial practice, representations of space, and space of representations as a lens for interpreting urban military geographies. Finally, I close the chapter by raising the issue of a potential dual-use spatial dilemma. The second chapter, “In the Opacity: Researching Urban Military Geographies”, focuses on the methodology and tools used to conduct research in the city of Cagliari. Starting with reflections on the researcher's positioning in relation to both the city and the military theme, the chapter discusses the opacity that often surrounds research on the spatial dynamics of the Armed Forces, highlighting the challenges encountered during the research process. Finally, I describe the methods - typical of qualitative research - that were employed: the analysis of military and civilian documents, semi-structured interviews with institutional actors and citizens, and participant observation around selected military spaces in the city of Cagliari. The third chapter, “Scattered Military Landscapes in Ordinary Cagliari”, introduces Cagliari as a case study, focusing on the spatial and institutional relationships surrounding its military landscapes. First, I analyse Cagliari as an “ordinary city,” emphasising the need to consider the social, economic, and political relationships that define it. The chapter then examines how the historical layers of military landscapes contribute to the character of ordinary Cagliari, addressing the issue of decommissioning military properties and analysing the contradictions in the relationships between the Ministry of Defence and the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. Finally, I discuss emerging trends in the conceptualisation of military spaces and recent collaborations between the Armed Forces and the University of Cagliari, highlighting the impact of military-civilian interactions on representations of urban military space. The fourth chapter, “Military Footprint Along the Former POL NATO Pipeline: (Im)Materialities, Everyday Practices, and Rationality”, investigates the socio-spatial footprint of the Armed Forces in the city of Cagliari, focusing on an old fuel infrastructure: the POL NATO. To do so, I examine how everyday practices interact with military spaces in three locations along the pipeline: the natural area of Sant’Elia Hill; Piazza San Bartolomeo, a square surrounded by barracks; and an abandoned pier - Molo di Levante - still under military management. In these places, it becomes evident how the environmental discourse of the Armed Forces, emotional attachments to military landscapes, and informal practices either reproduce or potentially reframe the meaning of military space. Lastly, I assess the military rationale behind the management of this infrastructures and its alignment and divergence from local governance and citizen activities, showing how military footprint can resurface through military projects. Finally, the fifth chapter, “The Armed Forces in the Showcase: Military Activities in the Revalorised Waterfront”, examines the influence of military geographies on governance, discourse, and dual-use infrastructure in the port of Cagliari. The chapter reviews the waterfront revitalisation projects implemented by the municipal administration since the 1990s, highlighting how the area has become a showcase for the city’s tourism identity while revealing the presence of military activities in the everyday of this space. It then explores the urban socio-spatial impact of the military exercises conducted in Sardinia in 2023, illustrating how the port of Cagliari has transformed into a strategic naval hub, generating liminal spaces geared toward war readiness. The chapter concludes with an analysis of a protest action by an anti-militarist collective in response to the presence of a U.S. military ship, underscoring the tensions within the revalorised waterfront and how acts of resistance challenge the growing military’s influence in the neoliberal city.

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