The Invisible Infrastructure Transformative Mapping of School Spaces in the Contemporary City

Abstract

In dense urban contexts, schoolyards - conceived as impermeable, hard grounds - embody both the vulnerabilities and the potentials of the twentieth-century city. Such spaces exacerbate the heat island effect, limit water infiltration and remain inaccessible outside school hours. Mapping these conditions offers a critical tool to reveal patterns of risk, ecological scarcity and social exclusion, simultaneously identifying opportunities for climate adaptation and social innovation. This paper explores how cartographic practices can support the regeneration of school environments as climate-responsive infrastructures and civic commons.

Drawing on the Parisian programmes and on the mapping experience conducted in Milan, the contribution shows how mapping - linking spatial, environmental and social data - made visible the materiality, distribution and potential of schoolyards, directly informing design interventions such as depaving, greening and the redesign of school-related streets. The paper argues that rethinking school environments through mapping is not only a matter of ecological transition, but also a means to foster awareness, community engagement and new forms of collective urban learning.

Keywords: climate adaptation; mapping; space for learning