Urban transformations between infrastructure and heritage: the Municipio project in Naples, Italy

Cities increasingly rely on infrastructure and iconic projects to enhance international competitiveness, a strategy that in heritage-rich urban contexts must reconcile global ambitions with local needs and layered heritage. This paper examines how infrastructure and heritage co-produce urban space, reshaping design priorities and governance arrangements. The study investigates the case of Municipio Metro Station and Square in Naples, designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto de Moura within the UNESCO-listed historic centre. It adopts a qualitative multi-method approach that combines literature review, interviews, archival research, site visits, and a workshop. The findings highlight the interplay between infrastructural intervention, heritage agency, and architectural authorship, showing how urban transformation unfolds through processes of adaptation and negotiation that balance infrastructural functionality, heritage preservation, and contemporary design within complex urban palimpsests.