Back to L’Horta. Urban revitalization of La Patacona based on the recognition of the agricultural past and current context.

Since the end of the 20th century, the periphery has begun to be seen as an opportunity to build the contemporary European city, recognizing a distinct order, logic, and identity from the traditional city and solving the functional problems that avoid dependence on other urban areas. The present case study is based on the recognition of La Patacona as a periurban area without identity, as a result of the development of sectorized and divergent urban plans and, in addition, of the physical and functional segregation with the urban area of Alboraya. This condition is detrimental to the development of social dynamics and leads to dependence on the Metropolitan Area of Valencia. In order to solve the problem, the urban and historical context of La Patacona was analyzed, identifying L’Horta de Valencia as agricultural, historical, and cultural, heritage, being the starting point of a process of urban regeneration that recognizes the agricultural past and reinterprets it in the contemporary context. To recover the lost or unrecognized identity, the urban intervention is based on a system of public spaces through adaptive reuse strategies that promote socio-cultural and economic development and enhance the site’s intrinsic values and heritage assets.