Created in the first half of the 20th century as the Fascist regime’s most significant initiative in the country and located within the Sulcis Iglesiente Geomining Park, the founding city of Carbonia was established as an industrial, residential and administrative center connected to the Serbariu mine, Italy’s most important coal hub.
Work regarding the construction of the city of Carbonia began in June 1937 and was completed in December 1938. Initially, the housing spaces took into account the pyramidal structure of existing roles in the mine and the fascist hierarchy: the center is reserved for executive houses, not far away are the white-collar buildings, while modest workers’ houses occupy the neighborhoods of the extensive periphery. Ten workers’ hotels were built for bachelor workers. Carbonia Landscape Machine was the winning project of the 2011 Council of Europe Landscape Prize, a concrete and exemplary model of urban landscape restoration.
