A NEW STORY: COUNTER-NARRATIVES TO OVERCOME THE STIGMA OF MULTIETHNIC WORKING-CLASS NEIGHBOURHOODS: THE CASE OF AURORA IN TURIN (ITALY)

The contribution aims to reflect on the reputation of neighbourhoods (Parmentier et al., 2008; Kearns et al., 2013) and on strategies based on artistic projects and social innovation to hel overcome the stigma that often connotes certain urban areas. Urban studies literature has, in fact, already identified the existence of a ‘prejudice based on peoples' postcode address’ (Arthurson, 2013). Neighbourhood reputation is a social construct that stems from personal experiences and very often also from negative media narratives (Wacquant, 2008). To construct a counter-narrative, it is vital to act both from within – by strengthening the sense of belonging – and outside the neighbourhoods to narrate the positive features of these areas. The paper discusses these theoretical arguments by focusing on the case study of Aurora in Turin (Italy). Aurora is a multiethnic working-class neighbourhood close to the city centre characterised by deep socio-spatial fractures. It is one of the city's most fragile and deprived neighbourhoods, and the media narrative on the neighbourhood tends to emphasise its weaknesses. However, the neighbourhood is lively, multicultural and rich in social resources active in the area. In addition to a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the external reputation of Aurora, the contribution presents the results of a project carried out by the authors – operating a university action-research laboratory in the neighbourhood – together with a local cultural association as part of the European Urban Innovative Action (UIA) initiative. The work, which lasted several months, actively involved the different communities of Aurora in working on the sense of belonging between people and places in the neighbourhood and constructing a counter-narrative of the area. The result led to a series of posters being put up throughout Turin, narrating 'Aurora outside Aurora' beyond prejudices. We discuss the case study to highlight the possible strengths and weaknesses of artistic strategies to construct counter-narratives of neighbourhoods in difficulty, as well as to reflect on the university's role in these processes.