Idraulica postmoderna, amnesie fluviali e luoghi ritrovati: il Contratto di Fiume come strategia per il recupero di qualità urbanistica.

The main goal of this article is to point out the way to recovery the meaningful cultural and symbolic heritage related to the prolonged history of European waterscapes formation. Today water has to be considered more and more not only as a common good but also as a strategic tool in order to plan an overall and more effectual territorial governance. A challenging and, to some extent, alarming future is demanding a new hydraulic humanism in which it could be possible to foster innovative interconnections among water engineering, anthropology, historical geography, environmental psychology, sustainable recreation. In this research the Italian case will be dealt with, trying to focus on the delays and struggles which are preventing a good synergy between legislation and practical action. The Contract of River can therefore be seen as a significant opportunity to implement the most relevant paradigms of the Humanistic Geography, in which “places” are soundly embedded in social and symbolic involvement of its inhabitants.