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And Dergano and Angilberto II become greener with many new trees. The public notice is underway to involve citizens and associations in the regeneration of new squares with tactical urban planning

Milan, September 19 2019 – One square in NoLo which is being inaugurated, two - Dergano and Angilberto II - for which the definitive project is ready which will make the restyling started a year ago permanent, four - Bruzzano, Belloveso, Cooperation and Gramsci - where the works, and a public notice to involve citizens and associations in the implementation of the new interventions. There are many new features on this day for tactical urban planning in Milan.
New Square in NoLo

Running and playing safely in front of the school is now possible for the children of the Ciresola Primary School. It was they who this morning, decorating the new plants with little works, inaugurated the square created between via Spoleto and via Venini, in NoLo, as part of the "Open Squares" tactical urban planning project created in collaboration with Bloomberg Associates and the support of the Nacto Global Designing Cities Initiative and, as regards the supply of furnishings, of the Vestre company through the mediation of the Norwegian Foreign Trade Office.

Also welcoming the new square was a street artist who entertained the children with games and balloons, and the live FB narration of Radio NoLo, who will take care of the square together with Retake Milano and the Ciresola Parents association.

Colored paving in shades of yellow, light blue and blue now delimits the new pedestrian area, which with plants, racks, picnic and ping pong tables and resting benches aims to become a place of sociality and interaction not only for children but for the whole neighborhood. The intervention, which included a reorganization of the road system in order to encourage gentle mobility according to the requests of the Mobì project, presented at the last Participatory Budget, in continuity with the 'TrentaMi in Verde' project already carried out in via Rovereto and in the exedra of the Trotter Park, has an experimental nature, the outcome of which will be monitored and listened to in the area in the coming months.

The definitive projects for Dergano and Angilberto II

The same has been done in the last twelve months with regard to the first tactical urban planning interventions carried out by the Administration in Dergano and Angilberto II, in order to crystallize the two projects, making them as compliant as possible with the needs of the neighborhoods. A definitive project has been created for both squares, presented to the citizens as part of the Neighborhood Plan meetings, which, after the opinions of the municipalities, will be followed by the executive, in order to start the works in 2020. 

“We started Piazze Aperte a year ago as an experiment, in recent months we have collected opinions and observations from citizens which have allowed us to improve the projects and make them definitive – declare the councilors Pierfrancesco Maran (Urban Planning and Green), Marco Granelli (Mobility) and Lorenzo Lipparini (Participation) -. The creation of these new social spaces, through rapid and low-cost interventions, has improved the liveability of the neighborhoods, given identity to places devoid of decorum, created meeting opportunities, improved road safety especially for pedestrians and cyclists with road crossings and cycle paths. Piazze Aperte also allows citizens to be directly involved in the redevelopment and protection of public spaces. For this reason, not only do we want to make the improvement permanent and even more effective with the measures introduced, including a substantial increase in trees, but we are already ready to carry out new interventions in other places in the city with the direct involvement of the territory".

“When you design a street that works for children, you design a street that works for everyone,” says Janette Sadik-Khan Director of Transportation at Bloomberg Associates, who collaborated on the design of the new NoLo square and other tactical squares in Milan - . With a safer redesign for people walking, cycling, driving or using public transport, the new square demonstrates how the city changes when children, not cars, rule the streets."

As regards Dergano, since the new square has had a positive impact on the neighbourhood, the aim is to integrate the interventions with structural works and expand the redevelopment to the neighboring streets, where the paving will be redone in continuity with the square. The pedestrian area between via Ciaia and via Guerzoni will also be redesigned, where the installation of seats, racks and the enlargement of flowerbeds and outdoor areas for catering is planned, as well as new potted trees that will be placed in the neighboring streets, in addition to the trees that will arrive in the square. In Piazza Dergano the benches, ping pong tables and picnic tables will be maintained, as well as the repositioning of the bike sharing. The bus stop will also be repositioned in correspondence with the square.

In Angilberto II, the definitive intervention aims to strengthen the new identity and pedestrian character of the square, expanding the intervention area to the entire urban area, creating a substantial green system and rationalizing the road network. More than 50% of the square will therefore be depaved, significantly increasing the permeability of the soil and thus allowing the installation of 10 large trees on the four sides of the square. Another 30 trees will be planted in the existing green areas between the square and the surrounding streets and numerous flowerbeds will be inserted between the pedestrian paths and the roadway, protecting users of the square from car pollution and noise. The paving of the eastern arm of the square will be level, while a cycle path will allow you to cross the square from west to east and the small historic street of San Dionigi will be made pedestrian. The area on the Via Comacchio side will also be intended for children, who will have a new playground with anti-trauma flooring at their disposal. The parking offer will be expanded in the neighboring streets of Bessarione and Ravenna. 

Four new projects: Belloveso, Bruzzano, Cooperation and Gramsci

After having changed the liveability of the new square of NoLo, Dergano, Angilberto II, Porta Genova, piazza Gasparri, Santa Rita da Cascia, via Abbiati, and Lavater, where in a second phase a larger intervention will be carried out with trees and new paving, Tactical urban planning is in fact preparing to land in four new neighborhoods of the city.

The first planned intervention, currently awaiting the opinion of Municipality 9, concerns Piazza Belloveso, as requested by many citizens as part of the Neighborhood Plan. The historic square of Niguarda will be redesigned to return the space now occupied by roads and cars to the inhabitants of the neighborhood. The pedestrian areas will therefore be enlarged and coloured, maintaining a one-way lane from via Bauer towards via Sant'Agostino, a BikeMi station with 30 bicycles, benches, tables and ping pong tables will be inserted.

The second project, being examined by Municipality 9, involves the reconfiguration of the Bruzzano square, where many commercial and social realities face. The redesign of the square, which includes the open space adjacent to the church and the connection through via Capsoni, starts from the analysis of its traffic flows, which are too low to be dedicated exclusively to vehicular traffic. The rationalization of mobility in this area, therefore, with the establishment of the one-way street of via Oroboni and via del Volga and the reversal of the direction of travel of via Fulton, the widening of numerous sidewalks which are currently very narrow, therefore allows the creation of a new safe pedestrian path between the Church and the square freed from cars and ready for the birth of new social relationships thanks to the installation of plants, benches, tables and racks. The parking offer will not be reduced. The goal is to start with both jobs in mid-October. 

Furthermore, new restyling interventions are on the way which will improve the quality of public spaces but will not lead to changes to traffic: in Piazza della Cooperazione, which will be regenerated in a few days as part of the Milan Green Week thanks to a Collaboration Agreement between the Municipality and the Workers' Cooperative Consortium, the Solidarnosc Cooperative, the Noicoop Association with the technical sponsorship of Ivas, and in Piazza Gramsci, where the pavement will be redeveloped, parking bollards will be installed to avoid improper parking and, as part of a tender promoted from Town Hall 8, color the structure of the Pagoda and the one in front of via Procaccini.

The public notice and guidelines for the new open squares

And one year after the start of the experiment, Piazze Aperti is ready to enter the second phase, increasingly involving citizens, who will become the true protagonists of change, actively participating in regenerating parts of the city through the collaboration agreements introduced by the new regulation for the shared administration of common goods. In fact, a public notice is online from today, aimed at individuals, associations, traders, private entities and informal entities who want to participate in the design, construction and maintenance of the new squares.

According to the guidelines expressed in the public notice, interventions may be proposed in areas already reported by citizens during the Neighborhood Plan meetings, or further places as long as they meet the characteristics described in the intervention guidelines. Priority will be given to areas of the city near schools. The announcement. for example, identify 52 possible locations, six for each municipality: from Piazza Edison (Town Hall 1) to Piazzale Libia (Town Hall 4), from Piazzale Martesana (Town Hall 2) to Piazza delle Torri Bianche (Town Hall 5), from Piazza San Materno (Town Hall 3) to Piazzale Siena (Town Hall 7), from Largo Brasilia (Town Hall 6) to via Pacinotti (Town Hall 8) and via Toce (Town Hall 9).

The Administration will evaluate the proposals, which may contain objectives and suggestions to make the squares more livable, green and decent, and must demonstrate that they offer support in the area and then proceed to the co-planning phase, which will be followed by the signing of a partnership agreement. collaboration.

The contribution of citizens will also be fundamental through the planning of activities and events, to make the new places not only safer and more aesthetically attractive spaces, but lively and attractive places, regenerated by the community for the community.

Proposals must be submitted by November 20th by completing the online participation form and sending it to piazzeaperte@comune.milano.it or by depositing it in paper form at the General Protocol in Via Larga, 12.