Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The report created by AMAT, Bloomberg associates and GDCI was presented - A program for the public space of Milan - A public space program for Milan

Milan, May 26 2022 – Municipality of Milan, AMAT and Bloomberg associates today presented the "Piazze Aperto" report to Base, a document that retraces the tactical urban planning interventions carried out in Milan in the last four years, from 2018 to today, and which launches the second phase of the project which will be intended to transform the pedestrian spaces near the school buildings.

The new public notice, currently under development, will be released next autumn and will offer active citizens the opportunity to propose and collaborate in the implementation of new redevelopment interventions in the areas adjacent to Milanese schools.

The presentation of the report was an opportunity to take stock of the tactical urban planning interventions carried out in the different neighborhoods of Milan: from the first two "tactical squares" inaugurated in 2018 in Dergano and in piazza Angilberto to the last two interventions completed in the piazzale Bacon and Piazzetta SS. Patrons.

Thanks to the numerous interventions carried out in recent years, today one in two Milanese lives a few steps from an "open square" and can therefore reach it with a short walk. These are the numbers connected to the 38 interventions which made it possible to obtain 22.000 square meters of public space for pedestrians, 250 new benches and 35 tables, 380 bicycle spaces, 310 potted plants and 32 new ping-pong tables.

The new locations have also been revealed, featuring Piazza San Materno al Casoretto and Via Val Maira in Pratocentenaro.

The projects carried out involved citizens through a participation process together with the world of associations and residents. A decisive comparison in the conception, creation and transformation of public space: 200 associations in total who participated, 72 commercial activities, 17 schools, 17 neighborhood committees and social streets, 8 religious institutions.

"In less than three years, Milan has recovered an entire neighborhood of public space thanks to the interventions completed – declares Janette Sadik-Khan, Principal of Bloomberg Associates, the pro bono consultancy branch of Bloomberg Philanthropies –. Where there are streets, there are possibilities: Milan has been able to bring new life where there was asphalt, in every part of the city, setting new global standards for metropolises and reinventing public space".

"Streets are the largest amount of public space in our cities - declares Demetrio Scopelliti, director of Urban Planning and Public Space at AMAT -. To change them, it is necessary to overturn the perspective and put people, active mobility and public life at the centre. The work we have done in recent years for Piazze Aperto is paradigmatic of our way of interpreting the city project even with light, fast and economical tools".

Open squares is a project of the Municipality of Milan and AMAT, created in collaboration with Bloomberg associates and Global designing cities initiative (GDCI).

Precisely this latter organisation, which has among its objectives the transformation of roads in metropolises around the world, has decided to promote "Global street design guide", an online training dedicated to deepening the planning and development of good tactical urban planning practices. The course organized by GDCI will begin on June 20, 2022, participation is open to professionals in the sector and all interested people.