Milan a sustainable city for a greener future

Milan is increasingly becoming a sustainable city not only on a national level but also at European one.

Thanks to green mobility projects and the urban regeneration of entire areas, Milan has become a true model of a sustainable city.

According to data shared by Cerved from the ‘Rapporto Italia sostenibile 2022‘, in the three areas of sustainability: economic, social and environmental.

Milan, together with Bolzano, Padua, Trento and Treviso is among the most sustainable provinces in the country.

Sustainable Italy Report 2022

Milan with Bologna and Turin is in the top three places in economic sustainability. With Padua, Treviso and Vicenza in the top four places in social sustainability and first in the general sustainability ranking.

In 2022, the Lombard metropolis also ranked first in consumption efficiency and energy conversion.

It also achieved an advanced position in waste management and for the share of low environmental impact companies.

However, Milan continues to be among the most polluted cities in Italy.

Which is why so many projects, both public and private, are underway that aim to have an increasingly sustainable and green city by 2030.

Milan sustainable city looks to 2030

Milan is constantly evolving and there are many projects that are transforming the city in a green key.

The Territorial Zoning Plan (PGT) aims to reduce economic and social imbalances, and to extend development to all districts of the city by 2030.
Seeking to combine the process of growth with improving environmental conditions and thus the quality of life of its citizens.

The aspiration is to have a highly accessible city that strikes an effective balance between density, transport demand, quality of life, environmental protection and health.

Mobility in Milan

The greatest investments in this direction are those that favour greener mobility: more bicycle lanes in the city, the redevelopment of old neighbourhoods with the creation of sustainable districts well connected by subways and bicycle and pedestrian paths, and finally the increase of services for sharing mobility.

Citizens themselves, especially after the pandemic, are more sensitive to this topic and many now prefer to use more green-oriented means of transport and car sharing services.

New construction and redevelopment of old neighbourhoods

The Lombard metropolis is also focusing heavily on urban and suburban regeneration.

The Fili Project, one of the largest in Europe in this field, envisages the refurbishment and renovation of the Milano Cadorna, Milano Bovisa, Polo di Saronno and Busto Arsizio stations and the areas adjacent to them.

As well as the planting of 800,000 trees on approximately 41,000 hectares across 24 municipalities, the creation of a 54-kilometre ‘cycle superhighway’ between Milano Cadorna and Malpensa stations, and the creation of a hanging synthetic forest in Milano Cadorna station.

Milan capital of Social Housing

Social Housing is becoming an important part of the real estate market to help reduce the gap between the centre and the suburbs, to breathe new life into semi-abandoned properties and to encourage temporary housing and subsidised rent: residences for students, young couples or the elderly.

Milan as a sustainable city immediately believed in Social Housing.

It all started in the early 2000s when the issue of social housing was addressed.

The Milanese curia, at the behest of Cardinal Martini and the Fondazione Cariplo, issued a challenge to the city and Cariplo embarked on a path that gave rise to the first ethical real estate fund and the first foundation dedicated to social housing – Fondazione Housing Sociale (FHS).

FHS’s projects also include the redevelopment of old structures and the planning of new ones for the construction of university residences at subsidised prices.

For this purpose, in 2014 FHS established In-Domus srl, a student residence management company with a strong social connotation in which it holds 80% of the capital.

In-Domus provides housing services in 3 different campuses Milano Internazionale, Milano Monneret and Milano Olympia.
The three residences offer a total of approximately 1,000 beds strategically distributed with respect to the city’s university hubs.

The campuses represent a natural point of reference for housing solutions for students, but also for researchers, visiting professors and people with short-term residence needs who gravitate to Milan’s universities and AFAM institutions.

Conclusions

This metropolis continues to renew itself and goes beyond its boundaries, but at the same time, it privileges the close scale of the neighbourhood and confronts the issue of habitability, urban spaces and its inhabitants; between public and private interventions, it is becoming an increasingly sustainable city.

Milan looks to the future, as it has always done, but now the future it wants to achieve is greener, socially fairer and more accessible.