He had announced this in his electoral program and just before the six months at the helm of Bologna, the mayor Matteo Lepore puts the first, important piece of that “way of knowledge” with which he aims to make the Emilian capital a widespread model of innovation technological, sustainable urban planning, social experimentation, an alternative to Milan’s Innovation district Mind because it is not confined to a hub, but capable of embracing a 500-hectare square throughout the metropolitan area. We start with the memorandum of understanding signed with the State Railways for the urban regeneration of the first 20 hectares of disused railway areas and buildings, from the Dopolavoro in via Serlio to the former Ravone airport, which will be returned to the Bolognese, with investments for over 90 million euros and redevelopment measures that will make it possible to save over 280 TOE (tons of oil equivalent) every year.
The Great Bologna project
Of the projects nominated for PNRR funds, this one from the “Greater Bologna”, presented yesterday with the CEO of FS, Luigi Ferraris, and the Minister of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility, Enrico Giovanni, is certainly the most relevant, not only in terms of amounts committed but for meaning, because it touches the crossroads of the country and areas abandoned for 15 years, which will be transformed into spaces for mutualism and the collaborative economy (in the former Ravone area, 57.9 million euros of construction sites), in a Polo of democratic memory, the Italian Smithsonian with the largest archive on the contemporary history of the city and the country (renovating part of the buildings of the central station 2 August 1980, 21.1 million euros worth of works) and in a large green park with cultural facilities and sports (at the former Dopolavoro Ferroviario, another 11.1 million euros).
The start of the works
The agreement between the mayor Lepore and the CEO of FS now awaits the green light from the Ministry of Finance, expected by April, the works could start within a few months, after tenders have been made and the works awarded and must be completed within March 2026, in order not to lose European resources. “This is the first step of the Integrated Plan of 157 million euros financed by the NRP that will shape the Way of Knowledge, with the other three redevelopment projects centered on the Research and Science Pole of Imola, on the Enea del Brasimone research center and on the former Burgo paper mill in Marzabotto – explains Lepore -. Four places in a metropolitan network that contains and systematizes the excellence that already exists, because in Bologna there are over 100 places of innovation and 100,000 researchers and students in a city of 400,000 inhabitants and soon, with the arrival of the supercomputer Leonardo, we will concentrate here 95% of the computing capacity of the entire country “. In 15 minutes on foot you will go from the high speed station – hub of the country – to the Technopole in via Stalingrado, from here to Cineca, to the Cnr, to the universities, to the Fiera district, between green corridors, cycle and pedestrian paths, cohousing, shared spaces for business and professional activities, “and everything is one hour from Milan, two from Rome, half an hour from Florence and a few minutes from the airport now that the People Mover has started working again”, remarked the mayor. Which overturned the old projects for abandoned areas by aiming “at the future missions of the city: attracting and supporting talents, researchers, innovative companies” by adopting a new model: one third of the abandoned FS areas were purchased by the Municipality, others rented and will be regenerated directly, the other two thirds were candidates for the Reinventing Cities international call promoted by C-40, aiming to collect projects and finances from international developers. By the end of the year, work will also begin on the first red line of the Bologna tram, which will connect Borgo Panigale to the west and the Caab to the east (a 500 million dollar project) and by 2026, in order not to lose the Pnrr funds, it will also have to be completed. the second green line to the north, another 222 million. Construction sites that should cross with those of the Middle Passante, revised in a green key by the Giunta Lepore by inserting 50 MW of photovoltaics, the largest park in Italy.