EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Urban Italia Venezia: “Apriamo i muri” (Let’s set the walls open)

Urban Italia Venezia: “Apriamo i muri” (Let’s set the walls open) – Venice, IT.

Introduction

The Venice Urban Italia Programme “Apriamo i muri” (“Let’s set the walls open”) aims to improve the living standards in terms of relationships, employment, culture and environment in the covered areas. In particular, the Venice Urban Italia Programme’s objective is the urban, infrastructural and social regeneration implemented through specific interventions.

Problem

As the title of the Programme suggests, the main problem affecting the Venice territory is the existence of “walls”, which isolate areas and inhibit the life of the neighbourhood. On the one hand, these walls are historical and cultural and, on the other, physical and logistic. The most evident example of isolation is the Giudecca island, an “island in the island” where the City of Venice implemented several interventions. Furthermore, the presence of several disused industrial areas and brownfields, as well as a large students’ community, are good opportunities for the district to implement actions aimed at urban revampment and social integration.

Description

The Venice Urban Italia Programme’s general objective is to regenerate the central urban area of Venice. It is based on a set of integrated infrastructural and social interventions, aimed at improving infrastructure, facilitating the social integration, creating job opportunities, putting into effect the existing services and improving management. The actions carried out include:

urbanisation
regeneration of deprived areas
training and social-cultural activities
improvement of accessibility in harbour areas
new services and citizens’ participation.

Particular attention has been paid to meet the needs of the weakest segments of the population. Moreover, the presence of brownfields was a potential strength for the area, because they could be revamped. The covered area includes the former District 2 of Venice: Sestiere of Dorsoduro, St. Croce, St. Marta, S. Basilio and the harbour area, Giudecca Island and Sacca Fisola.

Approach

Within the context of transformation, renewal and regeneration carried out by the City of Venice, the Venice Urban Italia Programme presents an important innovation, based on more integrated and diversified actions. The Venice Urban Italia Programme strategy consists of a range of physical and social interventions aimed at facilitating the “local active collaboration”. Particular attention is paid to physical strategies such as primary and secondary urbanisation, network of waterways, disused and polluted areas reclamation, renovation of S. Marta harbour buildings. However, these physical strategies are always connected with social end economic interventions such as the creation of social services, training for experts in wood-ship construction and relaunching the local shipbuilding sector.

Results

The integrated approach has provided many benefits in terms of single and integrated interventions, for instance:

the renewal and creation of day nurseries reached the objective to support families
the revampment of the “Agostino Nardocci” polyvalent centre and the restoration of S. Marta Church granted inhabitants’ accessibility to urban infrastructure
the training on “master craftsmen of hatchet” and the construction of the Gondola Museum created new job opportunities
the urbanisation of the former Junghans zone and the demolition of an incinerator helped the urban regeneration
the establishment of a Centre to control sea transport improved the quality of information on maritime accessibility.

Beneficiaries

The main beneficiary of the intervention is the City of Venice which includes students, elderly citizens, convicts and former convicts, families and the citizens of the whole area.

Resources used

Total expenditure: 3.0 million euros
Urban funding: 1.3 million euros
Partner cofinancing: 1.7 million euros

Contact info

City of Venice
Mr. Andrea Del Mercato

Project start date

16/03/2004

Links

Ministry for Infrastructure (in Italian)Urban Italia Programme (in Italian)City of Venice (in Italian)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Land use

Keywords

Urbanisation

Institutional characteristics
National Government