'Beware of soulless neighbourhoods, gentrification is a risk'
Fabrizio Capaccioli. The president of the Green building council Italia association: we need a decree that heals what was done in Milan but then we have to give ourselves rules that are more respectful and sustainable
by Sara Monaci
3' min read
3' min read
"The city must become polycentric, but beware of gentrification that creates empty neighbourhoods devoid of services and social life". Fabrizio Capaccioli, president of the Green building council Italia association, looks at Italian and Milanese development from his privileged observatory, that of the leading international organisation in favour of sustainable building. And with pragmatism he warns against a risk: that real estate operations born on paper do not take into account people's real needs and problems. Starting with the economic ones.
What do you think of the Pgt currently being developed in Milan, which should be reviewed in the light of the investigations for building abuse and in view of a possible 'save Milan'?
The main value of this Pgt is to strive to enforce building limits but at the same time to implement a neighbourhood plan. I certainly believe that the guideline should be the idea of a polycentric city, where everyone can live, with peripheral development that looks towards new sustainable building. But be careful how this is done. The neighbourhoods must be accessible, built with decorum and services, with squares and greenery, schools and services. We must say no to gentrification that builds without thinking about communities. Instead this has often been done, in many cities we see new neighbourhoods, perhaps beautiful, but without soul, without balance.
How do you create real neighbourhoods?
.Looking precisely at the needs of real people: schools, parks, meeting places, trivially cemeteries and municipal offices.
This brings us to a reflection on Milanese development in recent years. The Milan City Council defends its policy of speed and bureaucratisation, while the public prosecutor's office has gone on the attack with enquiries accusing officials and professionals of illegal subdivision. To whom do you agree?
We should make distinctions on a case-by-case basis, but I believe the prosecutor's observation is correct, there has been an exasperation of construction, warehouses have been turned into buildings housing hundreds of people without asking how to revise and enrich the neighbourhood. Of course this makes it easier for the builders, but the social balance is lost. Some buildings were built inappropriately, without assessment of the area in which they were located. Instead, an overall, more sustainable work should be done.
But how do we get out of it? By now there are dozens of investigations into constructions already underway. And municipal officials under investigation.
Inevitably, I see the solution as a compromise: we need a decree that sanitises what has been done, with pragmatism, but then we have to give ourselves more respectful and sustainable rules. Perhaps by easing the bureaucracy, but in general the quick use of a Scia to construct large buildings instead of sheds is not an adequate instrument.
