Accessible dwellings

Piano Casa, Rixi announces a 950 million decree in Friday's CdM

The announcement was made at the 'Città da vivere' conference, promoted by Ance nazionale and Assimpredil. The deputy minister added that the minister Matteo Salvini would be working to allocate a further 1.2 billion Pnrr funds to housing

by Paola Pierotti

4 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

"Italia faces a crucial phase for the construction world. Recurring traumatic events show how the slowness to adapt is not only a political problem, but of the entire civil community. The country's future credibility hinges on its ability to transform cities, and today this is not being achieved partly because of a sedimentation of regulations that give powers to a series of authorities that are self-referential with respect to politics (and the reference is to the aforementioned Superintendencies ndr)".

Thus the deputy minister for infrastructure and transport, Edoardo Rixi, at the Ance headquarters, announced that "on 6 March a decree law on the 'home plan' is expected to be submitted to the Council of Ministers, which will allocate €950 million for public housing". To this will be added the integration of private funds - a pillar that, as Rixi says, is currently being evaluated at Chigi - recognising that "public finance alone cannot support the amount of work needed to upgrade the housing stock". The objectives include: soil reclamation, building modernisation and remodulation of the Pnrr (recovering resources originally earmarked by the MIT for transport).

For Rixi, the real challenge will be to build a common vision and a culture of regeneration that involves all players: from government to parliament, from ministries (Infrastructure, Environment, Culture, Economy) to local authorities and the private sector. It is essential to overcome the logic of cross-vetoes and internal competition to 'work as a system'. The regeneration of cities is therefore not a battle against the environment or cultural heritage, but an opportunity to improve the quality of life by ensuring safe, energy-efficient buildings with low running costs.

An announcement that has been awaited for months and will be able to guide the choices of administrations and operators. An objective that will mark the horizon in the debate in which Italian cities are called upon to build a governance model that combines sustainability, inclusiveness and efficient management. But which urban agenda? If Europe considers issues such as housing, the climate, mobility, international cooperation, security, social inclusion and competitiveness to be priorities, Italia, through the NRP, has systematised themes such as urban regeneration, integrated urban plans and the Pinqua. And more succinctly, according to Ifel, the drivers for the future will be housing, energy and transport, effectively orienting a hypothetical next Pnrr for post-2026 cities.

The 'right to live' emerges as the cornerstone of the 'Città da vivere' initiative, promoted by Ance nazionale and Assimpredil, which shifts the focus from simple access to housing to the wellbeing that an urban environment can offer. As Ance president Federica Brancaccio emphasises, "The city to live in is a theme that Ance has been pursuing for some time with the 'Città in Scena' project. We want to respond to the needs of citizens, highlighting the urgency of updating dated town planning regulations (1942) and service standards (1968). The real challenge? Balancing a free market with urban attractiveness, without forgetting who really makes cities work'.

Governance thus becomes the key to creating liveable cities, where services, mobility and opportunities are available to all, breaking down inequalities and promoting social inclusion.

Matteo Robiglio, head of real estate development at Homes4All, suggests focusing on concrete projects and cites the mission of his benefit, activating dormant private assets, starting house by house, to gradually develop industrial solutions that reduce costs and promote economies of scale in affordable housing. Among other things, in line with the policies already promoted by cooperatives and in particular by Legacoop Abitanti (which next week organised a meeting entitled "the Europeanaffordable housing plan versus Piano Casa Italia).

Ance and Assimpredil, with the aim of 'relaunching the Italian city model', insist on the polarity between Rome and Milan, also listening to the voices of former mayors Francesco Rutelli and Gabriele Albertini. And Albertini intervenes, highlighting how the Expo was a showcase for a Milan that had already transformed itself with at least 20 years' work, having been able to attract 30 billion euros in investment before the big event in 2015. And the Ance study centre's research on metropolitan cities confirms that Milan, although very attractive, faces a housing crisis, which extends beyond the housing shortage, involving growing social and territorial fragmentation. Here the solution seems to lie in expansion to the metropolitan area. In short: if governance does not integrate economic growth and access to services, cities risk becoming places where a few win and many lose.

The issue of work and residence is central. Davide Agazzi from From highlights how the shift to an advanced tertiary model accentuates the separation between residential and work areas, with growing inequalities between centre and periphery. Agazzi suggests that urban policies should treat housing and work together as interdependent components to prevent inequalities from becoming more entrenched. Lavinia Pastore of Open Impact on the other hand emphasises the importance of actually measuring the impacts of urban policies, stating that measuring impact is the only way to ensure that changes are effective. Here governance has to come to terms with reality and not with momentary consensus.

Compared to Milan, Rome, with its administrative vastness and the complexity of coordination between the various levels of government, continues to focus on effective land management. Themes supported by data and recounted in recent weeks at the 'Rome in the World' exhibition set up at the Maxxi and supported by Ance-Roma Acer itself.

In this game on the revitalisation of cities, the role of mayors is central: their interventions and the measurement of social and environmental impact must be integrated into non-sectoral budgets, creating a governance model that goes beyond housing planning and becomes an engine of fair and inclusive development. Housing can be the engine, able to accelerate policies and perhaps even activate new economies.

Paola PierottiCollaboratrice
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Luogo: Roma
Lingue parlate: italiano, inglese
Argomenti: architettura, città
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