Zaia: "Venice as a city-state, not a utopia but a necessity

Venice is, in the universal imagination, the most fascinating open-air museum in the world. A definition that alone conveys its extraordinary uniqueness and that, in light of its history and role, would call for special legal recognition. But it would be reductive to stop here. Because Venice is a living city, inhabited by 50 thousand citizens, made up of people, relations, institutions, economy.

It is the capital of one of the country's most dynamic regions, heir to a Republic that in terms of extension, cultural influence and geopolitical weight was second only to the Roman Empire. This millenary heritage has given rise to the Venice of today, a World Heritage Site, an absolute symbol on the global scene, a destination dreamt of by millions of visitors and the jewel in the crown of a tourism system that generates over 73 million presences each year in Veneto. A unique identity, deeply Italian and at the same time universal, that makes Venice the symbolic and cultural fulcrum of the entire Adriatic area.

However, its administration is today bridled by a regulatory system designed for ordinary urban realities, incapable of grasping its exceptionality. It is time, albeit belatedly, to recognise that Venice is an outsized city, which needs equally extraordinary institutional treatment. To speak of Venice as a 'City-State' is not to propose a romantic reference to the Serenissima, nor is it to formulate an ideological provocation. It is rather the identification of a concrete, urgent and necessary way to ensure the city adequate tools for its survival and revival. There is no shortage of precedents in Europe: Berlin, Brussels, Hamburg and Vienna are virtuous examples of city-states, endowed with special statutes, capable of combining administrative autonomy and international responsibility in complex and identifiably strong urban contexts.

For Venice, I am convinced that today more than ever we need special powers, dedicated governance, an autonomy that allows us to intervene effectively on real problems. Let us think of the issue of tourism: massive flows concentrated in a few hours, in a fragile environmental context, cause congestion, pressure on space, growing discomfort for residents. A specific regulatory framework would allow intelligent and modern measures: compulsory digital booking, flexible access quotas, dynamic tariffs, direct dialogue with cruise passengers and global platforms. Today these instruments are not easily activated. And what about depopulation? Venetians continue to leave the city because living there is increasingly difficult: the high cost of living, the scarcity of services, and the pressure of tourism make everyday life unbearable.

A special statute could introduce tax breaks for long-term renters, targeted incentives for those who choose to stay, stricter rules for short-term rentals. What is needed is a residence policy calibrated to the specificity of Venice, aimed especially at young people. On the environmental front, then, the Lagoon still lacks a clear direction: scattered competences, overlapping bodies, fragmented interventions. An autonomous lagoon authority with defined responsibilities could deal systematically with dredging, sandbanks, hydrogeological risk and tidal management. The same applies to mobility: here it is not a question of road traffic, but of logistics on water, to be made electric, sustainable and efficient. It is essential to think of a transport network built on the needs of residents, and not only on those of visitors. But to do so requires the ability to make decisions, not having to wait for permission from Rome for every intervention. The world is dotted with cities with special statutes: Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Hamburg. If there is one Italian city that deserves similar recognition, it is Venice. And looking also at the national context, we can think of a model that takes into account the experiences of Milan, already an international reference, or of other historic cities that preserve the prestige of their past.