Getting about and staying cool in Milan? The doubts of environmental economist Croci

The emergence of heat islands has dealt a final blow to Milan’s environmental situation. The battle to protect the environment in the Lombard capital is a long-standing one. In the not-too-distant past, every effort was made to defeat Milan’s bane: smog. It began in January 1978 when, during ‘Portobello’ (Tortora’s TV programme), tram driver Piero Diacono put forward the surreal proposal to ‘tear down the Turchino’ in order to clear the fog from the Po Valley. The fog has all but vanished; persistent PM10 has been compounded by a tropical climate, and the Turchino remains firmly in place. The City Council, under the councillor for green spaces and the environment, Elena Grandi, has drawn up the strategy for the Green Spaces and Landscape Plan, “a strategic tool aimed at guiding policies for the protection and expansion of urban green spaces in the medium to long term”, as the document states. Yet another pipe dream? Il Foglio put the question to Edoardo Croci, an environmental economist, lecturer at Bocconi University and former councillor in the Moratti administration. The man, so to speak, who invented the Ecopass, the father of Area C. “Let me say straight away that, both as an economist and as president of Italia Nostra, I am in favour of strengthening environmental policies, whilst being well aware that they must be reconciled with the city’s development: these are fundamental policies if managed well. It is the only viable path, as certain cities around the world have demonstrated. A path followed by Paris, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and now New York too. Milan is Italy’s only global city and a very attractive one at that, but when it comes to strategic issues we have some weaknesses – in services and environmental protection – with traffic being a major hindrance.”

But is ‘tactical urban planning’ enough to turn things around for the environment? ‘The answer requires significant investment: in public transport and in the underground network. In recent years, following the completion of Lines 4 and 5, only the extension of a few lines has been finalised: it has been more than 10 years since any new underground lines were planned. There are access routes into the city that are currently not served by the underground. Furthermore, the various modes of transport in the metropolitan area must be fully integrated, starting with the rail network, via Trenord and FS. It is also necessary to continue building cycle paths, but not in a piecemeal manner”.

The issue of logistics – with its 150,000 parcels delivered every day and tens of thousands of vans delivering goods to shops – is a recurring theme. There is no logistics plan. “There are two key mobility issues in Milan: commuting and logistics. Milan is a metropolitan city, and the cars on the roads do not belong to Milanese residents but to people who come here to work. Any solution for the future must provide alternatives for these people, starting with public transport. On the logistics front – partly due to the online world – we are talking about a well-organised sector. Some operators use electric vehicles in the city, but there is a fragmented sector that still relies on traditional vehicles and empty lorries. We need regulations and an environmental shift by the major logistics groups, which has already begun to some extent.”

Let us turn to the concrete measures set out in the Plan proposed by Councillor Grandi, our perennial interlocutors. Among other things, there is this idea of removing the tarmac in certain areas, which sits at odds with what has been done in Via Torino, where the paving blocks (which allow some water to seep through) were removed and replaced with coloured tarmac. “This is an important issue because it concerns the heatwaves we have endured – including this summer. In the city, there are certain heat islands, partly due to the presence of tarmac, where temperatures reach 40 degrees, making them practically unliveable. The most effective solution is to have more green spaces and permeable ground, not sealed with tarmac. We need to change the existing urban fabric; the solution lies in more trees and more greenery, in line with European directives, whilst also avoiding the sealing of the ground. Of course, this cannot be approached in a purely symbolic way, by focusing only on small areas. And in fact, here in Milan we continue to seal the ground, whilst what is needed are vast permeable areas.”

Thinking about the city’s future, what direction should it take? “This Plan is heading in the right direction but comes too late, at the end of the term of office; it has neither resources nor binding commitments, and does not address town planning regulations – it is merely a programme of good intentions. I am convinced that environmental policies must be linked to urban, economic and social policies. The environmental aspect has a tangible impact on urban quality,” concludes Croci.