Milan. A hotbed of experimentation in the transformation of post-industrial areas

The paper discusses the relationship between Milan and the second life of post-industrial areas in its metropolitan region. Indeed, Milan is a city that has undergone significant transformation, driven by factors related to its growth in the post-World War II years. The relocation of the industrial belt and the modification of infrastructural frameworks have been at the centre of the political and scientific debate during the last 50 years since this topic has required a gradual mutation of large disused bubbles within the city. On one side, the Milan metropolitan region is featured by endless conurbations pressing green lands, resulting in fragmented patchwork of surfaces intercluded by suburban expansion, infrastructural lines, and a tinier network of post-industrial areas. On the other side, extensive and decommissioned sites have been marking the developmental trajectory of the city to date and still represent one of the crucial challenges for its future, considering the environmental (climate change) and social (right to the city) roles they can play. In this perspective, the recent urban story of Milan appears symbiotically related to the past and future regeneration of its post-industrial sites. In light of this, the paper selects from among the plethora of post-industrial transformations a few emblematic experiences which help to debate how Milan became a hotbed of experimentation and how the perspective and the needs of the city transformation could be judged. The Bicocca district, one of the few completed transformations (1985-2005), is a representative “saga” of the sharp debate animating the transformation of post-industrial sites. The Bicocca project (Gregotti Associati) is one of the last points of encounter between urban planning and architectural design, and today, it offers significant elements of reflection on the social and climatic crisis, such as housing affordability and heat islands. Moreover, the paper discusses two types of ongoing transformation processes affecting post-industrial sites. One regards projects born from public-private negotiations, such as the cases of Porta Vittoria, Porta Romana, Bovisa’s Goccia, and the former Falck areas. The other considers the projects originated from international competitions, where the “Reinventing Cities” platform promoted by the C40 league, with its mandate to stimulate sustainable development and celebrate innovative solutions to environmental and urban challenges, plays the most significant role. The paper’s outcomes are to discuss which design themes are emerging from the past and ongoing architectural projects and processes of urban transformations in post-industrial sites and reflect on the strategic way in which contexts, architecture, citizens, and sustainable environments can find innovative and harmonious forms of coexistence.