Florence, November 10th, 2023

Today is World Urban Planning Day (Nov. 8th), and the 20th edition of UrbanPromo is being held in Florence these days. The opening day was held inside the Former Medici Barn, now a regenerated building of the Fondazione della Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, a seminar organized with the Ministry of Tourism in light of the nation’s new strategic plan on tourism 2023-2027. As Secretary General at the Ministry of Tourism Dr. Barbara Casagrande reminded us, reasoning about urban planning leads to reasoning about tourism, a tourism that constitutes 13% of GDP in a country with 59 UNESCO cultural and intangible sites. Elena di Raco (Enit) provided additional data: Europe covers 61% of world tourism and Italy is in the top 5 as an international destination (fourth in tourism revenues). In the opening greetings, INU President Michele Talia pointed out that Urban Planning is not only soil but also economy and society, and how the transition forces us to give answers and revise agendas and initiatives such as also this day marked by the Ministry of Tourism’s focus on land policies. An articulate speech was then given by the Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella who pointed out that it is necessary to give substance to the concept of sustainability and make it cross-cutting in public policies, not only environmental. In these intense and difficult days in Tuscany, it emerges how the anthropization of the land involves challenges and responses as current procedures and resources are inadequate. It becomes a priority to secure the land. On this aspect he recalls how in the 1980s some administrators were challenged for the construction of the Bilancino dam but today we can say that that very dam saves in the summer from drought and in the winter from the overflowing of the Arno. Integration between protection and land use is needed. Florence, Mayor Nardella reminds us, has a strong tourist presence, and in such a dense context space is vital. Hence the challenge to regeneration without increasing volumes but transforming places. 15 million tourists a year are concentrated in the historic center, and this is not sustainable. Choices have been made in the past to take some public and social functions out of the historic center with the aim of making the suburbs more lively. A good idea, but without giving an answer to the center that was being deprived of these functions and invaded by tourism. What vocation do we give to the historic center? Without visionary and strategic urban planning, we cannot change cities and provide answers to current challenges. If we do not have clear content we create ugly containers. Mayor Nardella reminds how in Europe the Urban Agenda is not the priority but, remembering David Sassoli, Europe is a history of cities not states, cities gave birth to languages. Cities are social laboratories and the history of cities allow us to build a sustainable future.

A day full of discussion and contributions that brought together public, private, institutions, research, professionals and businesses, and where an important multidisciplinary approach emerged. On this day we were asked to bring a contribution, an experience: how digital enters the territory and tourism. It was an opportunity to present the PolisEye project and launch the contents of its evolution with the recently launched Sustainable4Cities project. Thanks to the organizers and the scientific committee of UrbanPromo and Urbit.