Naples, the future of the Business Center is being discussed in the Urban Planning Commission

Naples's City Planning Commission is discussing the future of the Business District. Neapolitan political groups are considering a change of use to mixed uses.

Change the intended use of the Centro Direzionale by creating a mixed-use development and proposing a new model of urban development that attracts new business opportunities.

According to a note from the Municipality of Naples, this is what emerged today in the first meeting of the Urban Planning Commission, chaired by Massimo Pepe, on the theme of the redevelopment project of the eastern area of ​​the city, with the participation of Councilor Laura Lieto.

A series of meetings, the next one with the Infrastructure Councillor Edoardo Cosenza and the last one with the Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, will precede the City Council called to approve the resolution of direction that the delegate of the Municipality, the director of the General Urban Planning area, will bring to the conference of services. For the Councillor for Urban Planning Laura Lieto the eastern area will be “a fundamental test bed for judging the administration's ability to carry out the urban transformation of the city, just as the urban transformation of the 90s was triggered in the western area and in Bagnoli”.

“The eastern area includes areas with great potential, first and foremost Piazza Garibaldi, which is configured as the main gateway to the city and the main intermodal transport hub of the city, and the Centro Direzionale, designed in the 80s and which over time has shown serious sustainability problems. – it is underlined in the note – OToday, with the crisis of the office park and the lack of residential space, the Centro Direzionale has already been a desertified area since the early afternoon, where however the Municipality maintains ownership of about fifty hectares of land. In this way, the eastern area can become the starting point of a transformation that focuses on the ecological transition and the promotion of functions that attract young people and new job opportunities!.”

“In this process – concluded Lieto – both the resources of the PNRR and the mobilization of investments from the market will be essential, and the contribution of the commission and the municipal council will be crucial to define the strategic lines and objectives to which the urban planners will then give substance and content”. 

In the following debate Massimo Cilenti (Napoli Libera) called for a reasoning that starts from the theme of accessibility and promotes a synergic comparison with other bodies, associations and the territory to define the future of the area. Antonio Bassolino (Misto) reiterated his idea that urban planning is the true mission of the Municipality. It is necessary to focus on the meeting between public urban planning and a mixed economic model, public/private, capable of relaunching a strategic area for the city.

Mixed and broader functions, conceived over the course of an entire day and built through the right investments, can give new life to the Centro Direzionale. On this, as already repeatedly requested, the Council must be able to make its proposals. Rosario Palumbo (Cambiamo!) proposed encouraging new uses of the public spaces of the Centro Direzionale, dedicated both to sports and free time and to the possible relocation of university offices.

For Fulvio Fucito (Manfredi Mayor), the commission and the Council must assume an important responsibility for the change of the Centro Direzionale, providing a clear direction. The mixed-use proposal is to be considered, at the moment, the most appreciable. Ciro Borriello (Movimento 5 Stelle) hoped for an advanced vision, which takes into account the time necessary for the implementation of the project.

The issue of the transformation of the eastern area is extremely delicate and requires an enormous responsibility, with respect to which the Council must be free from conditioning. Rosario Andreozzi (Napoli Solidale-Europa Verde) recalled the emergencies of the city, divided between poverty and unemployment.

Starting the discussion of a change from the eastern area is positive, but it is necessary to outline an idea of ​​development for the entire city and the metropolitan area, avoiding proceeding by compartments and involving citizens in a public debate. Gennaro Acampora (Democratic Party) shared the working method that will lead to structural changes that will be visible only in the long term. For this reason, it is important to insist on the theme of accessibility and attraction of investments capable of meeting the new vocations of the area.