Rossello (FI): “Pdl on transparency of urban planning to adapt to international standards”. Quartapelle (PD): “Strengthening technical and thinking skills in a metropolitan key”. Gelmini (We Moderate): “In Milan, eliminating the city council’s authority over city planning would be wrong.” Pastorella (Action): “Transparency and participation start with data and monitoring”
“Recent events in Milan have brought an important theme back to the center of the debate: the need to firmly affirm the principles of legality and public responsibility in urban transformation. Regardless of the results of the legal investigation, critical issues clearly emerged in the decision-making process regarding several urban planning projects in the capital of Lombardy.
This is why we believe it is important to strive for transparency and legality in urban planning: real tools are needed to ensure that choices in the area take into account clear, verifiable criteria and respect the public interest. My bill introduces operational measures, starting with a national code of ethics, that are binding on administrators, designers and investors. The Code defines minimum standards of behavior and encourages a culture of responsibility inspired by the most advanced international models. I believe that adapting to these standards is not only the right choice, but also an indispensable condition to guarantee urban development”. These are the words of Cristina Rossello, Forza Italia MEP at the European Union Policy Commission, at the Cnpr forum “Urban planning and legality, for transparent and sustainable cities of the future” promoted by the Pension Fund of Accountants and Accounting Experts, chaired by Luigi Pagliuca.
A more modern vision of the role of local government is the hope of Lia Procopio Quartapelle, (Democratic Party) vice president of the Commission for Foreign and Community Affairs: “Local government must return to a governmental role with a medium-term vision, as is the case in Europe’s main urban areas. Milan must learn to think on a metropolitan scale: only by considering the entire vast territory can we effectively deal with and regulate territorial phenomena. We need to strengthen technical competence in the municipal machinery. Processes cannot be managed in an increasingly complex manner without solid and professional public control. Citizen participation must be strategic ally, helping to improve decision-making from an early stage. Digitalization must guarantee fast access to documents, traceability of decisions, and timeliness.
Mariastella Gelmini, senator of the Noi Moderati Constitutional Affairs Commission at Palazzo Madama: “Construction in Italy is worth a third of GDP and employs three million workers: a decisive sector for the country’s development. In Milan, the capital of the national economy, intervention must be urgent: thousands of families are still blocked from having their homes due to legal investigations. Discussions between the Municipality and the Prosecutor’s Office are necessary to clarify responsibilities and protect those who buy in good faith. Citizens cannot be the ones who have to bear the consequences. The problem is broader: in big cities, housing costs continues to increase and the middle class is no longer able to live stably, thereby triggering urban depopulation. A real national and local housing policy is needed. The European Union has also included housing in its strategy: it is time for Italy to do the same, with structured housing plans and the involvement of local governments becoming protagonists again: cities are governed by political responsibility, not just by administrative procedures.”
Giulia Pastorella, Deputy for Action at the Transport Commission, spoke about the regulatory reorganization in Montecitorio: “Transparency and participation start with data and monitoring. We need a clear and accessible system, based on a digital platform that allows citizens to understand the status of practices in real-time. The government must apply the principles of digitalization and “only once”, avoiding repeated requests and guaranteeing simplified procedures. The Milan case has exposed a big problem: fragmented and inconsistent legislation. Urban planning and construction still follow separate paths, but today it is clear that national reorganization is needed to unify the rules. Only in this way can transparency, fixed times and responsibility in the decision-making process be guaranteed: regeneration: this must be the rule, while new development is the exception, through interventions with a constant volume or vertical development that avoids land consumption by the government and the private sector”.
During the debate, moderated by Anna Maria Belforte, the professional point of view was expressed by Eleonora Linda Lecchi, accountant and legal auditor of ODCEC Bergamo: “Given the current news in Milan, it is an absolute priority to guarantee more participatory and transparent urban planning in our cities, without compromising the time and quality of projects. We have a duty to promote more sustainable cities and more livable suburbs, protecting the landscape and the quality of life of our citizens who want to carry out sustainable development in city centers, we must have a specific aim to regenerate the most degraded and popular areas without falling into the risk of gentrification”.
The conclusion was entrusted to Paolo Longoni, member of the board of the National Institute of Accounting Experts: “I express my appreciation to those who have ruled out the introduction of new regulations. We live in a country where there are already too many regulations and where we try to respond to the needs and exigencies of citizens by creating new laws. Those who believe that there is no need for new regulations are saying something wise. Every time the legislator creates new regulations, he should have the obligation to repeal at least two of them so that the proliferation of 11 thousand or more laws will eventually reach a limit time. Also noteworthy is the reference to the need to simplify procedures. We are a complicated country and we are very good at complicating our lives even more. Simplifying the procedures of every activity involving different authorities would be the best solution.”
(photo: clockwise from left Cristina Rossello, Lia Procopio Quartapelle, Giulia Pastorella and Mariastella Gelmini)
