Di Blasio: “Not a single solution, but several possible alternatives. The participatory process will involve local stakeholders”
Venice and Chioggia, 12 December 2023 – The regeneration of port waterfronts in Venice and Chioggia continues with the involvement of stakeholders. Following the assignment of the technical and economic feasibility study to the temporary grouping of companies formed by Arup, Cecchetto&Associati and Proap, the Port Authority has launched a programme of technical and consultation meetings with port operators, local authorities and representatives of the two cities.
The project is expected to produce a general masterplan – based on the guidelines developed by the Port Authority in collaboration with the IUAV University of Venice in 2023 – whose purpose is to link areas that are currently poorly interconnected so as to boost synergies between port operations, urban and residential activities. Indeed, the ultimate goal is to design attractive spaces suitable for a variety of social and production functions beneficial both to the port and to the ordinary activities of the city. Special attention shall be paid to accessibility and parking spaces for vehicles, also with the aim of increasing usability by pedestrians.
The designers will have 180 days to draw up their proposal.
“As we approach the delicate but necessary process of regenerating port waterfronts, we have chosen to give priority to transparency and information sharing,” says AdSPMAS President Fulvio Lino Di Blasio. “For this reason, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, we have started an open dialogue with the territory from the very start, and we met as early as November with the newly established Waterfront Committee and some concessionaires to ensure that the needs expressed by all stakeholders were considered in the project.”
On the specific issues raised by citizens, President Di Blasio specifies: “The project is now in its initial stages and is expected to produce the so-called ‘alternative design concepts’ provided for by law by May 2024. In dialogue with the territory, we’ll determine whether any of those proposals is worthy of entering the next phase of final and executive design. To date, there is no proposal on the table to discuss, let alone modify or block.”