Councilor Francesca Lucherini illustrated the adoption of the implementation plan for the former Cadorna barracks “aimed at redeveloping it thanks to the project of a square divided into two blocks, equipped with greenery and a link between via Petrarca and via Garibaldi. I would like to point out that this plan is also the result of a participatory process that took place between August 2022 and January 2023: ‘Cadorna: ideas to put in the streets’, managed by the Narrazioni Urbane association and capable of triggering a reflection collective on this strategic portion in the heart of the city. The result of the synthesis is first of all a space for pedestrians, paved, tree-lined, capable of enhancing, also from an architectural point of view, the buildings and porticoes present, of restoring a valuable image to residents and users of the services, of increase the environmental quality of the historic center and ‘soft’ mobility, to be the urban planning link for the surrounding areas. The plan includes further access gates which will be added to those in via Porta Buia, via Garibaldi and via Petrarca. High rotation car parks and car parks for residents are maintained in their number. To absorb the ‘at ground level’ parking spaces destined to disappear, a multi-storey car park is planned which will be built parallel to the municipal offices and will be reachable thanks to a road section between Via Petrarca and Via Garibaldi: to create it we will exploit the current volumes to be demolished. The other buildings that will constitute the perimeter of the square will be the multifunctional one with the glass façade, the new employment center to replace the former command building which will allow pedestrian passage onto Via Garibaldi via a portico, the restaurant bar where once there was the guardhouse.”
For Alessandro Caneschi, the participatory process “was born flawed by the fact that the key points of the project were already established by the municipal administration. What were citizens able to choose? This thing heralded as incredible was a missed opportunity that does not restore dignity to this space. I also fear that the urban planning will remain a book of dreams, perhaps the employment center will be built even if we have been hearing about it for months without anything being achieved”.
Considerations shared by Michele Menchetti who highlighted how “talking about ‘isolated’ people seems to project us into an ‘American’ dimension, perhaps to please the mayor’s connection with the United States. This practice resembles a mere extension to 2026 of the employment center.”
“Today – noted Marco Donati – councilor Francesca Lucherini is left alone, at least given the absence of the mayor whose opinion I would have liked to know. The project is not particularly innovative and exciting, it did not benefit from the contribution of professionals, including foreign ones, through a competition of ideas, it keeps unchanged the closure of the House of Cultures which was a public meeting space for citizens and which is missing today”.
Francesco Romizi: “It escapes me whether the urban mobility plan has been updated in light of the provision of the new car park. I say this in light of the fact that parking in the center attracts traffic while we should be working towards a greener city. The multi-storey is an anachronistic choice: this is enough to express a negative opinion. There were enough parking spaces for the residents.”
For Simon Pietro Palazzo “the councilor is not left alone. This project, indeed, is shared by the majority: it frees via Porta Buia from daily vehicular pressure, increases the greenery, gives a signal of our vision of the city, maintains attention for the residents, enhances the monument placed in memory of the Cadorna barracks and of a important moment in the history of the city”.
Pietro Perticai: “in city centres, parking is never enough. If there is a covered multi-storey building, users are helped even if there are bad weather conditions.”
In the second vote the practice obtained 16 votes in favor and 7 against.
