The coordination of the residents’ committees of the historic center of Catania, with a note, reiterates its position regarding the establishment of new urban pedestrian areas and limited traffic zones. “If we agree with the need to develop a mobility and parking plan that takes into account connections with public transport and the need to identify new parking areas, as well as the protection of areas intended for parking for disabled people and residents , contained in the motion, we would like to underline that in the recent past suspensions and memoranda of understanding have served to slow down virtuous processes aimed at ensuring an orderly structure of the territory in favor of particular commercial interests that are certainly short-sighted”, declares the coordination.
“In the process of pedestrianizing Piazza Federico di Svevia, the mayor did not shy away from listening to businesses and residents. On this occasion we share with Trantino and his council the model of the historic center and pedestrianization inspired by the European policies that they encourage sustainable and healthy cities, the pedestrian city to be precise. Our support for new pedestrianizations – certainly not a given given what has happened in the past – is without ifs or buts reduce urban vehicular traffic, improve the quality of life and perceived safety, reduce air and noise pollution and protect the historical-monumental heritage of the central areas of the city does not belong to residents or to owners of commercial activities nor certainly to questionable trade associations that try to blackmail the city with instrumental ideological positions”.
“The historic center is a public heritage which constitutes a deposit of monumental, historical and cultural assets of unparalleled economic and identity value, a World Heritage Site as declared by UNESCO. The use of this Heritage can only be broad and not at the service of particular interests and cannot ignore its protection, under penalty of irreversible impoverishment which has been underway for some time. However, Catania is not a city ready for concertation, nor for the new culture of quality of urban areas and widespread entrepreneurship in Europe and in the country, where the new trends in urban commerce have already established themselves with the development of new formats for offering integrated urban goods and services, just think of the relaunch of the short food supply chain, the decline of hypermarkets, the return to attractive and competitive neighborhoods”, continues the note.
“We are still feeling the resistance coming from business owners, as happened at certain times at the discussion table with the traders in Piazza Federico di Svevia. The growing decline in the quality of the city’s urban center which also occurred in due to the movement of the exchange games to extra-urban places, we can therefore only entrust the process of closing the historic center to the mayor Trantino and his council, aware that where there is a need for corrective measures during the work, this Administration will have to be ready. to listening and the necessary interventions. We applaud this new phase of municipal policies and we want to contribute, convinced that the PAs can start major urban redevelopment and regeneration works, favored by the resources made available by the PNRR, starting from the reduction of the process of environmental degradation and unsustainability generated by the spread of the night life economy in the historic centre, without respecting the rules”.
“We therefore await the ordinances following the pedestrianization which must contribute to raising the quality standard of the urban center and the protection of the public space, the pedestrian city precisely – concludes the note – Let us restore from the point of view of administrative procedures and without further delay protected areas”.
