Carnevali explains his Bergamo to the CISL

Bergamo. Elena Carnevali sits at the CISL table in Bergamo and talks about his vision of the city between housing, youth and social welfare policies, but also mobility and solutions to concretely imagine the future of the capital and, with it, that of its citizens. The centre-left candidate, welcomed by Francesco Corna, general secretary of the via Carnovali unionguest of the first of the two meetings linked to the vote on 8 and 9 June, which will also see the competitor involved Andrea Pezzotta, on Monday 13 May, brings to the table a very precise perspective of Bergamo for the next five years and does so by displaying a series of data that touch on some of the major issues that concern the government of the territory, prompted by the requests and wishes of the union. What unites the narrative, despite different sections of argument, is the analysis of the processes that finds its origin in a precise photograph of today, to then arrive at imagining the strategies of tomorrow.

The House

“One of the greatest difficulties is that of accessing the asset considered primary par excellence, the house – like this Horn –. Especially the so-called “public housing”, today defined by the Lombardy Regional legislation “housing services”. Those who struggle more than others are young couples, workers who come from outside the Region, foreign citizens. The phenomenon of short-term rentals, and together with this also the purchase costs and unaffordable prices for employed work, also accompanied by the demand of economic self-sustainability of the management of public housing, are concepts at the basis of the lack of maintenance of the public housing stock also in Bergamo which, at the moment, foresees a strong expansion of the private sector in the management of public housing, thus reducing the supply and availability of housing assignable to social fee.

The Municipality of Bergamo owns approximately 1,220 homes, of which approximately 760 assigned and already employed at social rent, 85 at “moderate” rent and 75 at agreed rentmanaged compulsorily by the private company “MM Metropolitana di Milano” through an agreement with the Municipality, with the aim of using part of the proceeds from the rents managed in the Municipality of Bergamo for ordinary and extraordinary maintenance, necessary for the maintenance of the assets already occupied as well as the recovery of approximately 300 unassigned vacant homes to be repurposed to put them back into assignment.”

“In Bergamo there is a structural and non-emergency condition, substantially dictated, as happens in much of our country, by the demographic crisis – so Elena Carnevali –. The objective is certainly to try to find strategies to escape the demographic ice age. Bergamo is experiencing a period of countertrend: the last three years have in fact seen a positive trend, with 2% of assets, even if the balance between newborns and people coming to send is still negative. It is necessary to generate policies that satisfy young people, also helping them to return to live in the city or to stay, through initiatives that favor housing policies and, consequently, family policies. We are hungry for accessible homes and this applies not only to those experiencing difficult situations, but also to those who are part of the so-called gray zone. The house is the asset that is most sought after.

For this reason we have implemented a series of important strategies that start from a new PGT which has set the focus on public residential construction, considering it a standard and also providing for accommodation linked to residential construction. Today we have 4000 homes abandoned and waiting to be fixed up. In fact, the new Territorial Plan envisages increasing the share of social housing from 10 to 20 percent. And of this share, consider 8% and 12% rented on the market, at an agreed rent, thus encouraging public construction. Monetizing this 12% would allow the generation of 6.8 million euros which could be used to purchase building stock or convert housing.

For many, this idea represents mere demagogy, but not for me which, on the contrary, is a source of pride: a shared and taken up by the city of Mantua today which, as we intended, has chosen to make 1 million euros available for young couples, what we have defined as the “youth living fund”. Little demagogy, I would say, rather concrete politics. Young people ask us for a home, but also for services, places for co-working and sharing, even for studying, as well as a city suited to their age. And in all of this, what I would like to say is that you cannot be federalists in Rome but on the other hand not entrust the management, for example, of short-term rentals to the Municipalities. Unfortunately we do not have tools to establish a sustainability ceiling: this request was made during the discussion on the budget law but, unfortunately, we all know how it ended”.

Young people

“Twenty years from now, the number of Bergamo residents in our province will be higher than the current one, with a growth of almost 2% (from 1,102,997 to 1,124,935) – so Corna -, but the young people will “collapse”. and people of “working age”: the population between 0 and 14 years old will drop by almost 15% (from 150 thousand and 132 thousand), those between 15 and 64 years old will lose almost 80 thousand units, from the current 711 thousand residents to the future 639 thousand. However, the share of over 65s will grow dramatically: an increase of 46.48%. We are thus rapidly approaching an increasingly older society and an increasingly smaller active population.”

“Young people and family are elements closely linked to each other, which provide transversal policies – explains Carnevali -. The initiatives we want to implement for citizens do not represent a bonus, such as those relating to access to housing, but rather a structural project. Another major issue on which we must and want to think is that linked to the career orientation of young people: all the data tells us that without good training you can’t go anywhere. The collaboration pact that has been created in the area and the meeting between supply and demand are two of the tools that we must continue to adopt to also guarantee the professional future of the new generations”. It is on baby gang phenomenon, he specifies: “The Municipality has done a lot with the “Giovani Onde” project, engaging them and encouraging the inclusion of many young people, even if the work is not finished. We must continue to commit ourselves by promoting sharing and consultation policies also with the third sector. Moreover, the city is conditioned by the fact of being an attractive centre, open to all those who arrive there, not only to the young people who live there, but also to those arriving from the province”.

Transport and concerted policies

“On conciliation policies, in the program we have included that the local public transport will be extended, in terms of free, to children up to 13 years of age. Today it is up to 10 years. We will apply a discount of up to 80% for Under 13s. We have promoted access to nursery schools, we are thinking of projects for ordinary school time but also for the summer period through widespread structured initiatives. 5 kindergartens were redeveloped, making them new, 140 more places were created, 21 million euros were invested in making schools safe, grounded ideas to increase bids for the extended time. Today the Municipality invests 22 million euros for social policies: when I was a councilor I administered half of this amount. For the next five years we want to create new models and practices of community and generative welfare, building networks made up of effective protagonism”.