Reggio Emilia «We wholeheartedly ask the people of Reggio Emilia to participate in the silent sit-in through the historic center next Saturday 11 May from 3pm to 4pm in Piazza Del Monte. To the citizens who love their city and who believe that it can improve, I make an appeal: participate in large numbers, show your face, it is not too late to reverse the trend. We are waiting for you.” This is the appeal of “MiglioraRE” group, a group of traders, residents, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens that was formed last December, after the New Year’s Eve brawl, and which received new impetus after the brawl last Sunday, May 5th, when again in the San Rocco block chairs fly and bottles are thrown between two factions of adult foreigners. Saturday’s protest is a way to say enough to episodes of this type. “The sit-in will be silent not because we have nothing to say, indeed we have a lot to communicate, but to attract attention.”
After the request for the San Rocco block to regain the dedicated dynamic supervision, yesterday in presenting itself publicly the group – led by Marco Merola of the “Casimiro” shop and Andrea Bottazzi of the “Casa e Cucina” housewares shop in via Calderini – raised the bar by presenting a more ambitious focus on the revitalization of the entire historic center. The group has specified that it refuses the label of committee, to distance itself from past experiences.
«Ours is not the usual committee of disgruntled traders, who want to grumble rather than propose. We want to build.” The name “MiglioraRE” is programmatic. «The historic center has been ill for some time, but we are convinced that it can be cured: it is not too late. Let’s think about what Piazza Fontanesi once was and how beautiful it is now. Change is possible, simple precautions and care would be enough to ensure that people go back to working, living and meeting in the centre.” As happens in neighboring cities (Modena, Parma), where on summer evenings people swarm in large numbers in the centre. «In Reggio, however, it feels like being in a dormitory. Unfortunately, an urban agglomeration thrives if a balance is created.”
«As a native of Reggio I agree! You’re right!” exclaimed a 70-year-old passing through the square. A comment that brought many smiles; a tangible signal that everyone agrees on the main systems, but putting them into practice is another story. The proposals of “MiglioraRE” are different: «New interventions, financing, redevelopments, a calendar of widespread events and planned for the long term (not just at the weekend and at the last minute, but all year round and on weekdays) can go a long way towards avoiding the bleak vision of abandoned shops. There is a need for synergies between public and private, to bring back quality craftsmanship, to recover vacant properties perhaps by ensuring incentives for those who rent to students.” Without forgetting the priorities: safety and urban decorum.
«Is security a matter of perception? Perhaps, but even the mere perception of insecurity is serious, it has the effect of discouraging and distancing. Regarding urban decoration, the situation is there for all to see: so far we have looked at other areas of the city, it’s time to put the hexagon back at the centre.” To think about this mountain of aspects, “MiglioraRE” asks «the new municipal administration that will take office to sit around a table and discuss». To the observation that a trade table already exists, Merola and Bottazzi’s response was prompt: «Yes but it doesn’t work. For the simple fact that the current table is one-way: the council tells the shopkeepers what it intends to do, without asking them or listening to them. They present us with a packaged and unmodifiable package, perhaps based on a study commissioned by the expert in question and costing thousands of euros. No one, however, has ever asked the opinion of us shopkeepers, who spend 8 to 12 hours a day in the centre. Does this seem normal to you?”.
