Sicily has one billion and 149 million euros available from the “Pnrr” to finance urban regeneration interventions, divided as follows: 214.7 million for 9 projects admitted to the “Pinqua” program, 513 million for integrated urban plans and 421.6 million for the Small Municipalities program of the Interior Ministry, to which are added resources allocated by the Mef, the Complementary National Plan and the EIB.
But, according to the elaboration of the National Ance Study Center, following the latest revision of the “Pnrr”, approximately 1 billion euros of investments in urban regeneration in Sicily risk falling out of the Plan.
In detail, these are 360 projects (253 urban regeneration, equal to 70%, and 107 interventions of integrated urban plans, equal to 30%) for a value of 922.1 million euros (420.7 million urban regeneration, equal to 46%, and 501.5 million of integrated urban plans, equal to 54%).
Projects for which the Meloni government has ensured coverage, but which, in the meantime, could suffer delays in their implementation, considering that the Municipalities are short of resources.
The national president of ANCE, Federica Brancaccio, speaking at “Cities on stage, Festival of urban regeneration”, the second stage of the national tour dedicated exclusively to Sicily, underway at Castello Maniace in Syracuse, declared: “Urban regeneration is the future of this country. It is on the cities, particularly in the South, that the challenge of growth for the next few years will be played out, Italy is significantly behind. In the South there are wonders to be redeveloped and this stage in Sicily is a source of pride for me, also as the first ANCE president to come from the South. After the “Pnrr”, we will have to be ready to invest in our cities, in urban and social relations and not just economic ones. Today we see here 16 beautiful projects, often the result of collaboration between public and private.”
As for the “Pnrr” funds at risk, Brancaccio added: “Following this reprogramming, perhaps there is something more than a billion at risk. We absolutely must avoid this danger, because, beyond private investments, the South still needs public investments to overcome that infrastructural gap which to date cannot be filled. We are very careful as a national ANCE to monitor so that the planning does not lack funds for the growth and rebirth of Southern Italy”.
For her part, the regional councilor for the environment, Elena Pagana, explained what the region is doing to support urban regeneration initiatives on the island: “Urban regeneration has a very important role and finds space among the government’s priorities regional. It is no coincidence that the European programming of the Po FESR dedicates a measure to this theme. We are accompanying urban regeneration with reforms in urban planning and construction, thanks to the autonomy specialty of the Region. In implementing the consolidated building law we have made some changes, and after the examination in the Environment Committee at the Ars, we hope to bring the provision to the Chamber as soon as possible. We are also accelerating a lot on territorial planning, with general urban planning plans, and a new tender will be released shortly to support municipalities that decide to equip themselves with a new urban planning tool, a tender that dynamically incorporates European principles. Furthermore, there is the regional territorial plan which we will present very soon”.
On the funds at risk of the “Pnrr”, the regional president of Ance Sicilia, Santo Cutrone, noted that “today in Syracuse we demonstrated how many concrete results investments in urban regeneration in Sicily have produced, in terms of repopulation of entire areas of the city and of recovery of housing units and urban, economic and social development, I hope that the State and Region will find a way to guarantee the continuity of the planned investments”.
Councilor Pagana has hinted that she sees the possibility of recovering them within the scope of the Cohesion Agreement which should be signed with the national government within the month: “We have continued the Cohesion Agreement by carrying forward the indications that were set by the regional government: that is, few projects, but important for creating development and cohesion in Sicily. Months ago there was controversy over the alleged defunding of works, but in fact this was not the case, on the contrary, many works were saved which would not have been completed by 2026 and which, therefore, are covered by other sources of financing”.
Finally, Pagana announced: “We expect the national government and Parliament to summarize the various legislative proposals regarding urban regeneration shortly. At the same time, the regional government will do its part to pass a regional law on the matter.”
“In relation to ANCE’s concerns regarding PNRR investments in the Sicily Region, once again we are called to intervene to re-establish correct information and to reassure businesses and citizens as there is no risk of any cuts in resources. In detail, the measure – PINQuA – was not subject to the review; with regards to Integrated Urban Plans and Small and Medium-sized Works, the PNRR Decree-Law, converted into law at the end of April, ensured complete financial coverage of all interventions. No cuts have been envisaged in the complementary fund and the EIB fund.”
Thus the Minister for European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies and the PNRR, Raffaele Fitto, in reference to the projection developed by the ANCE, which hypothesized the risk of cuts of 1 billion euros for urban regeneration works in the Sicily region.
“In this context, it is highly desirable for ANCE to pay greater attention to the implementation of the Plan, which proceeds according to the pre-established timetable, with the completion of the executive design of the works and the consequent opening of the construction sites. To date, – highlights Minister Fitto – the success of the Plan depends above all on the ability of companies to carry out the interventions within the expected timescales, in full compliance with the criteria and conditionalities of the PNRR”.
