by Giampiero Rasimelli
Dear director,
in recent days the electoral campaign for the election of the new mayor of Perugia seems to have come to life. Concerned about the continued growth and competitiveness of Vittoria Ferdinandi and the centre-left, the outgoing councilor candidate Margherita Scoccia has begun to bring up a series of substantive issues that deserve discussion. Until a few days ago it seemed that we were still stuck in the “2012/14 budget hole” (a discussion never resolved and always exploited), in Perugia, the city of drugs and crime of those years (avoiding saying that little or nothing is changed in 10 years, Perugia was not the city of crime and today it is not a city where greater security is perceived), to the promises of gold and sequins for the city and citizens in every field.
Now the register has changed, we are trying to discuss issues that cannot be postponed in the eyes of citizens, the general master plan, roads, mobility and so on, that is, the future of Perugia. Of course we do this by returning to topics that are already a bit worn out, the Node, the Metrobus, the Minimetro, the Frecciarossa, the airport. Maybe the urgencies and priorities that I see are not just these, for example I would like to hear from the mayoral candidate what she concretely intends to do to guarantee the health of citizens or what the green turning point for Perugia consists of, but what has been done in these days is however a step forward in understanding the idea of the city that the right has in Perugia (because I don’t think that the entire centre-right has the same ideas).
Let’s start with the Prg. Scoccia began by bringing up the predictions of the 1960s… all smoke and mirrors aimed at disorienting the discussion, as Daniele Bovi excellently demonstrated recently on Umbria24. The activity of containment of the volumes in the Prg had its culmination in 2002 with a strategic realignment of forecasts and functions: now it is a question of discussing not the 60s of the last century, but the future of Perugia starting from today. The discussion on the Prg is necessary and mature, the important thing is that it is not just a vehicle for small building and commercial interests, for tears in delicate areas of the city such as Pian di Massiano, but is instead a discussion on the great choices of Perugia and for Perugia .
On the road. Scoccia waves the Nodo flag in search of a fan base that divides the city. Ferdinandi said: the blocking of traffic flow in Ponte San Giovanni has now created an unsustainable situation for the city and the neighborhood, a solution must be found. I personally am in favor of the Node project which has been presented and which is awaiting funding, I respect the criticisms, but so far no better solution has been proposed. In any case, beyond the right-wing propaganda, this money does not exist and is not visible. So we must ask ourselves why nothing has been done so far to accelerate the construction of the double ramp of Ponte San Giovanni towards and from the Perugia-Bettolle connection, for which there seem to be sufficient resources or why no project has even been started aimed at overcome the obstacle of the Colonnetta level crossing with a view to facilitating more access to the city.
And so Ferdinandi is right in indicating the instrumental danger of a divisive discussion on such a delicate topic for the city. When and if the resources arrive and are operational, a discussion will open on how to do it, in the same way as what should and will be done with the Metrobus, the least participated project in the city’s history, whose problems will certainly not be resolved by what is agreed on the fate of the trees in via Chiusi. A good administrator never renounces, except in extreme cases, available resources, but projects cannot be carried out against the interests of citizens and it is the path of participation that smooths the edges of needs and interests, something that the right does not she is used to doing.
And we come to mobility, to the vital hinge system of the city. Here too, Scoccia began the discussion by lashing out at the Brucomela-Minimetrò, implying that it would be better to demolish it than bear the costs. Now, beyond the childishness of such an approach, the issue is this: in 10 years the level of dysfunction of public transport in Perugia has reached such a peak that today 70 percent of Perugians resort to private transport by car ( among the highest negative levels in Italy). There are 4 public transport systems in the city that do not communicate with each other (Busitalia, Fcu, Ferrovie, Minimetro) and with the parking system. It is a system that is overall in free fall… is it possible to ask why nothing has been done in 10 years to prevent and deal with this situation? or at least give her some perspective?
On the other hand, this theme of mobility, for which in the past Perugia was a point of reference throughout Europe for its innovative choices, has a very close connection with urban planning choices and therefore with the Prg. What fate should the historic center, Fontivegge, San Sisto, Ponte San Giovanni and the adjacent areas to the north-east, south and west have?
Is it possible to maintain the historic center in these impoverished conditions? Are we aware (as Ruggero Ranieri di Sorbello asks us) that Perugia is and must be one of the main cities of art in Italy? What will happen to Piazza Matteotti when the judicial citadel is completed and made operational, what functions will the vacated buildings be used for? What effort must be made, and in what direction, to start a process of re-inhabitation of the center which is essential for its future? What are the projects to complete and/or improve access from Sant’Anna and Monteluce to the acropolis and also for the completion of the Minimetro? Which major cultural projects will have to reinterpret the future of the historic city? What long and short term projects can a pact between the Municipality and builders implement for an energy, anti-seismic and urban regeneration plan for the historic center (and the entire city)? The center is our main wealth, the wealth of all Perugia and a new Prg will have to have a particular focus on this theme.
Continuing, how can we imagine the future of Fontivegge and Ponte San Giovanni without concrete projects that overcome the unsustainable division produced by the railway which splits the life and potential of those neighborhoods, without projects that complete the urban structure of two areas that are now the heart of the city (from the completion of the Steccone di Fontivegge, to the areas to be pedestrianized by experimenting in the two neighborhoods, to the theaters of Ponte San Giovanni and Broletto)? And how can we see the future of an area, the one between San Sisto and Castel del Piano, totally transformed in the last 15 years, without addressing the issue of its connection with the city? Are we thinking of entrusting everything to the fate of the Metrobus? I think we’re off to a bad start!
Here the theme of mobility is the theme of the city’s new connection project, as also supported by an illustrious Perugian, father of innovative mobility in Perugia, Fabio Ciuffini (in an article published a few days ago by Passaggi Magazine). A theme that has an immediate impact on the economy and the ability to create jobs in Perugia. Furthermore, what I deliver in these lines is only a partial survey of the many challenges that the city faces today. Unlike Scoccia, I have no flag to raise or any divisive argument to put forward to polarize the electoral conflict.
The only argument I want to use is the serious problems that Perugia has today and the only reproach I have to make to the centre-right is that nothing significant, much less sufficient, has been done in 10 years to try to address them. Be careful, this may also suit the people of Perugia for a while, until the problems become chasms visible to all (Ciuffini also says this in the admirable reconstruction of the golden era of thirteenth-century Perugia delivered in the recent book Prodigies in Perugia); and who knows, perhaps the weather and the wind are changing, the dangers for Perugia are increasingly visible and stand out clearly in the face of the potential of our city, they can no longer be hidden and I remain convinced that even many in the centre-right are warned of what we’re playing it. The skills and also the consensus to face all this are not lacking in Perugia, there is only a need for political will that frees them and reopens a cycle of courage and creativity.
