For several weeks the Visitazione Park project has been at the center of an urban planning controversy raised by various trade associations, traders and citizens; an issue that also emerged in the last City Councils, namely the absence of a bus terminal which was not foreseen in the vast area of intervention. Indeed, to be precise, as pointed out by some city councilors, the Municipality of Matera has no idea of where to allocate the bus terminal even outside the perimeter of Piazza della Visitazione. A lack that risks transforming the square into an area that not only does not respond to the needs of the city, but which even compromises its functionality by eliminating an area of strategic utility such as the bus terminal.
The Innovative Architects Group has conducted a pre-feasibility study which demonstrates the possibility of operating with a zero-cost variant to the current project in order to insert a bus terminal.
“The proposal – say the architects – is simple and immediately achievable through the design variant tool. With a reorganization of resources it is possible to create a bus terminal in the area in front of the old station, using the existing building for services and logistics. This variant does not require further funding, but only a reallocation of resources already committed and a change to road routes. A zero-cost variant that the designer can create within a few days and that the Municipality can quickly adopt. Inserting the bus terminal as a variant would be a decisive intervention to make the project efficient and aligned with the real needs of the city, improving urban mobility but above all resolving a functional issue that the designer of the square has sensationally overlooked. The appeal we make is to review the work and adapt it to the needs expressed by citizens and traders’ associations. Moreover, already in 1973, in the General Master Plan of Matera, the architect Luigi Piccinato had foreseen that the square should host a bus station to effectively manage the flows of trains, urban and extra-urban buses, cars and pedestrians, as well as provide spaces for cultural events, fairs and entertainment. The current project has completely overturned this vision, without proposing anything more innovative or functional, transforming the square into a monotonous expanse of greenery which not only does not respond to the strategic needs of a tourist city, but which even compromises its functionality”.
The “Visitation Park” absorbs around 11 million euros, a considerable sum which, instead of bringing benefits, will create further problems. Furthermore, in the construction phase of the works the failure to identify a temporary bus terminal is creating major problems for the city with tourist bus passengers forced to get on and off in via Moro and via La Malfa without any safety. The lack of a temporary bus terminal has generated imbalances in the management of urban flows, causing inconvenience to commuters, visitors and citizens. Finally, the commercial activities along the pedestrian axis Via Don Minzoni and Via Ascanio Persio are suffering a severe blow because they are excluded (until the works are completed) from any commercial circuit and tourist flow.
