Florence, 18 June 2024 – Green and sports areas in the open air, social spaces, children’s games, new flooring and new arrangement of the perimeter area, a new urban area to live in safely. It is the regeneration project of theThird Square in front of the Coop in store Leopoldo square, the result of a working group between Unicoop Firenze and the municipal administration, which directed the offices to proceed quickly with the verification of the technical and economic feasibility of Unicoop Firenze’s proposal with the council resolution promoted by the environmental councilor Andrea Giorgio . Unicoop Firenze will proceed at its own expense with the executive planning and subsequent implementation of the redevelopment which has an estimated cost of 1,750,000 euros. The project was presented this morning at the Coop.fi members’ space in Piazza Leopoldo, in the presence of Andrea Giorgio, Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality of Florence, of Viviana Quaglia, president of the Coop Firenze northwest members’ section, of Claudio Vanni , head of external relations for Unicoop Firenze and Marco Baglini, contact person for the Development and Heritage sector of Unicoop Firenze. «This project, for which we thank the important contribution of Unicoop Firenze, is an example of how public space can be transformed, making it safer and a place to live, without intervening exclusively with repression. To be more livable, squares must be filled with people and activities. Here we will have games for children, a basketball playground for kids, an outdoor gym, social spaces open to contributions from neighborhood associations that will be able to offer cultural and recreational activities and more greenery. Thanks to this intervention, the urban planning of the neighborhood will change because, by opening up to the city, the third square will become a new central square in the life of the district: the area will in fact be expanded and made more permeable with the surrounding area. Finally, the long-standing problems of underground infiltration will be resolved. Now the designers’ work will begin to have a real, functional, even more lived-in and safer square as soon as possible”, declares Andrea Giorgio, Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality of Florence. «This intervention, carefully coordinated with the administration, welcomes the requests of our members and customers regarding the Third Square which represents a point of reference for the neighborhood and which today has unexpressed potential. The regeneration intervention aims to enhance this urban space by making it usable and equipped, designed for those who want to meet up, bring children, do sports or outdoor activities: a new Third Square, more accessible, greener, safer and more beautiful”, they say from Unicoop Firenze. The Third Square is located in front of the main entrance of the Coop store and delimited laterally by residential buildings and raised walkways that connect it to the different levels of the street, with numerous accesses, including Piazza Leopoldo, via Angelo Tavanti, via Riguccio Galluzzi and via Carlo Pisacane. The space covers the underground car park serving the supermarket and residences. It currently consists of paths bordered by green pools, where berry bushes, flowers and aromatic herbs are placed. The square, despite some maintenance and reorganization interventions, constitutes an inflexible space and not open to collective urban functions. Now Unicoop Firenze, following long joint work with the Environment Department, is offering to complete a total regeneration project of the square which derives from the need, expressed by many, to make the area more usable to the community by curbing phenomena of urban decay and petty crime as well as eliminating the problems of infiltration in underground rooms. The objective is to return this place to the citizens, guarantee the use of the spaces in safety and offer elements for experiencing sociality, stitching together a neighborhood network between people, institutions and associations united by an interest in the care of the citizens’ public spaces and by its active presence in the territory. The main entrance will be completely transformed through the demolition of the current aerial walkway on brick walls, inviting, with new architectural solutions, the new large green space. The entire square will be completely redesigned thanks also to the insertion of trees and potted shrubs integrated with seating to promote shading and liveability of the area. The intervention also involves the creation of a modern and inclusive playground with games and equipment for all ages. There will also be space for an open-air gym with training equipment, a free-to-use basketball court and two drinking water fountains. A further area will be dedicated to wellbeing to carry out free body training and yoga experiences. The existing lighting system will be replaced by a new enhanced LED system for greater comfort, making it possible to use the area safely at night . Maurizio Costanzo
