The idea of ’hydro cities’ is the new element launched into the fray of reconstruction during the conference organized yesterday by Legambiente at the palace of the former Salesians. It was launched by the hydraulic engineer Andrea Nardini, co-founder of the Italian Center for river redevelopment. In his speech, Nardini rejected the benefits of the expansion tanks: “The first wave fills them, the second makes them useless. We don’t need structures that isolate the rivers from their environment”. Nardini invites us to abandon some terminologies which also fill the pages of the Special Plan: “Return times no longer exist. The superior event, in terms of rainfall, is always possible. The seas are rising, climate change is causing changes the vegetation that the rainwater encounters on its path. Safety is a myth: we don’t even know how much the global temperature will rise, since we don’t know how many altering gases humanity will still emit.” For Nardini, the only possible solution is to live with the rivers: “It is naïve to think that there will be no further floods. We must select neighborhoods where the river, by flooding, does less damage.”
In proposing the hydrocity option, Nardini more or less involuntarily rejected some chapters of the reconstruction: “Schools or hospitals will not be able to be located in those neighborhoods that will have to coexist with the waters of the rivers.” It’s a shame that the reconstruction of the Il Girasole school was designed precisely on the spot where it was flooded. Giovanni Legnini, former vice-president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary and commissioner for reconstruction in earthquake-stricken central Italy, also spoke on this aspect. Legnini was categorical: “Rebuilding where it was and how it was is no longer possible”.
There are many doubts about the real applicability of the Special Plan also on his part: “In the Environmental Code there is only one mention of relocations. There is no regulation on the matter, and I am referring to both the ordinary and the special ones”. There is also a lot to do on the river legislation front: “The governance of rivers is deficient. Furthermore, we must understand the scenario we are in: in central Italy various villages and hamlets were relocated. Where the risk is widespread it becomes more complicated to imagine relocations”. But the conformation of the territory is not the only obstacle, as highlighted by the vice-president of Emilia Romagna Irene Priolo: “There is a lack of harmony between the institutions. The municipalities are left alone, without personnel. The reconstruction did not need the army but an army of people. I hope that we realize in time that we need to reverse the trend.” It is the mayor of Modigliana Jader Dardi who gives a vivid depiction of his community’s days: “When I went to explain to a lady that she had to leave her house, the police were with me. Everyone must be aware of this”.
Filippo Donati
