PIEMONTE
EVOLVES:
Infrastructural
and Olympic Transformations
Piedmont
has always known how to mix tradition and innovation, and in recent years it has
become the symbol of an important, unique process of transformation. The recent
metamorphoses and changes have revealed that the region is open and receptive to
change, a laboratory of innovation and culture; this peculiar cultural and
intellectual ferment has allowed Piedmont to
rediscover its own identity and traditions, inventing a completely new future
for itself. Piedmont has an important history and a unique
geographical position, which places it right at the heart of a system of
European development. Piedmont has never been
as active as it has in recent years. The region, which played an essential role
in the economic and social development of Italy
in the 20th century, has embarked on a difficult and complex process
of transformation, which is starting to show its first significant results.
Today,
the region's economic profile is that of an area of advanced development that
continues to evolve. Like other large European regions with a high level of
industrial development, in the last twenty years, Piedmont has seen a rebalance between the various economic
macro-sectors (agriculture, industry, services). Another aspect of Piedmont's evolution is the territorial re-balancing of
the production of wealth, based on the resources of the territory, and on a
network of small and medium sized enterprises which have succeeded in blending
flexibility, efficiency and a talent for innovation. The main motors of
development in the region are internationalisation, the improvement of and
support to the system, local development and the enhancement of the territory,
training and social cohesion and, of course, an improved quality of life. There
has been sweeping structural change, from the renovation of historical town
centres and suburbs, to the construction of modern road and railway links, but
the horizon of change in the region is conditioned in particular by one huge
event, the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. This event has been approached by the
institutional system as an enormous challenge, in organisational, but also
cultural and image terms. The radical change we have seen in recent years
involves the whole territory at a structural and cultural level. Piedmont is a real laboratory of creative ferment, able to
generate continuous challenges which are taken on with the awareness of a great
tradition and a deep passion for innovation.
Olympic
Transformations
The
awarding of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games to the city of Turin, the result of close collaboration between the
various institutions, has been seen as a unique opportunity to revive the
fortunes of Turin and of the entire Region. An investment
of about Euro 1500 million has been financed by public authorities for the
architectural work to host the 2006 Games, while Euro 1000 million has been
raised by private sources (sponsors and television rights) for their actual
organisation. The Olympics are part of a vast programme of events, which will
make a strong statement about Piedmont's new
international image and the territory will inherit cutting edge tourist
structures. There are about 60 projects, including sports facilities,
infrastructure of all types, Olympic villages for athletes and the media. The
plans for these works have been designed to contribute to the development and
improvement of the territory in the post-Olympic period.
New
buildings, but also important restoration work to existing buildings, which will
be modernised for future use. International tenders were held for both the
design of the Olympic sites, and for the reorganisation of urban sites, and the
winning projects bear the names of the world's most prestigious architects. At
the same time, a great effort has gone into improving the structures and
infrastructure in mountain areas, including those not directly involved in the
Winter Games. In order to promote homogeneous development in the areas not
involved in the Olympics, over 100 additional projects have been financed all
over Piedmont. New ski lifts, modernisation
work on the cross country and downhill pistes, service centres, and the
expansion of the artificial snow system, as well as initiatives to promote the
spas, parks and protected areas: all these and more are on the list of
accompanying works for the 2006 Olympics, which features 100 projects
distributed throughout the eight Piedmontese provinces. The aim is to ensure
that all the areas not hosting competitions will develop in a uniform way, in
order not to be sidelined competitively speaking by the huge state-funded
investments made for the Olympic venues in the Turin area. In line with its goal of improving
the quality of life, the commitment undertaken by TOROC (the Olympic Games
Organising Committee) and by the institutions, is to organise the first "green"
Olympics in history. Great attention is focused on the environment, with
appropriate strategic considerations regarding the projects, which include the
use of bio-compatible materials, and constant environmental
monitoring.
Infrastructural
Transformations
The
railways, motorways and logistic infrastructure in Piedmont have been recognised
as strategic for Italy's
modernisation and development as part of Europe.
Piedmont
has chosen to play a central role within the European Union, including in
geographical terms, and is investing huge resources in the construction of an
infrastructure network capable of sustaining the competitive challenge of the
regional system in the European market. Work is underway that will considerably
improve the already excellent level of regional infrastructure. This work will
account for approximately Euro 11.5 billion between 2001 and 2006. The
construction of the High Speed rail link between Turin and Milan, which will
later be extended to Venice, Trieste and on to Eastern Europe, is the jewel in the crown
of another element that is central to Piedmont's growth, like the Turin-Lyons
stretch, which will include a tunnel 54 km long through the Alps. Novara, Vercelli, Turin and the
Susa Valley will be part of "European Corridor no. 5", a
high-speed rail route which will link Western Europe to Eastern Europe. The Turin-Lyons rail link, which lies at
the centre of the North-South and East-West European transport axes, is a hinge
that sustains the entire rail transport system in Europe.
It
will make trade safer and less polluting, and journeys will be faster and more
convenient, goods will travel outside the towns and Piedmont will be incorporated even further into the
international networks. The work will also entail the construction of a new
intermodal centre.
Work
is also underway to improve the orbital roads around Turin, and to construct the
Piedmontese capital's first underground railway. A great deal of attention is
focused on the question of modal interchange hubs to boost public transport, a
strategic action that can increase the level of environmental sustainability of
the transport system, both in town and inter-city. In the urban context,
MOVIcentres are being created, complex interfaces between two or more means of
transport, or between different lines of the same system, where special
organisational, structural, and engineering changes will make it easier for
travellers to move from one means of transport to another. The Turin-Milan
motorway will be widened, and the motorway from Asti to Cuneo will be finished; it will eventually be
extended towards Nice with the construction of the Mercantour
tunnel.
These
changes are part of a broader, more complex, organic strategic project, which
will rely on the involvement and collaboration of the public and the private
sector.
PIEMONTE
EVOLVES:
Cultural
and Social Transformations
The
cultural system in Piedmont is based on a wide
variety of galleries, museums, castles and sanctuaries. A sweeping recovery
programme is underway for the period 2000-2006 to make them more functional and
more exploitable, with a total budget of about Euro 500 million received from
the EU, the Government, the Regional Council, Provincial councils, banking
foundations and Town councils. In recent years projects have concentrated on
restoring and conserving the 17 Savoy residences, which were recently recognised
as World Heritage Sites by Unesco: they include the Royal Palace, Palazzo
Madama, the Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, Villa della Regina, the palace in Pollenzo,
home of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, and the Palace of Venaria Reale
which is the largest restoration project in Europe.
Added
to these is an array of museums of considerable artistic value: almost 130 in
the province of
Turin, and another 200 in
the rest of the region. The most important are the Egyptian Museum, the Cinema Museum
inside the "Mole Antonelliana" in Turin, and the
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rivoli castle, another
beautiful Savoy residence.
On the
cultural front, work is ongoing to convert some of the large monuments of
industrial history, to extend the university facilities, and the offer of art,
cinema, theatre and cultural events, as well as urban reclamation of old town
centres and suburbs. There
have been some important projects to transform abandoned factories into centres
of contemporary art and culture, like the Agnelli Gallery in Lingotto, the
Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation in Turin, and
the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella.
