Zone 9 of Milan

Zona 9 di Milano Municipality 9
Zona of Milan
Location of Zone 9 of Milan
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Metro City of Milan
Comune	Milan
Created	5 March 1999
Government
• Type	Municipal Council
• President	Giuseppe Antonio Lardieri (2016-2021)
Area
• Total	8.15 sq mi (21.12 km^2)
Population (2013)
• Total	181,598
• Density	22,270/sq mi (8,598/km^2)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	Municipality 9

The Zone 9 of Milan (in Italian: Zona 9 di Milano) is one of the 9 administrative zones of Milan, Italy.^[1] It corresponds to the northern area of the city.

It was created on 5 March 1999 by the union of the previous Zones 2 (Centro Direzionale, Greco, Zara), 7 (Bovisa, Dergano), 8 (Affori, Bruzzano, Comasina) and 9 (Niguarda, Bicocca). On 14 April 2016, in order to promote a reform on the municipal administrative decentralization, the City Council of Milan established the new Municipality 9, a new administrative body responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, roads, parks, libraries and local commerce.^[2]

Subdivision

The borough includes the following quarters:

• Affori, a rural settlement referenced as early as 915 which was annexed to Milan in 1923;
• Bicocca, a district incorporated in the city in 1841. In the 19th century, the area of Bicocca was affected by a quick industrialization process, and was gradually absorbed into the urban agglomerate of Milan. In the first half of the 20th century Bicocca became the centre of an important industrial area that also comprised Greco and Sesto San Giovanni, and that greatly contributed to the Italian economy of the time. The first facilities to be established in Bicocca were those of Pirelli, Ansaldobreda, and Wagons-Lits. In the nearby area of Sesto, the Falck steel mill was also a prominent factory. Pirelli maintained a leading role in the area. A historic neighbourhood of Bicocca, "Borgo Pirelli" ("Pirelli Town"), was originally developed as a residential area for the thousands of workers that were employed in the Pirelli factories. Deindustrialization of the Bicocca district began in the 1970s. In 1985, Pirelli started a project to redevelop the area. The resulting "Progetto Bicocca" (Bicocca Project), which affected an area of 960.000 m², was the largest urban transformation project in the history of Italy, and the second in Europe, after that of Berlin. The prominent results of this project were the construction of a large university district (called University of Milan Bicocca) and of the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, a large theatre that has also been used to house La Scala shows while the historic La Scala theatre was undergoing restoration. Other main buildings realized by the project were a seat of the CNR (National Council of Research) and the Istituto Neurologico Besta, a major neurological hospital. Several companies now have their Milanese headquarters in Bicocca, including Pirelli, Siemens, Deutsche Bank, Reuters, Fastweb, Johnson & Johnson, and Hachette-Rusconi;
• Bovisa, An industrial area in the outskirt of the city since the second half of the nineteenth century, Bovisa has undergone a thorough transformation since the 1950s, when most factories were dismantled to be moved farther from the expanding city center. After a period of decay, a process of renewal followed, which transformed the Bovisa into a mainly residential suburb. The district is now experiencing an upturn, thanks to the many activities which relocated in the zone. Among them, the Politecnico di Milano, with its Bovisa campus, played a major role.^[3] The campus features the schools of Design, Architecture and Industrial Engineering. The area has since gained notoriety as a design and art "melting pot". This trend was confirmed in 2006, when a new headquarters of the Triennale design and art museum, dedicated to modern art, was established in this area;
• Bovisasca, a former industrial district, now transformed into a mostly residential area;
• Bruzzano;
• Centro Direzionale, originally designed to accommodate office buildings for tertiary activities. A relevant part of the design effort focused on the realization of adequate infrastructures supporting heavy daily commute, although only some of the corresponding projects were actually implemented. The main transportation hub in the area is Porta Garibaldi railway station, with connection to the Milan Metro, the suburban network and national rail lines;

The Napoleonic Porta Nuova (left) and Porta Garibaldi (right), built respectively in 1813 and 1828, are the two main historical doors in this area.

• Comasina;
• Dergano;
• Fulvio Testi;
• Isola; a district (quartier) of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zone 9 of the city.
• La Fontana;
• Montalbino;
• Niguarda;
• Porta Garibaldi;
• Porta Nuova;
• Prato Centenaro;
• Segnano.

Historical development

Apart from Affori, Bruzzano, Comasina, Dergano and Segnano, which were autonomous municipalities before beign annexed to the main city of Milan in 1923, the urban development of the Zone 9 has always been linked with the development of the Centro Direzionale district.

Overall, the realization of the new district took place between 1955 and 1962, but was later suspended as a consequence of the lack of an actual regulation preventing tertiary activities to be established in the city centre. For several years thereafter, the Centro Direzionale remained an heterogeneous and sparse area. Some skyscrapers were built (including the Pirelli Tower, the Galfa Tower, and the Servizi Tecnici Comunali Tower) but other areas remained undeveloped and fell in decay. A major example of the inconsistent use of urban areas in the district was the establishment of the Varesine "Luna Park" (now dismissed) amidst a supposedly office and financial district.

L'Armonica (The Harmonica), opened in 2013, is one of the most famous buildings in Porta Nuova district.

Bosco Verticale in Porta Nuova in June 2016.

Porta Nuova district development

After a long period of urban decay, the Porta Nuova district is now undergoing a massive renewal, thanks to the "Progetto Porta Nuova" (Porta Nuova Project).^[4] The project, which has been under construction since the late 2000s, includes several modern high rise buildings, cultural centres, and a large city park. As a result of these developments, the Porta Nuova district will ideally merge with the bordering Centro Direzionale di Milano, the oldest business district of Milan that is characterized by 1950s-1960s towers, many of which dedicated to government offices and other major public and private companies.

This project effects areas from the neighborhoods of Isola, Varesine and Porta Garibaldi. Construction started in 2009, with completion planned in 2014.^[5] The project involves the work of noted architects such as Cesar Pelli, Stefano Boeri and Nicholas Grimshaw. The redevelopment area extends from Porta Garibaldi station to piazza della Repubblica and from Porta Nuova gate to Palazzo Lombardia.

Bosco Verticale

The project was designed as part of the rehabilitation of the historic district of Milan between Via De Castillia and Confalonieri. It consists of two residential towers of which the largest is 26 floors and 110 meters high (called Torre E) and the smaller tower is 18 floors and 76 meters high^[6] (called Torre D). It contains 400 condominium units^[7] priced from 3,000 Euro per square metre and higher.^[8]

It is called Bosco Verticale because each tower houses trees between three and six meters which help mitigate smog and produce oxygen. It is also used to moderate temperatures in the building in the winter and summer.^[9] The plants also attenuate noise.^[10] The design was tested in a wind tunnel to ensure the trees would not topple from gusts of wind.^[11] Botanists and horticulturalists were consulted by the engineering team to ensure that the structure could bear the load imposed by the plants.^[12][13] The steel-reinforced concrete balconies are designed to be 28 cm thick, with 1.30 metre parapets.^[14]

Towers and skyscrapers

Name	Image	Construction started	Completion	Height (including spire)	Current status
Unicredit Tower		2009	2011	152m (230m)	Completed
Palazzo Lombardia		2007	2010	161m	Completed
Torre Solaria		2010	2013	143m	Completed
Torre Diamante		2010	2012	140m	Completed
Pirelli Tower		1956	1958	127m	Completed

Municipal government

Since 2016 the president of the borough is directly elected by citizens. The borough council is elected every five years, with a system under which voters express a direct choice for the president or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives at least 40% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support.

Last election occurred on 5 June 2016:

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Giuseppe Antonio Lardieri	FI	27,637	40.91
	Stefano Indovino	PD	26,295	38.92
	Claudio Sasso	M5S	8,731	12.92
	Andrea Quattrociocchi	MC	2,582	3.82
	Michele Carulli	RI	1,313	1.94
	Giacinto Vito Carriero	PdF	1,007	1.49
Total			67,565	100.00

Table below shows the current composition of the borough council:

Term	Majority	Opposition	Total	President
2016 - 2021	8 FI 7 LN 2 NCD 1 FdI	7 PD 3 M5S 1 SI 1 NM	31	Giuseppe Antonio Lardieri (FI)

Education

Polytechnic University of Milan-Bovisa campus (left) and University of Milano-Bicocca (right).

In this borough are located 17 primary schools, while there are two important universities:

• University of Milano-Bicocca, which has its origins from the splitting of the University of Milan, which with about 90,000 students in the 1990s was becoming overcrowded. Bicocca district was chosen as the location for the new university. This area was occupied by the Pirelli industrial complex until the 1980s and the new campus was part of a larger urban renewal project. The university was officially established on 10 June 1998.
• Polytechnic University of Milan-Bovisa campus, located in the Bovisa district and became active in 1989; campus Bovisa is today composed of campus Durando, opened in 1994, and campus La Masa, inaugurated in 1997. The first is the seat of the School of Design, while the second is dedicated to Industrial, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Energy Engineering faculties. Bovisa also houses the related research facilities, including the wind tunnel.

Parks and gardens

The main entrance of the Bruzzano's wood in autumn.

In this borough there are many public parks and gardens:

• Northern Park of Milan (3,200,000 sq), opened in 1975
• Bruzzano's wood (120,700 sq), opened in 1968
• Nicolò Savarino park (31,590 sq), opened in 1990
• Villa Litta park (76,400 sq), realized in 1687, opened as public park in 1927
• The Cherry Hill (30,000 sq), opened in 2007
• Wanda Osiris garden (22,100 sq), opened in 1991
• Giacomo Della Porta garden (4,400 sq), opened in 1999
• Porro and Jenner garden (1,500 sq), opened in 2000

A great park of 90,000 sq is expected to be realized by 2017 inside the new Porta Nuova district. On this area, on the occasion of Expo 2015, was temporally created the big Agnes Denes' Wheatfield.

Transport

Stations of Milan Metro in the Zone 9:

• Gioia, Garibaldi FS;
• Affori Centro, Affori FN, Comasina, Dergano, Maciachini, Zara;
• Bicocca, Bignami, Ca' Granda, Garibaldi FS, Isola, Istria, Marche, Ponale, Zara.

Suburban railway stations in the Zone 9:

• Milano Porta Garibaldi
• Milano Repubblica
• Milano Lancetti
• Milano Nord Bovisa

Notable places

• Milano Porta Garibaldi railway station
• Niguarda Hospital
• Triennale
• Corso Como shopping district
• Teatro degli Arcimboldi
• Gae Aulenti square
• Bosco Verticale
• Palazzo Lombardia, seat of the Regional Government of Lombardy
• Porta Nuova business district
• Northern Park of Milan
• Bruzzano Wood
• Porta Nuova Wheatfield

Gallery

• 
  Centro Direzionale during the 1960s
• 
  Via Pirelli
• 
  Industrial buildings in Bovisa district
• 
  Gae Aulenti square
• 
  Palazzo Lombardia, seat of the Regional Government of Lombardy
• 
  Bosco Verticale
• 
  New buildings in Isola district
• 
  AXA Palace
• 
  Unicredit Tower is the tallest building of Italy
• 
  The Ziggurat under construction, seat of Google Italia
• 
  University of Milano-Bicocca campus
• 
  Corso Como shopping district
• 
  Corso Como and Porta Garibaldi
• 
  Main entrance of Niguarda Hospital, opened in 1939
• 
  Villa Litta park
• 
  Porro and Jenner garden with the XV century Boscaiola Farmhouse

Maps

• 
  Map of Zone 9 of Milan

References

1. (Italian) The 9 city councils of Milan (municipal website)
2. Municipality of Milan - Municipalities
3. Politecnico di Milano: Milano Bovisa
4. "Milano Porta Nuova official website". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
5. "Il progetto Porta Nuova avanza". Retrieved 2010-01-26.
6. stefanoboeri
7. Stella: June June 2009
8. Stella: June 2009
9. Rozza: October 2012
10. DNews: 2011
11. Stella: June 2009
12. Woodward: October 2011
13. Stella: June 2009
14. Peri: December 2011

External links

Media related to Zones of Milan at Wikimedia Commons

• (Italian) Zone 9 of Milan (municipal website)

Coordinates: 45°31′01″N 9°11′31″E / 45.516888°N 9.191866°E