Venice port 2050

VENICE PORT 2050 citizen port and lead actor of the territorial sustainability Lucile Ado - EMU thesis 2014

I would like to thank my teachers, professor Paola Vigano and late professor Bernardo Secchi for challenging me to think in a different way, for their kind advices and generosity.

Thanks to all the members of my familly for their long run support and their love. Many thanks especially to my sister HÊlène for her help during so many working nights and her love. Thanks to Alessandro for his endless support and inspiration. Thanks to my dear friends and colleagues, Olga, Perrine, Jesus, Carlos, Maria Emillia, Marine, Anastasia, Blanca and Eva for their help and friendship.

Many thanks to Pierrette and AurĂŠlie for her help on this work and to all the people I met who have enriched this research.

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I FRAMEWORK

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1/ Venice, the ultimate maritime city.

2/ Trends of the maritime trade in Europe.

3/ Short sea shipping, a sustainable alternative to massive road transportation across the Pan-European corridors.

4/ The NAPA (north Adriatic port association) 5/ Venice port in debate Re- industrialisation versus resilience and the issue of the traffics in the lagoon.

6/ Paradox: Venice’s dump has a view.

7/ Sustainable deal: Which alternatives could allow both economic development and Venice lagoon safeguard?

8/ Methodology

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II LOOKING THROUGHOUT THE CURRENT SITUATION

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1/ Notions of space and place in the Venetian context.

2/ The folds of the territory points out multiple realities conveyed by the same space.

3/ History of the port in relation with the local events and the global context.

4/ Heavy trends:

4.1 Stakeholders, a complex net.

4.2 A space built by heavy flows.

4.3 No grandi navi a macro story.

4.4 A mechanic lagoon tranformation of the environment and sand balance managment.

42 48 52 60 62 68 76 86

5/ low harbingers:

5.1 Abandon and recycling

5.2 Places out of law

5.3 Dismissed open spaces

5.4 Emergent activities

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III TOWARDS THE FUTURE

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1/ collective visioning & scenarios 2/ Scenario 0: A constellation of projects, politic wills, collective desires.

3/ No Grandi Navi Scenario: A coherent complex project 4/ NAPA as the support of a spread port system.

5/ New passenger terminal.

6/ Dynamic small terminal, fusina short sea shipping terminal a place for another urbanity 7/ A new mobility network in the lagoon to enhance the milieu.

8/ Open land for urban regeneration and environmental restoration.

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REFLECTIONS REFERENCES ANNEXES

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23 26 30 34 38

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FRAMEWORK

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VENICE The ultimate maritime city.

Without doubt, Venice is one of the most Figure 1: Vedute, collage famous maritime cities in the world. Water by Rauzier, Jean Franรงois has always given rhythm to the daily life and 2012. shaped the pattern of its landscape. It is one of the most interesting mobility system in the world according to Le Corbusier who saw in the complete separation between waterways and pedestrian paths, the best example of a modern mobility system: 6

1- Jeanneret Charles Edouard dit Le Corbusier discourse during its visit in Venice to build the new hospital.

2- Translation of économie monde, Braudel Fernand, La méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l’époque de Philippe II, Paris, 1949.

“What is fundamental in Venice is the classification of natural and artificial traffic: pedestrians and gondola (…) it is a perfect pure heart system. Nothing is close.”1 On a larger scale, Crossroad between north and south, orient and occident, Venice has been a powerful society first of all because of its maritime influence. Fernand Braudel points out Venice as a strong example of “world-economy”2 from the end of the 14th all through the 15th centuries. Venice was economically and politically autonomous with an extremely extended outlying influence.

Today, the current condition is not flourishing.

Indeed, under the pressure of massive tourism, Venetian population living in the inner city is shrinking. The city dangerously looks more and more like a touristic theme park. Moreover, even if water remains a fundamental component of the city, above all for mobility, it has also become one of its main issues. The famous acqua alta phenomenon is heightening while 100,000 tones cruise ships proceed few meters behind campaniles and palaces of the precious city centre, which has been designated UNESCO world heritage site just as the whole lagoon.

This exigency where economic interests run counter to the preservation of a common good, is definitely not sustainable.

So what’s about Venice’s port today? Venice port is now split intoww two main parts just as the city itself: From one side there are Venice historic city centre and the passenger terminals, from the other Porto Marghera commercial port and the dismissed industrial areas, just near by the two suburban areas of Venice municipality, Mestre and Marghera.

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Nowadays, dismissed industrial areas are symptomatic of a larger pattern throughout European landscape. They illustrate structural changes we are facing since the last decades. In the case of the industrial part of Porto Marghera, which was one of the biggest in Europe, till the 60’s, more than 60% of the building stock is now abandoned. It forms a particular landscape with an unclear status, which is waiting for radical changes. The urban settlements of Mestre and even more Marghera hardly suffer this decline.

Zones production reorganisation around the world explains this post industrial landscape.

At the same time, goods movement has never stop to increase. Between 2000 and 2010, the average good exchange growth was around 10% per year. 90% of this whole volume of exchange transits via maritime roads and passes though port infrastructures. This volume of goods is now up to 25 000 billions tons per year.3 From the economic point of view, commercial ports have therefore always been strategic places and consequently very competitive.

Thus, even though a dismissed industrial area, the port remains a strategic place in Venice, not only because of it’s economic activity but also because it is an important part of its cultural landscape, which is an important heritage in a global world. Sometimes symbolic of prosperity and at some other times of decadence, the port both reflects rhythms of the global sea trade and of daily life in the city.

To go further, ports are sophisticated instruments of our global exchange system and one of the most productive machines of collective imaginary.

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3- Rodrigez Malta Rachel, Villes portuaires horizon 2020, in Mediterranee n° 111 Cairn publications Marseille, 2000.

Figure 2: Canaletto, Veduta dello Canal grande e la Salute, Painting 1732.

Figure 3: DorĂŠ Gustave, Dandolo, doge de Venise, prechant les croisades, Engraving in Histoire des croisades by Michaud, Paris,1877.

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“The port serves as a launching and receiving point for vessels that generate far away, exotic phenomena.” Michel Foucault extends this symbolism through his assertion that the ship is the ultimate heterotopia. According to his definition there are some “counter spaces, localised utopia, real places out of all the common spaces” that have a radically different nature from their surroundings.4 Now, in a seemingly post-industrial climate, the weakening of Porto Marghera’s primary function allows for yet another reading of this landscape.

At the same time, the excessive affluence of cruise ships in the touristic port on Venice historic city centre is becoming an issue for the whole territory around. Yet Venice is often compared to a boat or a fish, and regardless of shifting global economics, the timeless city can be read as the ultimate maritime city fshaped by paradoxes and complex relations to the sea.

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4- Foucault Michel, Le corps utopique, les hétérotopies, Paris 2009 from his lecture in 1966.

Figure 4: Sekula Allan, untitled photograph, Van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, 1995.

5- Sekula Allan, Fish story, Amsterdam, 1995.

Figure 5: Docklands, London, 2013.

Figure 6: Hafencity, Hamburg, 2010.

During the last decades, “giving back” to the city the waterfront has become a common practice in urban regeneration. Most commonly, the function of old docks and terminals are reversed and transformed into an urban promenade, thereby further reinforcing the duality between port and city. Allan Sekula aptly expresses this problematic dynamic in his poetry: “The old harbor front, its links to a common culture shattered by unemployment, is now reclaimed for a bourgeois reverie on the mercantilist past.”

Most of the time, underused industrial areas and ports have been colonized by very specific types of population and reuses, becoming the theatre of fancy programs: parties, squats, hipster bars and artist’s studios. They have physically and symbolically colonized these vacant spaces. We only need to look towards reclamation projects like Rotterdam, Hamburg, Oslo, or London to see they have lost their popular originating characters and becoming places of gentrification. These troubling dynamics lead to a series of pointed questions: What could be new cycles for these huge infrastructures connected to the global scale? How can projects make echo to the past?

What about the Mediterranean and the Venetian context?

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Nowadays people and more goods can travel all around the world, but sometimes too easily. It is common knowledge that in this global system a vast amount of energy is spent to move goods just for the purposes of market processes. Yet now, the cost of energy is still too low to balance the profitability to produce in China and sell all around the world. But energy is an important issue, which will take more and more a central role in this precarious balance. Wide-spanning contemporary studies such as négaWatt6 , another growth and deep ecology scenarios7 or the movement de-growth8 for instance target this question of energy consumption and society’s organisation. Radically re-considering means of sea road transit and freight could be a key process of this trans-national dynamic and sustain a global reduction of energy consumption. The next chapters of this first part will introduce general topics raised by this study in connection with Venice’s current situation and the port’s development.

6- Bedel Stephane, Salomon Thierry, La maison des négaWatts, Paris,1999.

7- Vigano Paola & Secchi Bernardo, 2013 INRIS MUTAT RES reseach: penser l’architecture, la ville et les paysages au prisme de l’énergie.

8- From décroissance, debate emerging in the early 19th century.

Figure 7 next page: Aerial picture of the passenger terminals in Venice, credits Clemens F Kush Anabel Gelhaar in Architecture guide, Berlin, 2014.

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TRENDS Maritime trade in Europe and the Mediterranean condition.

Even if commercial ports and massive good transportation are dropout elements in urbanism, these large infrastructures and heavy flows have a strong influence on our environment. Now, in Europe most of the goods transit through the northern ports, mainly Rotterdam, Anvers and Hamburg. If these ports attract most of the traffics it is mainly because of efficient intermodal terminals along the embankments and strong logistic platforms located in the hinterland allowing an easy distribution throught the whole European continent.

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Figure 8: Map of the ports in Europe with the main urban areas.

Data source: CORINE land cover.

9- Source: Gioia Tauro port authority report 2013.

10- Source: OMC global trade repport 2013.

From the administrative point of view ports are almost always independent from the local context in which they are included. Port authorities are linked directly with the states level and Europe with often a private management.As a result the spatial organisation of a port is most of the time also pretty detached from the context of the city and the territory around, even from the economic point of view. This division between city and port, local and the global sphere, explains why during their expansion main ports have chosen to move far away from the city center. Lately, new ports have even been built in places outside of any kind of urbanity. Like the case of Gioia Tauro an Italian very small city of 19 000 inhabitants that now hosts the first container seaport in Italy and 5th biggest in Europe. 9 Forecasts let think that in a close future the average good exchange will keep growing fast.10 In this situation ports are still in a very competitive environment. The possible opening of a new maritime road crossing the North sea and Siberia due to global warming would reinforce the domination of northern Europe ports but at the same time will open new environmental concerns.

Figure 9: Average global exchanges compared to average globale production and population growth Data source : OMC globale trade repport 2013.

population production exchanges

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In 2004, the CNRS 11 in collaboration with IRSIT12 did a study that compares the development of 75 European seaports and their links to the cities they are related to.13 Indicators used to compare these ports regard both economic data and social values. On the diagram that tries to synthesise the result of this research, a colour value scale allows to compare ten of the indicators of CNRS study. Then, ports are placed on the circle next to each other in the same way as their geographic positions on the coast. It appears from this study and its diagrammatic representation three important elements of the development of maritime cities:

11- French national scientific reseach center.

12- Research institute in industrial and territorial strategies.

13- Rozenblat Celine et al in GDR libergeo 1559 du CNRS Les villes portuaires en Europe, analyse comparative, Montpelier, 2004.

- The “row effect” due to the proximity of ports from each other shows clearly two different sequences: Northern ports are very coherent and seem as a block while southern ports in Mediterranean seem to have few influence one to another.

- Secondly, the accessibility to the hinterland promotes the port’s activity. Thus, cities could take better advantage of this strong network that links the mainland to the cost.

- Ports’ attractiveness to private companies is closely linked with both social environment of the city, and economic development of the port.

This study shows that cities that have already run​​ reconversion projects on the port side are often more attractive to activities than those which have not done it yet. Furthermore, communication has become much more than a matter of information.

It affects the image of the city beyond its borders, and indirectly, its economic development.

Often object of international competition, the transformation of the waterfront and port’s infrastructures carry a strong image and trust in the future.

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Figure 10: Comparing development indicators of 75 main port cities in Europe.

Data source: Les villes portuaires en Europe, analyse comparative op cit.

- Scale Value +

1: Traffics’ growth between1990 and 2004.

2: Links with the hinterland.

3: Intermodality.

4: New development projects.

5: Influence of the port’s image around the world.

6: Relation between the city’s unemployment rate and the national one in 2004.

7: Attractiveness to companies.

8: Dialogue between city and port authority.

9: Accessibility to the main European centralities.

10: Presence of mixed functions.

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The Mediterranean sea is a closed basin. 14 - Data source: Venice Throughout history, shipping has been the port authority report 2013. catalyst of a rich system of exchanges between radically different cultures. From middle ages, the economic domination of Venice’s republic in Italy grew for than a millennium. Nowadays, Mediterranean is no longer a major place in the global maritime trade. In Europe, the northern ports are much more attractive and Venice is no longer such a strategic location in the global system of exchange. However, Venice remains a city with a worldwide influence for its history and heritage, and still claims the biggest passengers’ port in Mediterranean with around 2,3 millions passengers per year.

On the contrary only 1,831,219 tons of goods transited by the commercial port between 2013 and 2014 14, while Rotterdam moved more than

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Figure 11: Mediterranean bassin, ports and main maritime roads.

Data souce : CORINE land cover.

15- Data source: Rotterdam port authority report 2013.

16- Data source: Venice port authority report 2013.

17- The Union for the Mediterranean has been created in 2008 to stimulate cooperation development in the Mediterranean area.

300 million tonnes of goods per year. 15 In Venice, goods traffics are 12,3 % 16 less than the previous year. So the commercial port’s activity is shrinking and Venice represents a quite small port in Europe.

Although the global system of transportation tends towards the logic of hubs where ships and ports wants to be bigger and bigger. But maritime transportation can also be on a smaller scale a further mobility network for short and medium distances. This network already exists; it is called short sea shipping. In the case of the Mediterranean basin, short sea shipping could be improved and integrated into a multimodal mobility system more sustainable and more competitive with massive road transportation.

Idea that European union and the Union for the Mediterranean are actually supporting. 17

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SHORT SEA SHIPPING A sustainable alternative to the massive road transport accross the pan-european corridors.

Figure 12: A ro ro ship used in short sea shipping.

Figure 13: Map of the main motorways of the sea in Mediterranean.

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18 - Data source from European conference ministeries of transport, OECD publishing 2001.

The Short sea shipping is a means of transportation by searoads that can carry goods and passengers together on short and medium distances, in general not over 20 000 nautical miles (37 040km). Before 1987, it was an important part of the european shipping trade. Then the globalisation processes increase and speed up commercial exchanges leading to a stronger concurrency between the different ports. At this time, many of the short sea shipping lines have been closed to give priority to larger platforms instead of smaller ports connected to each other.

Quite the reverse from 1999, the European commission started to promote short sea shipping again as an alternative and sustainable mobility for three main reasons: First of all it could strengthen links between European countries and valorise the relation with Arabic peripheral regions. From an economic perspective short sea shipping integrated into the supply chains of transport would provide a “door to door” service that can be adaptable to isolated future demands due to economic growth or re-localisation. It could promote the overall sustainability of transport.18 This mean of transportation includes also feeders services that connect the ports nearby to allow some cargoes local redistribution. For the last 10 years, high frequency lines such as Barcelona - Genoa or Valencia – Civitavecchia are called motorway of the sea.

It represents a good alternative to road transportation: Much more convenient, it can solve problems of congestion and safety for road users, while polluting less. Competitiveness of short sea shipping is due to the size of the ships as well as traffics’evenness. The ships used in Mediterranean carry around 1,200 trucks and

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3,000 passengers while a truck do not charge 19 - Data source: ISTAT more than 2 containers per trip. According to 2013. the European observatory of short sea shipping carbon footprint of one container for one-way Barcelona – Genova is 2,5 times less by short sea shipping than by road.

Venice port authority has completed this year the construction of a short sea shipping terminal in Fusina in the south of the commercial port. Italy and the European union have funded this project.

This terminal is accessible for both people and trucks, mainly connected to the east (Greece Turkey‌). At the same time, the port authority is improving the accessibility to this terminal by doubling the railway and road lines. This new terminal is now on the site of a metallurgic industry (Alumix) closes in 1992. In order to build the new terminal, the port authority has depolluted the whole area allowing now industrial reuses and access to the people. For passengers this terminal is directly connected to Fusina vaporetto station going straight to Venice city center.

If the new terminal becomes more integrated to the urban surroundings, it could be a good opportunity for Venice and the region that has a great proportion of small and medium firms to take advantage of the alternative mobility proposed by short sea shipping operators.

Moreover, a really small phenomenon of relocalisation is happening. Between 1997 and 2013, 79 enterprises coming from Veneto’s region decided to re localised their production, most of them to get back the label made in Italy.19 It is not to take it as guaranteed but more because of perspectives and questions it opens.

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NAPA North Adriatic Ports Association.

20 - Calculation for 1 container of 18 tonnes.

21 - ITS Adriatic multi port gateway study, final repport, 2013.

NAPA is the association of 5 seaports, 4 are located at the northern top of the Adriatic: Venice, Trieste, Koper, Rijeka and Ravenna is more south.

The Adriatic is a natural waterway entering deep into the European continent.

It is actually the cheapest naval route from the Far East towards Europe, with a distance of about 2000 nautical miles (3704 km) shorter than other north European ports. Talking of global transportation, the shorter journey provides significant savings in CO2 emission, around 320 kg saving per container 20 from Korea to the NAPA ports than to Rotterdam.21 Yet super tankers and large container ships cannot take Suez’s canal anymore because of their size. It lows significantly the attractiveness of the NAPA ports for global freight management, which is building ships bigger and bigger. Nevertheless, the serious question of carbon footprint is reinforced because conventional fossil fuel used by all ships, is not an endless font of energy. So, the interest of the NAPA association as gates to Europe in European transportation network could rise in a near future.

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For 7 years, Venice’s port authority has obtained 22 - Source Venice port 20 millions euro from european funds to improve Authority. port infrastructures by the bias of 2 programmes: Ten T and Territorial cooperation.22 “Ten T” (trans European transportation network) a program born in 2006, has studied and funded projects related to 9 pan-European corridors of transportation. Venice and all the ports of the NAPA association are located on the 5th corridor, which has allowed Venice port authority to apply for funding. From January 2013, the successor of Ten T programme is “the Innovation and Network Agency” (INEA) created in order be the evolution of Ten T program. It promotes 2 important directives of the European union: The first one is to connect strategic European facilities and the second is to develop a smart green and integrated network of transportation than rather uses renewable energy than conventional fossil fuel. So, Europe has supported Venice port’s initiatives to improve its railway infrastructures and multimodal terminals. Since 2013, Europe is now supporting new projects.

One of these projects is the ITS Adriatic Multi port gateway study: The north Adriatic ports with the Rete Autostrade del mare (Italian network motorway of the sea) agreed to develop together a study to possibly set up a multiport gateway for north Adriatic ports. This study supports the idea that the NAPA ports if they work in network, have a great potential on a long-term horizon.

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Figure 14: The NAPA ports with the industrial and urban areas.

Data source: CORINE land cover.

Industry Urban areas Port areas

Koper

Slovenia 0 10

25

50

100 Km

Rijeka

Croatia

Venice

Trieste

Italy

Italy

Ravenna Italy

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THE PORT IN DEBATE Re-industrialisation versus resilience and the traffics’ issue in the lagoon.

Porto Marghera has been built between 1917 23 - 1 Data source: and 1930. The initial idea was to create a logistic Venice port Authority and personal calculs. hub, an industrial area and a new residential neighbourhood, Marghera garden city at the northern edge of the port. The challenge was to modernize a rural territory and improve the quality of life. Nowadays, beyond the logistic activity, most of the land in Porto Marghera is industrial. Thus, de-localisation and decline of the main industry have led to a massive abandon of the buildings and infrastructures. So the concern is about Porto Marghera’s future.

- How could transform such a huge post industrial territory?

- Will the future of Porto Marghera be industrial again? These two questions are now at the centre of the debate.

Today, the port’s area is about 20,400,000 m2 of logistic and industrial platforms in Porto Marghera. It has 30,000 lm of quayside, 205 km of railway, and 26 cargo terminals. In Venice city center the port’s area is about 56,000 m2 with 10 passenger terminals.23 26

24 - Data source: Foscara Porchia, l’evoluzione del porto industrial di Marghera dalle origini al secondo dopoguerra (1917 - 1963), PhD thesis at padova university.

25 - Master plan per la bonifica dei siti inquinati di porto Marghera, final report 2004.

All these infrastructures are located inside the lagoon, a very sensitive and specific ecosystem.

It is easy to deduce that the combination of huge port infrastructures, the biggest cruise ships of the world, huge tankers and a sensitive ecosystem is an unstable coexistence.

Until the 1960’s, Porto Marghera was one of the biggest industrial areas in Europe. Lead by ENI Chemistry, production was concentrated on petrochemical processes. At the peak of activity, 30,000 workers were working at Porto Marghera.24 As some of the most risky unhealthy and harmful activities in the world, this 30-year span of disastrous activity was also in conflict with its geographic position. Petro chemical industries of Porto Marghera were terrible environments for workers and neighbouring citizens. Due to the petrochemical related deaths of several workers, violent strikes and confrontations erupted, leading to the closure of the main industrial sites.

In 2004, the Veneto region and Venice municipality published the final report of a master plan about Porto Marghera industrial areas’ reclamation. It includes a detailed study about the pollution in Porto Marghera, and clearly delineates future objectives: “To consider the industrial areas in a perspective of development and sustainability, to promote the integration of different commitment with the necessity of maintaining an economic development under the condition of the reclamation of the environment and the improvement of the life quality for citizens and workers.” 25

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Dramatic levels of pollution and structural Figure 15: Re complexity of Porto Marghera privilege a industrializing Porto Marghera. reflection upon it’s industrial future. Economic prosperity, of course, also serves as an argument in favour of the future industries of Europe.

Indeed, we are now facing a deep crisis: economic instability, massive unemployment and pauperization are taking root in many European countries. Attracting new activities and thinking about another economic cycle on a large scale are not just economic targets but is also a vital social issue.

In consideration of these continental economic and social concerns, the question of Porto Marghera’s future was included in a larger debate about the future of Venice’s metropolitan territory. A general master plan has been elaborated to define general guidelines for Venice’s development, the PAT. 26 This plan has set off a violent debate between inhabitants and the municipality because of the disproportion between huge investments mainly reserved to tourism and lack of concern about citizen daily life and local facilities.

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26 - PAT: piano di assertion territoriale, regional planning documents for Venice municipality, 2012.

Figure 16: Porto Marghera resilient.

So, the politics seem to look forwards to a re-industrialisation, in a current situation of recession where both public authority and private stakeholders miss resources and trust in the future to run huge projects, the question of resilience remains open, not as a leitmotiv but more as an alternative dynamic. Resilience does not suggest a total withdrawal of human activities.

It means the capacity of a system to adapt after a chock or a transformation. Urban areas have deeply transformed the natural environment and reshaped landscapes. Resilience is also a matter of accepting the past and looking towards the future. Maybe the re-industrialisation is compatible with a resilient approach.

In any case, the traffics in the lagoon due to the port’s activity both logistic and touristic are now far too high and damage seriously the environment and Venice city centre. So politics will have to make a choice soon between safeguard and economic interests.

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PARADOX Venice’s dump has a view.

Figure 17: Benevolo Leonardo, the centre of the bipolar city resulting from the completion of the town planning Scheme, in Venice moving around a bipolar city, Aquapolis n°14,1997.

First of all, to understand the paradoxes it is important to understand how Venice territory has been shaped. Venice was founded on an autonomous territory and an independent society even from the Church. Over the years, Venice domination in Mediterranean brought a lot of foreigners accepted in the city and allowed to trade with Venetians but at the same time rejected. The example of the ghetto is the best one. Jews were permanent residents in the city lending money to patriarchs of Venice while they were locked each night inside one defined area.

The two terra firma districts of Venice, Mestre and Marghera, were born as satellites for Venice’s inhabitants. Under the pressure of the land prices or because of the difficulty to maintain their houses and live in the centre, thousands of Venetian moved to these newer developments.

Some residents still have the impression to be in exile from their land. This reality is one strata of a 30

greater conflict. When the city started to expend it did it naturally, rushing out of the precious city centre. Most of the European cities have moved all the dirty functions outside their historic centres, industry, energy treatment plants, then trash treatment plants, poors and then immigrant population… In the case of Venice all this excluded population and functions have gone in terra firma beyond the bridge creating a second centrality. The problem of bipolarity, likewise human being, is unsustainable in itself.

So, Venice has radically excluded modernity. Not just the modernisation of the city centre but also refusing the evolution of its own society creating a sick city. Today, Porto Marghera could be seen has Venice’s dump. Every common rejects of the city goes in Porto Marghera. For instance, the embarrassing land of the lagoon from the dragging of the canals is partially treated in one treatment plant or displaced in front of the port to form huge islands. Most of the domestic waste and industrial polluted water also goes to Porto Marghera’s recycling centre. Not only problematic environmental materials, but also negatively perceived social groups such as poor people, drug dealers, prostitutes, and immigrants are rejected and most of the time forgotten in large numbers in Marghera.

This chapter takes one particular story, probably very anecdotic and somehow ambiguous but highlighting very well how dramatic could become paradoxes when they start to be spatial projects. This story occurred between August 2012 and January 2013. On Monday 27th of August 2012 Pierre Cardin presented to Venice his project of Palais lumière, which included a huge visualization of where the towers had to be built in an abandoned industrial area in Porto

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Marghera. So, Pierre Cardin’s idea was to build a palace of light in one of the most polluted sites of Italy just nearby the disused buildings of the petro chemical industry. Pierre cardin and his architect also his nephew, proposed a futurist sculpture composed of 3 towers of 245 m high, 60 floors, 72 elevators, 284 private residences, 34,000 m2 of luxury hotel, one university, one museum, an auditorium of 7,000 places, a swimming pool, and a shopping centre, complete with a self-sufficient permanent lighting system.27 This titanic project had to be finished for the universal exhibition of 2015 in Milano. “A transatlantic boat in the night of the lagoon” 28 claimed a French journalist.

“Disproportionate monster and ego” 29 screamed another. Cardin’s tower became a phenomena and a violent debate as soon as it entered the stage of Porto Marghera.

Even though a scandalous, spectacular project, Cardin’s tower was not too shocking for Marghera inhabitants and Venice municipality to claim the project as a good opportunity for the city. The Cardin Tower facebook group received 70,000 likes in one week.

An informal survey, completed in September 2012 in the main square during the weekly market confirmed the interest of the inhabitants of Marghera for such a big project. But why? The main arguments were it would bring new jobs and more tourism to Marghera. The question of the abrupt insertion of the architecture in the low-

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27 - Data source: Press conference of Pierre Cardin in August 2012.

28 - In Le figaro, Venise: Le palais lumière fait scandale, 28th of august.

29 - In La repubblica, destruzione di Venezia, ultima attacco di Pierre Cardin, 28th of august.

30 - Source: Interview at Rivolta social centre and discussion with inhabitants.

31 -In La nuova Venezia, Palais lumière non vedra la luce, january 2013.

Figure 18: Palais lumière at the centre of crossed interests.

lying terrain remained secondary for inhabitants.

30 Venice’s municipality also defended the project and gave all the authorizations necessary to the architect Rodrigo Basilicati. Giorgio Orsoni, Venice’s mayor claimed: “The palais lumière is a strategic project and has right of way.” So, a real conflict began: on the 27th of November members of the regional institutions reminded to the municipality that the area of the project was under a special law related to the protection of the lagoon ecosystem. Mayor Orsoni, however, answered that all permissions for the concession of the land would be given to Cardin at the price of 40 millions euros “essential to responding to the stability and growth pact imposed for January 2013”.

But a surprise came from abroad: every single French bank refused the 40 million euro credit to Pierre Cardin. Then, He counter proposed with 3% of this price from his personal capital stock.

In January 2013, the municipality rejected Pierre Cardin’s offer and all the newspapers happily proclaimed: “Palais Lumière will never see the light...” 31 This news item exposed all the paradoxes embodied in the land of Porto Marghera: a land that could become a place of brutal speculation the name of urban transformation. Indeed, Porto Marghera, even if it seems to be Venice’s Dump today, has a view for tomorrow. Exclusion is not just a concentric process and even in such small territory exclusion just creates over pockets mushrooming on the territory.

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SUSTAINABLE DEAL Which alternatives could allow both economic development and Venice lagoon’s safeguard?

This research conciders port infrastructures, post industrial landscapes and emergency situation. It tackles the issue of massive abandon not just as an economic problem but also as a two edges phenomenon: the beginning of a territorial crisis and at the same time the opportunity for changes. This study tries to integrate complexity as it is and not to simplify it. That’s why the issue of abandon is here related to the situation of the touristic port of Venice and the city center, which are over exploited.

So, in dismissed industrial landscapes, some activities leave and new ones are coming over which means that abandon and recycling are synchronous processes while at the same time over consuming of the land seems to be exclusive.

This study will be done in the perspective of a complex overlapping of different processes and systems sometimes contradictory, which have different time periods, believing that we need to reach a more collaborative and inclusive system Figure 19: Photograph on the canal grande of a where difference is a strength. poster.

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Moreover, the spontaneous phenomenon of recycling is strongly related to its potential of transformation, its energetic value, also known as embodied energy. It is interesting to observe that these processes happened when a situation became problematic regarding the regular mechanism.

Setting aside the necessary deep lecture of the current condition, the present research project remarks the value of existing strengths while accepting the constant necessity to adapt and the utility of the design to draw large schemes and visions.

The project area being so huge and the issues so complicated, Venice needs a strong vision to jump into a new cycle more sustainable. Venice’s safeguard is already the object of huge projects such as the famous MOSE. But most of them are too much speculative and too much expensive.

Public authorities at state and local levels are missing resources to support such huge territorial interventions. So this strong vision should deal with the complex current situation, and be aware of its limits.

This study addresses the issue of the relationships between objects that have difficulty in coexisting in the same place: port versus city, economic and urban activities or tourist and inhabitants‌ It tries to understand why the tensions behind.

How can we balance inequalities and turn them into positive, into a diverse set of situations? To reach this goal we need to understand how the space has been build and why these contrasts exist. The research question could be divided into two parts: 36

- How did the port influence the spatial and social development of the territory around? Which are the strengths? Where are the potentials?

- How can port and city collaborate to provide a productive system and qualitative spaces?

Which alternatives futures could produce social inclusion and let natural and urban systems cohabitate?

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METHODOLOGY Trans-scalar and transdisciplinary approach.

As Gilles Deleuze teaches us, it is very important to challenge the relationship between our discipline and the object of study. “ I don’t know if philosophy can bring something to art? Maybe it is not the right question… What can art teach us in philosophy?...” 32 Likewise, this work doesn’t aim to transform social practices and the territory by redesigning them from the scratch. Quite the reverse, it is about what this territory and this society can teach us in order to produce a good design?

This study is divided into 3 main sections. The first one was about setting up the general frame in which this study is embodied talking about thematic points related to diverse aspects mainly economic, social and cultural.

Afterwards, this time in a more analytic way, the study will try to enter deeper into the current situation. Finally, it will attempt a vision of the future up to 2050. This vision will start with one single scenario and designs the different spatial 38

32 - Deleuze Gilles discours au college de france Art et philosophy 1968

repercussions this scenario could have from today till 2050. It doesn’t pretend to be an operational project but an open window giving hope for the future.

All tools I could have in hand are mobilised by this study. Data processing, mapping on site, newspapers, interviews, participation to the active citizen life, photography anthropology‌ For each main chapter an introduction is done to set up its theoretical frame.

This study looks at different scale in space and time and calls a trans disciplinary approach.

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40

LOOKING THROUGHOUT THE CURRENT SITUATION

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SPACE & PLACE Space and place in the Venetian context.

This chapter refers directly to “The anthropology of space and place: Locating culture” edited by two anthropologists Setha Low and Denise Lawrence Zúñiga, as the theoretical framework in which the fieldwork should be inscribed.

“We are interested in how people form meaningful relationships with the locales they occupy, how they attach meaning to space, and transform space into places. We are interested in how experience is embedded in place and how space holds memories that implicate people and events.” 33 This analysis aims to understand better the current situation. It looks after the organisation and the dynamics, by taking two radically different points of view, which are: First, the traditional looking from the top, often with a Cartesian reference system useful to understand the heavy trends that give shape to the territory as a whole. And then, a more immersive approach into the city and the port that would like to highlight the condition in which people live, to understand the 42

33 - Low Setha and Laurence Zúñiga Denise, “The anthropology of space and place: Locating culture” 2003

34 - Bourdieu Pierre La misère du monde, Paris, 1993.

social dynamics from the bottom and reveals low harbingers that could give interesting directions to future developments. Pierre Bourdieu tells us in “la misère du monde” how important is to put a face on a story even more when it is about expressing such widespread phenomena as misery, revolt or states of neglect. He also claims that misery is localised in the space and always related to specific local conditions. 34 In that sense the second part of this analysis regards specific places with a bottom up approach and recounts micro stories, analysing their relation to their close environment.

During this fieldworks I met a lot of people. Most of the time, after the first contact people invited me to come back, to participate to their activities or activism… In the following pages, I have tried to give an overview of these meetings but it is not a complete transcription. So, a part of the text expresses formal interviews, some other parts are composed with random sentences and references to informal discussions.

Figure 20: location of the photographs done to create the photographic map next page.

Figure 21 next page: Photographic map.

Figure 22 next page: Analysing the photographic map.

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Citta neighbourhood

Tunel to access to the r

Main square teenagers

Weekly Market

Main square criket plaground

44

rain station

Al vapore jazz club

Molo 5 disco

Recycling

Port for private boats

Banchina Molini

Revolta social center

45

Citta neighbourhood

Tunel to access to the ra

Main square teenagers

Weekly Market

Main square criket plaground

46

ain station

Al vapore jazz club

Molo 5 disco

Recycling

Port for private boats

Banchina Molini

Revolta social center

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FOLDS The fold of the territory points out the multiple realities conveyed by a same space.

A city is a complex system built by space, volumes, supports, time, flows, people‌ and the interactions of all these elements between each other. They are dynamic and create a complex overlapping forming a specific landscape.

The research topics in urbanism are specifics for each study case even if some guidelines are quite recurrent. It underlines the importance to go deep into the site analysis and expends our knowledge for each case in particular in order to understand a unique landscape and the issues related to it.

Much more than a collage of physical elements, the city is the symptom and syndrome of the society, economic phenomena, relationship between nature and cultures, between peoples, imagination, desires, dreams‌ The city is a system of systems. The complexity we have to deal with is an inherent characteristic of the city and we should integrate it more in our researches not just as a fact, but also as a dynamic process.

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35 - Robert’s definition 36 - Deleuze Gilles, Le pli Leibniz et le baroque, Paris,1988.

37 - Le pli Leibniz et le baroque, op cit.

The word territories in its plural form may refer to several regions, administratively dependent but out of the borders of the main place of one country. 35 Here territories are understood as multiple spheres of influence that overlap inside one territory. In other words it refers to the different aspects of one space.

During an analytic study, a territory is often decomposed in layers that represent its thickness and clarify its organisation. Nevertheless, intern geometry of this thick surface is anything but a layered organisation, it is full of folds and interactions.

“For a long time, there are some places where what is interesting to see is inside: cell, vestry, crypt, church, theatre, reading or prints rooms.”36 Gilles Deleuze teaches us his definition of the fold. According to Leibniz theory and the baroque attitude the concept of fold is divided into two levels: One upper level and a lower one. In urbanism, regarding the concrete matter of our objects of study, we are interested in the lower one.

“The fold is a two level concept. There is a lower level and an upper level. The lower level is the matter’s fold: the endlessly matter. The endlessly matter is composed by physical elastic body, and organic matter. Organic matter can fold and unfold itself ad infinitum, involutes and evolutes.

Fold/unfold, involution/evolution implicate/ explicate, all couples of concept that manifest the fold” 37

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In reference to this definition, the folds in the territory point out multiple realities convoyed by a same space and also a same place insisting on the necessity to talk about territories and dynamic systems. It allows a complex vision to coexist with an analytic approach.

The idea to belong to a place, a culture or a tradition implies that places also belong to people who fill them with life. Vittorio Gegotti and Bernardo Secchi theory “Modificazione” insist on how important it is to take care of this collective background of the physical environment: “It is opposed to the tabula rasa and describes a defensive strategy attempting to minimize errors, round obstacles, reduce arbitrary decision and the nonsense of omni symbolism” 38 The project part will try to follow these kind advices. Furthermore, the concept of representation is now evolving very fast.

The distinction between real and non-real representations is now completely blurred. Yet it finds a spatial resonance. Relationships between people, organisation of activities, between living and working are completely transformed.

Setha Low, referring herself to Baudriard, brings an interesting regard on this question of representation of the space: “The distinction between object and representation is no longer valid, a new world emerges constructed out of models or “simulacra” which have no referent or reality except on their own” 39

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38 - Secchi Bernardo and Gregotti Vittorio, Modificazione, casabella, 1984.

39 -The antropology of space and place, op cit.

Well, these reflections built up the frame of the following section. Venice’s territory is ridden as Venice’s territories. It starts with the historic development since the construction of the port to develop then both heavy trends and low harbingers related to this double lecture.

Figure 23: Villers Andres, photograph without title, series Breath property 1981.

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HISTORY Port development in relation to the local context and the global environment.

Figure 24 : Picture of 1930. Construction of Porto Marghera.

Because of its dimension and its function Venice’s port evolution may be more related to a global scale. Commercial ports organisation is most of the time shaped by the global market and national policies. But due to the presence of the industrial platforms and so a huge new amount of workers in the area, without doubt Venice’s port has always been strongly connected to its local context. Moreover, the port’s location, inside the lagoon, very close to Venice city centre, complicates seriously its way to operate and creates interaction between urban and port concerns, primarily in term of mobility.

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40 - l’evoluzione del porto industrial di Marghera dalle origini al secondo dopoguerra (1917 - 1963), Op cit.

41 - Data source ISTAT censimento 1921 Veneto e Friuli Venezia Giulia

Italy was born as a political union in 1861, so quite late in regards to other European countries. At this time Italy was a country almost completely rural while its neighbours were industrializing fast. Thus, Porto Marghera amongst others was one of the big industrial areas Italy planned at the beginning of the 20th century, in order to keep pace with the trend of modernising largely rural European territory.

In 1917, Venice port authority is created to manage the area’s development following 3 main directives. First of all, Build industrial platforms that should attract capital and bring jobs.

Secondly, in order to be attractive, a seaport has to be built too to receive raw materials requested directly by the industry and the new power plants. Then a new neighbourhood was planed on Howard’s model of a garden city.

On May 10th of 1921, the construction site of Marghera’s garden city is inaugurated, following the plans of Engineer Piero Emilio Emmer, who designed the garden city. On October 30tth of 1922, fascists seized power of the country. Contrary to popular opinion, the new neighbourhood wasn’t built for the workers of Porto Marghera.40 At this time Venice city center was populated with 162,695 inhabitants 41, facing problem of alcoholism, poverty, and illness, so Marghera was designed to host mainly Venetian poor inhabitants. The government gave them modern places to live in and small gardens to cultivate. In the early years of Marghera the police was even in charge to supervise the gardens maintenance.

First industries arrived at the beginning of the 20’s. From the beginning most of them belong to the petro chemical sector.

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During the Second World War, Porto Marghera becomes a target, so industries closed for a while.

Later, between 1950 and 1965, it is the golden age of the industrial area. Production reaches its maximum capacity when in 1961, Gabriel Bortolozzo, working at the Montedison, one of the main chemical plants, attacks its company.

He claims that Vinyl Chloride is responsible of worker’s diseases and death.

42 -L’unita , Pericolo di cancro nelle fabbriche che produconno le materie plastiche, 2 marzo 1971.

At the same time in 1960, the construction of a new artificial island, Tronchetto, starts in order to increase the parking capacity and the passenger terminals. In March, 2sd of 1971, the leftist new paper “l’unita” tittles: “Danger, from the plastic industries to cancer”. 42 The concern about petro-chemical pollution spreads like wild fire though Venice and Venetian inhabitants started to feel concern about the damage that industry Figure 25: Picture of could do on the whole lagoon and the precious 1971 srikes in front of the Montedison industry. city centre.

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The end of the 60’s and beginning of the 70’s are affected by an important social instability all around Europe. The Marxist movement “Autonomia Operia” comes out in Italy in 1973.

The same year, World Heath Organisation recognises the Vinyl Chloride as a toxic element dangerous for human life. Yet general strikes take place in the port against the petro chemical industries.

Decline of the industry has lead to socio-political shifts such as strikes, rise of the unemployment, and violent conflicts between workers and citizen against the petro-chemical companies. From this time, Marghera garden city started to decline too, relegated to a position of second importance by Venice municipality.

Figure 26: Protest in Marghera in 1987.

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Awareness to the environmental issue related to the lagoon and Venice safeguard follows this episode of trouble. In 1987, starts the general plan of intervention for safeguard of Venice and the lagoon. First studies of MOSE are done at this time. Most of the petro-chemical industries are closed and a new cycle starts. In 1988, Veneto region launches the program SIMAGE. It is an integrated system of environmental vigilance and risk management. Then, new innovative activities arrived in Porto Marghera.

In 1997, Venice port authority created a new company, Venezia Terminal passeggeri. It started with a capital of 6 billions italian lires from both private and public investment. (44% to the port authority, 17.5% to Veneto sviluppo and 38,5 to Finpax Srl a private company) Nowadays the public body is still the main shareholder with 53% for the Port authority and the region together.

The company SAVE that runs San Marco airport has been included with now 22.18%. 43 It is planed to extend the company over the coming years so private parties could be majority shareholders.

From 1997,the passengers transit thought the port have raised of 28 % 44 Since the 60’s, one of the main problems of Venice city centre is the shrinkage of its resident population. Most of the people who leave the center avoid to go to Mestre or Marghera because of the bad image of both areas.

They often prefer to migrate deeper into the hinterland. Several schools have closed in Venice Island and Marghera, the municipality has halted maintenance of social housing and public spaces.

Nowadays, around 30% of Marghera’s population consists of immigrants mostly from 56

43 - Venezia terminal passageri report.

44 - Razzini Andrea, Port and city the Venetian couple in Aquapolis n°14, 1997.

45 - Marghera immigration office report.

Bangladesh, Rumania and Moldavia. In some areas of Marghera’s districts, Catene, Citta and Vasquette, the concentration of immigrants is beyond 60%.45 Their provenance is now more diversified, they come also massively from China, Indonesia, Filipine, Serbia, Albania and Ucraina.

Most of the time in this neighbourhood, they live in unhealthy conditions. Living inside old constructions containing asbestos and lead painting, or too many people in small space when they have a regular situation. Quite a lot of buildings are squatted in Marghera inside both city and port sides. Furthermore, ongoing economic crises and the constant rise of land price in Venice Island have therefore had a ripple effect of instability in the settlements in terra firma.

Currently, dismissed industrial areas are often seen as “bad” places both by outsiders and citizens living close by. In that case, one street, Fratelli Bandiera, represents a strong barrier splitting the territory in two parts. Marghera’s garden city is sharply divided from the port, where any kind of illegal activities came over.

On a larger scale, there is a deep political conflict between the port and the city in Venice. This rift between the port and urban interest began when the industry closed, and the problem of safeguarding Venice arose. From then the whole territory is following the rhythm of one main activity: tourism. Instead of valorising living places; improving the mobility system between the different districts and reclaiming the landscape, huge transformations to the urban fabric have been implemented to increase the tourist flow.

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Figure 27: Storyline From the construction of the port till today.

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HEAVY TRENDS From the historic overview, we can see that some dynamics are stronger than others. These heavy trends have a spatial resonance that we will develop in this chapter.

Services Mestre

Marghera garden city Venetian district.

Immigrants.

workers

Porto Marghera industrials platforms.

Big companies mainly in the petro chemical sector in 1960 60 000 workers.

Shutting down of the main industries from the 80’s.

Port authority logistic activity

1930 Industrialisation: Construction of huge industrial platforms in Italy.

Figure 28: Diagram of the flow of population through the history and economic main sectors.

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1980

Globalisation: Star des industrialisatio processes in Europ social crisis.

Venice

Migration (deportation) poor venetians during the facist period.

Migration Venetian:

Venetians residents: 1960: 120 000 inhabs 2014: 60 000 inhabs

Wealthy foreigner immigration.

Tourism

Tourism today: 20 milions / year (2 milions arriving by cruise ships) 90% stay 1 day and sleep outside of the island.

Tourism

Tourism Arts & Culture University

University workers

ÂŤpendularÂť movement from citta difusa students/workers.

Small villages.

Agriculture:

Cumul activities.

Closure because end of subsidies.

rting of on pe and

Foreign students coming for short stay.

Citta difusa Family-owned compagnies: The veneto model was successful till the current crisis.

Main towns.

Services

2014

2050

Global crisis: ( Economic, energetic, environmental)

Towards a global democratic federation?

De growth scenario?

Resilience? ...

Financial crisis: Questioning the global market and how it operate.

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A SPACE BUILT BY FLOWS

“The global economy and flows of capital 46 - Low Setha and transform local places, creating homogenized, Laurence Zúñiga Denise, Op cit deterritorialized spaces.” 46 In a globalized world flows are blood of the economy, social interactions, and territories.

Ports in particular exist because everything is in motion. When the flows are hidden in the city designed with the most attention to the façades and the open spaces, at the opposite infrastructures, pipes, energy supply build up the industrial areas’ landscape. When a tanker enters the canal, stops in a jetty and the cranes start to move the containers it is possible to imagine the hugeness of the global system of exchange and the amount of energy asked by this global world.

Today the flow of goods through the port are shrinking while the flow of tourists along the 47 - Data source: Venice main infrastructures is increasing. Quite unique port authority report 2013 situation, their quantity is comparable: In 2013, 1.8 million tons of goods and 22 million tourists transited through Venice.47 Considering a gross weight of 80 kg/ person, 22 million tourists weigh 1,73 million tons.

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Figure 29: Flow of tourists tourists

Figure 30: Flow of goods Industrial areas Urban areas Goods

0

1

2.5

5 Km

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On the port’s side, flows have been integrated in the initial design of this area. On the contrary, Venice hasn’t been designed to receive 22 millions of tourist per year.

Energy is also an important flow in Venice territory.

When Porto Marghera was built huge power plants were built too. Now the industry has gone and these power plants produce most of the energy needed by the municipal area of Venice.

Most of these power plants work with fossil raw materials like coat but interesting experiences are emerging.

Enel and general electrics have built the world biggest hydrogen power plant, south of the port, in Fusina. It was built when petro chemical industry was still working well with the idea to recycle the hydrogen product coming from the transformation processes. This power plant has never been used but it could be used in a recycling project. The company Veritas in charge of the collect and the waste treatment of Venice municipal area, built some years ago a recycling project. After selection the dry non-toxic waste is compressed to produce “eco balls”. This product can be burnt in any conventional power plant like the one in Marghera to produce electricity.

Then a small but interesting experience is under process at Pellestrina, a long island south of Lido.

The company ENALG is testing an algae power plant.

With the agreement of the municipality, Rivolta social centre has installed solar panels on the rooftop of its building. It is now almost autonomous in electric energy. Another committee of Marghera the permanents would like to ask the authorisation to install a collective 64

solar plant inside the port. And the young innovative company SOLVAX is developing a technology of water extraction for polluted land by natural evaporation inside glasshouses to get clean water from one part and dry toxic material from the other. After that it is possible to burn the toxic dry product inside certified incinerator.

There are 3 certified incinerators in Marghera all located inside waist treatment plants. All these experiments are spread and disconnected, but they could form a strong pattern to go towards a sustainable network for energy production and consumption.

Figure 31: Electric power plants and flow towards the city.

Electricity

0

1

2.5

5 Km

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Figure 32: Current condition, enery production and waste treatment.

Electricity Fossil materials Domestic waste Hydrogen Toxic waite

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Figure 33: Photograph from a tanker.

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A MECHANIC LAGOON Transformation of the natural environment and sand balance managment.

“As landscape is a space deliberately created to speed up or slow down the process of nature.

As Eliade expresses it, it represents man taking upon himself the role of time.”48

48 - Jackson John Brinckerhoff, recovering landscape, essays in contemporary landscape architecture, Princeton 1999.

Time is a fundamental component of natural processes. We often forgot to balance time in our interventions on landscapes catalysing them towards the single direction of the project. In this chapter, we will see how men have transformed Venice’s lagoon so far.

The lagoon is a very sensitive landscape, probably even more than the precious city centre. Brackish water and shallows set up the conditions of the rich ecosystem developpment. The salt balance is important for plants and fish but also to maintain the proper hydraulic dynamics. All lagoons are changing landscapes. Rivers bring sediments from the land while erosion and raising sea levels let the salty water enters far into the lagoon. Landscape’s evolution depends on the balance between these two tendencies: silting and erosion.

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Figure 34 next page: Aerial picture of MOSE under construction. credits Clemens F Kush Anabel Gelhaar in Architecture guide, Berlin, 2014.

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Venice lagoon has been transformed over the year to guarantee the preservation of the city. 6000 years ago, the lagoon was part of the Pô delta.

Then, Pô, Adige, Piave, Brenta, Bacchiglione and Sile were ending in the lagoon. Venice region is a huge drainage basin of 200 000 ha ending in the lagoon that is the lower pond catchment basin of 250 ha. So a lot of sediment flowed into the lagoon over thousand years. The tide’s movement is opposed to the flow of sediments.

It repels them and forms islands or Lido (long littoral island).

A critical component of the lagoon is the barene habitat, a marshland with very fertile topsoil made of loam. Seed plants as the phanerogam cover this surface and fix it with their long roots.

In that ways the lagoon is preserved from erosion.

Sedimentation started to be an issue around 1150, when the Pô river changed his course bringing more sediment in the northern area of

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Figure 35: Magini Giovanni Antonio, Territorio Padovana, 1630, Venise.

the Delta, where the future city of Chioggia was going to take place later on. In the 14th and 15th centuries, men started to transform radically the lagoon fighting against sedimentation processes to preserve Venice city centre from silting and allow maritime trade to carry on.

Figure 36: Codroipo Stefano, Lagunadi Venezia, 1733, Venise.

First the Brenta River was diverted from the central lagoon just in front of Venice towards the south in front of Malamocco. Then, in the 16th century, the Piave River was also diverted towards the north and again the Brenta River by the construction of a new long canal, Brenta Nova, going to Chioggia. In 1604, the taglio di Porto Virowas realized and led on sediment deposits, which created two new islands: Isola della Donzella and Isola di Polesine.

In 1610, a new canal, the Taglio Novissimo was realized to bring Brenta’s water from Mira towards Brondolo, where it joined the by pass of Bacchiglione river.

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In the late 17th century, the Sile river was diverted diverted through a canal, Taglio del Sile, towards the old bed of the Piave and so flowing to the port of Jesolo, further north. From then, most of the fresh water doesn’t enter anymore the lagoon.

In the 18th century, dykes were built to protect Pellestrina’s Lido from erosion. During the 19th century, the construction of the railway bridge from Mestre to Venice and the port devastated hectares of barene.

Figure 37 : Pitteri Giovanni, map laguna di Venezia 1784, Venice.

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49 - Source MOSE webside.

Nowadays, MOSE project has a very ambitious goal. Saving Venice from the rising sea level and intensification of the high tide phenomenon while allowing ships beyond 150 000 tons to entrer the lagoon and reach the city centre. The MOSE project, part of a general Plan of Interventions to safeguard Venice and the lagoon, started in 1987. It was under the responsability of the Venice water Authority till its recent suppression last June and now it is directly related to the ministry of Infrastructure. Works have started in 2003, they are actually around 80% completed. 49 MOSE is a system of 3 rows of mobile gates at the 3 inlets of the lagoon, Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. When the tide starts, the gates close and so they temporarily separate the lagoon from the sea. Gates need 30 minutes to be raised and 15 minutes to be lowered. They should stay closed for an average time of 4 to 5 hours.

In order to let navigation going on and avoid interruptions of the port’s activity, a main lock is under construction at the Malamocco inlet to allow the transit of large ships while the door is closed. In Chioggia and Lido smaller locks will be built in case of emergency. The gates should be raised in case of tide up to 110 cm. But San Marco Square is also flooded under 110 cm. So additional works have to be done to protect quayside inside the city.

Construction of MOSE at the 3 main entrances of the lagoon has required a complex logistic organisation. They are located inside a very delicate environment. This system should work but the raising sea levels seem to be more than expected and it is possible that gates are going to become obsolete in the near future.

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Tide is a natural process depending on the moon attraction of course but tide intensity depends also on water salinity and seabed’s deepth. Successive interventions on the lagoon, to cross over and then digging too much the canals, have reverted natural processes. If Venice’s lagoon tended naturally towards silting, it is now becoming part of the open sea because of economic convenience and now a complete mechanical system should guarantee its cultural preservation. So close to the deepest canals, tide’s intensity is higher. Guidecca’s canal is 12 m deep to allow cruise ships to cross. So just by raising the seabed of the main canals or at least not digging them so much, some precious centimetres could be won on the tides.

Figure 38: MOSE project at Lido inlet.

Figure 39 next page: aerial picture MOSE credits Clemens F Kush Anabel Gelhaar in Architecture guide, Berlin, 2014.

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STAKEHOLDERS A complex net.

As supranational stakeholder, UNESCO is fundamental for Venice safeguard. Venice city centre and the whole lagoon have been designated UNESCO world heritage in 1989. So UNESCO coordinates and founds many studies about Venice safeguard and the environmental issues related to the lagoon. It also gives recommendations to the Italian state about patrimony protection and main interventions related to the city.

Then on the large scale we have important politic bodies: The region, the port authority and a third specific one: Venice water authority. This function existed from 1501 to 2014 and was very specific to Venice. It was the main responsible of Figure 40: Map of the lagoon’s hydraulic safety and was also engaged port Authority juridiction.

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50 - Article 23, p 3, decree 24 of june 2014, n°90 law in August 11th, 2014, N°114 Il caso MOSE, il governo sopprime il magistrato alle acque, in La nuova Venezia e Mestre, june 14th, 2014.

in processes of land reclamation. The recent suppression of this authority by the Italian government follows the ongoing investigations of the corruption case related to the MOSE project in Venice. This case involves two former magistrates Patrizio Cuccioletta and Maria Giovanna Piva. 50

51 - Scandalo Mose, Orsoni si dimette da sindaco di Venezia, la repubblica, june 13th,2014

Then the Veneto region, led by the far right wing (Lega nord) defends the interest of the territory and work with Venice and the port authority on several studies and master plans about the transformation of Venice, Porto Marghera and the lagoon. The region is most of the time in conflict with Venice municipality, which was led by the left wing with mayor Giorgio Orsoni till his recent resignation. Indeed, Venice’s mayor stepped down in june, 13th, 2014 also because of his implication in the corruption case related to MOSE. 51

52 - to see annexe Alberta Parolin’s interview at the port authority.

Venice port authority is a public entity also connected to the state level in charge of maintaining the common area of the port and the seabeds of its canals. Its task is to guide, make study and plan, co-ordinate, promote and regulate everything happening inside its boundary, just as a municipality. Inside the lagoon it is responsible for dredging main canals connecting the terminals to the open sea. All the industries and services that take place inside the port on the industrial land owe taxes to the port authority. 52 At the local scale, big companies, small enterprises, social centres, committees, informal groups, artist, activists… are the local strengths who daily transform places step by step. Starting with the ones who have a larger influence in space

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and zooming in, these following paragraphs give 53 - Institute for the industrial re construction. a non-exhaustive overview of them: CGIL trade union: The Italian General Confederation of Labour defends workers, helps them when they have to struggle with companies... In Porto Marghera they are still very active. They defend alternative developments that could preserve the companies currently implanted. Regarding the cruise ships issue, CGIL position is to draw the attention to the work that these cruiser-ships provide. To block the access to the lagoon would delete numerous of jobs, they say. The environmental challenges are showed at a secondary level. They see the work as a great common good.

Fincantieri shipyard (1959): This shipyard is propriety of Fintecna, a private and public shared company with Italian ministry of the economy as main shareholder. This company inherited an important state owned company during the fascist period: IRI 53 Now, Fincantieri is strong of 41% of the world market cruise ships. It is now a company that can provide a great number of jobs and generate profits for the moment.

ENEL (1962): Enel is the main company that provides energy all around Italy. In Porto Marghera, it owns two power plants that furnish the energy for Venice area: The “Palladio centrale” :One power plant of 976 MW that burns carbon, coat, petrol and domestic waste, also with an additional power plant of 12 MW using Hydrogen technology not currently used. And the second one: “Enel Porto Marghera”, one power plant of 140MW that also use conventional carbon components.s 78

Figure 41: Protests in Marghera Figure 42: the costa diadema, cruise ship under construction at fincantieri shipyard Marghera.

Figure 43: ENEL power plant in Fusina at the south of Porto Marghera.

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Enel is a big company that can invest in new technology to enrich its park of power plants. Now the price of the fossil fuel will ever rise, renewable energy becomes an economic challenge.

Alles Mantovani (1996): Alles SpA Mantovani has two main activities: It dredges the canals in the lagoon. It burns the industrial toxic waste coming from dredging in order to produce biomasses and sells it, mostly abroad. They own two incinerators Vesta, allowed to burn toxic waste. The activity of this enterprise is growing. The treatment plant is located very close to a small village, Malcontenta.

This company is in trouble with Malcontenta and Marghera’s inhabitants who doesn’t want Alles Mantovani activity so close to the village.

Inhabitants are afraid that the south of the port becomes a garbage dump if Alles Mantovani increases its activity.

Veritas ecodistretto (2010): The ecodistretto Veritas (eco district) is a private industry that selects and burns domestic waste. It produces biomasses, and then it sells a part of it to ENEL palladio centrale, which can turn it into electricity. This new enterprise is a good activity that we can integrate into a new cycle of energy production.

Ecocentro and phyto treatment plant (2009): The Ecocentro is a public project of water treatment plant realized to clean the polluted water from industry. At its beginning, the project had to be included into a bigger network composed of 3 other water treatment plants using phyto remediation. Actually, one of these 3 is already built but not used. Its size is far too big for the quantity of industrial water. This second 80

Figure 44: Mantovani treatment plant for toxic waist.

Figure 45: Poster ecodistretto Marghera domestic waist treatment plant.

Figure 46: Satellite picture of the phyto treatment plant built at the south of Porto Marghera.

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plant at the top south of the port could be easily recycled for urban dark water or to clean the water of the canals.

ENALG (2009): Enalg is a project designed to achieve an ambitious goal: to contribute actively to the production of energy through the use of innovative technologies that reduce harmful emissions to the environment. From March 2009, ENALG started to test bio fuel production from algae biomass. The Spanish company BFS Bio fuel Systems owns the technology.

Rivolta social center: The social centre Rivolta was the first civic building crossing the limit of Porto Marghera area. Not far than 30 people today work permanently in Rivolta Social Centre and other100 are volunteers. Most of them live in Marghera and wouldn’t like to move out. Their struggles go against immigrants exclusion, homeless conditions, drugs businesses, prostitution, and pollution risks. In general they denounce bad effects of dismissed spaces on the daily life. They propose Italian classes for foreigners, rooms for homeless, cultural events as live-concerts, sports’ and children’s activities, craft’s spaces for artists and, they work in association with “Emergenci” a free health centre. They know very well Porto Marghera conditions and want to be active in its new possible development, integrating the social necessities. So they have a local influence but also a regional one by the radio Sherwood they host in their buildings and all the events they organise to launch local artists.

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Vega scientific Park: Vega is a 100% public founded operation with a private management. It provides offices, conference rooms, incubators and a research center. Unfortunately, the building is almost empty.

The permanent committee: “The Permanents” is a committee located in Marghera Garden City. They called themselves as such because committees in Venice are very common but they are usually not permanent.

They are created in order to discuss issues and specific subjects, but once the subject is resolved or not timely anymore, the committee is dissolved. The Permanents’ committee exist since the accident, which occurred in the “PetroliChimico” area in 2002. It killed people and spread amount of pollutants. The Permanents meet every Wednesday evening and treat the main issues of the industrial site such as pollution, health, unemployment, politics and economic domains. They have a good understanding and knowledge of everything related to the industrial areas, less about commercial port. They organize protests, events and celebrations and they do

Figure 47: Inside Rivolta social center.

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also prevention and warning exercises about pollution risks for the inhabitants and the different users such as in schools.

Santa Marta committee: This committee of inhabitants claims number of changes to Venice municipality. It was previously involded in the same movement as members of Rivolta social center, but then they split because of divergent ideologies. This committee insists on the Venetian living conditions in the city center.

They denounce the double-edged situation linked to massive tourism to the inhabitants, who suffer the real estate speculation and the lack of adequate facilities to the resident population.

This committee overcomes this lack of social structures in Venice organizing activities in Santa Marta (shared accommodations, playground for children, retirement home, urban soup ...) But it is also involved into some actions at the level of the municipality council and the region. This is the case, in particular, of the debate about PAT “piano di Assetto del Territorio, a very important plan for the territorial planning. This committee, more reactionary than the others in the area, is composed of people with very different backgrounds, who share their knowledge and power to act in order to assure an active citizen participation.

All these actors have their own development, they are all disconnected from each other but they have interesting dynamics. Some of them could be strong collaborators. For instance, Vega could relate its activity to the local concerns and the on going experiments about waste treatment and clean energy production.

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Figure 48: Vega technologic center.

Figure 49: Gianlucca permanents member.

Figure 50: Poster in the main room of Santa Marta ‘s Hall.

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NO GRANDI NAVI A macro story.

On June 18th, 2014, during the 38th session of the world Heritage committee in Doha, Qatar, UNESCO addresses directly to the Italian government its concerns about big ships traffics issue in the lagoon. It points out the failed management of this issue and challenges Italian government to solve it before 2015. A quite radical demand indeed because UNESCO requests to prohibit right now by law the largest cruise ships and tankers to go through the lagoon and to regulate medium and small size boats traffic.

54 - World Heritge committee, 38th session Doha Quatar 15-25 june 2014, WHC-14/38 COM/16 report.

The arguments for such a radial position of UNESCO on the big ships issue fit in two important points: First of all, excavation of new channels could “jeopardize the outstanding universal value of the property by generation irreversible transformation on the landscape and the seascape of the property.” Secondly, “The negative environmental impacts triggered by medium motor boats to high tonnage ships that have progressively caused erosion of the lagoon beds, mud banks and salt marshes, and which could represent potential threat to the property’s Figure 51 : Poster in Venice.

OUV”. 54 86

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Italian government and Venice municipality have now both to respond to UNESCO demands and find real alternatives to the traffics issue.

Otherwise Venice and its lagoon could fall into the black list of the UNESCO world heritage sites in danger, which could have terrible economic repercussions on the city.

This paragraph aims to explain why the big ships issue is such a complex and locked debate. It is an endless story that implicate a lot of stakeholders, who have multiple and diverse interests. In this debate two groups fight one another. On one side, we have the port authority, with Fincantieri, the ships yard, and the lobbying of massive tourism led by cruise ship companies. From the other side, we have “No grandi navi - Laguna bene comune” that is Venice citizens committee, supported by several NGO such as UNESCO and a quite important number of scientists.

The port’s interest is to keep the passenger terminals close to the city centre in Tronchetto.

As we said previously ports follow a development strategy based on competition with other ports.

Main activity is logistic so the goal is to attract more and more traffics. In the case of Venice’s port, passenger terminals are completely detached from the commercial port. Even administratively, these terminals have been sold in 1997 but the port authority stays the main shareholders. For the port authority, the touristic port is far more profitable than the commercial port and the industrial area. Commercial and industrial activities are shrinking, so the port authority would better keep the passenger terminal activity going well, otherwise it could jeopardise the all relevance of the port.

The port is now in a tricky situation. It knows that traffics damage the lagoon, so these last years 88

55 - Port Authority plan towards 2020, public report.

56 - By pass canal by the south to avoid passing through the city center.

it has tried to find compromises that reduce the impact of its activity on the environment while allowing it to grow. Huge projects have been engaged supported by the Italian government and Europe. For instance, an off shore platform has been planed to increase the capacity of containers and liquids handlings while reducing the traffic of high tonnage ships inside the lagoon. The port authority has already been founded for this project 55 and has started in 2013 the construction of an on shore platform, in Porto Marghera to manage the flow of containers between mainland and offshore infrastructures.

This transit flow should be done using “mama vessels”, which are small boats.

About the passenger terminal, the only serious proposition Venice’s port has formulated, and also the only one they are agreed to accept, is the canale contorta56. The idea is to divert the flow of cruise ships from Giudecca canale towards a new canal connecting Malamocco inlet to the same passenger terminals in Tronchetto. Several routes have been studied. Enlargement and deepening of San Angelo canale seems to be the best way to let cruise ships reach the city center.

Unfortunately, as UNESCO expressed, this solution just shifts the problem to another, the tiny relation between dredging and erosion.

Deepening the canals could have terrible hydraulic consequences on the whole lagoon letting too much salty water enter. Tom Spencer, the director of Cambrige coastal research unit, challenges institutions to demonstrate that the new road for cruise ships is safe: “Can we be assured that the large-scale excavation of the Canale Contorta will not have the same effect and not give the Venice lagoon a further shove in the

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direction of yet more environmental degradation and urban vulnerability? Where, in terms of proper scientific assessment, not simply talk, is this assurance that all Venetians, and all those concerned with the future of Venice, need?”

57 - Spencer Tom, Published online August 20th, 2014.

58 - By pass canal by the south to avoid passing through the city center.

Another issue about the dredging of the canals 59 - Studio d’Agostino, is about the sediments, most of the time they Marghera. are highly poluted. To solve the problem of these contaminated dredged materials, Venice Port Authority and the state have signed an agreement, known as the “Moranzani Agreement,” which gives right to the construction of a huge dump in the south of the port. 2,44 million m3 of sediments should be deposed there sequestrated underground. The agreement provides also right to bury new power lines, the enlargment of the roads between Marghera and Mira, and the creation of an urban park over the dump. This agreement is about 700,000,000 euro project to sequestrate highly polluted dredge sediments. The Port Authority should invest 280,000,000 euro and the rest should come from the state.

No grandi navi - Laguna bene comune committee organises general meetings open to everybody almost each month. They also organize punctual actions such as protests and poster campaign in strategic places. Permanent members of the committee have very different skills set and they try all together to defend this common cause Venice safeguard. The committee requests to the state authorities to forbid the access to the lagoon to all the ships beyond 40 000 tons in gross weight. This committee also debates about the possible transfer of the passenger terminals outside of Venice. For instance, a local studio59 proposed to transfer them to Porto Marghera.

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This proposition claims the positive effects such important changes could have on Venice’s districts in terra firma. It could be a way to reclaim dismissed industrial areas and to bring activity to one of the poorest neighbourhood of Venice, left behind by town planning. But on the other side, this proposal needs huge interventions and movements of polluted soil to be realized. The main channel accessing to the port, canale dei petroli, should be deepened and enlarged. All the land should be reclaimed. So it engages a huge investment.

The port is also affected by the economic repercussions the transfer of the passenger terminals could have on its own activity and on one industry in particular, the shipyard Fincantieri.

This shipyard that was one of the first activity to take place in Porto Marghera in 1959 is actually one of the last ones. It is currently finishing the construction of the Costa Diadema a 132 500 tonnes cruise ship, which has to be delivered by November 1st, 2014.

Today the situation is very advantageous for cruise ship companies that bring passengers directly inside Venice island and give them a wonderful panorama of Venice passing right in front of San Marco square. The transfer of the terminals in periphery may affect their activity.

Henceforth, regulate the excess provoked by massive tourism is a matter of safeguard for the whole Venetian territory and the society. It is no longer possible to believe that Venice is an endless touristic resource. Public authorities need to react. Venice municipality is running out of resources and out of mayor, it deals with corruption issues and suffers the excess of its

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success. So radical changes have to happen in a close future. Tourism has become such a dominant activity that development of the port and the city are both unsustainable.

Figure 52: Map of Contorta canal planed by the port to solve the big ships issue.

Figure 53: Poster in Venice.

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LOW HARBINGERS This part aims to go into the folds of Venice’s territory. It is composed of interviews and mapping on site, but also less formal feedbacks coming from casual meetings and simple walks. It tries to understand how this territory is currently transforming. What are the strengths embodied in it? Where are the underground driving forces? Venice territory is very extended and at the same time very fragmented: city centre, Lido, minor islands, Mestre, Marghera and Porto Marghera are all very different one to another and have a strong proper identity. Most of the inhabitants are now located in terra firma. Even still dependent on Venice city centre, these neighbourhoods are now the urban centralities of the city and Venice Island is more and more a touristic district. For economic purpose, most of the residents living in the center even shop in Mestre and Marghera supermarkets, where the price is much lower, but it takes at least one hour to reach the closest on by public transport.

So, in order to understand urban dynamics, this chapter will focus on Marghera garden city and Porto Marghera because of its urban character and the mixed up already happening there between city and activity. On the side of the port, most of the old industries have left and the city is colonising the area since now more than 30 years. The port authority agrees to give back soon this area to the city, which should be

Figure 54: Abstract diagram of the low harbingers

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ABANDON & RECYCLING Synchronous processes.

developed t For more than 40 years, Industry is leaving little by little Porto Marghera. Depending on the activity that occurred in the past, the land presents different levels and types of contamination.

On the central platforms, where petro-chemical plants were, the complexity of the pollution is very problematic and compromises the future recycle of this area. Recently the port authority has reclaimed a large piece of this highly polluted platform in order to built a container terminal, the on shore terminal, which is part the bigger project about an offshore platform. It is obviously important to reclaim polluted land but at the same time, this new development of the port has transformed a very singular landscape scattered by high chimneys emerging from a large pipes network floating in the air over kilometres, into a 90 hectares soulless flat screed.

In the dismissed area of the port, few places have been reclaimed for large new developments.

The first was Vega technologic centre in the northern part of the port. It is directly connected 96

60 - For more details see the interview transcription at Rivolta in annexes N째3

Figure 55: Map of the building stock, vacancies and recycling.

Data sources fielworks.

Fences Urban Industry Comercial Recycled buildings

with a small urban train station and the bridge going towards Venice Island. The polluted land has been partly displaced to the north and a park was built over the polluted soil. The rest is still below the new building shut under a screed.

Then, south in Fusina, 2 waste treatment plants and the 2 water treatment plants have been built.

Squats Abandoned buildings Facilities.

Public parks Dismissed open space

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On the contrary, the area we now focus on, which will be given back to the city soon, sees happening processes of recycling for urban reuses. This part of the port has never host as much polluting activity as in the rest of the port therefore levels of pollution are low enough to allow safe reuses. Unfortunately, most of the time activities coming over are illegal. Yet positive reuses are also occurring and the area could become very attractive.

Looking at the ground first, we count around 20 ha of abandoned open spaces covered by vegetation 2 ha of grey surfaces and 1.5 l.km of railways. 200,000 m2 of the building’s potential are abandoned and 30,000 m2 could be reused without destroying all the existing constructions.

Marghera means in Venetian dialect “here there was the sea� This part of Venice has not anymore connection with the lagoon but a small private port itself too marginal. This port is a recent private investment that takes place in underused industrial canal in the area. The extension of this port is possible to the north and maybe along a part of the embankment to the south. So it could be an interesting new centrality to Marghera.

Several new activities came over some vacant plots and buildings.

Then some services like garages, restaurants, one low cost supermarket and shops have opened along Fratelli Bandiera street. Behind, deeper inside the port, four nightclubs are quite popular. Craftsmen occupy one building. On via della electricita, a street parallel to Fratelli Bandiera, a second hand shop, bars and a pizzeria also opened the last years. Then, close to the industrial canal, artists are renting former 98

Figure 56: Map of the Open spaces, Urban and industrial vacancies Data sources fielworks.

warehouses. In the following paragraph, some of these places will be better explained in the following paragraphs.

Fences Abandoned industrial open spaces Abandoned urban open spaces Green private blocks Public parks Sport facilities Agriculture Water course

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PLACES OUT OF LAW Dismissed area taken by illegal activities.

As we said previously, drugs dealing and prostitution have massively colonized abandoned areas in the port. It is difficult to get a precise number but it is about hundreds of prostitutes male and female, even under 18. Members of Rivolta social center claim that drugs businesses move about millions of euro. Prostitutes are mainly immigrants from east Europe and Albania and are involved into organised networks. The area is divided depending on the different pimps and the characteristic of the prostitutes The municipality knows about both practices.

It tolerates prostitution over Fratelli Bandiera street, so it rejects the problem on the side of the port. On the contrary, helped by several local stakeholders like Rivolta, municipal authorities and customs hardly fight drugs dealing. Porto Marghera is one of the main gates of Italy for the drugs economy. For instance, customs patrols have sequestrated 1200 kg of marijuana last month in the port, which is about two millions euro of drugs in one single time. This is the upper part of the iceberg, so we can easily believe that this economy is deeply embodied in Marghera.

Many local people are involved in the fight 100

Figure 57: The “night map� drugs dealing and prostitution issues.

Data sources fielworks.

against drugs. In Rivolta social centre they try to inform the local teenagers of the area about the risks they take. They offer them spaces to develop other activities. Some of them are deeply engaged since many years in this fight.

They think that the drug economy in the area is

prostitutes indoor prostitutes outdoor problematic neighbourghoods for drugs dealing Stakeholders trying to help Abandoned buildings that could host illegal activities Dangerous open spaces Calm open spaces

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lower than 10 years ago and less violent but they insist “many teenagers still died by overdose and fall into drug dealing because of the lack of opportunities given to them beside�.

Spatially, many abandoned buildings on the port’s side are refuge for drugs addicts. The most important one is called the ex Crall. This abandoned building located at the south of Rivolta. Inside the city, the two most problematic areas are Catene, north west of the train station and Vasquette, south of the garden city close to the abandoned petro chemical building.

In Vasquette neighbourhood, the small parish Gesu Lavoratore church, was strongly connected to the industry of Porto Marghera when it was still active. Indeed, when someone wanted to work in Porto Marghera, he used to negotiate with the priest of this church. The parish still exists and is very active in Marghera. In Marghera, there are 9 churches all very frequented and involved in the neighbourhood life.

Nowadays Gesu lavoratore parish acts against drugs dealing around the neighbourhood, trying to propose other activities to the children and teenagers. There is even a climb wall on the church walls. The priest is very proud of the new project for its neighbourhood. The municipality will reclaim the area by building new dwellings and public spaces. The priest is convinced that the new development will solve part of the drug issue.

In december 2013, during the fall semester at IUAV one student, Kate Clarks, organised a participatory action with this church asking children to draw over pictures of the abandoned areas of Marghera.

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Then, we went to stick them up around the places where these pictures had been taken. Posters tittled “And you tell me about your city‌â€? and had a blank space to let people drawing or writing. Unfortunately, not any interesting result came out of that people just destroying the posters or tagging them.

Public facilities Abandoned Residential Gesu Lavoratore church

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Set of figures 58: Gesu lavoratore church location, context and photograph of the area.

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OPEN SPACES A spread abandon

In terra firma, there are a lot of “in between spaces” characteristics of suburban sporadic development. From large plots totally abandoned to very small interstices like the space in between 2 abandoned railways, everywhere these spaces become quickly covered by dense vegetation. It is an interesting reserve of “green” spreads everywhere around both the city and the industrial area. When an area is reclaimed this vegetation is always destroyed. But pioneer plants that composed this landscape are very resistant and often able to clean soil from many pollutant elements. So it could be interesting to make use of it in reclamation projects.

On the side of the city, there is a small park located up to the commercial area on the border of a residential area. Yet the municipality stopped to maintain this park, which became one of the center for drugs business in Marghera.

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Figures 59: Photograph of ex Alumix site in Fusina.

Figures 60: Map of the abandoned open spaces around the port.

Data source fielworks.

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Public facilities Residential Commercial Emmer park

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Then about 3 years ago, a group of citizen most of them residents of the neighbourhood, decided to form a committee in order to reclaim the park. They went to the area to clean it up, they planted trees and built sport facilities with the authorisation of the municipality and the help of one volunteer architect. They now organise many activities to occupy the place and not let it become again a strategic place of the drugs economy. On the side of the port, a lot of railways are abandoned. They are a beautiful and poetic landscape crossing the whole area that could easily transform. This spontaneous green is a common landscape to both side port and city. it could be the support of a slow mobility network passing through different landscapes. The public transport network inland and also between Venice and the mainland is not efficient. A wellorganised slow mobility network could balance it and provides green corridors.

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Set of figures 61: Emmer committee, location, context, and photograph of the park.

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EMERGENT ACTIVITIES those involved in a positive change.

Some emergent activities are really creating micro centralities with a good influence on the surroundings but they are not the only ones.

They show very different dynamics and very different recycling strategies.

Figures 62: Rivolta social center.

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Figures 63: Tracking micro stories.

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Reclaiming public space.

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Rivolta social centre

Public facilities Urban Abandoned industry Active industry Rivolta social centre

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Rivolta social centre is an important stakeholder in Marghera, dealing with any kind of social issues and also organizing social life for young people.

For more than 30 years a small group of people occupies a quite large plot on the port side along Fratelli Bandiera Street. After fighting for some years, this occupation became legal and they are now strongly linked to the municipality. They provide some services the municipality should do and in exchange the municipality let them organise their own activities. The social center has several projects for the future. First of all, they would like to get bungalows for temporal occupation. They claim the site of ex Crall to be reclaimed to avoid massive drug dealing occurring inside. They also would like to reclaim a theatre in centre of Marghera and to extend the first emergency service they actually provide.

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Set of figures 64: Rivolta, location, context and photograph of a meeting with them.

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Pila 40

Other Recycled buildings Abandoned industry Active industry Pila 40

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The building Pila 40 called just like its address is the most conventional of the reuses in the area.

A group of professionals: designers, architects and the collective Latitude, architects, urbanists and anthropologists, work in this building.

They organise conferences and opening taking advantage of the post industrial character of the place.

Set of figures 65: Pila 40, location, context and photograph of an exhibition.

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Banchina Molini 14

Abandoned industry Active industry Banchina Molini 14

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Then close to the industrial canal in Banchina Molini quayside, some artists are renting dismissed wharehouses for now almost 10 years.

Each artist has a studio, some of them live there, others just come sometimes. It is a very eclectic group of artists. The spatial organisation there is very interesting. It is a kind of closed piece of street inside the industrial area. They work and live close to each other but are not a reel group or a committee. They are more like neighbours. For instance they don’t have necessarily the phone number of each other but they know who they are and what they do. Several times during the year, they organise events to open their studios to the public. These events are more similar to a sagra a traditional fests of neighbourhood, than the opening of a fancy artist studios. They also organise free workshops and help young artists from the area by offering working spaces., 114

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Set of figures 66: Banchina Molini 14, location, context and photograph ofthe artists at the entrance of the site.

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To the question: - Do you want this area to be transformed ?

One of them Alberto answers “Yes I would like to see the biennale here and public transports, crossing the area during the night is not safe at all.�

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VEGA technologic park

Public facilities Abandoned industry Active industry Rivolta social centre

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Then Vega is the most complex case and the most formal too. Build with public investment this building had to be symbolic of the positive transformation of the industry in Porto Marghera, which should become a district of innovation and advanced technologies. It is a huge building of offices, with also several conference rooms and one incubator for young enterprises.

Unfortunately, the whole building is almost empty. Some small activities took place there for its good location and connection to Venice. In November 2013 an impressive conference and an exhibition of a workshop about the future of Porto Marghera took place there. The president of the port authority Paolo Costa, Venice’s former mayor Giorgio Orsoni, the president of Vega and several representatives from the regional level to the state with a relative to the ministry of the economy came to give lectures.

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Set of figures 67: Vega, location, context and photograph of an exhibition there.

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Everybody agreed that the future of Porto Marghera should be industrial again with a development based on innovations and large investments. Then the contrast between discourses and the exhibition about the possible futures of Porto Marghera was quite shocking. All student’s projects taking care of reclaiming small pieces of the territory, desegning how daily life and urban activities could infiltrate inside this pattern made up by oversized infrastructures.

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POSSIBLE FUTURE

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COLLECTIVE VISIONING Based on a prospective grid.

A scenario is first of all a narrative and illustrated story of a possible future. Planning and designing have often feared a large time frame because of its uncertain outcome and preferred trying to control a close future by a strict design 61.

But these recent years, the interest for scenario construction has grown up in many fields of study. Why? Maybe uncertainty became such structural element in our society that is seems more and more difficult to exclude it. In the same way as the awarness to live in an ending world is growing. This concept of limits is fundamental to understand the recent interest for these scenarios. The manifest “the limit to growth” 62 stakes that there is not just anymore the spatial limit of the world but also a social limit provoked by the humanity itself. In this condition the consequences of our actions take more importance that in a never ending environment.

It starts so to be important to evaluate no just the possibilities but also the consequences of present actions. The scenario construction comes from the French idea of “prospective” 63 120

61 - Viganò Paola, I territori dell’urbanistica, 2010.

62 - Meadows Donella & Dennis, Randers Jorgen, Behrens William, The limits to growth A report for the club of Rome’s project on the predicament of mankind, 1972.

63 - etymology: latin from pro (in front of) and spectare (to look often and with insistence)

64 - Berger Gaston, phenomenologie du temps et prospective, Paris, 1957.( in this quotation he refers to Paul Valery the finished world.)

Gaston Berger has introduced it the 50’s as a philosophical approach in his book “phenomenologie du temps et prospective” where he describes it as a new discipline and attitude, which could help to design or make any projection of the future based on a scientific methodology.

65 - Darcet Jean, Etapes de la prospective, Paris, 1967.

“Not so long ago, the world was still vast. In this extended world, or which seems such, human actions had not much weight. The modern world is finished. People are all connected in such a narrow way as the smallest act could have infinite consequences afterward and start chained reactions” 64 Today, the situation is so complex, and tomorrow becomes so uncertain, that it seems difficult to privilege one-way, we can still imagine the future. Scenario construction allows a complex setting of possible futures. It allows also to show consequences and to open question about our actions in the present.

“La prospective, discipline and attitude aims to act. It is the opposite of doctrine closed on itself. (...) It wants to give space to invention and life”. 65 There are many ways to construct scenarios and many schools in that field. In this study, scenarios are used as an intermediate tool to visualize possible futures. By defining a prospective grid, we qualify the common idea of the future and trends in an analytic way. Then, one of these scenarios, will be developed. It will be the framce of a serie of projects. Thus, to construct the prospective grid we start by setting the current condition of projects the scenario 0.

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Michele, artist, squating one building in Marghera.

Piero Bordin, Venice municipality.

Carlo, young entrepreneur in Vega.

Set of figure 68: Prospective grid. asking how people see the future of their territory.

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Djibul, immigrant from Sudan, living in Marghera since 10 years, selling counterfeit products

Gianlucca, former engineer at montedison and permanent member

Michele, Rivolta social centre Pompiliu, romanian worker at Fincantieri

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SCENARIO 0 A constellation of projects, politic wills and collective desires.

Train station Mestre

Public projects: Municipality and Region The main municipal project concern the connexion between Mestre and Marghera neighboorhoods. In between both, the Mestre’s train station and its surroundings have been the object of an international competition, Europan 12 and several other proposals.

Not far from the first project, the question of new high speed train lines is still open even if it seems complicated in the curent situation.

The municipal debt is so high in Venice that it has become very difficult to think of large public investments.

In Marghera the site of Vasquette should be transformed to provide better living conditions and try to reclaim a very difficult area. Two tram lines are actually under construction, the first is between Mestre and Venice and the second between Mestre and Marghera.

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Tram line

Mestre - Marghera

Buffer zone for the city.

On shore

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Fusina terminal Port Authority

Figure 69: scenario 0 in Porto Marghera.

Current projects

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For the moment, the largest public work concerming Venice is the MOSE. It is a state investment. Works have started in 2006 after 19 years of study and, has recently show how deep is the corruption issue in Italy.

Vega 2 is the project of expension of the first building we talked about previously. But again the municipality runing out of ressources shouldn’t realize this extension. Moreover, the first project of Vega is not profitable, already too big and almost empty.

Port authority projects The port authority is actually leading most of the projects in the area. Some of them are already under construction.

The on-shore/off-shore system could improve the capacity of the port. This project consists of a system composed by one off-shore and one onshore platforms, more the waterways needed to connect them. The buisness plan of the project focuses on a potential public private partnairships to build and maintain the whole operation. The construction of the on shore platform already started last year.

Then there is the ITS Adriatic Multi port gateway study we already explained.

In collaboration with ADRIAMOS Adriatic Motorways of the sea, the construction of the short sea shipping terminal in Fusina is now almost completed. It will connect Venice to the Figure 70: picture of the est mainly Greece and Turkey. offshore platform The port is also actually improving its Figure 71: picture of the on shore platform infrastructures. It has strengthened the port 126

railways network and facilities. Now the possibility of a regional network to connect Porto Marghera with the industrial and logistic platforms in Padoua and Verona.is studied. One road and a railway should be enlarged to increase the capacity of the new short sea shipping terminal.

Another important infrastructure project is to increase the accessibility of the port by dredging deeper canals: This project tends to dredge the main acces to the commercial port “canali dei petroli� to a depth of 10.5m. This canal is now around 9m deep.

All these projects are mostly fund by the state via the infrastructure ministry. In a smaller proportion the port try to attrack private investments, wich could be re invested then for its own development. But also Europe has funded many studies and projects by the territorial cooperation programme, which funds some initiatives for the development of the port of Venice when they are related to a transnational cooperation such as the existing one between Slovenia and Venice.

Or when they are related to the cooperation at a large scale: For instance the port of Venice take part to MED programme, INWAPO and EMPIRIC. MED programme aims to promote: innovation, sustainable development of the mobility networks, protection of the specific Mediterranean ecosystems and polycentric integrated development in the Mediterranean area. INWAPO and EMIRIC are two programmes of the European union to valorise central Europe and improve its accessibility.

Figure 72: picture of the short sea shipping terminal in Fusina.

Beside these projects, the port will also realise huge transformation of the passenger terminal in Troncheto, reshaping the open spaces, building parking’s, hotel, convention centre, shopping centre and new terminals.

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Private projects Few private projects regard the port and Venice development.

Eni company is developing a project of green refinery on the exact site of its oldest refinery in Porto Marghera. It could be the first example of conversion of conventional refinery into a bio refinery.

Veritas think to extend its ecodistretto, a recycling centre for domestic waste. The eco balls produce there can in theory be burned in the conventional power plant of Enel, which is close by. Actually Enel power plant uses conventional material like coal to produce electricity.

Alles Mantovani treatment plant is also thinking to extend its activity and the spaces where last product are stocked. Two year ago it was question to let them build a huge dump close to malcontenta but association of inhabitants get on strike and this project seems frozen for the moment.

Private projects and collective desires In Venice it is now difficult to understand which is the politic ligne. It is actually trying to sell lands to private investors as in the case of the Palais lumière project we described previously. For instance, it is actually seeling some palaces in the city centre.

Tourism seems to be quite an egemonic target of the municipality to the economic development.

On the contrary committee and citizens would like the safeguard of Venice and the lagoon first, less tourism and would like an improvment of the local facilities.

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Figure 72: People listening a jazz concert in Marghera close to the bridge going to Venice.

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NO GRANDI NAVI a coherent complex scenario.

Beyond the demand of No grandi navi committee, the starting point of this scenario is the regulation of the entire traffic inside the lagoon. This regulation should concider only the size of the boats so it affects both commercial ships and cruise ships.

No grandi navi scenario claims that port activity is incompatible with the protection of the lagoon and Venice safeguard, even more in the unavoidable perspective of traffics’ growth As a result, in this scenario not any ship over 40 000 tons can enter in the lagoon anymore. The port should be re shaped and some terminals de localised. So, the first project proposed looks at the scale of the north Adriatic to think up traffics re-distribution. According to their activity and impact on urban and environmental conditions, all the port of the Napa association could be engaged in this reorganisation.

Moreover, the liquids traffics have to be regulated and displaced outside of the lagoon because of risks.

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Areas in transformation Projects areas Barene (marshland) Industrial and port areas Urban areas

Figure 73 next page: Territorial impact of the scenario no grandi navi on the scale of the lagoon.

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About the touristic activity, in this scenario, passenger terminals have to be displaced outside the lagoon and a maximum quota of small and medium size boats has to be established too.

The speed limitation should lower to 5 km/h all around the city centre and the number of water taxi should be regulated too.

This scenario aims to build a radical alternative.

To become a real project this scenario should be develop furthermore. This study just try to open the debate about the big ships on a larger scale and shows possiblilities.

Big ships beyond 40,000 tonnes are forbiden inside the lagoon by law.

First transformations in Marghera and Porto Marghera: New urban port Development Fusina terminal. .

Open rooms for activities and cultural development Reclaiming former passengers terminals in Venice city center Porto Marghera development

2 Mixte area: Urban district with small platforms 0 clean energy production and open areassoil 3 and water treatment.

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North Adriatic multiport?

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Figure 74: Territorial impact of the scenario no grandi navi on Porto Marghera.

Tram lines Buffer zone between port and city Abandoned buildings Underused canals Recycled Open space Open land to reclaim Project areas

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NAPA SEAPORT The north adriatic port association as the support of a spread port network.

The whole port’s reorganisation could lead to a spread port system working at different scales with differents means of maritime transportation.

Based on The study ITS Adriatic multi port gateway, the collaboration beween the northern Adriatic could become an efficient gateway competitive in Europe and why not a single port spread on the territory? The whole flow of containers, bulks and liquids could be reorganised in a better way and facilitate Venice and the lagoon safeguard.

In these times of global crisis, it seems important to redesign large infrastructures according to their footprints on the environment and the urban settlements around them. Besides, different locations of the terminals should also allow a possible grow of the traffic and better expansion of the terminal.

Thus, even if much deeper studies need to be done, it is possible to formulate some suggestions.

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Figure 75: Napa ports and maritime roads in the current situation.

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The offshore platform could become a key in this process of re distribution of the goods: Does the mama Vessels connecting the platform to the port have to go only towards Venice to the on-shore terminal? Isn’t it possible to think that the offshore becomes a platform to redistribute containers in the whole NAPA area?

According to their destinations, goods could transit through the best gate to go then towards the hinterland. In the case of the realisation of the offshore platform, maybe the main liquid terminal could stay in Venice. In that case tankers have not to enter in the lagoon anymore and liquids could reach the terra firma in a very safe way by pipes.

About touristic flow, the cruise ships terminal coun’t go far away but it could be to a different location than the city centre.

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Figure 76: Napa ports and maritime road working in network with the off shore platform .

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TOURISM Passenger terminals in Lido.

The central question is about the passenger terminals. They have to stay close to Venice but it could be displaced on the shore outside the lagoon. Looking at the large new dykes built in order to realise the MOSE gates at the 3 inlets, they could perfectly be the support of a new project of passenger terminal.

Lido could be an interesting place for this new project because of its good connection with Venice and the rest of the lagoon. Moreover, at this inlet a trid dyke has already been built to be a breackwaters. It could protect the new port.

Actually 10 terminals for diverse ship sizes compose the touristic port, which can host up to 5 high tonnage cruise ships at the same time.

There are 31 berthing positions and 10 buildings for the 10 terminals. The touristic port is currently connected to the city center and the main parking area on Tronchetto Island by the people mover, a light train. It is also directly connected to public transport network by vaporettos and to the water taxis. It is linked to the airport by a shuttle bus.

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Figure 77: Zonning map of the new passenger terminals in Lido.

Figure 78: Sections of the new passenger terminals and Lido inlet built for MOSE project.

Figure 79: Zoom section on the passenger terminal.

Areas in transformation Passenger terminals

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The new passenger terminals in Lido should have Figure 80: Sketch of the similar dimensions: just by enlarging the new new port from Lido’s beach.

MOSE dyke, which is not such a huge intervention, it is possible to build the 10 terminals. Moreover they could receive bigger boats than the actual port in Venice. For instance the largest cruise ship never came to Venice is the MSC Divina, which has a gross weight of 133 000 tons. But now the newest cruise ships are beyond 200 000 tones and bigger will be built in the future. (Oasis of the sea and Allure of the sea of the royal Caribbean cruise lines are both 225 000 tones cruise ships) Displacing the touristic port could allow a development of its activity in the future while reducing the bad impact of the cuise ship traffic on the lagoon.

But displacing this terminal will have a consequence on the whole mobility of people in the lagoon, mostly the touristic flows, so it should transform as a consequence. This solution could also shift a bit the touristic pressure from Venice towards Lido.

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Figure 81: Map of the new passenger terminals.

Seabed 8m Seabed between 11 and 20 m Accessible open spaces Terminals and building of the port MOSE infrastructure

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DYNAMIC SMALL TERMINAL Fusina short sea shipping terminal a place for a different urbanity.

As we said previously, the short sea shipping has a quite promising future in the Mediterranean context. Why not take advantage of this opportunity the port has to be a very efficient platform connected with many different places by adaptable means of transportation.

Why not taking advantage of the offshore to build a reel innovative network? This network could support development of small and medium size activities just as bigger onces. On short distances, it could also become an alternative to the plane transport for passengers.

Short sea shipping terminals are accessible to trucks and private cars. Consequently, they have different relations to the urban networks than terminals for bigger ships. Trucks and car arrives by road and go directly into the boat by a mobile ramp. Containers and people could also arrive by train or even buses. It can interact with the public transport network. Short sea shipping’s gates could become very urban places.

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Figure 82: Zonning map of Fusina terminal in the project’s area.

Areas in transformation Fusina terminal

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They also could be strategic locations for small and medium enterprises to set up and use this service. The new short sea shipping terminal in Fusina is already connected by vaporetto and water taxi to Venice city center, by rail and roads to the main infrastructures inland and by waterway towards Padova. In Fusina are also located the main power plants of the area. So it could transformed in the near future to become a mixed use area.

The following proposal highlight the possibility for the area around the new terminal to host new activities while reclaiming the landscape.

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Figure 83: Map of Fusina terminal under stansformation.

Remediation processes produce energy and new activities appears in the adandoned plots.

Protection area around Brenta river Remediation park before potential reuse Water treatment plant to urban use Energy production platform Mixed areas urban and activities

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Figure 84 previous page: Sketch of the remediation park.

Figure 85: Section of the land reclaimation and energy production.

Figure 86: Sketch of Brenta river.

Figure 87: Section of the bicycle path along the Brenta.

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MOBILITY A new mobility network in the lagoon to enhance the milieu.

Because of moving the passenger terminals the 66 - IUAV magazine mobility network should be transformed too. n째75 una metropolitana sublagunare per venezia Infrastructures should manage heavy touristic flows between the main gates: airport, passenger terminals and the city center. So a new connexion could be designed in relation to the main existing ones.

Because of the bad effect of the medium size boats on the lagoon it seems impossible to increase vaporettos traffic to move 2 millions people per year more between Lido and Venice.

Just before the crisis began in 2009, the project of a sublagunare underground metropolitan line between fondamente nuove in Venice Island and Marco Polo airport in Tessera was studied.

The estimated cost of this project was far too high, close to 1 billion euros, so it has been abandoned. At this time, many students at IUAV have worked on this question between 2008 and 2009, proposing the extension of this metropolitan transportation system to the whole lagoon. 66 146

Figure 88: Zonning map of the new train line.

new train line

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In the case of this project, we should think about an efficient transport system but also sustainable in its economy. A railway network could be an appropriate solution if its visual impact is not too strong. The hypothesis of an underground line is more than before not so realistic because of the cost and the impact on the lagoon. The bridge between Venice and the terra firma is actually very low and doesn’t disturb the lagoon’s landscape. So why not to think of a light train running through the lagoon? This line should link The Lido new passenger terminals to the airport and passing by Venice. Different options and roads could be studied.

The following documents are just drafts ideas of how could be this train in relation to Venice.

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Figure 89: Scketch of the train station. It could be on a small island beyond the canal.

Figures 90: Section of the train on a low bridge.

Figure 91: Zoom section of the train station on a small island.

Figure 92 next page: Mobility network in the lagoon.

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OPEN LAND Places for urban regeneration and environmental restauration.

All these radical transformations will open Figure 93: Pollution rooms for new urban developments. According complexity in Porto Marghera. to the condition, the position and the pollution level of each area a planning scheme and its timeframe could be etabish to organise possible developments.

To start it is possible to redesign the area under transformation north to the port in order to give back a waterfront to Marghera:

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Areas to reclaim before potential reuse

Figure 94 next page: Land use after reorganisation of the port.

Water treatment plant to urban use Energy production platform Mixed areas urban and activities

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Figure 95: Zonning map of the project in Porto Marghera.

Areas in transformation Urban port

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The staring point of this project is to recognise the necessity of fast actions on a human scale.

It accepts the lack of resources of the public authorities to run huge project and recognise the private spontaneous reuses as the main strenghts to transform the territory. A new port be a newimportant public place for Marghera.

After identifying the buildings that could support a new development and the current strenghts explained previously in the chapter Emergent activities of this study, this proposal aims to reinforce the current micro centralities and stitch up the fractures by improving the open space’s conditions in the area. The role of the different facilities like port, open spaces, churches, bus stops... is fundamental. This project tries to highlight the identity of this place. It engages the citizen as one of the main stakeholders able to transform step by step a territory.

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Figure 96: An urban port for Marghera and improving the condition to promote recycling.

Rainwater storage.

Open public space.

Buildings to recycle Buildings reused.

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Bicycle path.

Active train line.

Gardens.

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Possible recycling of a block.

Molo 5 night club

Possible reuse urban facility like creche or school Craftsman woodwork

Bar alla darsena Figure 97: Axonometry of the port and new urban condition.

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Possible reuse of large warehouses Pizzeria

Pila 40 offices

Maritime customs

Building to transform for the new port.

Port master house

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REFLECTIONS looking towards collaborative dynamics to reach a urban ecology.

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The first objective of this research was to focus on the dismissed areas in Porto Marghera in order to reflect on the possible new life cycles that could emerge from a wide state of neglect.

But quickly, it appeared that the issues faced by inhabitants who lives around the industrial area, are all linked to a bigger crisis embodied in the whole territory. Indeed, Venice is suffering many excesses, mostly in flows management. From one side small islands, narrow canals and streets have to support the pressure of massive tourism while the suburban areas in terra firma are not enough connected to the city centre and the touristic activity. This nonsense is the result of a bad territorial public management but also of the port’s pressure, strong of its economic influence.

Venice’s port has been a fundamental actor of the city influence since its foundation till the decline of Porto Marghera industries. It tries now to keep hardly this central role in the economic landscape. Unfortunately, its activity has become an issue for the city and the lagoon.

On the contrary, from both sides inhabitants are strongly involved in the issues related to the entire territory. Many Venetian committees actively defend the interest of the whole citizenship and improve their environment step by step. The influence of No grandi navi committee in Venice and abroad underlines the fundamental concern linked to the over exploitation of Venice cultural landscape.

The scenario No grandi navi of this study proposes a change of paradigm to give back a human scale to Venice territory. What will happen if big ships cannot enter in the lagoon anymore?

And in that case, what’s about the port’s activity?

The short proposals try to highlight possible positive outcomes of this radical change. A small 158

ship terminal could attract new investments and activity inside an urban condition. MOSE infrastructures could support the passenger terminals, the canals wouldn’t have to be dredged anymore and a low bridge going through the lagoon landscape could lower the pressure of massive tourism on Venice mobility network. Then in this different context, recycling project could happen. The last proposal in Marghera is one example that tries to use as much as possible the existing strengths. It could find an echo in the whole territory and beyond.

So many activities are just waiting to find a place to express themselves. Venice is a unique place able to give them some rooms.

On a larger scale, the courageous decision to forbid big ships in the lagoon could find a worldwide resonance. Many other territories are waiting for radical changes.

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REFERENCES

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Literature: Bedel Stephane, Salomon Thierry, La maison des négaWatts, Paris,1999.

Berger Alan, Systemic design can change the word, 2009.

Berger Gaston, phenomenologie du temps et prospective, Paris, 1957 Boeri Stefano, Cités portuaires d’Europe du sud une dialectique du métissage, in villes portuaires, l’architecture d’aujourd’hui n°332, 2000.

Bourdieu Pierre, La misère du monde, Paris, 1993.

Braudel Fernand, La méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l’époque de Philippe II, Paris, 1949.

Choay Françoise, Utopie et realité, 1965.

Collin Michèle Nouvelles mobilisations productives des territoires autour des ports et des aéroports in urbanité des cités portuaires, 1997.

Cordobes Stephane, les raison d’une démarche de prospective appliquée au territoire, Les plis de territoires 2040, 2013.

Darcet Jean, Etapes de la prospective, Paris, 1967.

Deleuze Gilles, Le pli - Leibniz et le baroque, paris, 1988.

Foscara Porchia, l’evoluzione del porto industrial di Marghera dalle origini al secondo dopoguerra (1917 - 1963), PhD thesis at padova university.

Foucault Michel, Le corps utopique, Les heterotopies, Ed lignes, Paris, 2009.

Jacobs Jane, the economy of cities, 1969.

Jackson John Brinckerhoff, recovering landscape, essays in contemporary landscape architecture, Princeton 1999.

Lefevre Henry, Le Droit à la ville,Paris, 1968.

Low Setha and Laurence Zúñiga Denise, “The anthropology of space and place: Locating culture” 2003 Meadows Donella & Dennis, Randers Jorgen, Behrens William, The limits to growth A report for the club of Rome’s project on the predicament of mankind, 1972.

McDonough William & Braungart Michael, Cradle to Cradle, North point pr, Gordonsville, USA, 2002

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McDonough William & Braungart Michael, the upcycle: Beyong Sustainability Designing for Abundance, 2013.

Razzini Andrea, Port and city the Venetian couple in Aquapolis n°14, 1997.

Rodrigez Malta Rachel, Villes portuaires horizon 2020, in Mediterranee n° 111 Cairn publications Marseille, 2000.

Rozenblat Celine et al in GDR libergeo 1559 du CNRS Les villes portuaires en Europe, analyse comparative, Montpelier, 2004.

Secchi Bernardo and Gregotti Vittorio, Modificazione, in casabella, 1984.

Secchi Bernardo, La città dei ricchi la città dei poveri, 2013 Sekula Allan, Fish Story, Amsterdam,1995.

Sennett Richard, La civilisation urbaine remodelée par la flexibilité, in L’urbanisation du monde, in manière de voir, le monde diplomatique n°114, 2011.

Viganò Paola, I territori dell’urbanistica, 2010.

Wright Frank loyd, the disappearing city, 1932.

Reports: European conference ministeries of transport, OECD publishing 2001.

Venice port authority report 2013.

Rotterdam port authority report 2013.

ITS Adriatic multi port gateway study, final repport, 2013.

Master plan per la bonifica dei siti inquinati di porto Marghera, final report 2004.

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ANNEXES

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Annexe 1: Interview Alberta Parolin, port Authority.

23/10/2013 1 What is the Port Authority?

Port Authority jurisdiction can be describe as a municipality.

The port has jurisdiction on all the areas in red, and on the big channels that are used to navigate both for goods and peoples.

She mention the accord Molanzani in 2008. Only the intervention that were financed by the PA has been accomplish.

A state entity with a financial authority that has been define by the national law 84-94 the reform of the ports.

The terminal CIA is in financial difficulties. There are some concessions for the use of the docks and the interport infrastructures. Activities and operators pay taxes to the port authority for that.

The rules for navigation are decide by the cost guard. We don’t have jurisdiction on that.

It is an important political subject in the area.

The Port Authority, even if there are state entity they need to have an active balance so they work more as a private entity, so they don’t have to work for the common good. She underlined the relation between port and the european commission as a way to justify the necessity of the port to be autonomous regarding to the local issues and administrations.

2 Strength of the port.

In general the area is very well connected more the connection boner and Treviso Now they are working on the connection between the highway and the port.

One of the strength is that it can work with exceptional loading like turbine which are produce in Vicenza and go by boat out side, Trieste is less attractive because of the slope of the mountains behind the port.

3 Current situation.

The land is mainly own by multinationals.

The refinery media Piave are worry because they want to move out. It is a problem for the port because they will loose a part of the taxes they perceive.

In general she was worried that the activities keep going bad.

Even if they are going to build all these logistic platform the value of the land will not raise because of the pollution.

When someone wants to do a project inside the port, he has to ask to the Port Authority.

4 Pollution.

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There are some ex warehouses unused and the vega part has no portal functions some other very old buildings which are empty should be reclaimed because many have asbestos roofs and they are falling down but they are private property. They are trying to sell but the reclamation is a problem. (to expensive) You cannot know in advance how the soil is polluted. So the risk to buy is very high. Sometimes they have to depolluted till a very deep layer of underground water. That’s why it is the state should reclaims the land; They don’t have activities in order to own money. It is only from the 90 when the first factory closed, that was in the underground.

The port do also good things for the environment because when they dig the canal all the polluted land is reclaiming.

When sometimes it happens that the soil is not polluted, they give it to the magistrate of the water and they build artificial island.

We did studies on the consequences of the waves generated by the big cruise ships. This study has been done only for the Guidecca canal not the minor ones. The result are in the hand of the european union (APICE) In particular they focus on the quality of the air in the lagoon and the goal is a reduction of the contamination.

The PIF in Fusina deputation treatment plant for the water of industrial origin.

5 New projects.

Now there is a project on the terminal ro access to go to greece and torquey will be given as a concession. The terminal Mose it is part of the network 10T and then there is the project of the terminal 2 that will be connect to the offshore platform.

They agreed about a round to separate the traffic of goods and the private traffic at the not of Malcontenta. Port Authority enlarge the road accessing to fusion terminal and double the rail line.

The electric lines between ENEL and the normal network has to been the reclamation of the Alumix is almost finish and completely founded by the PA. They have to double the rail lines. All the train goes to Scalo Marghera and then Brenero and Verona.The offshore platform is for containers and petrol.

There is a special law in Venice about the entrance of the fossil fuel inside the lagoon. (2003?)There will be a underwater pipe to link the offshore and inshore.Project of ENI to build a new refinery for vegetable oil. It got a favorable agreement of the ministry of environment. The private port is a little bigness for fun.

She think that the area along Fratelli Bandiera and Vega has to be given to the municipality of Venice because there is no anymore activity related to the port activity.

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Annexe 2: UNESCO recommandations june 15 - 25, 2014.

27. Venice and its lagoon (Italy) (C 394) Decision: 38 COM 7B.27 The World Heritage Committee, 1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B.Add, decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee WHC-14/38.COM/16, page 80 at its 38th session (Doha, 2014) 2. Recalling Decision 13 COM IX.22, adopted at its 13th session (UNESCO, 1989), 3. Takes note of the State Party’s efforts to develop a range of mechanisms to safeguard Venice and its lagoon landscape and of the approved Management Plan resulting from extensive consultations among all stakeholders, and encourages the State Party to undertake its revision based on the results from the technical evaluation by ICOMOS; 4. Expresses its concern about the extent and scale of proposals for large infrastructure, navigation and construction projects in the Lagoon that can potentially jeopardize the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property by generating irreversible transformations on the landscape and seascape of the property; 5. Requests the State Party to undertake Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) for these projects to assess both individual and overall cumulative impacts of the potential modifications of the Lagoon and its immediate land and seascape, in order to prevent any irreversible transformations and potential threat to the property’s OUV and to enhance the protection of the property in relation to sustaining its OUV; 6. Also expresses its concern about the negative environmental impacts triggered by medium motor boats to high tonnage ships that have progressively caused erosion of the lagoon beds, mud banks and salt marshes, and which could represent potential threat to the property’s OUV and also requests the State Party to enforce speed limits and regulate the number and type of boats; 7. Urges the State Party to prohibit the largest ships and tankers to enter the Lagoon and further requests the State Party to adopt, as a matter of urgency, a legal document introducing such a process; 8. Recognises the exceptionally high tourism pressure on the city of Venice, and the extensive tourism related activities, urges the State Party to prioritise the development of a sustainable tourism strategy, and also encourages the

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State Party to develop jointly with the major tourism and cruise companies alternative solutions to allow cruise tourists to enjoy and understand the value of Venice and also its fragility; 9. Further encourages financial institutions and agencies to ensure that Heritage and/or Environmental Impact Assessments are carried out to determine that there are no negative impacts on the OUV, before planning investment in large-scale developments within the property and its setting; 10. Encourages furthermore the State Party to continue with the assessment of the hydrology and geo-mechanics functioning of the Venice Lagoon and its whole drainage basin; and invites the State Party to establish a strong coordination among all stakeholders concerned to ensure the hydro-geological balances of the Venice Lagoon and the whole drainage basin, as well as the protection of all attributes that convey the OUV of the property; 11. Also takes note of the proposal for the establishment of the buffer zone and also invitesthe State Party to undertake its revision in line with the ICOMOS technical review and submit to the World Heritage Centre the minor boundary modification by 1 February 2015; 12. Requests furthermore the State Party to invite a joint UNESCO/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to the property in 2015 to assess current conditions at the property, including the evaluation of potential impacts derived from development proposals and identify options for development proposals in accordance to the OUV of the property, as well as to review if the property is faced with threats which could have deleterious effects on its inherent characteristics and meets the criteria for its inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger in line with Paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines , and recommends to the State Party to also invite a representative of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention to take part in this reactive monitoring mission; 13. Requests moreover the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, a progress report on the state of conservation of the property, and by 1 December 2015 a state of conservation report on the implementation of the above, both reports including a 1-page executive summary, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.

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Metting at rivolta social centre I choose to let the original transcription in Italian to keep original manner of speaking , This transcription has been done by Monia Torre, student at Ca foscari in anthropology from audio records.

Primo incontro a Rivolta 12-14_2012 Andrea: progetto (approvato negli anni ’90) prima fascia via fratelli Bandiera abbattimento vecchi edifici e costruzione impianti di lusso molto alti, modello che non ha funzionato; unico esistente vicino al ponte “strallato”, alla Darsena, uffici di architetti, ingegneri e medici. Altro progetto su terreno pubblico dove ora c’è il circo per costruzione Ikea contro cui è stata fatta resistenza (comitati cittadini chiedevano garanzie per la viabilità), il centro commerciale è stato fatto a Padova. Ad esprimersi sono stati i comitati associativi di zona, istituzionalizzati dal comune che devono esprimere un parere facoltativo sui progetti.

Michele: peculiarità di Marghera come quartiere molto attivo con una cittadinanza che si mobilita molto.

Andrea: i comitati di quartiere anche se istituzionalizzati non credono nella municipalità, usandone le informazioni creano dei comitati appositi (esempio comitato cittadini liberi e pensanti), succede spesso che si formano su alcune criticità e una volta risolte si sciolgono. Le persone fanno spesso parte di più comitati. Importanza prima fascia per accesso a vie di comunicazione (ferrovia, porto, aeroporto, autostrada); le zone che stanno all’interno dovevano rimanere per le attività produttive, ma anche queste sono in declino soprattutto in relazione alla crisi della Montedison (che comprendeva un numero di lavoratori 20000 persone a cui aggiungere l’indotto), frammentata in piccole realtà.

La difficoltà di mantenere l’attività produttiva ed attrarre nuove attività sta nei costi di bonifica che gli imprenditori dovrebbero affrontare. L’attività del Porto si sta incrementando. Grande rete ferroviaria interna all’area industriale privata. Ampliamento del Porto costruzione sull’acqua. Hanno acquistato una fabbrica dismessa, hanno acquistato Allumix per realizzare autostrada del mare: prima lavorazione effettuata nel Porto, piccola zona produttiva, vogliono realizzare nuove banchine. Ampliamento autostrada da collegare con la Romea commerciale che verrà ampliata a sua volta (comitato contro l’ampliamento da molti anni). Comitati non contro lo sviluppo dell’attività commerciale ma chiedono garanzie per compatibilità ambientale e contro le speculazioni nei grandi progetti (fatti apposta per costare di più a prescindere dall’utilità).

Michele: problema grandi opere- appalti- democrazia: esempio metropolitana sub lagunare.

Andrea: stazione fito-depurazione: decine di ettari depurazione acque industriali attraverso le alghe,progettata anche come zona naturalistica e ricreativa,

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(Vas Valutazione ambientale- obbligo partecipazione dei cittadini) inutilizzato.

Progetto assolutamente sovradimensionato per la chiusura fabbriche di Marghera. Mantovani (ing. Baita) chiede di poter trattare acque provenienti da altri siti ( i privati hanno anticipati gli investimenti) Pronto al collaudo, manca la connessione con Marghera, si arriva solo da Malcontenta.

Lorenzo: ( ? Rapporto comitati di Malcontenta con quelli di Marghera) divisione della frazione fra Venezia e Mira e influenza caserma esercito. Ulteriore divisione dalla Romea.

Andrea: Mille abitanti sotto Venezia e mille sotto Mira. Tagliata fuori dalla zona industriale. Comunità isolata, pochi rapporti con Marghera nonostante sia la stessa municipalità e lo stesso quartiere. Hanno molti comitati ma separati da quelli di Marghera. (esempio comitato per far spostare “San Marco Petroli” deposito, pericolo immediato per gli abitanti della zona per rischio esplosioni e non inquadrato nel contesto generale dell’inquinamento della zona, delocalizzazione pagata dal pubblico,hanno coinciso interessi dei cittadini con il bisogno della fabbrica di rinnovarsi e spostarsi all’interno della penisola industriale ). Diversità abitanti fra Marghera e Malcontenta: stessa estrazione sociale: entrambi operai ma maggiore individualismo e attaccamento alla proprietà privata da parte degli abitanti di Malcontenta. (case auto costruite, mentre chi abita a Marghera vive generalmente in case di edilizia popolare). Nuovo comitato per difendere Forte Tron e la campagna circostante, ed il bosco dove c’è il progetto per costruire un sistema ferroviario privato nella zona industriale per l’attività portuale(adesso pagamento pedaggio per uso ferrovia a Mestre). I comitati surrogano spesso i partiti politici. La provincia sta progettando nella stessa zona un bosco. L’ Autorità portuale ha all’interno della penisola portuale pieno potere decisionale, fuori (come nel caso di costruzione della ferrovia) deve confrontarsi con il Comune di Venezia. Il progetto è stato bloccato.

Ulteriore progetto previsto, è quello che prevede un nodo di infrastrutture nella zona dell’aeroporto: sub lagunare, Tav, tram, parcheggi, alberghi, in connessione con il raddoppio del Casinò di Venezia. Tav sarebbe dovuta passare attraverso il sito archeologico di Altino, terreni acquistati preventivamente a prezzi molto bassi dalle “solite” aziende private.

Due diversi progetti: zona aeroporto votata alla mobilità, zona portuale industriale al traffico merci. Nella zona aeroportuale tutte le infrastruttura dovrebbero essere costruite da zero mentre nella zona industriale sono presenti ed è un territorio da bonificare, perché non realizzare alcune delle funzioni previste nella zona dell’aeroporto, come per esempio lo stadio, invece nella zona industriale?

Altra funzione che si vuole portare è quella delle Grandi Navi (1.10) Lorenzo: impatto per emissioni inquinanti, sulla qualità della vita degli abitanti, una equivale a quattordicimila automobili, 2 posizioni diverse nel comitato

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“No Grandi Navi”: Costa ha cavalcato la spinta che viene dal comitato Andrea: questo tipo di trasporto è legato anche all’aeroporto e alla sub lagunare, poiché Venezia è in genere destinazione terminale per le crociere.

Lorenzo: il problema non sono le navi in generale (i traghetti per la Grecia ci sono sempre stati) ma queste, le crociere sono troppo grandi, e per una parte del comitato non dovrebbero poter passare affatto per Venezia. Costa appoggia un’altra parte del comitato per cui la grandi navi entrerebbero dal canale da cui entravano le petroliere, che è diventato il punto più profondo dell’ Adriatico (-45m) proponendo di scavare un nuovo canale (ulteriori rifiuti tossico- nocivi dallo scavo)(per l’uscita delle navi sempre attraverso il canale della Giudecca) Michele: problema “scenografico” degli armatori.

Andrea: Costa propone di entrare da Malamocco e far fermare le navi ancora a Santa Marta, dimezzando il passaggio delle navi: il pericolo viene dimezzato ma probabilmente compensato da un aumento numerico delle navi, e l’inquinamento rimane. Una parte del comitato (di cui fa parte Andrea) propone di far fermare le navi a Marghera.

Lorenzo: far fermare le navi a Marghera sarebbe una finta soluzione, si crea un senso unico che aumenta solo la capacità del porto turistico, Andrea: se le navi si fermassero a Marghera ci si dovrebbe attrezzare per i collegamenti sia con il centro di Venezia sia con la terraferma. Bisognerebbe pensare delle strutture per accogliere le navi, alberghi, ristoranti attrattive in terraferma.

Michele: in realtà il problema di questo tipo di turismo è proprio che non fa sviluppare grandi strutture ricettive perché tutto avviene dentro la nave (mangiare, dormire…)

Andrea: le grandi compagnie non gradiscono questa proposta e mettono in gioco dei ricatti occupazionali attraverso la Fincantieri dove le grandi navi vengono costruite, in maniera esplicita hanno affermato che se non si fanno passare le grandi navi da Venezia le si farà costruire in altri grandi cantieri (Trieste, Monfalcone, Napoli), chiudendo una delle poche attività produttive di Marghera dove lavora moltissima gente sia per costruire che riparare navi, quindi Costa ha trovato questa mediazione.

Andrea (in risposta ad Olga): Pierre Cardin. Impatto molto forte per l’altezza e il paesaggio, ma porterebbe anche il bisogno di riorganizzare la viabilità.

Michele: progetto non tiene conto, per l’ennesima volta, di come i cittadini vorrebbero lo sviluppo di questa parte della città. D’altra parte non basta opporsi perché comunque vengono previste delle compensazioni, bisognerebbe trovare delle idee forti con cui opporsi al progetto, ripensando a tutta l’area industriale. Come potrebbe essere usata e connessa alla parte abitata.

Andrea: tutti sono molto prudenti nel non accettare il progetto, anche i cit-

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tadini di Marghera sono d’accordo, sono stati fatti dei sondaggi non ufficiali, per loro tutto rappresenta un miglioramento in questa area. Lui promette un cinema multisala da dodicimila posti, una piscina e un teatro, alcune sono funzioni di cui la città avrebbe bisogno. C’è un comitato per la realizzazione di una piscina pubblica a Marghera.

Monia: questi comunicati sono in connessione fra loro?

Andrea: i comitati sono “a progetto” , c’è a volte anche una certa conflittualità interna (esempio comitati pista ciclabile)…

Olga: Vittoria told me that the number one issue in Marghera is the housing issue…

Michele: entriamo nel merito della questione dello sviluppo di Marghera.

Quindici anni fa è iniziata l’occupazione case in Via Beccaria e Calvi, ora sono quindici, erano case di un ente pubblico lasciate vuote, c’è una tradizione storica dagli anni ’60 in poi, la nostra si chiama Agenzia sociale per la casa Andrea: loro occupano le case lasciate sfitte di proprietà pubbliche,ma qui c’è una tradizione di occupazione, cinquant’anni fa venivano occupate le case nuove pubbliche dagli operai, con grandi conflitti interni Michele: Porto Marghera culla delle lotte, questa come riappropriazione di reddito e salario Andrea: c’erano anche dei villaggi di baracche, (esempio occupazione palazzo privato appena costruito al Cita dopo alluvione 1972 che aveva inondato le baracche di Cà Emiliani, gli abitanti del Cita hanno manifestato contro, alla fine il comune ha acquistato quegli immobili e li ha lasciati agli occupanti).

Ora vi sono progetti di social housing (affitti calmierati e per breve periodo) che però non decollano.

Olga: When Pierre Cardin will build do you ask something back?

Andrea: cash al comune di Venezia, la piscina, palestra, centro congressi. Il 90% dei terreni sono privati e li sta acquistando, il 10% dei terreni sono del Comune e P. C. li sta acquistando ad un prezzo molto più alto del valore reale come compensazione, il comune di Venezia deve trovare entro il 31 dicembre 110milioni di euro. Quindi la vera compensazione è il bilancio del comune.

Un’altra compensazione importante sono i 10milioni di euro che lui ha messo a disposizione per restaurare Forte Marghera. Sono previsti poi quindicimila posti di lavoro che lavorerebbero per cinque anni al cantiere…

Olga (Monia traduce): come pensate allo sviluppo di Marghera in relazione a Mestre?

Andrea: Sono due realtà separate dalla linea ferroviaria. Tentativi negli ultimi trent’anni di superare questa divisione (esempi: pista ciclabile 1975 che unisce Marghera a Mestre passando sotto la ferrovia, progetto non realizzato di Renzo Piano piazza sopra la stazione, adesso si sa costruendo la linea del tram) in realtà la separazione fisica è un falso problema.

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Michele: non sono due realtà omogenee, sono totalmente differenti Andrea: i ragazzi di Marghera non vanno a Mestre, anche se ora è un po’ più spalmato, ma i ragazzi di Mestre non vanno a Marghera.

Michele: anche urbanisticamente è diversa: Marghera è progettata con il verde e gli spazi, è ancora un quartiere,h a una sua storia e una sua originalità, i migranti si sono inseriti con meno conflitti, sembra più un quartiere metropolitano, Mestre è stata costruita senza alcun tipo di criterio. Marghera è una cosa a sé rispetto a Mestre.

Johanna: differenze fra Marghera ed il quartiere Catene Andrea: (2) mentre lo sviluppo Marghera è regolato, ed era pianificato dall’ente pubblico, Catene si è sviluppato attraverso l’autocostruzione privata degli operai, scarsa qualità delle abitazioni, strade strette, cattivi servizi, niente verde.

Lorenzo: è anche una zona chiusa, ci passa l’autostrada, la ferrovia, la composizione della popolazione è la stessa di Marghera, la qualità della vita però è inferiore.

Andrea: molte di queste abitazioni negli anni sessanta oggi non riescono ad essere vendute, enorme difficoltà del mercato edilizio. Anche loro poi hanno i loro comitati e le loro associazioni.

Lorenzo: un’altra zona interessante Cà Emiliani: ha una storia particolare Monia: qui c’è una chiesa vero?

Lorenzo: si è molto attiva… la Chiesa di Cristo Lavoratore….

Michele: ruolo molto attivo del prete operaio Don Berna che l’ha fondata negli anni cinquanta Andrea: lui era l’ufficio di collocamento per Porto Marghera, non ci sono comitati ma c’è una comunità molto forte intorno a questa chiesa Lorenzo: anche il parroco di adesso ci fa cose interessanti (climbing, contest di writing..). E’ una zona interessante perché è uno dei quartieri più malfamati del Veneto. Posizione: fuori dalla città giardino all’ingresso del Petrolchimico.

Durante la pulizia etnica in Istria e Dalmazia i profughi sono stati aiutati ad insediarsi in una fascia adiacente, in più c’è una comunità molto grande sinta.

Storia un po’ strana del quartiere: sfornava manodopera per la Mala del Brenta, Marghera era uno dei punti di snodo fondamentali del narcotraffico negli anni ottanta. C’erano moltissimi tossicodipendenti ma anche una società civile molto attiva. Probabilmente la mia generazione l’ha schifata così tanto perché ha visto tutti quelli più grandi che ne facevano uso finir male.

Michele: anche adesso che c’è un ritorno dell’eroina abbiamo ripreso questa battaglia che sembrava finita con la nostra generazione, c’è stata una attenzione molto grande da parte degli abitanti Lorenzo: Marghera ha gli anticorpi per questo tipo di questione, ha fatto parte

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di questo territorio e tutti l’hanno vissuta in un modo o nell’altro.

Andrea (2.14): Riassumendo. È un quartiere di meno di trentamila abitanti, un piccolo paese che ha molte cose da dire, io sono arrivato qui da quarant’anni alla Cita, prima passava per il quartiere malfamato, non perché ci vivevano gli operai ma per questo discorso della tossicodipendenza. A partire dagli anni ottanta molte persone si sono impegnate per diminuire il fenomeno. Contrastare gli spacciatori, esporsi in prima persona, costruire servizi, poi oggi c’è un forte ritorno in via Trieste e via Beccaria è da spavento.

Lorenzo: intanto l’urbanistica centra, uno de motivi per cui Marghera è al centro è perché qui inizia la Riviera del Brenta (Mala del Brenta: traffico di armi da guerra con i balcani, rapine al Casinò, narcotraffico), chi non trova va lavoro andava a lavorare per loro, in molti paesini sono visti come dei benefattori (campi sportivi, ecc..). La rotonda, crocevia del traffico merci da lì iniziava ad essere smazzata. L’amministratore Gianfranco Bettin è stato sequestrato, portato a Fusina e gli hanno fatto una finta esecuzione…

Michele, in via Trieste c’era il Bar dei morti Lorenzo: gli amministratori hanno fatto un grande lavoro ma con dietro il supporto di un tessuto sociale molto partecipe. Anche porsi il problema della riduzione del danno (prendersi a carico quelli che erano cronicamente dipendenti ed evitare che i giovani si avvicinassero). Adesso c’è un ritorno soprattutto dopo la chiusura di via Melli a Padova (centro dello spaccio in Nord Italia) Michele: se si vendesse l’eroina in farmacia magari si eviterebbe il proliferare di queste mafie, i narcotrafficanti stanno estendendo i loro interessi su altre questioni come le persone più ricattabili sono sempre soggette a questo tipo di cose e il fatto che queste persone si concentrino in determinate zone facilita questo tipo di meccanismo. La battaglia fatta per lo spazio qui a fianco (ex- Craal) è non per chiudere un posto, perché se lo si chiude e non se ne fa niente verrà sempre occupato da qualcosa, Marghera: laboratorio per questo tipo di esperienza di impegno della società civile in questo settore (impegno per la campagna di riduzione del danno spinta dalla società civile: esempio: distribuzione siringhe in farmacia) Andrea: sono state esperienze pilota in quegli anni che si sono poi diffuse in tutto il territorio.

Michele: esperienze che adesso andrebbero ri-orientate visto il ritorno, in generale non solo a Marghera Andrea: Marghera come laboratorio, nasceva dal conoscere personalmente chi era coinvolto nella dipendenza, ora stiamo provando ad impegnarci su tematiche molto più grandi (mafie, uso edifici industriali), sappiamo cosa vogliono fare gli imprenditori o quelli come Pierre Cardin, e sappiamo i limiti dei loro progetti: ora vogliamo vedere se esperienze come questa dl Rivolta possono decollare, per capire se questi luoghi possono diventare degli spazi

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sociali, in modo da tenerli lontani da quello di cui si parlava, non li lasci in strada, fanno sport, stanno al bar, faccio fatica a farlo capire ai miei amici che fanno polemica perché loro qui non pagano e non capiscono il vantaggio che portano. Una parte della città si riappropria degli spazi e li mette in sicurezza.

Michele: è anche un indicazione su cosa vorresti fare dei luoghi, allargando la città abitata chiedendo indicazioni su cosa le persone vogliono farci, il problema non è farci venti Rivolta, ma puoi costruire delle resistenze rispetto ai progetti e poi l’edificio stesso torna ad assumere la sua funzione socializzante, fa il contrario del centro commerciale.

Andrea: nella zona di Via Beccaria, edificio dismesso: scuola Seconda parte 1.00:Andrea: Oggi invece… la situazione è sempre fluida… abbiamo avuto un ricambio della popolazione, soprattutto in questa parte di Marghera… no?, se il comune di Venezia ha una percentuale di stranieri del 12-13%, la terraferma, quindi Mestre Marghera ha una percentuale del 20%,alcune zone di Marghera, molto popolose, come il quartiere Cita…non so se avete sentito…o la zona centrale arrivano a una percentuale del 30%.

Michele: Qui c’è una comunità fortissima del Bangladesh per esempio Andrea: che caratteristiche hanno le popolazioni straniere rispetto a quelle indigene-autoctone no? Allora la nostra popolazione è caratterizzata da un rapido invecchiamento, invece le popolazioni di stranieri sono giovani…e anche… come cultura…hanno molti figli no?... Se noi andiamo in molte scuole elementari del nostro territorio noi abbiamo classi con oltre il 50% di bambini stranieri. E quindi…quella fase, prima ha avuto una fase di necessità scolastica importante, che poi ha avuto un calo con la chiusura delle scuole, in questi ultimi anni, invece abbiamo un incremento demografico, soprattutto di cittadini giovani, che però portano bambini, i figli… perché noi italiani un figlio per famiglia, lui 2 Lorenzo: no..io 3 Michele: Lorenzo rovina la media…io niente Andrea: tre tre…io uno pechè sono…! E quindi c’è questa nuova esigenza di edifici scolastici. Il mercato del lavoro, sono prevalentemente impiegati di (banda?)

Michele: della Fincantieri Andrea: o sono nell’edilizia, ma soprattutto nel turismo, nelle strutture degli alberghi di Venezia, Lucile: ehm?

Andrea: hotel, ristoranti, sono aiuto cuochi.

Michele: poi la cosa interessante della loro comunità è che sono comunità che si sente anche cittadini…cioè non vengono solo qui a lavorare e basta…però

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portano le famiglie…alcuni si aprono attività commerciali prorpie…cioè….si integrano dentro al quartiere dentro al territorio e infatti se tu vai la sera fuori in giroo… cioè hanno fatto…per fortuna comunità…hanno avuto un integrazione…vabbè chiaramente come sempre non è mai semplice integrarsi.

Monia: Certo Michele: su un territorio nuovo,dove ci sono anche usi costumi differenti… però sono anche cittadini a tutti gli effetti e si sentono anche cittadini…Noi qui…ospitiamo tutti gli anni…2volte all’anno…la festa della comunità del bangladesh e fanno circa tremila persone che vengono qui e fanno la festa della comunità …hanno delle associazioni loro…

Monia: quindi comunque non fanno partee…

Michele: sono sindacalizzati Monia: ok Andrea: il problema è che loro son molto sensibili al mercato del lavoro, per forza di cose, no? Allora la dinamica che io ho osservato, abitando in un quartiere…sono al Cita…

Michele: al Cita ti ze?

Andrea:al Cita…e sono anche in regola…da poco da quattro anni…al Cita osservo arrivano prima gli uomini…che arrivano, trovano lavoro…poi dopo qualche anno…arrivano…arrivano le mogli…e fanno i figli no? poi quando succede come adesso…che è un periodo di crisi…lavoro manca…e lo abbiamo osservato all’interno delle scuole…le scuole sono sempre ottimi indicatori…perché tutti vanno a scuola anche i bambini… stranieri…vanno tutti a scuola…in Italia vanno ttti a scuola. Quello che abbiamo osservato è che quest’anno molti bambini dalle classi sono spariti…non ci sono più…perché le mamme e i figli tornano nei loro paesi…perché i padri hanno problemi di lavoro… lavorano meno…e quindi tengono la fonte di reddito in Italia … e loro tornano nei loro paesi no? E quindi…è un fenomeno non è ancora stabilizzato il fenomeno dell’immigrazione, però Marghera registra queste percentuali importanti, 33% nel Cita…un quertiere di 2500 abitanti significa 950 stranieri…sono veramente tanti… sono giovani…questa è una risorsa importante … mentre il quartiere Cita …è un quartiere degli anni ’70…la popolazione è molto vecchia, quindi si vede la differenza…stanno a casa gli italiani, mentre loro sono molto dinamici…però oggi…per il 2012- 2013 c’è questo fenomeno di immigrazione no? Perciò molti stranieri purtroppo stanno tornando a casa…

Michele: e poi c’è sicuramente il fenomeno italiano di ripopolamento giovane…cioè mentre una volta…parlo di nemmeno 15 anni fa…era una popolazione anche abbastanza anziana nei quartiere…invece adesso all’inizio perché il mercato della casa costava meno adesso invece si sta livellando come a Mestre così e anche un po’ perché il quartiere è particolare c’è spazio così, stanno arrivando anche un po’ di giovani di Mestre un po’ del territorio

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perché insomma sta diventando un quartiere anche più metropolitano che altri…che a Mestre…

Andrea: e multietnico…

Michele: e multietnico.

Andrea: questa è anche una caratteristica no? Allora lo vedete anche dai disegni: se confrontate questo disegno con la mappa di Mestre o di un’altra città…la città di Marghera…la città…è una città pianificata…urbanistica, l’hanno disegnata…viali giardini Michele: molto verde Andrea: e una cosa che parlando con un ragazzo del Mali…a cui insegnamo da un po’ di anni…ha 18 anni… quando è arrivato aveva 15- 16 anni da solo dal Mali…e l’abbiamo seguito da vicino…adesso si è trasferito a Mestre…e lui non ce la fa a Mestre…perché a Mestre...ad esempio a Marghera il sistema dei trasporti è molto meglio collegato…anche rispetto a Venezia, ci sono più autobus, checché ne diciamo, critichiamo, è molto vicino alla stazione ferroviaria, alla stazione degli autobus, non abbiamo il tram, forse lo avremo, e allora la popolazione straniera, un po’ per le cose che diceva lui che una volta i costi delle case erano più bassi, affitto e acquisto…i bangla acquistano (Michele: eh si)… è leggermente più basso…un po’ la mobilità più sotenibile, vanno a piedi no?, a Marghera si cammina ancora molto e soprattutto una rete di trasporti efficiente…più efficiente di quella di Mestre ha fatto si che molti stranieri preferiscano abitare a Marghera, in più alcuni paesi hanno scelto alcune zone… dal Bangladesh molte abitazioni al Cita hanno acquistato…abitazioni di questo quartiere in edifici molto alti…

Michele: è la strada questa qua …la parallela Andrea: si sono concentrati qua, è un fenomeno…mentre, tenete e mente sociologi urbanisti, mentre nelle nostre città italiane con l’apertura dei centri commerciali tutte le attività commerciali minute no? I negozi quelli piccoli, gli alimentari sono spariti perché vincono i centri commerciali, con i nuovi cittadini, una rete minuta di nuove attività commerciali è risorta….tutte queste attività: latte fruttivendoli, poi loro hanno altri cibi diversi no? …ma qui loro fanno molto comunità e quindi si sono concentrati in alcune zone e sono tornati i piccoli negozi che noi avevamo e avevamo perso loro li hanno…

Monia: rimessi in piedi Andrea: si…sono quasi ad esclusivo uso della loro comunità…

Michele: si perché hanno i loro prodotti però io vedo che van tanti anche… anche a Mestre… perché sono aperti fino a tardi Andrea: ma quindi Marghera ha anche questa specificità, perché è anche io dico una citta moderna, perché è più vicina alle grandi città…

Michele: esatto…

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Andrea: a Milano, o a città del Nord Europa, perché la sua composizione no?... alla Cita abbiamo oltre 50…come si dice…paesi stranieri?...50 nazionalità…ma veramente c’è un elenco…alcune sono molto piccole…

Monia: ma…

Michele: si sembra un quartiere di una grande città….si rispetto…

Andrea: si per mia figlia oggi che ha 16 anni il mondo oggi…e anche per chi ha la sua stessa età…il mondo oggi è quello di Marghera come composizione… se andate a studiare all’estero…non so ora di dove siete…

Lucile: Aix en Provence Andrea: ecco se andate a Parigi o a Marsiglia Lorenzo: ma infatti Emergency…che in genere va negli scenari di guerra, per gli ospedali…ha scelto di aprire qui a Marghera proprio perché qui c’è una composizione di questo tipo…e siccome negli ultimi anni è sorta una questione che i medici secondo alcuni partiti non dovrebbero curare i malati se sono clandestini, allora Emergency ha aperto una clinica dedicata ai clandestini Lucile: dove?

Michele… indicando sulla mappa lo spazio in via fratelli Bandiera di fronte al Rivolta…la scuola di lingua invece è qui proprio dentro, al Rivolta Monia: e per quanto riguarda queste persone…cioè gli immigrati ma non solo … anche … le persone giovani, che non erano di Marghera, sono entrate in contatto con queste realtà che si interessano di come riqualificare la città… o…?

Michele: Guarda…alcuni si…allora calcola noi abbiamo un rapporto qui con i migranti ma perché noi in questi anni abbiamo fatto proprio un lavoro su quello, abbiamo proprio un associazione e facciamo proprio un lavoro su quello, un associazione di lavoratori e c’è uno sportello a cui tanti di loro si rivolgono, abbiamo le battaglie dei percorsi migranti, perché abbiamo conosciuto nel periodo della sanatoria e nel periodo delle regolarizzazioni tanti di questi ragazzi del Bangladesh e gli abbiamo dato una mano per cui abbiamo un rapporto con loro…abbiamo la scuola di italiano…per cui abbiamo come dire anche una vocazione su quello…Però tu calcola che tutti questi progetti con Emergency creano una rete di welfare dal basso, autogestita, in questo periodo poi è ancora più necessaria Monia: ma al di là…

Michele: scusa se ti interrompo…ma poi come tutte le cose…noi siamo felici che abbia questo carattere multietnico e aperto…chiaramente la società multietnica non è mai un dato armonico…è fatta di conflitti grandi e piccoli… problematiche…cioè…non è mai lineare…

Monia: ci sono state…?

Michele: credo quelle che ci sono in tutte le città del mondo…però per noi è

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una ricchezza il fatto che sia così…

Andrea: una cosa che è importante è che con difficoltà…all’interno della comunità di Marghera si sta comprendendo che la presenza dei cittadini stranieri da problema…perché non sono stati accolti proprio benissimo… da problema sta diventando una risorsa…nel senso… la scuola funziona sola se ci sono studenti altrimenti le scuole chiudono e gli insegnanti perdono il lavoro…con la popolazione straniera si è mantenuto….si sono mantenute le scuole… e questo non si capisce tanto… che è una risorsa…sono concetti che è difficile spiegare….anche a Marghera Lorenzo: bhe si può dire tranquillamente che il modello del Nord Est della piccola impresa senza gli immigrati non esiserebbe…perché tra l’altro c’è tutta anche una discussione sul fatto che mantenere l’immigrato in un limbo di clandestinità in cui non è mai un cittadino alla pari degli italiani ti permette di sfruttarlo di più…non può rivendicare nulla Andrea: ecco anche quel discorso che facevamo prima…non so Anthony sei mai andato all’eco-distretto? Quello dei rifiuti? Ecco l’eco distretto è un’attività virtuosa di riconversione dei rifiuti… un’attività importante..però cittadini italiani che vogliono lavorare all’interno dell’eco.distretto non ne troviamo no?

Lucile: no? Solo immigranti?

Andrea: Quasi…cioè la manodopera sono cittadini stranieri…quindi questa attività importante…perché tutti vogliamo fare il recupero dei rifiuti nella realtà cittadini italiani che vogliono fare quel lavoro non ce ne sono o durano molto poco….hanno un turn over importante….cittadini stranieri…del Nepal in particolare sono più bravi mi dicono…e le ragazze…quindi sono una risorsa…i lavori più semplici li fanno i cittadini stranieri…altrimenti non…

Monia: e…

Anthony: cioè il lavoro dei rifiuti è molto pesante..c’è il rumore…e poi è anche pericoloso perché quando fai la separazione con i vetri… va fatta a mano…e respiri anche…insomma è comprensibile che lo faccia chi non ha alternative…

Monia: e hanno lì una…appunto prima si parlava delle garanzie date Andrea: allora all’eco-distretto mi sento di dire di si…perché è gestito..è un impresa pubblica e da sufficienti garanzie… rimane…è un lavoro pesante…e allora il cittadino straniero è una risorsa per il cittadino italiano Monia: ecco e avete detto che si sono organizzati in loro comunità…hanno proposto qualcosa per la città?

Lorenzo: beh per esempio i bengalesi che hanno degli sport tradizionali che qui da noi…

Michele: degli sport coloniali…

Lorenzo: si tipo il cricket…loro si sono organizzati con delle società sportive

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composte da loro che però insomma ospitate negli spazi del comune o nei cortili delle scuole…quindi tu tipo trovi… nel parco delle scuole la squadra di cricket che si allena…

Anthony: ecco siamo sempre sulla pianificazione, anche i flussi migratori vanno pianificati in base alle esigenze… l’immigrazione così intensa è avvenuta perché c’è stata una domanda fortissima di manodopera…

Lorenzo: si dicevo che la tipica impresa veneta è così Anthony: si ecco inizialmente..cioè anche per i costi … ma poi col tempo i costi si equiparano … ma il fatto è che l’italiano questi lavori qua … e comprensibilmente poi … non li vuole fare … perché insomma giustamente noi dovremmo dare del volere aggiunto … i nostri figli fanno un percorsi di studi più qualificanti in Europa e uno si aspetterebbe che rendano comunque no?

Michele: vabbè bisogna vedere…la pianificazione…

Anthony: non è uno scherzo, se c’è un investimento ci deve essere un valore aggiunto…

Michele: vabbè è una discussione molto più profonda…io spesso vedo molte più affinità con le popolazioni straniere che con alcuni di qua….se potessi manderei alcuni cittadini di Marghera in Bangladesh….no dai scherzo…

Andrea: vabbè tornando al discorso della pianificazione urbanistica…in una situazione come quella di Porto Marghera in cui le fabbriche stanno chiudendo, gli architetti, gli urbanisti come rispondono? Proponendo delle trasformazioni degli immobili no? Dicono questa fabbrica…la Paolini e Villani…che non produce più il dolce la chiudiamo la demoliamo e al posto della fabbrica mettiamo delle destinazioni d’uso più redditizie, alberghi, altre attività commerciali, il terziario, e tutto il piano regolatore di Porto Marghera che è recente ha questa idea di fondo no? Si demolisce e si ricostruisce e si fanno delle nuove attività più redditizie…si va in altezza….però questo modello non ha funzionato no? Qui a Marghera non ha funzionato…è stato proposto 15 anni fa 20 anni fa … non ha funzionato..di fatto se girate per Marghera vedete pochissime nuove realizzazioni eppure nuove realizzazioni sono possibili da 20 anni … da vent’anni non dico qua … ma di fianco a destra e a sinistra potrebbero costruire alberghi uffici e anche residenze … però questo modello non ha funzionato … anzi ha portato anche dei danni Michele: vabbè si è innestata anche dentro la crisi…

Andrea: per esempio delle fabbriche, una fabbrica importante del territorio, quando sopra la fabbrica hanno messo una destinazione più importante al posto dei capannoni il proprietario aveva la possibilità di realizzare un albergo, uffici, residenza, ha chiuso la fabbrica…la Beltrame…li hanno mandati a casa…poi non ha costruito niente però gli operai sono andati a casa… quindi noi urbanisti abbiamo fatto questo errore…pensando che si riqualificava la zona degradata industriale con funzioni nuove, redditizie, però in questa situ-

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azione non ha funzionato…quindi… se ricordate lu parlava di nuove esperienze no? Una frontiera oggi nelle città più importanti in Italia è capire se luoghi come questi si possono riusare con investimenti piccoli no?

Michele: noi crediamo particolarmente in questo: perché noi per esempio siamo una realtà che si auto gestisce, da quando abbiamo occupato noi non prendiamo un euro dall’amministrazione dal comune… cioè ci sosteniamo con attività nostre…e questa fabbrica non era così quando l’abbiamo occupata… era… mezza distrutta abbandonata…per cui se ci siamo riusciti tutti noi che lo facciamo volontariamente pensiamo che con piccoli investimenti si possa fare…riutilizzare vecchi edifici che sono lasciati lì abbandonati…

Monia: e voi che idea avete in merito a questi progetti rispetto al fatto che sono zone profondamente inquinate..? Cioè secondo voi c’è una percezione della gentedi quanto sia inquinato?

Andrea: allora noi abbiamo fatto degli studi con l’Università con lo Iuav … ora non ricordo il nome della professoressa … sulla percezione del rischio della gente rispetto all’inquinamento e al rischio industriale no? Da parte della popolazione ...Non c’è un rapporto diretto con la vicinanza alla zona industriale … stranamente c’è questa percezione del rischio di gente che abita più lontana…hanno meno la percezione del rischio la gente che abita in prossimità che la gente che abita più lontano…è uno studio fatto su interviste…

Anthony: comunque diciamo che gli imprenditori lo sanno che è inquinato..chi deve mettere i soldi lo sa benissimo … è un problema economico … ormai la questione non è più tanto una questione di salute perché insomma è terreno … finché non lo tocchi è fermo … il problema è che quando devi intervenire puoi provocare più danno e costa…allora il problema è sempre quello…allora ci sono certe destinazioni d’uso che sono molto appetibili anche al netto dei costi di bonifica anche se deve pagare e altre aree magari meno … e in generalità tutti sanno tutti dicono che Marghera ha alte potenzialità…però non c’è stato … non c’è ancora chiarezza…perché quando l’imprenditore viene… ci dicevano anche io qui investirei però devo prima avere la garanzia…che ne so?... che un certo tipo di fabbriche molto inquinanti non ci siano più … questa garanzia c’è ormai abbastanza…o forse adesso…anche se servirebbe forse una chiarezza maggiore da parte dell’amministrazione pubblica… e poi dall’altra parte è avvenuta soltanto di recente ma … di recente è avvenuto anche in seguito alla crisi…e la crisi sta un po’ bloccando…adesso diciamo quando tra vent’anni dopo che avremo ripagato il debito pubblico la crisi sarà finita… nel 2033… probabilmente … perché sapete il fiscal compact…ecco finito quello probabilmente si potrà…cioè di fatto l’area ha delle notevoli possibilità … però ha un costo e comunque bisogna decidere cosa farne… perché c’è un signore che è deciso che bisogna farne tutto Porto… ed è Costa… cioè il direttore del Porto…poi c’è un altro signore che è deciso che bisogna farne solo turismo…e questo non so diversi la pensano così…altri che pen-

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sano che bisognerebbe mantenere un certo tipo di industria e chi invece ha detto il Vega è un esempio…ma il Vega…conoscete?... il Vega è l’incubatore scientifico in realtà è un edificio anche poco efficiente anche nei termini energetici che assomma al 40% ma anche al 60 delle realtà pubbliche … non attira investimenti perché costa troppo…

Monia e voi cosa ne pensate rispetto a questa cosa e a questi progetti?

Michele: c’è anche da dire una cosa… su questa fascia qua la prima dove siamo noi c’è anche da dire che forse…forse è anche la meno inquinata…c’è anche da dire che anche il problema del fatto non ci sono i soldi… avrebbero dovuto pagare le imprese e non hanno pagato e se ne sono andate…e non possiamo tornare indietro…c’è anche da dire che forse se miliardi di euro al posto di essere investiti in grandi opere inutili e a volte dannose fossero invece investiti per ripristinare e bonificare aree che invece potrebbero essere utilizzate per altro sarebbe meglio…ecco come dire il problema poi è che si entra nel meccanismo di come vengono utilizzate le risorse…perché è vero che abbiamo lui dice per altri vent’anni…io credo sarà per sempre ormai… che dovremo pagare i debiti che qualcun altro ha fatto però è anche vero che non è vero che non esistono i soldi…i soldi ci sono bisognerebbe capire dove toglierli … perché garantiscono degli interessi anche privati e dove invece possono essere di pubblica utilità … nel sociale nella bonifica ambientale…

Anthony: comunque a mio avviso è mancata completamente una serietà … nel senso tu vuoi fare una riconversione industriale negli anni ’80… vuoi farla con estremo ritardo 30 anni dopo…vuoi farla nel 2012 va bene puoi farla … ma non si può esaurire nelle scelte urbanistiche..perchè questo secondo me è il problema…gli urbanisti giustamente fanno il loro mestiere poi però c’è un aspetto che ha a che fare con l’attualità della nostra imprenditoria… cioè prendi dei soggetti che non siano degli speculatori come Gavioli qui a fianco o la Galidros (?) imprese come si chiama , o la Mantovani, cioè provare a creare con le imprese…anche con le grandissime non solo con le piccole… un tessuto di imprese affidabili che dia delle garanzie…poi dovresti vedere se hai le maestranze…perché qui probabilmente abbiamo dei vecchi addetti dei vecchi quadri direttivi di azienda che hanno delle competenze in termini di processi chimici e non solo cioè che possono servire anche in tema ambientale … nella green economy e cose di questo tipo…cioè devi avere anche materiale umano…e poi vedere anche il bilancio…cioè ci vuole una pianificazione su questo…allora questo è il mestiere…la politica non fa solo chiacchiere…ad un certo punto fa pianificazione quindi bisogna mettersi e fare delle ipotesi…poi non tutte…

Andrea ecco posso mettere uno slogan anche per l’intervista? Ecco andate mai a Venezia? Ecco andando sulla destra trovate questa scritta che ha fatto lui : Michele: l’abbiamo fatta noi ecco..l’assemblea Permanente

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Andrea: Marghera più bonifiche meno rifiuti… che sintetizza le cose che abbiamo detto noi oggi qui… più bonifiche significa sia risanare l’ambiente e renderne possibile un riutilizzo ma sia rende possibile creare più posti di lavoro no?

Lucile: voglio fare una domanda ma scusa per il mio italiano…

Michele: meglio di noi il francese…

Lucile: ma devo fare il proiecto de Porto Marghera adesso e non c’è dinero per bonificare tutta l’area… e c’è proiecto pilote come la central de idrogeno o due progetti di reactor delle alghe e c’è altri proiecti como questi o…

Anthony: si si c’è nel documento Intesa per Marghera è di quattro o cinque anni fa e ci sono tutti questi piccoli progetti Andrea. Ma comunque degli esempi lei chiede…Si ci sono dei progetti che si stanno concretizzando…un esempio che si è concretizzato verso l’ex deposito Agip no? il Parco scientifico tecnologico…

Anthony: si ma digli che cosa Andrea: che hanno fatto la bonifica…

Anthony: si ma per produrre che cosa? Perché lei sta chiedendo quali sono i progetti che fanno casa….allora le centrali a idrogeno…le alghe per il biocombustibile…noi sappiamo… estensione del Porto Andrea: il Porto diventa un concetto complicato Anthony: e poi ci sono le autostrade del mare Andrea: ma aspetta questo dopo… il Porto è un concetto complesso…il Porto moderno come lo intende il nostro…. Non è soltando la nave che scarica la materia prima e poi la rispedisce per il mondo…il Porto dice la nave arriva a Marghera scarica la materia prima e avviene la prima trasformazione… e poi l’autostrada del mare…quindi nella rete dei trasporti non va la materia prima no? Ma va la matreia prima con una prima trasformazione…e quindi a Porto Marghera Costa vuol fare questa industria di trasformazion…

Michele: poi c’è un piccolo problema sul porto che oltre a non avere le idee chiare su quali sono tutti i porgetti legati ci sono due problemi: 1) che chiaramente potenziare il transito delle navi…progetti che mirano a scavare e a…c’è un progetto c’è un canale che è per far entrare le navi per i petroli…c’è un progetto che è scaviamolo così diventa più profondo….la laguna non è che sia un pezzo di mare…la laguna è un ecosistema estremamente complesso e delicato in cui cambiare la profondità lo trasforma in un braccio di mare non più in una laguna per cui è problematico Lorenzo …e poi c’è un piccolo problema che il signor Costa non è che sia una persona a caso o come dire un esperto di portualità e basta ma è una persona che ome dire all’interno di tutti gli affari più grossi che si sono mossi, lui c’è stato, lui è stato due volte commissario straordinario prima sotto il governo

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di centro sinistra e poi sotto il governo di centro destra è stato commissario straordinario per la costruzione della base militare a Vicenza no dal molin… per cui anche là le popolazioni si sono battute… sul Mose…

Anthony: è stato ministro europeo Lorenzo: èstato rettore dell’università…

Anthony: però attenzione anche il progetto pilota dell’idrogeno…non è… niente… è un piccolo progetto pilota dell’Enel per fare le centrali elettriche a carbone… quindi è solo un pezzo di processa mento del carbone… per cui non è una cosa che ha…cioè ha una sua logica per l’Enel…

Monia: non ha una grandee Anthony: no…no!

Lucile: ma è…è il progetto di idrogeno più grande del mondo… quello di Marghera…ma questa tecnologia è troppo piccola…

Anthony: cioè di fatto è una semplicissima centrale a turbo gas che prende in ingresso idrogeno e lo brucia ok? Perché? Perché qui c’era dell’idrogeno per gli scarichi di scarto dei processi industriali…edesso non c’è quasi più nulla…infatti va quasi sempre a metano…quindi ha un senso limitato…poi in realtà l’Enel l’ha fatto perché le centrali CCS si chiamano…cico combinato a carbone…hanno un porcesso per cui uso l’acqua come intermedio…butto l’acqua sul carbone…h2o fa idrogeno l’idrogeno brucia in turbina…quindi una cosa dell’Enel…dell’energia elettrica… non porta sviluppo per il territorio….

Le alghe non hanno dimostrato grande efficacia…è un progetto pilota…ma pochi credono che quella strada sarà quella vera… quindi di fatto sono piccole esperienze quasi accademiche…

Andrea: quindi diciamo per riassumere la loro domanda abbiamo per Marghera partendo da Nord andando verso giù abbiamo come nuove attività produttive…il parco scientifico tecnologico che in realtà fanno le sperimentazioni no? Che fanno attività di ricerca no?

Anthony: ma non è vero!! Ma ci vado ogni giorno!!! Sono dipendenti pubblici che fanno i loro lavori…

Michele: io a mangiare ci vado spesso alla mensa…

Andrea: allora ci sono uffici che funzionano per i dipendenti pubblici…

Michele: la mensa…

Anthony: poi c’è un banca Unicredit ok?

Andrea: poi ci sono le vetrine di tutte le società che poi sono andate via…

Anthony: poi c’è un call center poi c’è E ambiente che fa consulenza per le questioni ambientali per il comune… poi ci sono un sacco di società, c’è la Venice società informatica del comune ok? Ci sono un sacco di società partecipate del comune… della Vepa…della Regione Veneto… e poi un manipolo di piccole aziende che fanno qualcosa e poi c’è un signore sopra che prende

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250000euro all’anno…perché questa è la realtà…

Andrea: detto questo….parco scientifico tecnologico che ha circa le caratteristiche che dice Anthony no? Queste… però non produce… fanno servizi lì…poi cosa abbiamo come attività nuove? Perché lì ci sono tremila persone comunque no? Tremila persone che lavorano nei servizi… Impiegati…statali… colletti bianchi… poi realtà produttive vere…nuove…cosa ne abbiamo? Allora il Porto le attività portuali…l’eco distretto lavorano poche persone un centinaio di persone no? Non abbiamo produzioni nuove non ne abbiamo…

Lucile: e quale tipo di produzione possiamo proporre qui?

Anthony: le green economy…però siamo lontani Andrea: si ma dovete guardare…dovete cambiare scala no? E vedere le caratteristiche… la geografia. La facilità dei trasporti, rete di comunicazioni: abbiamo un aeroporto che è il terzo aeroporto d’Italia…Marco Polo…la ferrovia, l’autostrada e il porto… allora delle funzioni produttive che hanno necessità di questo… allora se voi vi spostate a Treviso no? Loro non hanno queste cose…

Le realtà da porre in questo luogo sono quelle che sfruttano questo territorio…

Anthony: poi c’è il campus universitario … perché alcuni dell’Università di Venezia… di portare…

Andrea: questa proposta del vostro concittadino, di Pierre Cardin di fare Palais Lumiere…250… al di là del fatto dell’altezza… però lui dice facciamo una università della moda, ma non è produzione… l’università della moda la puoi fare a Parigi a Milano o a Roma… a Venezia non ha…

Anthony: e comunque lui vuole un albergo a 7 stelle…e invece ci può stare una logica ricettiva che può essere di altissimo profilo come questa oppure normale convenzionale… cioè l’area di Marghera si presta anche a questo tipo di…. Per alberghi di una certa categoria o di lusso o congressuali… perché c’è l’acqua…per creare dei sistemi di servizi che usano i due canali… sia la strada sia l’acqua Michele: e anche un progetto di ricettività differente… un distretto per la cultura…

Andrea:se fossi un progettista… farei attenzione sia alle cose che abbiamo detto del territorio ma anche attività come quella del Rivolta … come quello che loro propongono… del riuso degli edifici con funzioni semplici… perché l’importanza del l oro ruolo è di salvare il territorio… cioè se loro non fossero qui sarebbe un degrado ancora più grave no? Abbiamo molti architetti che hanno il loft qui dietro… però sono pochi non producono …

Lucile: se pensiamo ad un progetto pilote grande qui… cosa fareste?

Michele: allora la prima cosa che diceva lui: spazi da riutilizzare sull’imprenditoria giovanile, dunque… spettacolo… cultura … produzione culturale … per cui anche tutti esperimenti di riuscire a costruire distretto per

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atelier per giovani artisti… è una delle cose … e strutture sportive, ricreative … turismo sostenibile … perché la cosa interessante è che Mestre Marghera sono la seconda città turistica del Veneto … dopo Venezia… per esempio costruire un turismo differente anche sostenibile perché Venezia ha un numero finito dal punto di vista dell’ospitalità per cui sviluppare qui anche un tipo di accoglienza differente rivolta a un pubblico più giovane economicamente anche minore che anche valorizzi altre parti del territorio sarebbe una delle cose che costruisce occasioni di lavoro…

Anthony: o anche scientifica, io mi muovo spesso per congressi… e quando gli parlo di venezia mi guardano così come dire: perché non veniamo a Venezia? E ogni volta non riesco… cioè non ci sono molte situazioni in cui sia facile portare un gruppo di venti persone … o cinquecento… dipende dagli eventi… in un sistema come dire preconfezionato semplice … poi è gente che può spendere non tantissimo ma può spendere …

Andrea: un’altra idea … questo è un pezzettino di Porto Marghera ed è un cantiere edile la Sacaim…

Anthony: scusate vi dico l’ultima vi rompo prima di andare via: il Vega: tremila dipendenti pubblici non c’è un percorso ciclabile per andarci in bicicletta e non c’è neanche un posto per le biciclette…

Michele: questa è la prossima battaglia… Anthony ci vediamo …

Andrea allora questa è l’ultima… questo è un cantiere di un industria edile … costruiscono però molti operai della Sacaim che non sono del nostro territorio vivono all’interno della Sacaim in queste condizioni molto spesso in pre fabbricati … allora se pensate a Palais Lumiere se un giorno lo faranno .. occuperà 15000 persone … occupati a costruire … allora tutte le attività di recupero di Porto Marghera comportano la necessità di molta manodopera … dove facciamo vivere questa manodopera? Molto spesso viene dai paesi stranieri …e dove vivono? Nei container e li pagano… allora pensare anche una zona di residenza temporanea no? Può essere un’idea… allora io lo dico sempre … non devi fare un villaggio però se devi fare un cantiere che durerà 15000 persone dove le metti?

Michele: che poi possono essere anche strutture di accoglienza sul sociale o quello che dicevamo prima sul turismo… poi se volete che ci rivediamo … approfondiamo alcune cose

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