LETTER FROM ITALY TORINO: UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT MEANS THE ‘CITY OF OPPORTUNITIES’ By Stefano Lo Russo After a century of strong development based on manufacturing (mainly in the car industry) Torino is implementing urban renewal on an extraordinary scale. This is having a parallel impact on development and social cohesion, industrial conversion and socio-economic urban regeneration. In brief: sustainable development. Torino has successfully diversified its industrial base, with investments in the tertiary sector, culture and quality of life. The current administration has launched an ambitious plan of action to attract new opportunities to the university for the growth and development of Torino as a university city. Torino has been transformed into a top-ranking university town. Its institutes, the Politecnico and the Università, are leading in the international rankings and are increasingly attracting foreign students. Olympic village The relationship between urban space and university sites and facilities has undergone a profound change. The university has become one of the main drivers of urban development and quality of life in the city while the quality and quantity of student housing is progressively improving throughout the metropolitan area. This is also thanks to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. This provided a number of press and athletes’ village buildings which were converted. It is important to note that it is not just the number but the design of these structures which had to be effectively integrated into the urban space. The surroundings needed to be pleasant but at the same time lively and dynamic. They also had to connect to places of study and research along clear mobility routes.
over several widespread sites over the whole town with an interesting concentration along three major axes: the system of the old city centre, the banks of the Dora in the former Italgas area (for the Humanities) and the length of the River Po (along which the historical buildings of the Scientific Faculties are housed). Further, several important training centres are located in Torino to complete the knowledge city vocation: the European Training Foundation (ETF), the Staff College of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Pole for the Support of Education and Training (IPSET), and ESCP-EAP (European School of Management). The new University Masterplan has designed a strategy aimed at increasing the attractiveness of Torino through university quality. This has been just approved by the Municipality Cabinet and represents an extraordinary opportunity to achieve this new idea of university student housing within the framework of the urban development. Through the development of the ‘City of Knowledge’, we ambitiously propose Torino as the ‘City of Opportunities’.
Stefano Lo Russo is the Counsellor Cabinet Member for Urban and Strategic Planning, private real estate development and policy coordination on urban renewal projects in the City of Turin, Italy.
Politecnico and Università di Torino are the backbone to Piemonte’s education system with faculties of Engineering, Architecture, Sciences and Humanities. They collectively number 100,000 people (students, researchers and visiting professors) which is around 10% of Torino’s municipal inhabitants. At the moment, more than 7% of university students in Politecnico and Università are international. The overall incoming students in Torino number more than 40,000 (23,000 at Università, 17,000 at Politecnico). Among these, more than 20,000 require student housing. This is a trend that has shown stable growth over the last years.
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Campuses The universities have been working hard to consolidate their attractiveness and integration with urban development. The Politecnico di Torino is concentrated over two locations: the Campus surrounding the historical centre and the new Design Centre in the west section of Fiat’s Mirafiori factory. The Università di Torino, however, has set up strong connectivity Turin, Italy