Milan awards a project that reunites two sides lying across a railway track

Nodo Bovisa is named after the northern district of the Italian city

The city of Milan ended the month of May on a good note with the awarding of the Reinventing Cities international tender to the ‘Nodo Bovisa’ project, proposed by the MoLeCoLa team. The proposal intervention envisions redesigning an area located in the northern and formerly industrial district of Bovisa in a way that would not only freshen up its look but also create a sense of community.

Innovative and sustainable technological district

The MoLeCoLa team, as reported by Milan’s municipal website, consists of a colourful grouping of firms and associations, among which are "Hines Italy RE Srl", which plays the role of investor and Representative, from Park Associati, Habitech, ESA Engineering, Bollinger + Grohmann, Mobility in chain, Greencure, Institute for social research (IRS), Schneider electric, A2a - Heat and services, Wood Beton and Ammlex.

"MoLeCoLa presented a very interesting project, which will regenerate an area that has been polluted and unused for a very long time, stitching up the two sides of Bovisa separated by the railway and creating new strategic services, greenery, public spaces and cycle and pedestrian connections,” explained the Milanese councillor for urban planning Pierfrancesco Maran.

“The final award allows us to proceed together with the operator to the precise definition of all the services to be installed on the ground floors of the buildings, for the benefit not only of the students but of the whole community of the neighbourhood". The operator he was referring to is railway company Ferrovienord SpA, which owns the tracks and the surrounding land and was part of the jury deciding on the winner of the tender.

The project involves the creation of a new district in the heart of Bovisa, an urban laboratory for sustainable mobility with affordable housing for young people and students, in synergy with the university campus of the Politecnico. The plan is to use courtyard housing and a path of green and built-up public squares, connected to each other by an urban promenade which will also go over the tracks as an overpass.