Matosinhos becomes the first UN Resilience Hub in Portugal
The city joins the Province of Potenza (Italy) as the newest role models for the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative
The next auction will drop the asking price
It turns out that Italy’s most expensive property, which was placed on the market at the end of last year, might have been somewhat overpriced. The Baroque architectural jewel Villa Aurora (in Rome) was set for grabs at an online auction on Tuesday, 18 January, with a base asking price of 353 million…but no one showed up.
This was especially surprising given the circulating rumours in the media that esteemed billionaires, such as Bill Gates and the Sultan of Brunei, were quite interested in acquiring the glamorous real estate.
Any potential buyers would have had to show a guarantee of 10% of the asking initial price before even starting the bidding war on Villa Aurora. Apparently, though, no one considered it worth investing that much money. As a result, the villa will be placed on a second auction, on 7 April, but this time with a 20% reduction in the price, which would still make it out of reach for anyone but billionaires. The villa has been valued to be worth about 470 million euros.
Inside the Casino (as the Villa is also known), which is also disputed between the third wife of the deceased prince who owned it and the three children from his first marriage, there is a mural by Caravaggio.
The artwork was created in 1597 and has an estimated value of over 300 million euros – since it’s the only known fresco by the Milanese painter. And it is in fact this, and other art treasures contained within, that drives the price so high.
Meanwhile, the auctioning of Villa Aurora has raised protests from cultural activists. A petition on Change.org, addressed to Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, has collected over 38,000 signatures to date and many continue to adhere. The request to the Government is to use funds from the NPRR, the national recovery and resilience plan, to participate in the auction and buy the historic home to preserve it for the general public.
However, the real estate’s value would represent over one-third of the ministry’s annual budget.
On the fringes of the festival, Film Madrid will hold meetings to promote the region as a filming destination
The city joins the Province of Potenza (Italy) as the newest role models for the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative
The local community welcomed Ukrainians fleeing war with outstanding support
The Smart City Alliance has been quietly building functional tools for both citizens and authorities since 2016
Part of an ongoing trend among these institutions to increase convenience for users
Student teams will have 24 hours to come up with solutions for that issue
The city joins the Province of Potenza (Italy) as the newest role models for the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative
The Smart City Alliance has been quietly building functional tools for both citizens and authorities since 2016
The cities met last week in Katowice to draft a plan on how to facilitate cycling between their territories
On the fringes of the festival, Film Madrid will hold meetings to promote the region as a filming destination
It is renewing and introducing direct flight connections to attract visitors from the US, Middle East and Europe
The Catalonian capital’s society and the trajectory of its attitudes have been studied since 1998
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
An interview with Nigel Jollands and Sue Goeransson from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre
A talk with the Mayor of Malmö on the occasion of the city’s UN Resilience Hub status