# MILAN | Navigli canals | U/C



## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

There have been talks of reopening the existing canals in Milan for decades. Project proposes the total reopening of the “Navigli” canals buried when the historical city plan changed between 1929 and the ‘60s. Preliminary studies have shown that the project of reopening the “inner trench” is feasible from an architectural and engineering point of view, and is suitable for the environmental requalification of the city, the re-organization of the transport system to improve urban mobility and to re-establish Milan as a traditional “water city”. 

The project, of great value from an environmental and landscape point of view, could give back its old charm to the whole town, restoring the great Milan and Lombardy waterway system, which could again fulfil its proper transport function, especially of a touristic kind, from Lake Maggiore and Lake Como to the river Po towards Venice and the Adriatic Sea. Reopening the Navigli canals represents for Milan a new urban, environmental and economic 
strategy. It’s an extraordinary occasion to upgrade the town along its canals routes and many nearby areas, above and under ground. A special opportunity to invest in quality and to create new activities and roles. 

The reopened Navigli will attract tourists from all over the world, contributing to reinforce the tourism-related economy and increasing the value of Milan’s architectural heritage. Needless to say, the project does not wish to carry out an impossible philological and antiquarian “reconstruction” of the historical canals but aims at rebuilding a new landscape along with new opportunities for development of the town, based on its historical waterway plan.​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

*Project features* 

The project plans to carry out the realization of eight and a half kilometres of canal, with 25 bridges, from the Cassina de Pom location, where the Naviglio Martesana sinks under via Melchiorre Gioia, up to the Darsena; the canal will go through the entire Via Melchiorre Gioia, via San Marco, the inner belt and the conca dei Navigli. The Navigli will be reopened following the water flow, which enters Milan coming from the Adda river and the already existing Naviglio Martesana. The first tract, which goes through via Melchiorre Gioia towards via San Marco and via Pontaccio, represents a great opportunity for the re-qualification of the town in the areas which have been transformed more recently, including those around the Garibaldi-Repubblica area, and in those areas which still show evident signs of the old Navigli, down-river via San Marco and up-river at the Conca dell’Incoronata. 

From corso di Porta Vittoria to corso di Porta Romana, the Naviglio is an element of continuity of the town’s main municipal functions: the Central Public Library in Palazzo Sormani, the Palace of Justice, the Umanitaria Society, the Guastalla gardens, the State University in Via Festa del Perdono, the historical buildings of the Policlinico Hospital in via Francesco Sforza. The present Cerchia dei Navigli will be open to traffic for residents only and to public transport. The traffic which now uses the Cerchia as inner belt can be easily transferred to the Cerchia dei Bastioni of the Mura Spagnole, as already planned and approved by Milan Municipality’s traffic management plan of 2003-2006. Along via Francesco Sforza, via Santa Sofia and via De Amicis, the Naviglio will flow over the new metro line M4 and overpass with no problems the metro lines M1 and M3. 

A fundamental part of the project is the design of the Conca del Naviglio tract, in the street with the same name, as an urban public space in connection to other spaces and green areas all around it, including the pedestrian zones which link it with the roman arena up to the Parco delle Basiliche and the Darsena. Reopening the canals will spur the creation of new pedestrian areas which, along with the already existing ones, will form a network of non-motorised mobility. A Navigli tourist transport service will be carried out by boats and will complement the mobility offer. Reopening the Navigli canals will allow the reactivation of the link to the Adda-Ticino waterway: an infrastructure of about 70 Km, in a landscape of rare beauty, along which it will be possible to open one of the longest bicycle paths in Europe with all the relative tourist facilities.​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

*Economic advantages *

The Naviglio will be a source of cost-effective enterprises in the tourist and energy sectors, and in other activities. The new network of canals will be not only a landscape system which will transform the town’s landscape and quality of life, but also a complex technological creation which will be of great use in several public areas, including: 
• energy: using the water flow to produce energy (micro turbines, heat pumps , etc.) 
• hydraulic: rationalizing the hydraulic system and water usage in the Milan area; 
• information technology: creating fibre optic conduits and other infrastructures for information and communication; 
• thermal: developing teleheating; 
• subsoil exploiting: creation of new parking places, management of supply and storage of goods, garbage and waste products pickup, other technological galleries. 

The creation of the new Navigli network will spur new economical activities deriving from: 
• management of water resources, 
• management of leisure time infrastructures, restaurant and accommodation industry, 
• management of new cultural and touristic activities, 
• valorisation of buildings along the Navigli, with increased possibility of re-qualification and reclamation, 
• new potential real estate activities with new functions and services. 


*Costs and financial feasibility *

Total estimate for the architectural and engineering works needed to carry out the project amounts to 120 - 150 million Euros, less than the cost of 3 kilometres of underground. The project can be financed by private and public sources, in an articulated funding plan. Various forms of financing will be explored, such as: project-financing, public funding by municipal and regional sources, donations by authorities or companies; donations or supporter’s trusts, income by advertising; European funding projects of the smart cities type. ​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

*Plan of the Navigli canals and the 25 bridges (in the historical city center)*


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

*History, some detail*

The trails of the idea to make Milan accessible from the sea are lost in the chronicles of times that date before the times of the design and construction of the first artificial navigable canal. Since the antique times many of the water courses that encircled the city had deviations to take the water straight to the city but none of the rivers or torrents were of the sufficiently big to become what the city desperately needed. The Navigli of Milan are the artificial canals constructed between 1179 (Naviglio Grande) and the 16th century (Naviglio Martesana) with the purpose of making Milan accessible from Ticino and Adda. The Navigli were a passing route not only for the merchandise on its’ way to Milan but also for the marble of Candoglia used for the construction of the Milan’s Cathedral and, in more recent times, a transporting route for the rolls of paper used by the typewriters of Corriere della Sera.

The construction of the Naviglio Grande begun in 1179 and in 1209 the Naviglio arrived to Milan. Since the first day of the construction the best engineers undertook the project and even today it is possible to admire the innovative system of dams conceived by Leonardo da Vinci at the end of 15th Century. Once upon a time: a view of the Navigli, the navigable canals of MilanIt took only 35 years, from 1439 to 1475, to build 90 kilometres of canals on the Milan territory made navigable thanks to the existence of 25 valleys, a characteristic no other city has. The development of the system didn’t stop at this point. On the contrary, when Leonardo da Vinci begun working on the project in 1482, the Martesana was improved and he also started setting up a new system of canals that would make navigation from Valtellina to Milan possible.

It was 1482 when Leonardo da Vinci, as soon as he arrived in Milan, was assigned by Ludwig II il Moro with the task to study a system that would make the navigation from Lake Como to Milan possible. Leonardo, who already designed the system of the dams in order to solve the problem of height difference of the territory making the navigation possible didn’t miss the chance to draw some sketches that are preserved today in the Museum of Navigli. Since then the Navigli were characterized by a continuous development particulary by the construction of new canals and dams. This is how the Navigli became a fundamental means of communication for the city of Milan.​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Part of the whole project is under redevelopment now
*The Dock (from Piazza XXIV Maggio to Piazza Cantore)*





















































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_credits: urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

_credits: urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

On Viale Gabriele D'Annunzio, small buildings will be constructed to
accommodate the market, with fresh products, such as fruit and vegetables.








The fishmarket










_credits: urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

North walkways, with green spaces and café area.






























































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Areas on Viale Gorizia
















_credits: urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

The harbour and the walkway bridge.



































_credits: urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Some pics: Naviglio Grande


























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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Part of the Dock, REDEVELOPMENT


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## Joni_good (Feb 25, 2011)

Naviglio tour in a boat, really suggestive


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

With a cost of 18 million euro, which include extra costs due to archaeological excavations, the project of the Dock, in Navigli district, will have a great pedestrian area with great green spaces around water. Only trams are allowed. The historic market will be torn down in August 2014, and traders will be moved in July inside the new market under construction.

















updates...


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

*the Dock*


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Updates :cheers:

























































































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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Updates :cheers:












































​_urbanfile.org​_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

updates
















































































_urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

_urbanfile.org​_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

updates












































_urbanfile.org​_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)




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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Updates

















_urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

_urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Updates


























_urbanfile.org_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

_urbanfile.org​_​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)




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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Updates

















urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

urbanfile.org​


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)

Darsena reopened some days ago


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)




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## jmlagunebrio (Mar 28, 2008)

Good project,

I think is like this one: Paseo Santa Lucía at Monterrey, Mexico


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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)




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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)




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## IThomas (Feb 11, 2011)




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