Opening the discussion at this ASL seminar dedicated to urban mobility and infrastructure sustainability was the observation that Europe’s cultural, social and economic model hinges, first and foremost, on cities. While urbanization is a comparatively recent phenomenon for many countries around the world, the history and structure of industry in Italy and Europe were among the first to develop to a more significant degree around cities and metropolises. Not surprisingly, it is precisely on the basis of changes that cities are undergoing and the way cities are linked together that the identity and the future of both Italy and the European Union are being reshaped.
The transformation of urban and metropolitan areas was seen by the participants as reflecting the evolution of a society that is no longer structured according to predetermined and predictable patterns of labor organization, but which is moving towards production models that are increasingly fluid and flexible. Among other things, this means that cities no longer have a single industry focus – for instance, cites that serve as “financial centers”, “car industry hubs”, or “tourism capitals” – but many focuses, which tend to overlap and coexist. Similarly, within the same city, advances in mobility have led various areas to lose their characteristic feel and to adopt residential and commercial zoning models that are increasingly more hybrid and variegated.
The participants emphasized that the changes in mobility that are making cities “smarter” will be the engine of growth for the Italian economy, not least because the major investments that will be made in Italy over the next few years will mostly relate to transport infrastructure. These transformation processes and investment choices must combine efficiency with quality, without overlooking the question of sustainability in terms of the environment and quality of life, but also financial sustainability in difficult and uncertain economic times that call for particularly prudent public investment decisions.
Attention was drawn during the discussions to the fact that the financing of infrastructure works remains a key issue at EU, national and local levels. While European project bonds will soon be forthcoming, it is nevertheless essential that other funding vehicles and channels are put in place in order to attract new private capital. There is, at any rate, no shortage at this stage of institutional investors who look with interest towards the infrastructure sector. Yet the unstable conditions that form a backdrop to a sector such as this, heavily influenced as it is by political factors, in many cases lead the return on investment to fall short of investor expectations, making many projects difficult to finance on the market. In particular, the lack of clarity on tariff systems, which often fluctuate equivocally between being based on market criteria and representing implicit forms of welfare, accompanied by a lack of rules and clear completion milestones for many infrastructure projects, often results in a perceived investment risk that drives potential investors away.
There was thus general consensus among the participants that policy-making efforts should be aimed, first of all, at overcoming the fragmentation of decision-making on infrastructure choices, thereby providing a clear and stable regulatory framework. Additionally, it is essential that changes in demand for mobility on the part of citizens and businesses are gauged, and that the responses to be provided innovatively pursue – on a design and operational level – three objectives backed up by information technology, the potential applications of which with regards to mobility would seem to be vast. The first of these objectives is reliability, understood as punctuality and speed of service, but also in terms of the extent of the transport network’s overall coverage. The second relates to ensuring the accessibility of the network from critical urban areas, particularly through efforts to improve the integration of different means of transport – in other words, intermodality. The final objective concerns simplicity, entailing greater and more timely information and practical and transparent payment systems for users.
In conclusion, it was stressed that the management of such measures, seen as essential for kick-starting the Italian economy, calls for an incisive change of culture and in the approach to the management of decision-making, it being conceded that combining quality, efficiency and sustainability will come at a cost. This cost – it was suggested – must translate into new tariff schemes and pricing strategies, which can only be accepted and endorsed by businesses and citizens against a backdrop of improved communication and a greater level of user involvement.