2022 May June Marina world

WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENTS
Left: The Palermo waterfront, complete
with marina and cruise terminal. Below:
CGI of the waterfront at Civitanova
Marche.
of new ones. This mega project is
proceeding very slowly and consists
of a set of demanding steps, which if
accelerated would solve long discussed
critical issues and restore much of the
city’s splendour.
The best initiatives involve public
administrations, climate and economy
experts, builders, architects and urban
planners, synergistically engaged in the
planning and the potentials.
Land and sea: the
race to re-connect
Transformational projects that create new links between cities and their
waterfronts are top of the agenda in Italy. The aim is to increase tourism and
generate opportunities for direct and indirect economic growth. Donatella
Zucca reports
Thanks to the wise use of national
and EU investment funds, Italy is on a
race to renew its relationship with the
sea. The first fundamental steps are
being taken, for the most part by port
authorities and municipal management,
in a process supported by the Draghi
Government with an €83 billion plan
to unlock 57 large public infrastructure
works that, although financed and
approved, still await implementation.
Masterplans and projects, in progress
or under construction, actually
appear to be multiplying. Some
benefit from modern marinas,
some enhance older facilities and
others include brand new yachting
infrastructure. Key factors include
the need to balance relationships
between nature and urban centres,
nautical and urban architecture,
and preservation and enhancement
of historical areas, local culture
and specific natural features. The
rebirth of land and sea increasingly
integrates the tourist port with its
surroundings.
In some cases, focus is on areas
closest to the sea and in others
more general modernisation of
existing seafront areas is being
undertaken. The latter almost always
includes enhanced marina services and
extra nautical facilities. Where creation
of a tourist hub is the aim, great
attention is paid to the environment and
to architecture so as to cover cruise
offerings, tourist ports and large yacht
mooring.
In Venice, for example, the movement
of freight, cruise vessels and large
yachts is being revised via the optimal
use of old waterways and the creation
“The availability of funds from the
National Recovery and Resilience
Plan has generated an exponential
growth of urban redevelopment projects
presented to the government by many
cities – in particular from those I like
to call ‘maritime cities’, many of which
have centuries-old history,” explains
Captain Angelo Zerilli. Zerilli headed
up the national tourist port sector at the
Directorate General of State Property
and Ports of the Infrastructure and
Transport Ministry for 30 years and
is now vice president of Blue Pool
Advisors and a member of Marina
Development Network (MDN).
“About 650 municipalities will be able
to count on an economic opportunity
from a €4.9 billion fund to plan for the
future and help offset the negative
effects of the pandemic,” he says. As
Barcelona in Spain demonstrated in
1990, revitalising the city waterfront
gives an opportunity to re-evaluate
history and maritime traditions. The
same could play out for places like
Amalfi, Portofino, Tropea, Gallipoli
and the more famous cities of Venice,
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www.marinaworld.com – May/June 2022