Verona Città Verde, the Green Transition of Verona

Verona is set to become a greener city, emphasizing water, soil, and neighbourhood development. The city’s strategic vision includes a renewed network of green and blue infrastructures at both urban and territorial scales, aligning with new European regulations, international directives such as the Nature Restoration Law and the Nature-positive Cities program, and the United Nations’ sustainability goals.

LAND has highlighted Verona’s natural richness, with 489 hectares of accessible public green spaces, averaging 18.8 square meters per resident. However, one significant challenge identified in the current Territorial Planning Scheme (PAT) is the insufficient provision of green areas, especially the lack of large urban parks. Approximately 8% of the population has no access to green areas within a 15-minute walk, increasing to 26% for a 5-minute walk and 43% for a 10-minute walk. The southern areas, the industrial zone in the west, and various residential neighbourhoods are particularly underserved.

Increasing tree cover will improve air quality and mitigate climate change effects by creating cooling islands, benefiting residents, tourists, and city users. The main objective of Verona and the new PAT is to transition to an ecological model of urban development that values nature as a true infrastructure. This involves identifying potential connections between key environmental resources and strategically structuring open spaces. Integrating the PAT with the Ecological Transition Plan (PTE) is crucial for this vision.

Deputy Mayor and Urban Planning Councillor Barbara Bissoli, in a public event on Monday, 22 July, emphasized the strategic importance of the PAT in guiding sustainable urban and territorial regeneration and ecological transition. The new PAT envisions Verona’s future over the next 10-15 years through three integrated frameworks: ecological-environmental, historical-cultural, and infrastructural. The ecological-environmental framework we developed by LAND, includes green and blue infrastructures essential for Verona’s new planning approach.

Key components of this framework include:

• The Adige River system proposes the extension of park areas to the north and south of the city.
• The water and Risorgive system integrates high-relevance naturalistic and historical-cultural areas into the regional park network.
• The fortifications system, creating a linear park transitioning between the city and the countryside.The valleys and hills system protect and enhance a landscape of significant biodiversity and ecological richness.
• The urban green system with the Spianà area is a potential urban park.
• The agricultural belt system connects the metropolitan area with high-value environmental zones.
• The comprehensive approach aims to create a sustainable, nature-centric model for Verona’s future development.