Metro M4, the New Green-Blue Backbone of Milan. From Infrastructure Design to Urban Regeneration Project

The aim of this work is to demonstrate how it is possible to transform the infrastructural project of the new Milan metro line (M4) into an occasion for the reconfiguration of public spaces and the enhancement of local identities, i.e. into an urban regeneration project. The goal is to integrate 5 different objectives in order to: 1. bring the city centre closer to the suburbs and enhance the more peripheral neighbourhoods by using the new (highly accessible) metro stations; 2. connect two metropolitan environmental systems (Parco Agricolo Sud Milano in the South-West and Grande Parco Forlanini in the East) by identifying green and blue corridors at urban scale and promoting minimal re-greening interventions adaptable to different urban fabrics; 3. assign new urban values/meanings to the infrastructural nodes, working on the physical urban space of metro stations, making it available to new populations and different social uses; 4. implement slow mobility networks by supporting the urban policies aimed to reduce vehicular traffic; 5. integrate different existing urban projects by coordinating specific and/or sectorial interventions.