The Scalo Farini Milan Master Plan
Atmospheric agents: An opportunity to promote urban sustainability
Scalo Farini (Farini Railway Depot) is one of seven Milanese railway depots included in the Plan Agreement, approved by Lombardy Region in 2017, for the urban redevelopment of the railway areas already closed and about to be closed in correlation with the extension of the Milanese railway system.
NET Engineering, working with OMA, Laboratorio Permanente, Phillippe Rahm architects, Arcadis and Temporiuso, won the international competition, launched by FS Sistemi Urbani and COIMA SGR, for the drafting of the redevelopment Master Plan of Farini Scalo Railway Depot (Farini Scalo). The general aim of the project, known as Agenti Climatici (Climatic Agents), is to influence urban climate, setting out specific operations that will encourage the establishment of favourable environmental and climatic conditions built on sustainability and ecology.
The planning concept was the result of frenzied search for the sustainability of a wider system and an effort to indicate the added value that a (now) empty space can offer to the urban system with a view to assist and extend the process of a whole town towards the reduction of the impact of anthropization.
The Master Plan, which concerns more than 41 hectares, destined for an urban park and residential, commercial and office buildings, has a very long timeline.
So various scenarios were imagined for Milan in 2035-2050 and, as a consequence, various answers from both the points of view of the intended use of the building and planning the mobility. NET Engineering’s contribution led to the definition of the specific mobility objectives, supporting the project of a layout that could favour movement by sustainable means both within the Master Plan and the neighbouring urban contexts.
Analysis of the reference context and the forecasts of the mobility policy tools, first and foremost the Milan Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan – SUMP, enabled indication of the new mobility needs in relation to the Farini Master Plan, a check on the network of transport services set out by the SUMP in this specific context and the construction of a new structure that goes beyond some elements, pursuing the aim of confirming the role of the new spaces in a system perspective. Contrary to what normally happens, the Master Plan was made available to the city, trying to respond to still unanswered questions, offering solutions, imagining and assessing its impact on the urban context right from the beginning.
- Scalo Farini is reached by tram
- In accordance with a route that supports new areas of settlement and is the backbone of the public transport system of the railway depot, offering a new corridor to Milanese public transport at the same time.
- Scalo Farini is reached by train.
- The Lancetti stop has become an intermodal hub and laboratory of the new forms of mobility. Consolidation of bike-sharing is also planned to facilitate the destination centres within the area. The cycle-pedestrian network guarantees a direct connection to all areas of Scalo Farini via the new walkway on the sidings in 10 minutes on foot and 5 minutes by bike.
- Scalo Farini is reached by bike
- Using the bike-highways, part of and extending the wider programme of increasing the bicycle modal share that the Municipality of Milan is implementing.
- A Scalo Farini is reached by car
- Following an internal distribution of circulation and a digital wayfinding system that guides the user to the subterranean car park, minimising the route and discouraging mobility crossing the depot.
The Smart Hub
Scalo Farini is also a digital platform managed following the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) approach, able to integrate all the associated systems serving mobility, procurement, and management of energy resources. The platform is the Smart Hub of the Master Plan, the key element for the overall management of the system, which ensures a digital one-stop-shop to people and the managers of a monitoring panel and management for the check on the consumption of resources and minimisation of the impact.
