Piazze Aperte is transforming Milan’s streets into people-centred public spaces

The “Piazze Aperte” programme in Milan demonstrates how tactical urbanism can rapidly transform car-dominated or underused streets into safe, vibrant and people-centred public spaces. Led jointly by the City of Milan and AMAT, temporary interventions serve as real-world tests, allowing the city to refine solutions before committing to permanent upgrades. This low-cost, flexible approach helps residents experience benefits such as safer crossings, enhanced pedestrian areas, improved cycle infrastructure and more active community life – building trust and support for long-term urban change.

Context

Milan is a dynamic European metropolis of nearly 1.4 million inhabitants across 182 km². Population growth over the past decade, driven largely by international residents and young people, has intensified pressure on public space. Although Milan’s dense, compact urban structure supports vibrant neighbourhood life, many areas lack accessible parks or safe, welcoming spaces. Numerous squares and intersections appear as traffic-dominated “seas of asphalt”, limiting environmental or social function, particularly in lower-income districts where narrow pavements and unsafe streets restrict outdoor play, social interaction and active mobility.

The city also faces structural environmental pressures. High traffic volumes drive air pollution and urban heat island effects, while limited green and permeable areas affect resilience to climate change. As these issues become more visible, public demand for safer, greener and more inclusive public spaces has grown. 

In response, the City of Milan launched Piazze Aperte (Open Squares) in 2018 to improve liveability, sustainability and active mobility through tactical urbanism. The programme reallocates road space to prioritise pedestrians, cyclists and vulnerable users, while also strengthening neighbourhood identity and supporting local commerce. By testing low-cost, temporary layouts before committing to permanent works, Milan advances scalable solutions that enhance environmental quality, manage stormwater, and expand opportunities for community life. 

The programme is embedded within Milan’s wider urban strategies, including the Neighbourhood Plan (Piano Quartieri), which focuses on delivering improvements across all districts, and the Milan 2030 Urban Masterplan, the city’s long-term land-use and urban planning framework. Together with Milan’s and the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). Together, these instruments provide a strategic foundation for regenerated spaces that support more liveable, accessible and community-focused neighbourhoods.

The initiative is jointly delivered by the City of Milan and AMAT – Agenzia Mobilità Ambiente e Territorio, which leads planning, design and coordination. A defining strength of the programme is its participatory model: residents, schools, associations, social cooperatives, local businesses and informal community groups directly contribute to co-design, activation and stewardship. This participatory approach ensures that interventions respond to real needs, reinforce community priorities and foster a stronger sense of belonging to the urban commons—turning public spaces into shared assets collectively cared for and enjoyed.

In action

The 5-step approach

Piazze Aperte follows a structured tactical urbanism methodology that allows the city to test, refine and consolidate innovative public space designs.

1. Analysis and design: The process begins with a detailed analysis of the existing space, focusing on pedestrian, cycling and traffic flows, accessibility needs, safety conditions, noise, and the spatial performance of the street network. This diagnostic phase identifies critical issues as well as opportunities for redistributing space and improving liveability.
2. Tactical testing: Based on the analysis, a temporary redesign of the area is implemented using low-cost materials such as paint, modular planters, temporary furniture and traffic-calming elements. Within a few weeks, the space takes shape as a new square, pedestrian area or community zone, allowing residents to experience the transformation directly.
3. Monitoring and evaluation: Once in place, the temporary layout is actively monitored. The city collects quantitative and qualitative data on pedestrian and cycling volumes, traffic behaviour, safety perceptions, social use patterns and feedback from residents and local businesses.
4. Permanent design: Monitoring results and community input inform refinements to the long-term design, optimising accessibility, comfort, safety and environmental quality.
5. Capital construction: Permanent works consolidate the full regeneration process, using durable materials and upgraded infrastructure.

 

Figure 2. Tactical Urbanism Process – the 5-steps approach; Source: Piazze Aperte Report 2021

Types of interventions

Piazze Aperte implements a diverse set of interventions aimed at improving neighbourhood level safety, accessibility and liveability. 

1. New squares and pedestrian areas: Through modifications to the street layout and traffic regulation, sections of the roadway are reclaimed as new public spaces. Measures may include limiting vehicular access, redesigning intersections, and reallocating parking areas. These interventions create pedestrian-priority zones that provide opportunities for social interaction, local activities and improved safety.
2. Activation of underused public spaces: Areas previously dominated by parking or lacking social function are equipped with seating, greenery, shading, play areas and flexible elements that can host cultural and community events. These enhancements promote neighbourhood vitality, encourage informal social interaction and foster a stronger sense of community belonging.
3. Creation of cycle lanes and cycling infrastructure: Prefabricated materials, road markings and signage enable rapid installation of new cycle lanes - particularly in 30 km/h zones, one-way streets and corridors identified by the city’s SUMP. These temporary-but-functional facilities support safe, continuous cycling routes and promote active mobility.
4. Extension and enhancement of pedestrian areas: Narrowed roads, redesigned intersections and traffic-calming elements reduce vehicle speed and improve visibility, especially near schools and other areas with high presence of vulnerable users.

Figure 3. Largo S. Dionigi in Pratocentenaro (before and after) 

Community engagement & co-management

Community participation is a core pillar of Piazze Aperte, which treats public spaces as shared urban common areas. Residents, schools, neighbourhood associations, social cooperatives, informal “social street” groups and businesses participate in co-design, implementation and programming of spaces – strengthening neighbourhood identity and ensuring that interventions reflect local priorities. Their contribution ensures that the interventions respond to local needs, foster social interaction and strengthen neighbourhood identity and sense of belonging

A key instrument supporting this participatory approach is the Collaboration Agreement^[1], a formal pact between the city and active residents or groups. These agreements define roles and responsibilities for maintenance, shared management and small-scale improvements, and ensure long-term stewardship of the transformed spaces. Grounded in Milan’s Common Goods Regulations, they enable citizens, associations, schools, foundations and private partners to collaborate with the municipality in caring for and regenerating urban commons. This framework reinforces civic ownership and helps ensure that new public spaces remain vibrant and well-maintained over time.

Figure 4. Piazze Aperte Report 2021

Timeline and latest developments

Launched in 2018, the programme has evolved through three phases. The first phase piloted the process and established administrative procedures. In 2020, following the encouraging results of the initial pilots, the city expanded the programme through the public call “Piazze Aperte in ogni quartiere” (Open Squares in Every Neighbourhood), inviting residents and local groups to propose new sites. A third phase began in 2023 with the launch of “Piazze Aperte per ogni scuola” (Open Squares for Every School), shifting the focus to spaces in front of schools and encouraging direct participation from school communities and local associations. 

By 2025, many proposals from these calls are being implemented across several districts. Milan is also transitioning several tactical layouts into long-term urban design solutions. Permanent works are now being developed for selected squares and school-front streets, integrating durable materials, upgraded pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, green elements and improved spatial organisation.

Figure 5. Via Verga (before and after)

Results

Since 2018, Milan has implemented around 60 tactical urbanism interventions, creating approximately 56,000 m² of new pedestrian areas across multiple neighbourhoods. 

Figure 6. Map illustrating all Piazze Aperte interventions; Source: AMAT

Encouraging sustainable mobility

Public spaces have been equipped with 175 bike racks, 700 benches, 600 potted plants and trees, 85 picnic tables and 70 ping-pong tables. These elements enhance comfort, support active mobility and contribute to creating attractive, people-centred environments. Monitoring data in some specific interventions confirms the positive impacts on behavioural change: These installations are crucial for nudging citizens toward a modal shift, for example, Piazza Angilberto II recorded a 47% increase in cyclists and 30% rise in of pedestrian use following its tactical transformation^[2].

Figure 7. Via Spoleto / Venini (before and after)

Figure 8. Piazza Dergano: from temporary design to permanent implementation

Strengthening Community participation

From the local community perspective, the level of engagement continues to increase. The 2020-2021 neighbourhood call attracted more than 60 proposals, leading to 22 implemented projects. The 2023 school focused call received almost 90 proposals for interventions near local primary and secondary schools. These interventions are currently being rolled out as part of the 2025 implementation cycle and involved 250 schools across all levels 30% are primary schools, 25% nursery schools, 20% middle schools, 12% high schools and the remaining 12% are kindergartens. The newly designed school streets are improving safety, inclusiveness and opportunities for outdoor activity.

Long-term stewardship has also expanded with 35 public spaces managed through Collaboration Agreements confirming strong local ownership and shared responsibility. Milan’s leadership in people-first street transformation is recognised internationally, ranked alongside Paris and Greater London for school streets in the Clean Cities City Ranking 2025^[3].

Figure 9. Via Corridoni (before and after)

Figure 10. Students’ participation asking for safer and more inclusive school streets; Source: AMAT

Challenges, opportunities and transferability

Challenges 

A recurring challenge is the initial scepticism from residents and local businesses, especially when interventions reduce on-street parking or reallocate space previously dedicated to cars. Resistance is typically most evident during early stages when the benefits of tactical urbanism are not yet widely understood.

Another challenge is the maintenance of temporary installations, requiring regular care to remain functional and safe. Transitioning from temporary to permanent layouts can take time due to resource constraints, procurement processes and political prioritisation. 

Ensuring long-term coordination across planning, mobility, maintenance, and community engagement teams has also been difficult and requires strong internal alignment and committed day-to-day collaboration.

Opportunities and lessons learned

Despite these challenges, Piazze Aperte has demonstrated clear opportunities. Temporary interventions offer a low-risk, cost-effective way to test new layouts, collect data and refine designs before committing to permanent works. This approach reduces political risk and strengthens public acceptance as residents can directly experience the benefits of redesigned streets.

Community participation has emerged as a key enabler. Co-design activities, local stewardship and Collaboration Agreements help build trust, foster neighbourhood pride and create shared responsibility for public spaces maintenance. This collaborative model also eases future implementation, as communities become proactive partners rather than passive recipients of change. 

Finally, Milan’s experience demonstrates the value of a planning team to translate pilot lessons into guidance for future interventions.

Transferability

Milan’s approach confirms that tactical urbanism can be successfully replicated in other cities, regardless of size. It’s reliance on simple, reversible materials and on a clear iterative process of testing, monitoring and adapting.

Several European cities such as Paris and Barcelona have adopted similar models, demonstrating the scalability of the method. Interest is also growing across Italy as many smaller Italian cities are now applying the model, particularly around schools.

In depth

[1] https://www2.comune.milano.it/web/patti-di-collaborazione/

[2] https://www.comune.milano.it/documents/20118/1320715/Piazze+Aperte+Report_eng.pdf/b0422e81-507c-872a-2796-4824d552d20f?version=1.0&t=1757508808822&download=true 

[3] https://cleancitiescampaign.org/city-ranking-2025/

City of Milan – “Piazze Aperte”: https://www.comune.milano.it/argomenti/partecipazione-civica/piazze-aperte

Authors: Carla Giaume & Sofia Pechin

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the European Commission. 

Photo credits ©  AMAT, Piazze Aperte