News & Events
The special series "Cities in transition" of Will Media’s Città podcast is produced in collaboration with Bocconi University’s SUR Lab, within the MUSA project. This episode explores how cities can redesign spaces and processes to advance the climate transition. The discussion focuses on participatory design, the New European Bauhaus, and lessons from Leuven, Milan and Valencia.
A new article published by Il Sole 24 Ore and Radiocor examines the urgent need for a national legal framework on urban regeneration in Italy. The article highlights how outdated planning legislation and fragmented regional rules are generating uncertainty, litigation, and uneven practices. Professor Miriam Allena of Bocconi University contributes a legal perspective on the risks of relying on derogations and case-by-case negotiations.
SUR Lab’s contribution to Il Sole 24 Ore examines impact measurement as a key challenge in urban regeneration. It introduces the SUR Atlas, a repository of over 60 global case studies showing strong environmental, social, and economic outcomes. Tania Molteni highlights the lack of a shared urban-scale framework. The ESG Urban Track, developed within MUSA, is proposed to address this gap.
On Monday, 13 April, Bocconi University hosted the presentation of Right or privilege? Housing needs and local housing policies, a volume exploring Italy’s housing crisis through the lenses of inequality, welfare and local governance. The discussion with the authors and invited discussants highlighted how housing can no longer be treated as a marginal issue, but as a structural dimension of social justice and urban sustainability. The event, organised in collaboration with IFEL and INAPP, offered a timely opportunity to reflect on how fairer and more inclusive cities can be built.
A public event in Milan will explore Italy's growing housing crisis by presenting the book “Housing: right or privilege?”. Bringing together academics and practitioners, the discussion will address inequalities, urban transformation, and policy responses. The debate will be coordinated by Prof. Edoardo Croci, SUR Lab Director at Bocconi University.
The third episode of Cities in Transition takes listeners to Madrid, where the Madrid Río project transformed a traffic-dominated riverfront into a vibrant, climate-resilient public space. Featuring Myriam Peón González, the episode unpacks one of Europe’s most ambitious urban regeneration efforts, showing how bold planning can reclaim space, enhance livability, and rethink mobility for a more sustainable future.
SUR Lab contributed to Il Sole 24 Ore and Radiocor with an article on the growing value of urban green for climate adaptation and water management. Urban parks and green areas help reduce temperatures, absorb CO2, and mitigate the effects of pollution and heavy rainfall. In the article, Benedetta Lucchitta, researcher at SUR Lab at Bocconi University, highlights the strategic role of green infrastructure in making cities more resilient.
SUR Lab will take part in Pact4Future 2026, a major event on sustainability and global challenges. On 26 March 2026, prof Edoardo Croci, SUR Lab Director at Bocconi University, will participate in the session “Cities at the limit: Regenerating urban life in a changing climate.” The discussion will focus on how cities can respond to climate change through resilience and regeneration.
Cities produce about 70% of global emissions but are also key drivers of climate solutions. In Bocconi News, Edoardo Croci describes cities as laboratories where mitigation, adaptation, and regeneration align under global and EU frameworks, with ESG-based policies guiding measurable and systemic change.
The second episode of “Città in transizione”, the special series of the Città di Will Media podcast produced in collaboration with the Sustainable Urban Regeneration Lab (SUR Lab) at Bocconi University, focuses on Rome’s climate transition. Guest speakers discuss governance, citizen engagement, costs, and priorities for climate mitigation and adaptation in a historic city of 2.8 million inhabitants.