articolo che fantastica sulle potenzialità di Genova e GOA ("nelle giuste mani, Genova potrebbe essere il luogo migliore per raggiungere il Mediterraneo rispetto a Nizza"), ma tocca concreti punti critici della realtà dei trasporti genovesi...
A city in need of some TLC
By Tyler Brûlé
Published: September 12 2009 02:41 | Last updated: September 12 2009 02:41
It was hard to escape Italy last Sunday and make the transition back into the working week. While part of the weekend was technically devoted to work – a meeting with the Ligurian government conducted in swimming trunks accompanied by crisp white wine from Piedmont is not a hardship – the bulk of it was spent rediscovering hidden shops, sampling ice cream, finding a treasure trove of dead stock from the 1970s in an elegant store in the heart of Genoa, eating focaccia, swimming and daydreaming.
On a lounger at the Bagni Sillo, tucked away below the town of Nervi, I gazed out across the Med and imagined what this little stretch of Europe would be like if it made a few basic (though not easy) fixes.
Looking west, I started at the far end of Genoa and its little airport. If ever a city had an opportunity to build on its transport heritage, it’s this one. While having an airport that sits on the edge of the city centre named Cristoforo Columbo is a good start, it’s not quite enough. Genoa is poorly connected with the rest of Italy and the rest of Europe for that matter (odd for a city that was once the hub of the entire world) because the local authorities do little to sell the merits of their city to airlines big and small. In the right hands, Genoa could be a busy, buzzier and better place to reach the Med than Nice. A fresh group of young architects could be given the assignment of building a new terminal, perhaps the people from Sinapore’s Changi airport could be awarded the contract to run it and a group of airline execs with good short haul experience could persuade some of the local shipping families to invest in a handful of more environmentally friendly aircraft (the new Mitsubishi Regional Jet would look quite sexy in a white, blue and yellow coat of paint), running a new airline to connect business travellers and tourists to this somewhat faded hub. Perhaps Genoa could be the base for the Med-centric airline I proposed on this page earlier this summer? For a bit of inspiration, the region’s leaders only need to look down the coast to see what Barcelona is doing with Spanair (indirectly the city holds a stake in Spain’s number two carrier) to ensure it has some control over local traffic flows at its recently expanded airport.
Air passengers could make use of a special water taxi port to head straight to Portofino rather than crawl along the clogged roads. Imagine how much easier a weekend escape would be if you could step off a well-appointed aircraft and walk straight to a waiting Toy Marine 36 boat and be eating focaccia formaggio in Recco 20 minutes later? Alternatively, a new train system could have visitors and residents in the city centre in less than three minutes.
If Cristoforo Colombo airport is an opportunity waiting to happen, then Trenitalia’s Ligurian network is a local embarrassment in need of urgent surgery. While some corners of Italy run sleek, punctual and good-looking trains, Liguria isn’t one of them. Stinky, worn down and covered in graffiti inside and out, Trenitalia’s rolling stock does little to encourage passengers to ride the rails. It doesn’t feel particularly welcoming, and certainly doesn’t offer a high speed version of la dolce vita. Having passed the point where any user would respect the carriages, a new operator might want to take the service off Trenitalia’s hands and put something more appealing on the rails with windows that open to let in sea breezes, a decent dining car and proper seats made for dozing.
Genoa proper would need a special section of this paper to celebrate its history and plot a manifesto for its future. I’ve offered some thoughts on this city before but a rally-style tour in my friend Carina’s Polo over the weekend convinced me that the city is fast approaching the point where it permanently slips into being a World Heritage site that’s no longer relevant on either a regional of international stage. It would be a great shame if it allowed that to happen but it seems to be creeping in this direction. A harbour that should be a showplace for the country’s considerable maritime capabilities is a mess of ill-conceived planning and no grand vision. The prime site that runs alongside the convention centre, which should be the city’s doorstep to the Med, is derelict and strewn with rubbish. And then there’s the riot of graffiti on most available vertical surfaces that suggests a city that’s without a parent, patron or lover.
From a national perspective, Genoa can either look south and allow itself to become a Naples (decadent, decaying, wild but not a player) or it can look north to Torino and start to pull its act together. The capital of the Piemonte region is a good local benchmark of a city that has used culture and commerce to get itself back in the game, attracting investment and talent. Genoa has all the charm and good looks to do the same but it’s lacking a dynamic leader to put it on the appropriate course.
A city in need of some TLC
By Tyler Brûlé
Published: September 12 2009 02:41 | Last updated: September 12 2009 02:41
It was hard to escape Italy last Sunday and make the transition back into the working week. While part of the weekend was technically devoted to work – a meeting with the Ligurian government conducted in swimming trunks accompanied by crisp white wine from Piedmont is not a hardship – the bulk of it was spent rediscovering hidden shops, sampling ice cream, finding a treasure trove of dead stock from the 1970s in an elegant store in the heart of Genoa, eating focaccia, swimming and daydreaming.
On a lounger at the Bagni Sillo, tucked away below the town of Nervi, I gazed out across the Med and imagined what this little stretch of Europe would be like if it made a few basic (though not easy) fixes.
Looking west, I started at the far end of Genoa and its little airport. If ever a city had an opportunity to build on its transport heritage, it’s this one. While having an airport that sits on the edge of the city centre named Cristoforo Columbo is a good start, it’s not quite enough. Genoa is poorly connected with the rest of Italy and the rest of Europe for that matter (odd for a city that was once the hub of the entire world) because the local authorities do little to sell the merits of their city to airlines big and small. In the right hands, Genoa could be a busy, buzzier and better place to reach the Med than Nice. A fresh group of young architects could be given the assignment of building a new terminal, perhaps the people from Sinapore’s Changi airport could be awarded the contract to run it and a group of airline execs with good short haul experience could persuade some of the local shipping families to invest in a handful of more environmentally friendly aircraft (the new Mitsubishi Regional Jet would look quite sexy in a white, blue and yellow coat of paint), running a new airline to connect business travellers and tourists to this somewhat faded hub. Perhaps Genoa could be the base for the Med-centric airline I proposed on this page earlier this summer? For a bit of inspiration, the region’s leaders only need to look down the coast to see what Barcelona is doing with Spanair (indirectly the city holds a stake in Spain’s number two carrier) to ensure it has some control over local traffic flows at its recently expanded airport.
Air passengers could make use of a special water taxi port to head straight to Portofino rather than crawl along the clogged roads. Imagine how much easier a weekend escape would be if you could step off a well-appointed aircraft and walk straight to a waiting Toy Marine 36 boat and be eating focaccia formaggio in Recco 20 minutes later? Alternatively, a new train system could have visitors and residents in the city centre in less than three minutes.
If Cristoforo Colombo airport is an opportunity waiting to happen, then Trenitalia’s Ligurian network is a local embarrassment in need of urgent surgery. While some corners of Italy run sleek, punctual and good-looking trains, Liguria isn’t one of them. Stinky, worn down and covered in graffiti inside and out, Trenitalia’s rolling stock does little to encourage passengers to ride the rails. It doesn’t feel particularly welcoming, and certainly doesn’t offer a high speed version of la dolce vita. Having passed the point where any user would respect the carriages, a new operator might want to take the service off Trenitalia’s hands and put something more appealing on the rails with windows that open to let in sea breezes, a decent dining car and proper seats made for dozing.
Genoa proper would need a special section of this paper to celebrate its history and plot a manifesto for its future. I’ve offered some thoughts on this city before but a rally-style tour in my friend Carina’s Polo over the weekend convinced me that the city is fast approaching the point where it permanently slips into being a World Heritage site that’s no longer relevant on either a regional of international stage. It would be a great shame if it allowed that to happen but it seems to be creeping in this direction. A harbour that should be a showplace for the country’s considerable maritime capabilities is a mess of ill-conceived planning and no grand vision. The prime site that runs alongside the convention centre, which should be the city’s doorstep to the Med, is derelict and strewn with rubbish. And then there’s the riot of graffiti on most available vertical surfaces that suggests a city that’s without a parent, patron or lover.
From a national perspective, Genoa can either look south and allow itself to become a Naples (decadent, decaying, wild but not a player) or it can look north to Torino and start to pull its act together. The capital of the Piemonte region is a good local benchmark of a city that has used culture and commerce to get itself back in the game, attracting investment and talent. Genoa has all the charm and good looks to do the same but it’s lacking a dynamic leader to put it on the appropriate course.
ma siamo indietro anni luce da un "normale" sviluppo...e queste carenze non aiutano certo.
Mah !