MilanoSesto, a massive urban regeneration project, is transforming the former Falck Steelworks in Milan into a thriving city of the future, covering over 1.5 million square meters. The project aims to create a new urban paradigm, born from the city’s industrial heritage, with a focus on social connectivity and sustainability.
The former Falck Steelworks played a significant role in Italy’s 20th-century industrial identity, and its closure left a physical and social void in the municipality of Sesto San Giovanni. MilanoSesto’s ambition is to create a genuinely new piece of city, rather than just filling the void with buildings.
A New Urban Paradigm
The masterplan, designed by Support + Partners, is structured around the principle of social connectivity, with new squares, an ecological boulevard, and a vast 45-hectare urban park. Existing industrial structures are being repurposed as civic and cultural anchors, such as the OMEC warehouse being reimagined as a food market.
This approach will help reduce the project’s environmental impact. They are incorporating green spaces and renewable energy sources to minimize carbon emissions.
The office building, designed by ACPV, will accommodate approximately 2,000 workers and targets LEED and WELL certification, with a focus on reducing CO2 emissions through renewable energy procurement and auto-production.
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Unione Zero: The First Phase
The Unione Zero lot, the first privately funded phase of MilanoSesto, covers approximately 250,000 square meters of above and below-ground space. A quartet of leading Italian architecture studios is developing this phase, each bringing a distinct design sensibility to the seven buildings under development.
Mario Abbadessa, Senior Managing Director & Country Head of Hines Italy, stated that MilanoSesto will serve as a shining example of sustainable real estate development for the long term, with the goal of providing a positive impact at a local and national level.
The project’s sustainability framework responds to nine of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on environmental, social, and economic dimensions.
Smart, Sustainable, and Social
The development incorporates LEED and WELL certification targets, circular economy principles. Social sustainability is also a key aspect of the project, with a residential mix that spans income levels, including market-rate, affordable, and subsidized housing.
Childcare facilities, co-working spaces, and gymnasiums are built into the masterplan as essential infrastructure.
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Sesto San Giovanni sits at the north-eastern gateway to the Milan metropolitan area.
MilanoSesto has attracted consistent recognition from the international real estate and urban design community for its scale, complexity, and social ambition.
With the Unione Zero construction site active, MilanoSesto has moved decisively from concept to reality.
It is an emerging neighborhood. The project is not just a development, but a neighborhood that will be watched closely by the European real estate industry for years to come.