Rimini’s Sea Park “Parco del Mare”, photo source: Comune di Rimini

 

The City of Rimini’s Mayor, Andrea Gnassi, and the Councilor for the Environment, Anna Montini, explain in an official news release how the urban intervention named “Parco del Mare” (Italian for Sea Park) not only increases the urban and environmental quality of the promenade of the city, but is realized with innovative solutions from the point of view of urban protection and safety. The cultural, touristic and environmental value of the Sea Park drew the attention of the Ministry and the Government, leading to a visit from the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Turism, Lorenza Bonaccorsi.

Being Rimini one of the pilot case studies of SaferPlaces, the project contributed to the design of “Parco del Mare” performing a detailed analysis of the hazard and related damage associated with different flooding scenarios. The comparison between them allowed to see the real benefits of the park’s presence, as well as to gather valuable information for the design of the intervention itself and the net economic damage saved upon the occurrence of extreme weather events, which will be exacerbated by climate change.

The conclusions drawn from the project’s results show that the investment in “Parco del Mare” will be repaid in terms of greater tourist attraction and, most importantly, protection of the city in the future. The news underlines how “the future is already being built today with this urban requalification intervention that raise the aesthetic level, the usability of places and the absolute level of security: three important components of the total economic value of urban spaces.”

Links to the Italian news from the official webpage of Rimini’s Municipality: