How do you imagine Venice in the future? Giampietro Gagliardi, Generazione '90 Venezia

Harnessing the ideas of 25,000 students and professionals orbiting the universities. Giampietro Gagliardi, Generazione ’90, for #RiscrivereilFuturo of Venice.

Venezia da Vivere and the Associazione Piazza San Marco are asking figures from the worlds of economy, tourism, science, art, culture, universities, and craftsmanship to share their ideas for the future of Venice. We interviewed Giampietro Gagliardi, co-founder and spokesperson for Generazione ’90 Venezia – youth for the city’s future.

VDV: How do you imagine Venice in the future?

What I would like in the future is for the true needs of people to be understood. I am part of an association that is always in close contact with people, yet we have never been consulted by the Municipality. Local districts speak with citizens, but they do not speak with each other.

People who grow up in Venice, train in Venice, or train elsewhere, rarely return to the city. Once, many university students stayed in the city; today, far fewer do compared to the past. We need new energy coming from people who have a different way of seeing the world. Otherwise, we will always be tied to a tourism monoculture.

VDV: What can politics and citizens do for a rebirth of Venice?

Politics must return to speaking with citizens, and citizens must return to trusting politics. It is not true that citizens are uninterested in politics; rather, they do not trust political representatives. There is a lack of direct meetings between politicians and citizens, open and in-person dialogues; confrontation and debate are fundamental.

VDV: Propose a specific idea in at least one of these areas: environment, housing, work, culture, security, tourism.

Venice, more than other urban realities, sees environment, housing, work, culture, security, and tourism inextricably intertwined.

The environment is strictly connected to housing. Just think of fine particle pollution: exceeding the maximum thresholds in Venice is now a common occurrence, especially during certain periods.

Pollution from water buses is no longer tolerable; they must be replaced. Who would choose Venice as a place of residence under these premises? Waste sorting is aimed at citizens, while for the 30 million tourists, there is no waste sorting in the city’s many bins due to anti-terrorism measures.

This is the moment to reinvent Venice, perhaps a year zero: this is the opportunity to reprogram the environmental issue in Venice, but it must be done as soon as possible; it can no longer be postponed. It is now possible to harness the ideas of the nearly 25,000 students and professionals who orbit the universities.

Housing is strictly linked to work, which cannot be based solely on tourism—and, moreover, not linked only to a certain type of tourism. Venice has a very low return rate, meaning tourists who return to visit the city after having been there once. We must ask ourselves why these people do not return to visit Venice. I say they are left disappointed; they are absolutely not satisfied with basic services and often feel cheated.

If in the past the only concrete planning was on how to profit, now the tourist experience must be rethought, and to do so, better skills are needed. The city now needs long-term planning, vision, and pragmatism more than ever.

Giampietro Gagliardi, Generazione ’90 Venezia.