How do you imagine Venice in the future? Alberto Olivetti, Hotel Dragomanni

Alberto Olivetti, Hotel Dragomanni and President of the Concave Consortium, reflects on residential life and a tourism proposal with “slow” rhythms for #RiscrivereilFuturo.

Vdv: How do you imagine Venice in the future?

Venice must reclaim its identity as a city based on trade. It must regain the specificity that has characterized it throughout its history. It is a city that, over the last fifty years, has undergone a slow and inexorable conquest. It must return to being a positive example and a guide, rather than the model and the mistake to be avoided as has happened in recent years. To achieve this, the first step is to attract residents.

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

Today we have truly realized the fragility of our city with its tourism monoculture. We must realize that tourism must coexist with the city and its citizens. The economic fabric cannot and must not depend on a single sector. It must diversify into multiple sectors, but always starting from the premise of socio-economic sustainability.

Vdv: Propose a specific idea in at least one of these areas: environment, residential life, work, culture, safety, tourism.

Respectful tourism. A different rhythm for experiencing the city through tourism, limiting mass tourism, and valuing and encouraging those who wish to truly live it. A “slow” Venice where a tourist’s stay is no longer limited to a few hours or days, allowing them to experience the city, its islands, and its lagoon.

Alberto Olivetti, Hotel Dragomanni and President of the Concave Consortium

For the #RiscrivereilFuturo di Venezia project, Venezia da Vivere and the Associazione Piazza San Marco interviewed entrepreneurs, curators, directors of cultural institutions, university rectors and professors, hoteliers, event organizers, and citizens who live and work in Venice. An open debate with the citizenry to create an idea of a city in balance with the environment, work, and its civitas.