In the traditional speech at the beginning of the year, the mayor illustrated five snapshots dealing with economy, innovation, but also the new school in Sonvico, the Masseria di Cornaredo and the Casa della Musica.
This morning the New Year's Eve ceremony took place at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, where Mayor Michele Foletti gave his speech at the beginning of the year. For Foletti, “the year that has just ended was the last of a short legislative period. Only three years compared to the usual four years, but that does not mean that it was a simpler or easier legislative period than the others, on the contrary.”
However, the mayor of Lugano wanted to draw attention to “some signs of hope” and presented the population with five snapshots that correspond to as many of the issues that are important to the municipality as possible: “These issues are at the heart of the 2018-2028 development lines.” These are the privileged tracks we follow on our way into the future. And from the metaphor of the tracks everyone can deduce – rightly – that I always see Lugano as the locomotive of the canton of Ticino.” Below you will find a summary of the five points covered in Foletti's speech.
For the mayor, “Lugano's role, also from an economic and financial perspective, is of central importance for the entire region and the entire canton.” The cantonal financial equalization reminds us of this, to which our city is committed even in difficult years like the ones we are currently experiencing. makes a crucial contribution every year. I can assure you that our accounts remain in order, even if the 2024 budget is less rosy than the previous ones (we expect a deficit of around 20 million francs). With dark clouds looming on the horizon, some course correction is needed in terms of the timing of new investments, for example in the tourist conference center or Viarno Park. These are obstacles that do not allow us to take away the proactive drive that has characterized Lugano in recent years and in which a lot has been achieved despite an unfavorable economic situation.”
“Exactly five years after the start of the Lugano Living Lab project, we took part as guest speakers in Berlin at the most important German congress on digitalization in the public sector. With the MyLugano app we also won the Smart Cities Contest of the IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the international reference association for the world of innovation and technology. During the year we also hosted the second international forum of Lugano's Plan B. Another step forward will be the relocation of the Lifestyle Tech Competence Center to Lugano from February this year, a competence center that is part of the Switzerland Innovation Park Ticino “.
“There was a lot of talk about the PSE, the sports center and the events, the main construction site of which – that of the sports arena – began in the autumn, but no less important were all the other infrastructure works (and related investments) that the… The city has been in the last years completed (and many are still missing), especially in the city districts. I'm thinking of the new kindergarten in Sonvico, together with the primary school canteen (also in Sonvico); to the Molino Nuovo kindergarten and the surrounding public spaces”.
“Among the countless realities that deal with sociality and solidarity in Lugano, I select one that can apply to all: the reborn Masseria di Cornaredo, saved from collapse at the beginning of the century at the initiative of Angelo Paparelli. A beautiful social project centered on the activities of the Francesco Foundation and the figure of Fra Martino, but also an architectural and landscape rehabilitation project made possible by public and private initiatives in a truly virtuous circle of collaboration.”
“The winning project of the international competition for the future House of Music will change, without distorting, the sector designed at the beginning of the sixties by the architects Alberto Camenzind, Rino Tami and Augusto Jäggli. The project will house the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland, the Swiss National Sound Archives, the OSI, the Barocchisti and a whole range of institutions active in the music sector. The city has made significant efforts, both organizationally and financially, to achieve this important goal. It was a The action also aimed to preserve an important cultural asset that should have remained public. The canton didn't have the courage to do it, but we did.