Città di Torino

The Municipality of Turin is the city capital of Piedmont region (North-West Italy). With its 908.000
inhabitants, its 130 kmq of territorial extension and its GDP of 55.000 million Euros (which is 4.5% of the
national GDP) is one of the most important cities in Italy. The administration, with about 10.000 civil
servants, deals with the overall management of municipal assets and of public services (civic, social, sport &
leisure, commerce, etc.). Since the 1990’s, Torino has been following a path that has transformed it from an
industrial capital (predominantly in automotive sector) into a centre of innovation & culture. In 2009, Turin
officially kick-started its path to become a “Smart City”, when the City Council took the decision to take part
in the “Covenant of Mayors” initiative of the European Commission. As one of the first Italian cities, it
developed an Action Plan for Energy in order to reduce its CO2 emissions more than 20% by 2020. In 2016
the City was awarded the second prize for “European Capital of Innovation” (I-Capital 2016) for open innovation models supporting social innovation start-ups and creating new market opportunities for urban
innovations.
The city is located in a plain at the foot of the Alps and is characterized by squared streets, a large baroque
historic centre crossed by 18-km-long porticoes and a smaller Roman quadrilateral area. The latter includes
the full-pedestrian main shopping street, whereas narrower side streets ensure – anyway – a pedestrian lane.
In parallel, the City has been developing its green vocation through integrated actions for urban regeneration
and sustainable mobility. Since the 1970s, the urban green area grew from 4 to 18.4 million square meters,
reaching a standard per inhabitant of 19.05 square meters that puts Turin in first place in Italy. This
remarkable increase, a result of a far-sighted and ecologically sound strategy, was guided by a series of urban
studies elaborated since the late 1970s and which were then used for the drafting of the General Regulatory
Plan approved in 1994.