Stadio della Roma in Pietralata: inspection and protests by local committees

If Roma pushes the accelerator with the aim of obtaining the go-ahead for the construction of the new stadium as soon as possible, the Campidoglio will not stand by and watch. In fact, for weeks the parties have been working to get recognition of the public interest as soon as possible. So everyone agrees? No way. Wanting to see clearly on the project, which should lead to the construction of the Giallorossi facility by 2027, are the committees and associations of citizens of the Pietralata quadrant, worried about the idea of ​​​​seeing an entire neighborhood distorted in the name of a work considered all ‘other than essential. It is therefore not surprising if, during the inspection of the area – organized today by the institutions – the Campidoglio technicians were welcomed by about twenty citizens who strongly objected.

Site inspection

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To ensure maximum transparency, a session of the Sport and Urban Planning commissions was held in the afternoon in one of the areas affected by the Friedkins’ project. Present were the President of the Urban Planning Commission, Tommaso Amodeo, and that of the Sport Commission, Ferdinando Bonessio, who illustrated all the steps of the approval process: “We are moving towards the proposal for the construction of an important work for the city, which must be useful and sustainable for this quadrant of the territory in terms of transport, mobility and guaranteed access to the Sandro Pertini Hospital. With this structure it will be possible to deliver a portion of usable and public infrastructure to the city. We asked Rome to go further, with an integrated social cooperation project starting from the Town Hall”. Initially the inspection was supposed to involve journalists and citizens but, due to some bureaucratic complications, it was carried out only by the representatives of the institutions (another one will be organized also open to the press and representatives of the area committees).

At your home

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To welcome the presidents of the commissions and the technicians of the Municipality were some members of the associations and committees made up of the residents of the area. Citizens displayed some signs in protest “No to cement in the PRG park” and “No stadium, yes park”, before giving life to a small organized protest. In fact, according to residents, the project would endanger the flora and fauna of the area. Someone yells: “They want to steal a park from the citizens to make a private building like the stadium. We want the park to be redeveloped, as was decided in 1995, and not more concrete”. There are also those who worry about losing their homes: “According to the preliminary project, for now about fifteen houses between via degli Aromi, via del Sedano and via dei Legumi would be expropriated. And we found out all this by ourselves because nobody told us anything. What public interest can justify this? The stadium, do it above your house!”. However, there is no shortage of people in favor of the Friedkins’ project, which would redevelop the neighborhood and the surrounding areas: “If developed in the right way, it can be a strategic redevelopment opportunity for this area abandoned to itself, which has been waiting for the SDO for years”.

Reassurances

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After listening to the doubts and perplexities of those present, it was Bonessio who calmed spirits: “A possible declaration of public utility by the Capitoline Assembly, which will have to be expressed on the resolution of the council, will not stop the participatory confrontation with the city and it will give Rome the opportunity to present the technical proposals necessary to respond to the requirements on transport, roads and the urban weight of the work. Furthermore, in the general feasibility project presented by the Giallorossi company, there is talk of 11 hectares of greenery that can be used free of charge and daily”. In the coming weeks, the committees will be received in the Town Planning Commission, where citizens will have the opportunity to receive clarifications and explanations.