There is the young scientists of the Human Technopole of the Palacio Italia, in via Rita Levi Montalcini, and the “umarells” observe the works that are still open. There is patients and visitors of the Galeazzi hospitalmanagers and technicians of about thirty companies (from AstraZeneca to Esselunga)the laundry van, the your students and the catering school, private security patrols and carabinieri, waiters, cooks, cleaners, maintenance workers. And then rainbow snacks, basketball tournaments and ping pong challenges. The first (small) accident has already occurred with scooters, the internal means of transport that dominates the attractive stretch of Viale Decumano, and one night the first homeless person was also intercepted. In short, even if you still have to go through a guarded door to enter, The mind has become for all intents and purposes a piece of Milan..
The new scientific-technologically oriented neighborhood is inhabited daily by between 1,500 and 2,000 peopleexcluding the same number of people who work at Galeazzi and related patients, family members and hospital visitors. And although the future in which the population will be around 60,000 people still seems distant, some services are already essential.: from mobility to security, from refreshments and meeting places to infrastructure. As we continue to work to build the future, “it’s about managing the present,” says Stefano Minini, who heads the large Lendlease project in the area that hosted Expo 2015 and who now plays a role that resembles that of the town’s mayor. Minder » The creation of the citadel and also its operation today are the responsibility of the urban giant, that is, him. And this is taken care of by Giacomo Donini, “asset manager” of Lendlease, comparable to a councilor who coordinates municipal companies of the Mind microcosm.
Since February, contracts have been operational with three companies in charge, respectively, of guaranteeing maintenance, security and mobility in the perimeter. A constantly present team of maintenance workers cares for the road surface and countless small and large structures., including doors with “smart” handles, that is, controlled exclusively through an application installed on mobile phones. “Once I went to the bathroom and didn’t take my phone,” confesses Donini, “and another time they left me holding on to the handle.” This is also an experiment for the future: different problems recorded in a digital database “for preventive maintenance.”
On the supervisory frontHowever, Mind’s hybrid status is still at stake: part of a Milan neighborhood, with police patrols, and part of a fenced campus with a security service. private surveillance. Pedestrian entry is free, except at night: at the moment there is already a nighttime presence in the scientific research area and at least 1,500 residents are expected in the future. The vehicle entrance doors, however, are guarded and there is a license plate reading system “to control and regulate interior traffic.” Mobility is also a field of experimentation: it has already existed for some time. the “Mental mobility” application that allows access to 75 electric scooters and shuttle buses that communicate with the five digital stops. All monitored and programmable.
It’s also getting more lively. the restaurant scene: in addition to the historical references (the Palazzo Italia bar and the Cascina Triulza self-service, continuously present since the Expo), the offer has been enriched with a «Food station» housed in a prefabricated house and, a few weeks ago, in the long-awaited EsseLab, the Esseleunga space with two bars and a self-service restaurant, where the attraction is a robot that prepares salads. There is also a terrace where, on sunny days, some small groups stopped to have an aperitif after work. «We are at a new turning point – says Stefano Minini – in 2015 we were here showing drawings on a computer and now we are in a living reality, where people find a reason to entertain themselves after hours». In fact, at Palazzo Italia, the young and international community of about 300 researchers organizes parties and aperitifs.
But for After work there is also a gym, groups of runners who take advantage of the absence of traffic and the benches that in a few days will once again be surrounded by flowers, where the couples born among the youngest of ITS stay, regardless of the weather. The important thing, before leaving through a “smart” door, is to make sure you have not forgotten your cell phone.