Thanks to the experience gained in the economic and territorial re-development of North Milan (Bresso, Cologno Monzese, Cinisello Balsamo, Sesto San Giovanni), our Agency has become specialized in brownfield conversion and re-industrialization projects and in setting up new areas of industrial excellence for artisans and SMEs.

Our distinguishing feature in this context is our ability to define models that can be reproduced in other areas of Milan or of Italy, thanks not only to the degree of innovation and the high environmental, energy and functional quality of our work, but above all to the mixed public/private partnerships that make a major contribution to improving the competitive edge and reinforcing territorial systems.

Milano Metropoli is variously involved in:
finding ways of financing; technically coordinating the reclamation, planning and building of industrial areas; devising and managing calls for tenders to recruit enterprises; devising and managing services for the enterprises that move into the area; creating forms of participation in order to define plans for re-qualifying and improving the areas involved; promoting framework agreements in order to formally engage public institutions and private bodies in the project.

Types of intervention:

• Projects for building new areas of industrial excellence . Milano Metropoli works alongside public institutions and private players to promote new areas of industrial excellence (meta-districts) by setting up facilities and services that can reinforce business and technological cooperation between enterprises and between areas, support research and innovation and intensify international relations.
• Setting up Business Incubators and Ecologically Equipped Industrial Areas (APEA). We have become proactive technical partners for any Milanese municipality or private player planning to set up facilities of this kind. The Agency deals with every stage of the start-up: from setting the agenda and physically building the incubators and premises, to preparing and promoting the call for tenders to recruit new companies, selecting the winners and setting in motion the financial and other procedures required to help them get on their feet.

Experience:

• Breda-Cimimontubi Productive Cluster, Sesto San Giovanni (1998-2002). A 12,900 sq m park hosting 26 small enterprises and artisan workshops, built on part of the Breda-Cimimontubi brownfield.
• Falck-Concordia Sud Productive Cluster,  Sesto San Giovanni (1998-2003). A 33,600 sq m industrial park hosting 21 SMEs, built on part of the Falck brownfield.
• CIS 1 Productive Cluster, Cologno Monzese (2001-2006). A 9,600 sq m industrial park hosting 12 SMEs, built within the CIS1 Strategic Intervention area.
• Campo Volo Productive Cluster, Bresso (2001-2007). A 5,234 sq m park hosting 14 workshops and SMEs, built on a brownfield site.
• Business Incubator Officina Multimediale Concordia, OMC (operative since 2000 to 2005). A 2,700 sq m facility originally converted from the former Falck factory canteen to host start-ups in the multimedia field. Leased by the Mucipality of Sest for a few years, Milano Metropoli later transferred the incubator's activities to its own Laboratorio Innovazione Breda (LIB) premises.
• Business Incubator I Laboratorio Innovazione Breda, LIB (operative since 2003). A 4,500 sq m facility converted from the former Breda factory canteen to host start-ups and innovative new firms. LIB is also the headquarters of Milano Metropoli, BIC La Fucina and Centro Proxima.
• Laboratorio Artigianale Sant'Eusebio, Cinisello Balsamo (ready since 2004). A 1,000 sq m facility in a converted building in the Sant'Eusebio district, it comes under an urban re-development scheme to house artisan and commercial activities.

Before the end of 2010 Milano Metropoli will start converting the former Breda factory gatehouse to set up an innovative business incubator and university spin-off  in Sesto San Giovanni (for further details, go to the relevant page).

Feasibility studies conducted:

• Converting the former Alfa Romeo premises in Arese (2009)
• Reclaiming and Improving the former Omar premises in Lacchiarella (2009)
• Business incubator in Ponte Lambro Milan district (2002)
• Social enterprise incubator in Campobasso (2003-2004)
• Micro-network of incubators in Naples (2005)
• Social enterprise incubator in Portogruaro (2006)