Liberalisation Of Retail Activities In Milan New Master Plan

At the beginning of 2010, in Milan city council, the discussion aimed at the adoption of the new master plan (PGT - Plan for government of territory) started. PGT represents the most important administrative act of the local government, which will update after thirty years the old zoning plan. The PGT, on the basis of the related regional law (Legge Regionale Lombardia n. 12, march 11th 2005), is composed of three documents: the Plan Document (Documento di Piano) which expresses strategies and general objectives of local government town-planning policies, the Regulation Plan (Piano delle Regole) which rules transformations of the inner city settlements, while the Facilities Plan (Piano dei Servizi) foresees urban facilities and infrastructures necessary to equip the public city. Among the most important news, we observe the discipline of retail activities (4th Title of in force technical regulations of ìPiano delle Regoleî), a topic introducing very important innovations. Milan is in fact one of the first cities in Italy which fully assumes the liberalization national law of retail branch (Decreto Legislativo 114/í98, Legge august 4th 2006, n. 248), limiting settlements of retail premises only according to town-planning compatibility principles, and no more considering market shares assumptions and distances between stores. One of the most important innovation of PGT regulations deals with the calculation of areas for urban facilities (standard), related to new retail settlements. It is stated an original principle in Italian town-planning regulations: new premises located in strongly accessible areas, such as pedestrian street or traffic limited areas, donít demand new public parking spaces, in order to promote pedestrian accessibility. This principle removes one of the most significant access barrier for new great sales areas stores into historic center. Another strategic innovation contained within PGT, of great potential impact on the urban market, deals with the removal of the traditional zoning and the introduction of the free mixed land use, which makes possible to build up all possible activities (retail, office, hotel, residential, Ö), with exception of heavy industries and great sales areas stores.