The reopening of Italy is approaching, but how many Municipalities are really ready? A map of Phase 2 is drawn by a report by Ernst & Young which compares the data on the contagion from Covid-19 and the resilience capacity of individual cities, according to the indicators that the same consultancy firm has developed in the Smart City Index , especially those related to health, economic and social factors. In short, how smart are Italian cities and how much will this help them restart, taking into account the extent of the infection? It comes out a four-speed Italy, with a sobering figure: more than one provincial capital out of five (over 20%), "will not be in a position to restart immediately, but will have a lot of difficulty, because it does not have the infrastructures and technologies suitable for dealing with the complexity of the restart”, writes EY.
CRITICAL RE-START
Among the cities where the management of Phase 2 will be more critical obviously those most affected by the infection appear, such as Cremona and Lodi (with respectively 151 and 118 total infected people out of 10.000 inhabitants), and which at the same time do not top the smart city rankings. It therefore means that they do not have the infrastructure and technologies sufficient to adapt the health structures, to reorganize mobility, to strengthen the telecommunications networks (and properly support smart working and distance learning), and above all - with the arrival of the Immuni app but not only - to strengthen the technological tools for controlling the territory, monitoring crowding and gatherings. In the "critical restart" group there are also cities less affected by the contagion but with even poorer resilience such as Savona, Bolzano, Verbania, Varese (the least affected capital of Lombardy with only 24 infections per 10.000 inhabitants) and then, for various reasons, Lecco, Alessandria , Forlì, Belluno, Ancona and Como.
BRAKING RESTART
In the "braked restart" group, EY instead identifies cities very affected by the contagion but which present the characteristics of a smart city: the example of school is that of Piacenza, the third capital most affected by Covid-19 (117 infected out of 10.000 inhabitants, just 1 less than Lodi) but well structured to react. This group is practically that of the cities of the North, which despite having very advanced mobility systems, telecommunications networks and sensor networks, appear to be held back in restarting by high levels of contagion (often correlated to high levels of hospitalization and shortage of general practitioners on the territory): therefore we find Bergamo and Brescia but also Milan itself, as well as Venice, Turin, Florence, Genoa, Parma, Bologna, Padua, Pavia, Trento, Trieste, Verona, and surprisingly Pescara, the only non-Northern city in the ranking but which in terms of Smart City Index score is more than sufficient.
SLOW RESTART
In this group, EY places the capitals with a low level of contagion but also low resilience. And therefore inevitably, and for reasons exactly opposite to those of the previous group, we find almost all the cities of the South, but also Rome itself, Prato, Gorizia, and surprisingly Rovigo. The Venetian capital, despite being not far from the first outbreak of Vo 'Euganeo, confirms the best control of the infection in the region governed by Luca Zaia: only 13 infected for every 10.000 inhabitants. But its restart will in any case be slowed down by the fact that if it is true that the health organization has held up, the same cannot be said of infrastructures and technologies, which will not allow a quick return to a pseudo-normality. This cluster includes: Naples, Catania, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Taranto, Salerno, Matera, Terni, Brindisi, L'Aquila, Latina, Frosinone, Messina and so on.
EASY RESTART
If it is true that in general the cities of the South have been less affected by the contagion, it is however not true that none of them are as virtuous as smart cities. Indeed, there are exceptions and the southern capitals that fall into the first band, the one that will start again better and sooner, are 6 out of 12, that is half of the total: these are Bari, Lecce, Cosenza, Cagliari, Sassari and Potenza. Together with Siena, Pisa, Pordenone, Udine, Livorno and Perugia, they are the places where according to EY it will be easier to take advantage of the restart, because they have the infrastructure and technologies ready, and can better control the few infections in their area. The most ready city ever should be Cagliari: the Sardinian capital has not been overwhelmed by the contagion and has an excellent public transport system integrated by sharing mobility services and highly digitized, as well as a network of sensors connected to a very advanced urban control center. In the Smart City Index ranking, Cagliari exceeds 80 points out of 100. If 100 is Milan, Cagliari does better, for example, than Rome (48), Padua, Trento Brescia, and just worse than Bergamo.
