From the economy to tourism but also the inevitable fashion, design, culture, innovation and food: Milan increasingly seems to be the true Italian capital, with a gap that grows on the disastrous (by reckoning, but not only) Rome and now appears as the only Italian city really in step with Europe. The feeling of an increasingly solid and multi-purpose appeal starts from afar and has found its peak in the Expo effect, but is now supported by unappealable numbers, which describe Milan as a case history of Italian and international success, and on several fronts.
First of all, of course, theeconomy. As has been known for some time, Milan and Lombardy produce a fifth of the country's GDP: 20%, of which 10% only in the capital, which alone has a turnover of 161 billion euros. However, the locomotive of Italy also looks to the future: the Financial Times has already promoted Milan as the cradle of startups, with Assolombarda which has calculated the birth in Lombardy of 15 new "high-density knowledge-based" businesses over the last eight years, with patents that have grown by 13% in the last year alone. The result is that the per capita GDP of a Milanese is 44.700 euros, against the 37.600 of a citizen of the Capital, the institutional one. Unemployment in the region is about half that of the national average with 6,9% and equality between men and women has also almost been reached from a professional point of view: in Milan two women out of three between 20 and 64 have a occupation.
All of this inevitably drove the : although Milan can only remotely dream of the artistic and historical heritage of Rome, even in the year after the Expo the Lombard capital surpassed the capital in terms of attendance. In fact, it is estimated that by the end of the year there will be 7,6 million visitors against the 7,1 million of the Eternal City: of all the cities in the world, Milan is now 14th, and the mayor Beppe Sala has already said he wants to launch an assault on the top ten. Hotels alone contributed €4,1 billion to the city's turnover in 2015.
Then there is the culture: over 30 cultural enterprises are based in Milan and Lombardy. When it comes to food, the city of the Madonnina is at the forefront in terms of starred chefs but also for the battle against waste. Commercial establishments in the food sector have grown by 16% in 5 years, there are now 5.600 restaurants against 4.200 in 2011 and in particular the organic, vegetarian, macrobiotic and ethnic realities have increased. Fashion remains a great classic but from 2017 it will no longer be limited only to the well-known weeks of fashion shows: for next year's autumn we are working on an Italian Style Expo. Meanwhile, the GDP of the fashion sector continues to be an indispensable driving force: it is worth 84 billion euros, up from 75 three years ago.
However, Milan also has new challenges to face, which are unknown: first of all, there is the need to manage the post-Expo period, in particular the 30 thousand square meter area where the pavilions stood which for six months, in 2015, attracted visitors from all over the world. the world. The project is that of the Human Technopole, the scientific center of the State University, which will arise under the direction of Roberto Cingolani, wanted by Prime Minister Renzi himself. Speaking of "after", an opportunity for further growth for Milan and Lombardy is certainly that of post-Brexit: the ambition is to become the financial capital of Europe.
