One million square meters new start for Lugano

One million square meters, an inter-municipal planning project, years of political debate and a clear goal. Lugano wants to transform its congested northern edge into a lively urban quarter. The Nuovo Quartiere Cornaredo is the most ambitious urban development project in southern Switzerland. What is achieved here will become the benchmark for urban densification beyond Zurich and Basel.

The Nuovo Quartiere Cornaredo is located to the north of the city center and is being developed as a new gateway to Lugano. The inter-municipal project, which Lugano is supporting together with neighboring municipalities, is intended to fundamentally reorganize the urban space. Housing, services, retail, leisure and an upgraded public space form the backbone of the project. Not a dormitory district, but an urban hub with everyday functions and economic dynamism.

Where football and urban development meet
The PSE with stadium, sports hall, administration and parking areas is being built in the same area alongside the residential and commercial areas. Construction site B1a alone covers around 55,000 square meters with mixed uses, buildings of different heights and commercial and tertiary facilities. This will make Cornaredo one of the most important real-world laboratories for urban development in Ticino. Rarely do sports and event infrastructure, private building construction and public space come together in such a small area.

Complexity as a program
The project is not an isolated real estate project. It is a transformation system in which urban planning, road space, public transport and private construction projects have to be coordinated. Delays, appeals and political debates are not the exception, but part of the process. This is precisely what makes the project so relevant for investors, developers and planners. It shows how difficult and valuable it is to develop large sites in topographically sensitive areas.

A benchmark for Ticino
Cornaredo is strategically central for Lugano. This is where the city’s approach to growth is decided. Densified, networked and functionally diverse or still small-scale and traffic-heavy. If the implementation succeeds with planning quality and a mix of uses, Cornaredo will be no ordinary district, but a reference project for the next development phase of the entire canton. Southern Switzerland is keeping a close eye on what is being created in the north of Lugano.

What is still missing
The real touchstone lies ahead of Lugano, not behind it. Ensuring planning quality over the years, bundling private and public investment and creating a reliable realization perspective. These are the three tasks by which Cornaredo will be measured. The course has been set. The next phases of development will show whether the project delivers what it promises.

Sources: City of Lugano, laRegione; Photo: laRegione