Urban and rural symbiosis 02 "Take the essence of urban areas to make agricultural parks, how to realize Milan miracle? Citizen groups link up to make cities shine with agriculture

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Taiwan's agricultural land grows houses and long factories, consortia hunt land for hype, politicians build bridges and roads to make political achievements, and local officials who own a large amount of agricultural land sigh "restrictions on development." Greed is human nature, but not everyone is short-sighted and short-sighted. Milan is an important commercial and financial city in Italy, with developed industries around it. Every year, fashion weeks and furniture fairs attract more than 100,000 tourists in just a few days. Incredibly, the ambitious Milanese put aside the huge profits of building, cut off about 1/3 of the land for farming and raising cattle, and still remain the economic leader in the country.

The Southern Agricultural Park in Milan's metropolitan area covers an area of 46000 hectares. To compare, Wulai and Shiting, which are adjacent to the center of Greater Taipei, are all zoned for agricultural land.

1Compact 3 land in the Milan metropolitan area is zoned as an agricultural park (Photo / Zheng Jieyi) starting from small things, large and small civic groups are organized into a network to protect South Park.

At first, it was also an impossible task. "the key is not to be too small to act. We kittens start with small things, connect different ultra-small associations, and then work with national civic groups. " Renato shared his experience with more than 30 years of experience. In 1988, he helped draft bills, design blueprints and organize events to witness the emergence of Milan's Southern Agricultural Park.

After retiring from Eni, Italy's largest energy company, Renato put more effort into Milan's South Park and served as president of the association. As a geologist and experienced in a large enterprise, Renato knows very well that a well-intentioned grass-roots movement without organization and mobilization is just a castle in the air. The organization does not need to be big, but it does not miss any opportunity to attract supporters. Civic groups of different nature work hard to communicate with each other on weekdays, and at critical moments, they unite to speak out and take action to weave a flexible network (network) to protect South Park.

The cultural associations of small towns, farmers' organizations in rural areas, and environmental protection groups in the community are small but rooted in the ground and have a good grasp of the place, which is helpful to solve specific problems. "each local group solves a small problem and keeps working hard. Tiredness can make a difference." Renato added, "when it comes to broader and more general issues, we work with national and international groups, such as the long-established Environmental Front (Legambiente) and the World wide Fund for Nature (WWF)."

Renato, for example, has pollution problems when the Lambro River, located in the east of the park, passes through the industrial area in the north of Milan. More than 20 young people formed patrols and regularly searched along the river basin to see where litter was littered, where waste was accumulated, where there were doubts about sewage treatment, and where dangerous substances were suspected to have flowed into the drains.

Renato witnessed Milan's South Agricultural Park from scratch (Photo / Zheng Jieyi) to draw citizens as teammates, talk to opponents and help find ways to strike a balance between environment and development

"there are always new problems coming up, and we need constant attention," Renato said. " In addition to finding out the environmental culprits, community associations around the river basin have also set up five or six "oases" to take children on outings to watch birds, teach the public to plant trees and understand the ecological diversity of the riverside. Over time, the originally uninhabited riverside became more and more popular, and there were more people to protect South Park. "instead of convincing anyone, we let them empathize and become our teammates."

The Lombardy region where Milan is located is one of the richest regions in Europe. Renato understands the importance of economic development and does not regard industry as an enemy, but tries to understand each other's position and find a balance. He said: "We are interlocutors and will communicate with them when we have doubts and explain that we are for the good of this land. Milan's upward promotion is also helpful to the corporate image."

The Milan metropolitan area covers 134 towns and cities, and the South Agricultural Park also spans 61 townships. The government has a management unit to coordinate, but bureaucratic work is often slow, and most of the work of protecting the park falls on associations that rely entirely on volunteers.

"Land is money", and some township mayors inevitably face the pressure and temptation of development. "after all, cities will continue to expand in development," Renato said. "volunteers from the South Agricultural Park Association work closely with townships and town mayors to understand the problems and help them find ways to implement our goals. We do not want to participate in the administration, but we will stick to our argument to convince them that protecting land and promoting production can go hand in hand and complement each other at the same time. "

The Milan South Agricultural Park Law, passed in 1990, was drafted by the Association, and even the blueprint for the plan was proposed by the Association. When confronted with opponents, the Association also kept on communicating, "We asked where we disagreed, and amended the provisions so that it was difficult for them to refuse." In the representative meeting after the establishment of South Park