CONSULEGIS. AGM & Spring Conference Milan. Background & Travel Information

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1 CONSULEGIS AGM & Spring Conference Milan Background & Travel Information 1

2 Milan (Milanese: miˈlã) is the second-most populous city in Italy, is the capital of Lombardy. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area (the 5th-largest in the EU) comprises an estimated 5 million people (former Provinces of Milan and Monza-Brianza, with other Comuni included in the former Province of Varese). The enormous suburban sprawl that followed the post-war boom of the 1950s 1960s has resulted in a polycentric metropolitan area, known as Greater Milan, of 7 to 10 million people, stretching over the provinces of Milan, Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, Varese and Novara. The Milan metropolitan region is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. In terms of GDP, Milan has the third largest economy among EU cities (after London and Paris) and the largest among European non-capital cities. Milan was founded by Celts known as Insubres. The Romans later conquered the city, which they knew as Mediolanum, and which eventually became the capital ( CE) of the Western Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, Milan flourished as a commercial and banking center. Over the following centuries, the city was alternately dominated by France, Habsburg Spain, and Austria, until 1859 when the city joined the rising Kingdom of Italy. During the early 1900s, Milan led the industrialization process of the young nation. Suffering a harsh Nazi occupation during WWII, the city became the main centre of the Italian Resistance. In post-war years the city enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, attracting large numbers of workers from Southern Italy. More recently, Milan has seen a huge rise in the number of international immigrants, and as of 2011 more than one sixth of its population was foreign born. Milan is the main industrial, commercial, and financial centre of Italy and a leading global city. Its business district hosts the Borsa Italiana (Italy's main stock exchange) and the headquarters of the largest national banks and companies. The city is a major world fashion and design capital. Milan's museums, theatres and landmarks (including the Milan Cathedral, the fifth-largest cathedral in the world, and Santa Maria delle Grazie, decorated with Leonardo da Vinci paintings such as The Last Supper, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) attract over 8 million visitors annually. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions and universities, with 185,000 enrolled students in The city is also well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair, the largest of its kind in the world and was the host for the second time of the Expo in Milan is home to two of the world's major football teams, A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. History The etymology of Milan is uncertain. The Latin name Mediolanum probably comes from the Latin words medio (in the middle) and planus (plain). Around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum. Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. During the Middle Ages, Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its position. The war of conquest by Frederick I Barbarossa brought the destruction of much of Milan in Milan took the lead role in the formation of the Lombard League, formed in In 1556, Charles V abdicated in favour of his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand I. Charles's Italian possessions, including Milan, passed to Philip II and remained with the Spanish line of Habsburgs, while Ferdinand's Austrian line of Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire. The Great Plague of Milan in killed an estimated 60,000 people out of a population of 130,000. This episode is considered one of the last outbreaks of the centuries-long pandemic of plague that began with the Black Death. In 1700 the Spanish line of Habsburgs was extinguished with the death of Charles II. After his death, the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701 with the occupation of all Spanish possessions by 2

3 French troops backing the claim of the French Philippe of Anjou to the Spanish throne. In 1706, the French were defeated in Ramillies and Turin and were forced to yield northern Italy to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht formally confirmed Austrian sovereignty over most of Spain's Italian possessions including Lombardy and its capital, Milan. Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, and Milan was declared capital of the Cisalpine Republic. Later, he declared Milan capital of the Kingdom of Italy and was crowned in the Duomo. Once Napoleon's occupation ended, the Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy, and Milan, along with Veneto, to Austrian control in During this period, Milan became a centre of lyric opera. Here in the 1770s Mozart had premiered three operas. On 18 March 1848, the Milanese rebelled against Austrian rule, during the so-called "Five Days" (Italian: Le Cinque Giornate), and Field Marshal Radetzky was forced to withdraw from the city temporarily. The Kingdom of Sardinia stepped in to help the insurgents; a plebiscite held in Lombardy decided in favor of unification with Sardinia. However, after defeating the Sardinian forces at Custoza on 24 July, Radetzky was able to reassert Austrian control over Milan and northern Italy. A few years on, however, Italian nationalists again called for the removal of Austria and Italian unification. Sardinia and France formed an alliance and defeated Austria at the Battle of Solferino in [38] Following this battle, Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, which soon gained control of most of Italy and in 1861 was rechristened as the Kingdom of Italy. The political unification of Italy cemented Milan's commercial dominance over northern Italy. It also led to a flurry of railway construction that had started under Austrian partronage (Venice Milan; Milan Monza) that made Milan the rail hub of northern Italy. Thereafter with the opening of the Gotthard (1881) and Simplon (1906) railway tunnels, Milan became the major South European rail focus for business and passenger movements e.g. the Simplon Orient Express. Rapid industrialization and market expansion put Milan at the centre of Italy's leading industrial region, though in the 1890s Milan was shaken by the Bava-Beccaris massacre, a riot related to a high inflation rate. Meanwhile, as Milanese banks dominated Italy's financial sphere, the city became the country's leading financial centre. In 1919, Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts rallied for the first time in Piazza San Sepolcro and later began their March on Rome in Milan. During the post-war economic boom, a large wave of internal migration (especially from rural areas of Southern Italy), moved to Milan. The population grew from 1.3 million in 1951 to 1.7 million in 1967.During this period, Milan was largely reconstructed, with the building of several innovative and modernist skyscrapers, such as the Torre Velasca and the Pirelli Tower. In the 1980s, Milan became one of the world's fashion capitals. The city saw also a marked rise in international tourism, notably from America and Japan, while the stock exchange increased its market capitalization more than five-fold. This period led the mass media to nickname the metropolis "Milano da bere", literally "Milan to drink". However, in the 1990s, Milan was badly affected by Tangentopoli, a political scandal in which many politicians and businessmen were tried for corruption. In the early 21st century, Milan underwent a series of sweeping redevelopments. With the decline in manufacturing, the city has sought to develop on its other sources of revenue, including publishing, finance, banking, fashion design, information technology, logistics, transport and tourism. In addition, the city's decades-long population decline seems to have come to an end in recent years, with signs of recovery as it grew by seven percent since the last census. 3

4 Geography Milan is located in the north-western section of the Po Valley, approximately half-way between the river Po to the south and the foothills of the Alps with the great lakes (Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano) to the north, the Ticino river to the west and the Adda to the east. It is flat, the highest point being at 122m above sea level. The administrative commune covers an area of about 181 square kilometres. The concentric layout of the city centre reflects the Navigli, an ancient system of navigable and interconnected canals, now mostly covered. The suburbs of the city have expanded mainly to the north, swallowing up many communes to reach Varese, Como, Lecco and Bergamo. Climate Milan has a humid subtropical climate with continental influences. Milan's climate is similar to much of Northern Italy's inland plains, with hot, sultry summers and cold, foggy winters. However, the mean number of days with precipitation per year is one of the lowest in Europe. The Alps and Apennines mountains form a natural barrier that protects the city from the major circulations coming from northern Europe and the sea. During winter, average temperatures can fall below freezing (0 C) and accumulations of snow can occur. In summer, humidity levels are high and peak temperatures can reach temperatures above 35 C. Usually this season enjoys clearer skies with an average of more than 13 hours of daylight. Springs and autumns are generally pleasant, with temperatures ranging between 10 C and 20 C these seasons are characterised by higher rainfall, especially in April and May. The City is often shrouded in heavy fog. Air pollution levels rise significantly in wintertime when cold air clings to the soil, causing Milan to be one of Europe s most polluted cities. Government The legislative body of the municipality is the City Council which is composed by 48 councilors elected every five years with a proportional system, contextually to the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee, composed by 16 assessors, that is nominated and presided over by a directly elected Mayor.. The municipality of Milan is subdivided into nine administrative Borough Councils. Each Borough Council is governed by a Council and a President, elected contextually to the city Mayor. The Borough Councils have the power to advise the Mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large spectrum of topics (environment, construction, public health, local markets) and exercise the functions delegated to them by the City Council; in addition they are supplied with an autonomous funding in order to finance local activities. Demographics With rapid industrialization in post-war years, the population of Milan peaked at 1,743,427 in Thereafter, during the following thirty years, almost one third of the population moved to the outer belt of new suburbs and satellite settlements that grew around the city proper. There were an estimated 1,324,169 official residents in the commune of Milan at the end of However, Milan's continuous urban area extends beyond the borders of its administrative commune and was home to 5,264,000 people in 2013, while its wider metropolitan area has a population of between 7 and 10 million depending on the definition used. The early period coincided with the so-called Italian economic miracle of postwar years, an era of extraordinary growth based on rapid industrial expansion and great public works, that brought to the city a large influx of over 400,000 people, mainly from rural and overpopulated Southern Italy. In the last three decades, the foreign born share of the population soared. Immigrants 4

5 came mainly from Africa and the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe, in addition to a growing number of Asians and Latin Americans. At the beginning of the 1990s, Milan already had a population of foreign-born residents of approximately 58,000 (or 4% of the then population), that rose rapidly to over 117,000 by the end of the decade (about 9% of the total). Milan notably hosts the oldest and largest Chinese community in Italy, with almost 21,000 people in The city has also a substantial English-speaking community. Milan's population, like that of Italy as a whole, is mostly Catholic. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan. The city is also home to sizeable Orthodox, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant communities. Economy Milan is one of the EU's and the world's major financial and business centres, with the Milan metropolitan area having a 2004 GDP of billion (US$312.3 billion), which means that it has Europe's 4th highest GDP. This means that, if Milan were a country, it would have the world's 28th largest economy.. The city, on the other hand, has a GDP of $115 billion, making it the world's 26th richest city by purchasing power. Milan is the world's 11th most expensive city for expatriate employees and its influence in fashion, commerce, business, banking, design, trade and industry make it an Alpha world city as well as the world's 42nd most important in the Global Cities Index. Also, the city's hinterland is Italy's largest industrial area, and the FieraMilano fair is considered the largest in Europe. Milan, also, has one of Italy's highest GDP (per capita), about 35,137 (US$52,263), which is 161.6% of the EU average GDP per capita. Milan is also regarded as the true current fashion capital of the world, according to the 2009 Global Language Monitor, and annually competes with other major international centres, such as New York, Paris, Rome, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Major fashion houses and labels, such as Versace, Gucci, Armani, Valentino, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Missoni are headquartered in Milan, which greatly contribute to the city's economy. Tourism Milan is one of the most important tourist destinations in the European Union, with million arrivals in 2007 and million in 2008 placing it 42nd and 52nd respectively as the most visited city in the world. One source has 56% of international visitors to Milan from Europe, 44% of the city's tourists are Italian, and 56% are from abroad. The most important European Union markets are the United Kingdom (16%), Germany (9%) and France (6%). The city boasts several popular tourist attractions, such as the city's Duomo and Piazza, the Teatro alla Scala, the San Siro Stadium, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the Castello Sforzesco, the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Via Montenapoleone. Most tourists visit sights such as Milan Cathedral, the Castello Sforzesco and the Teatro alla Scala, however, other main sights such as the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio, the Navigli and the Brera district are less visited and prove to be less popular. Milan is home to many cultural institutions, museums and art galleries. The Pinacoteca di Brera is one of Milan's most important art galleries. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian painting, including masterpieces such as the Brera Madonna by Piero della Francesca. The Castello Sforzesco hosts numerous art collections and exhibitions, especially statues, ancient arms and furnitures, as well as the Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco, with an art collection including Michelangelo's last sculpture, the Rondanini Pietà, Andrea Mantegna's Trivulzio Madonna and Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Trivulzianus manuscript. The Castello complex also includes The Museum of Ancient Art, The Furniture Museum, The Museum of Musical Instruments and the Applied Arts Collection, The Egyptian and Prehistoric sections of the Archaeological Museum and the Achille Bertarelli Print Collection. 5

6 Milan is a major national and international centre of the performing arts, most notably opera. Milan hosts La Scala operahouse, considered one of the most prestigious operahouses in the world and throughout history has hosted the premieres of numerous operas, such as Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi in 1842, La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli, Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini in 1904, Turandot by Giacomo Puccini in 1926, and more recently Teneke, by Fabio Vacchi in Other major theatres in Milan include the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Teatro Dal Verme, Teatro Lirico and formerly the Teatro Regio Ducal. The city also has a renowned symphony orchestra and musical conservatory, and has been, throughout history, a major centre for musical composition: numerous famous composers and musicians such as Gioseppe Caimo, Simon Boyleau, Hoste da Reggio, Verdi, Giulio Gatti-Casazza, Paolo Cherici and Alice Edun are or were from, or call or called Milan their home. The city is also the birthplace of many modern ensembles and bands, including Camaleonti, Camerata Mediolanense, Dynamis Ensemble, Elio e le Storie Tese, Krisma, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Quartetto Cetra, Stormy Six and Le Vibrazioni. In 2009, Milan was regarded as the world fashion capital, even surpassing New York, Paris, Rome and London. Most of the major Italian fashion brands, such as Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Prada, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana (to name a few), are currently headquartered in the city. Numerous international fashion labels also operate shops in Milan, including an Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store which has become a main consumer attraction. Milan also hosts a fashion week twice a year, just like other international centres such as Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Rome. Milan's main upscale shopping streets and centres are the Via Montenapoleone fashion district and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, off Piazza del Duomo. Mario Prada, founder of Prada was even born here, helping to cultivate its position as a world fashion capital. The city also has numerous hotels, including luxurious such as Principe di Savoia and the Seven star Townhouse Galleria. The average stay for a tourist in the city is of 3.43 nights, while foreigners stay for longer periods of time, 77% of which stay for a 2-5 night average. Of the 75% of visitors who stay in hotels, 4-star ones are the most popular (47%), while the ones which have 5- stars, or less than 3-stars represent 11% and 15% of the charts respectively. Visitors to the city, by average, find that accommodation is good, high-quality and that service is professional, however that it is also very expensive. On addition to a unique cuisine, Milan has several world-renowned restaurants and cafés. Most of the more refined and upperclass restaurants are found in the historic centre, while the more traditional and popular ones are mainly located in the Brera and Navigli districts. Today, there is also a Nobu Japanese restaurant in Milan, which is located in Armani World in Via Manzoni and is regarded as being one of the trendiest restaurants in the city. One of the city's chicest cafés or pasticcerie is the Caffè Cova, an ancient Milanese coffeehouse founded in 1817 near the Teatro alla Scala, which has also opened franchises in Hong Kong. The Biffi Caffè and the Zucca in Galleria are also famous and historical Caffès which are situated in Milan. Today, there are some new boutique-cafés, such as the Just Cavalli Café, owned by the luxury fashion goods brand Roberto Cavalli. Transport Air Milan is served by three major airports: Malpensa Airport, the biggest in northern Italy; Linate Airport, located near the city centre and mainly used for domestic traffic; Orio al Serio Airport, located in the neighbouring city of Bergamo and used mainly by low-cost airlines. The three airports had a total of 30 million passengers in Milano Bresso, operated by Aero Club Milano, is a minor general aviation airport. Milan airport system is the second busiest in Italy, after the one of Rome. 6

7 The three main airports are connected by bus to the city center, and Malpensa airport also has a direct connection by rail to major central railway stations in Milan (including Centrale and Cadorna), the Malpensa Express. The new metro line 4, connecting Linate airport to the city center and further to south-western areas of the city was approved in 2014 and it is currently under construction. Rail Milan is one of the most important hub for the national and international rail network in Italy. Milan Central station is the second station in Italy both for size and passengers after Rome. It is also the main node for highspeed rail lines in northern Italy. Milano Cadorna and Milano Porta Garibaldi stations are respectively the seventh and the eleventh busiest stations in Italy. Because of its position, Milan is also the main gateway for international passenger traffic to Europe. Daily international destinations include Bern, Lugano, Geneve, Zurich, Paris, Nice, Marseille, Wien, Barcelona and Munich. Milan is also the core of Lombardy's regional train network. Regional trains were operated on two different systems by LeNord (departing from Milano Cadorna) and Trenitalia (departing from Milan Centrale and Milano Porta Garibaldi). Begininning in 2011, a new company, Trenord, operates both Trenitalia and LeNord regional trains in Lombardy. Road Milan is a key node for the Italian road network, being the junction between the east-west A4 highway to Turin and Venice and the north-south A1 highway to Rome and Naples. Other important highways, such as the A7 to Genova and the A8-A9 to Switzerland, also serve the city. Milan road system is characterized by a high rate of traffic congestion, due to a high level of cars per capita and a high number of commuters in the metropolitan area. Congested traffic is also responsible for the high pollution rate in the Milan area. Counter measures included the partial ban of private cars inside the Milan urban area for some period (usually during Sundays) and more recently the introduction of the Ecopass, a traffic pollution charge for vehicles entering the city. Since 16 January 2012 a new congestion charge, Area C, has been implemented. However, in the Italian context, Milan is one of the big cities with the lowest number of motor vehicles per capita, with 543 per 1000 people in Metro The Milan Metro (Italian: Metropolitana di Milano) is the rapid transit system serving Milan, Italy, operated by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi. The network consists of 4 lines, identified by different numbers and colors, with a total network length of 101 kilometres (63 mi), and a total of 113 stations, mostly underground. It has a daily ridership of 1.15 million. The first line, the red one, opened in 1964, the green line opened 5 years later in 1969, ] the yellow line in 1990, and the lilac line in A fifth line is currently under construction. Milan Metro is currently the first system in Italy for length, number of stations and ridership. Suburban Railway System The Milan suburban railway service is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy. The system comprises 11 lines serving 125 stations, for a total length of 359 km. There are 415 trains per day with a daily ridership of about 165,000. The core of the system is the Passante, an underground railway running through the city approximately from the north-west to the south-east. Several lines share this track, making the service in the city centre comparable to a metro line. The service timetable is based on a clockface scheduling. Although operated by different companies, the Metro and the suburban rail service have integrated tickets. 7

8 Buses There are 69 bus and 4 trolleybus lines in Milan. Most of the routes do not run during the night, however, bus services on demand are available in the weekend at night. New night bus lines during weekends have been introduced since 24 September 2011, running from 2 am to 6 am on Fridays and Saturdays. The new network was considered a success, with more than 8,000 people using the lines every weekend. Taxi Milan has also taxi services operated by private companies and licensed by the City council of Milan. The city is also a key node for the national road network, being served by all the major highways of Northern Italy. Host Law Firms Izzi-Toniatti-Pini-Perron Cabus Ziliani-De Lodi Law Firm Piazza San Babila 4/A Milano / Italy Tel.: Fax: studiolegale@izzisl.com Lawalty Avvocati Associati Via Cappuccino n Milano / Italy Tel.: Fax: info@lawalty.it Trams The Tram network comprises 18 urban lines ] and 1 interurban line (Milan - Limbiate). The system is more than 170km long and is the biggest network in Italy. The Milan tram network date back to 1876, when the first horse driven tram line began operation. In 1878 the first steam powered tram was lunched and by 1901 all the lines were electric powered. In 1910 line numbers were first introduced. At that time the network was already consisting of 30 lines. Until 1917 the tram system was operated by several different companies, however, since that year the municipality took control over the whole network. In the 1920s the famous Class 1500 streetcars were introduced. Many of them, restored, are still in use today. Cycling The city's mostly flat topography favors cycling. The cycle routes network is still limited, but is being constantly expanded. Milan was also one of the first Italian cities to activate a bike sharing system