In comparison to the rest of Italy, Milan has always been seen as the city of the future. But what is the future of Milan? What lies beyond the skyscrapers and the constant construction?

The November 2023 issue of Brera|z attempts to answer this question by digging deep into the pools of excellence within the metropolis, the environments cultivating and producing innovative responses capable of maintaining the city’s role as forerunner; the care sector, with examples of excellence in the field of health, which renders Milan and Lombardy an area of international interest (and which continues to grow, from the Città della Salute being built on the ex-industrial areas in Sesto San Giovanni to the new wing of the Polyclinic-garden designed by Stefano Boeri); places of educations, from the Bocconi University to the Politecnico, which attract great minds and form future leaders; the art market, which sees Milan as a meeting point of quality and savoir-faire within the global circuit, as well as the rich and generative world of solidarity, in a city with more than 180 thousand volunteers and 14 thousand active non-profit organisations.

With all this value, will it be able to also be an inclusive city, avoiding the risk of becoming an elite enclave? This is the true challenge.