Milan will be surrounded by a green wall: and Armani is also involved

Milan is about to be surrounded by a wall, enclosed by a curtain drawn around the city, and, fortunately, it's a good news. The city's project, launched in early 2025 on the initiative of the Forestami Foundation with the support of the Armani Group, involves the renaturalization of a long urban stretch through the protection of existing greenery and the planting of new species. 

In the watermark, it is also one of the ways in which Giorgio Armani continues to intervene in the city: not only through fashion, but as a figure who over the years has been repeatedly evoked as a possible civic leader and who has helped build an image of Milan even outside the catwalks, from sport to culture. The name is Milano Green Circle 90/91 and the ring identified is already known to the Milanese, despite itself, often also for scenes of daily degradation. It is the route of the 90/91 trolleybus line, which runs along the outer ring road and connects the entire city by going around it.

Joining those large vehicles on the route will be a continuous greenbelt, which enhances and complements the partly existing vegetation along the ring. A total of 350 new trees and more than 60,000 shrubs and herbaceous perennials will be planted.

The design took into account the central themes of an urban renaturalization intervention: collection of stormwater through depressions in the ground, soil regeneration, biodiversity, and combating noise and air pollution. The species chosen are native, selected for their ability to absorb particulate matter and adapt to climate change.

The work started early last year on the section from Piazzale Brescia to Bolivar Square, with the preservation of existing shrubs, removal of damaged plants and their replacement with new species, installed according to a two-level composition scheme, one of which maintains an evergreen hedge.

The project will go ahead taking into account the tree equipment already present, consisting mainly of plane trees, and will be a true connecting rather than separating link-a corridor capable of improving air quality, reducing noise, accompanying those who use public transportation, and giving back space to local flora and fauna, still too often neglected in urban infrastructure design.

Opening image: Milan. Photo from Adobe Stock