Municipalities of Milan

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The nine boroughs of Milan

Milan is divided into nine municipalities (Italian: municipi or zone; known as zone di decentramento, "decentralization zones" from 1999 until 2016). They are numbered from 1 to 9. The organization was established in 1997, implemented in 1999 and reformed in 2016; prior to that the city was divided into 20 administrative zones.

History

Since early 1960s in Milan operated many spontaneous citizens' committees in different areas of the city. In 1968 the City Council divided for the first time the territory of the comune into 20 administrative areas, called zone (singular: zona) for administrative purposes and to increase decentralization. Each zona had a directly-elected council with a merely consultative role.[1]

In 1977 the City Council increased the role of zones' councils, providing them decision-making powers and transforming them into real administrative bodies, equipped with their own staffs and offices. Those new councils were elected for the first time on 8 June 1980.[1]

On 13 March 1997 the City Council reformed again the "decentralization zones", planning to give each borough council several functions. On 19 January 1999 the city executive chaired by the Mayor Gabriele Albertini decided to merge some of the zones, reducing their number to 9 and giving them a new numeration. This proposal was ultimately approved by the City Council on 3 March 1999.[1]

Borough Councils

Each Municipality has a local government called Consiglio di Municipio (Borough Council). Every Council is composed of a President and 40 members for boroughs exceeding 100,000 inhabitants or 30 members for smaller ones.[2]

While the 1997 plan was intended to ascribe several rights and functions to borough councils, this has been largely unattended, so that borough councils have, in practice, little power and few duties.[3] Some of the actual functions of borough councils are:

  • expressing opinions on urbanistic and social issues such as public works, town planning, maintenance of green spaces, regulamentation of street markets. These opinions are not binding for the higher level city government.
  • managing funds (if any) provided by the city government for specific purposes, such as those intended to guarantee the right to education for poorer families.

After the 2016 administrative reform, the Borough Councils are also responsible for most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, roads, parks, libraries and local commerce.[4] Moreover, the Presidents are no longer elected by the Councils members but directly by the voters; for the current legislature (2021–26) the Presidents are:

Municipality President Party Votes % Mayoral majority
1 Mattia Abdu PD 23,017 62.5 checkY
2 Simone Locatelli PD 26,427 55.7 checkY
3 Caterina Antola PD 32,477 58.2 checkY
4 Stefano Bianco Ind[a] 30,262 54.9 checkY
5 Natale Carapellese PD 22,938 54.7 checkY
6 Santo Minniti PD 30,311 58.5 checkY
7 Silvia Fossati Ind[b] 31,747 53.5 checkY
8 Giulia Pelucchi PD 36,140 57.0 checkY
9 Anita Pirovano Ind[c] 31,661 53.8 checkY
Notes
  1. ^ Elected at the head of the centre-left alliance.
  2. ^ Elected at the head of the centre-left alliance.
  3. ^ Elected at the head of the centre-left alliance.

The nine boroughs

With the exception of Municipio 1, which corresponds to the historical city centre (defined as the part of the city that used to be surrounded by the old Spanish walls, now mostly demolished), the boroughs are organized in a sunburst pattern, and numbered from the north-east zone clockwise (see picture above). While boroughs are mostly referred to by number, each borough also has an official name, usually a list of its main districts or areas.

Current boroughs are described in the table below, along with their names, area and population (as of 1 January 2022), as well as a list of the main districts comprising each zone. Note that districts (quartieri) are informal (they are not administrative divisions).[5]

Municipality Map Name Area
(km2)
Population
(2022)
Population density
(inhabitants/km2)
Quartieri (districts)
1 Centro storico 9.67 97,897 11,074 Brera, Centro Storico, Conca del Naviglio, Guastalla, Porta Sempione, Porta Tenaglia
2 Stazione Centrale, Gorla, Turro, Greco, Crescenzago 12.58 160,873 13,031 Adriano, Crescenzago, Gorla, Greco, Loreto, Maggiolina, Mandello, Mirabello, Ponte Seveso, Porta Nuova, Precotto, Stazione Centrale, Turro,, Villaggio dei Giornalisti
3 Città Studi, Lambrate, Porta Venezia 14.23 142,726 10,785 Casoretto, Cimiano, Città Studi, Dosso, Lambrate, Ortica, Porta Monforte, Porta Venezia, Quartiere Feltre, Rottole
4 Porta Vittoria, Forlanini 20.95 160,679 8,069 Acquabella, Calvairate, Castagnedo, Cavriano, Forlanini, Gamboloita, La Trecca, Monluè, Morsenchio, Nosedo, Omero, Ponte Lambro, Porta Vittoria, Porta Romana, Rogoredo, San Luigi, Santa Giulia, Taliedo, Triulzo Superiore
5 Vigentino, Chiaravalle, Gratosoglio 29.87 124,094 4,487 Basmetto, Cantalupa, Case Nuove, Chiaravalle, Chiesa Rossa, Conca Fallata, Fatima, Gratosoglio, Le Terrazze, Macconago, Missaglia, Morivione, Porta Lodovica, Porta Vigentina, Quintosole, Ronchetto delle Rane, San Gottardo, Selvanesco, Stadera, Torretta, Vaiano Valle, Vigentino
6 Barona, Lorenteggio 18.28 150,159 8,998 Arzaga, Barona, Boffalora, Cascina Bianca, Conchetta, Creta, Foppette, Giambellino-Lorenteggio, Lodovico il Moro, Moncucco, Porta Genova, Porta Ticinese, Ronchetto sul Naviglio, San Cristoforo, Sant'Ambrogio, Teramo, Villa Magentino, Villaggio dei Fiori
7 Baggio, De Angeli, San Siro 31.34 173,791 6,093 Assiano, Baggio, Figino, Fopponino, Forze Armate, Harar, La Maddalena, Muggiano, Porta Magenta, Quartiere degli Olmi, Quarto Cagnino, Quinto Romano, San Siro, Valsesia, Vercellese
8 Fiera, Gallaratese, Quarto Oggiaro 23.72 190,059 8,326 Boldinasco, Bullona, Cagnola, Campo dei Fiori, Cascina Triulza, Chinatown, Comina, Fiera, Gallaratese, Garegnano, Ghisolfa, Lampugnano, Musocco, Porta Volta, Portello, Quarto Oggiaro, QT8, Roserio, San Leonardo, Trenno, Varesina, Vialba, Villapizzone
9 Porta Garibaldi, Niguarda 21.12 186,007 9,204 Affori, Bicocca, Bovisa, Bovisasca, Bruzzano, Ca' Granda, Centro Direzionale, Comasina, Dergano, Fulvio Testi, Isola, La Fontana, Montalbino, Niguarda, Porta Garibaldi, Porta Nuova, Prato Centenaro, Segnano
181.76 1,386,285 8,164

Footnotes

External links