Come by land or by water

Milan is planning to promote an approach of mutual co-operation and exchange between the Expo and the City to take full advantage of the various areas of urban transformation and sights of greatest cultural interest.

Rather than an Expo in the city, we wish to place a whole city at the service of the Expo, through the creation of new cultural and leisure activities ad hoc.

Water will be a basic ingredient of two projects on a territorial scale: two canals, each around 20 km long, connecting the Darsena (or wet dock) with the Expo will meet up in a terminal stretch of waterway near the outdoor exhibition site.

Both routes, illustrated on the enclosed map, will be open to the public. Suitable lighting systems, multimedia shows and multiple entertainments will feature along the canals through the evening attracting both local people and visitors to the Expo.

Projects for the two routes will be invited by tender through high profile international competitions. Their design and realisation will necessarily be under the unified direction of a single architect in co-ordination with the Expo Committee and the City of Milan.

BY WATER

Water is one of the characteristic resources of Milan and the whole of Lombardy, precious in its primary function for life as well as for social and economic development.

Leonardo da Vinci himself dedicated much of his career in the Duchy of Milan working on water-related projects, his main interest being the limitless possibilities of water for a whole range of human activity: trade and commerce, science, labour and transport.

The water routes are envisioned as connecting the Darsena, in the city centre, to the Expo site either by waterside footpaths or by navigating the canal itself passing a series of historical sights, city parks and redeveloped areas. Installations by top contemporary artists will reinterpret Leonardo's hydraulic works and extraordinary inventions.

This ambitious project, integrated with the Expo, will deliver a substantial stretch of green belt for the city to realise in the near future.

ON LAND

A further itinerary, served by an innovative environment-friendly sustainable transport system, will connect Milan with the Expo through the city centre along a dedicated, purpose-built route.

Starting from the Darsena the route will touch existing cultural sights and newly-reclaimed districts involving celebrated international architects, including the Parco delle Basiliche Romane, Milan University, the Giardini Montanelli, the Garibaldi-Repubblica Project with the Biblioteca degli Alberi park, the Cimitero Monumentale, the Fabbrica del Vapore, Arco della Pace, Parco Sempione and Castello Sforzesco, which hosted the 1906 World Expo.

The route then travels through the site of the former fairgrounds transformed by the Citylife Project, the most innovative of Milan's new schemes and involving various famous architects-Daniel Libeskind, Arata Isozaki, Zaha Hadid-and the neighbouring Portello area.

Finally, it skirts the Polytechnic-Bovisa district before reaching the city's outer ring of parks -Monte Stella, the Hippodrome with Leonardo's Horse and San Siro, Parco di Trenno and the Bosco in Città before arriving at the Expo site.