The archaeological heart of Rome will be greener, but its pedestrianization resists

The archaeological heart of Romewhich includes the forums, the Colosseum and the Palatine, among other monuments, will be greener and more understandable for visitors thanks to an urban planning project presented this Tuesday, although it does not foresee its total pedestrianization, proposed for years without success.

The area of ​​Roman ruins will change its face with the project designed by the Italian studio Labics, winner of an international competition launched by the City Council of Rome and decided by a commission chaired by the Portuguese architect Joao Luis Carrillho da Graça.

“It is a truly beautiful project that improves the understanding of the area without changing it, which was a very complex challenge,” celebrated the mayor of the Eternal City, Roberto Gualtieri, in the presentation of this new urban proposal.

“The new archaeological walk” It will unite the entire archaeological area of ​​the Eternal City, from the Colosseum, to the Circus Maximus, the Baths of Caracalla, the Caelian and Palatine hills and the Republican Forums of Julius Caesar and the emperors Augustus, Trajan and Nerva.

The proposal, which will cost 18.8 million euros, is part of a superior project to transform this entire “archaeological ring” in the three-year period 2025-2017 for 282 million euros, between state, municipal and European Recovery Plan funds.

The idea of ​​the Labics studio will expand the space reserved for pedestrians and tourists, with wide wooden platforms that will bring the ruins closer to the walker, like a wide boulevard with more trees and benches to make the journey more pleasant.

The Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, explained that the area will thus become a “agora” ancient and full of history that will amaze the visitor in these technological times.

However, the project will not fulfill one of the ambitions that is usually put on the table when talking about improving the visit to the Roman archaeological heart: completely closing the Via dei Fori Imperiali to traffic, which connects the Colosseum with the central Plaza Venezia.

This road was built in 1932 during the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and since then “part in two” the deposit area.

In recent years it has been closed to private traffic, but that has not improved the experience of pedestrians, who must continue walking on the sidewalks because public transport, taxis and buses are still allowed through.

The Roman mayor announced today that the pedestrianization of the Via de los Foros Imperiales, “a problem that has been going on for years and is very complex,” It will not be possible until the underground subway works in Plaza Venezia are completed, at least until 2032.

“Until then, a complete pedestrianization of the Imperial Forum Way, which I personally would appreciate, seems complex from the point of view of public transport and circulation,” confessed the councilor.

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