After a study of the needs of Milan’s university students arriving from other regions and after a subsequent in-depth study of student commuters, this is the third study that MeglioMilano is conducting in the university sector. I am pleased to state right away that in this case, more than ever before, this study would have not been possible without the cooperation of Milan's universities: the six universities (Bicocca, Bocconi, Cattolica, IULM, the State University and the Politecnico) who sent us their balance figures represent 97% of the students, and to them, who are all members of MeglioMilano we express our heartfelt thanks. A particular thank you also goes to the Chamber of Commerce, one of the three founding members of MeglioMilano, who agreed with the line of research set out and partly financed it. The study was even more challenging than the previous ones. This was because of the need to make the data homogeneous, the decisions to be made throughout the data processing, and the very size of the financial sums under analysis. We were able to refer to previous analyses conducted in other cities, but none of these possess such an extended and complex university system as that in Milan, particularly when considering the number of universities (10), faculties (22), specialist degrees (172) and enrolled students (176,000). Such wealth and its enormous potentiality have been grossly underestimated, at least until a few short years ago, by its very own city: Milan's undeniable excellence in terms of fashion, the financial market, health and design have obscured this particular point of excellence and the universities have grown up in solitary independence. |
|
Today much has changed: legislation on the part of the city and regional authorities recognize and foster university building, banks and private capital set the foundations of programmes with university chancellors, and the major daily newspapers carry debates on the Milanese university system, firmly placing it as a key element in Milan’s strategy and urban marketing.
The annual figure of 2,500 million Euro that Roberto Camagni conservatively estimates as being generated by the universities in terms of economic activity for the city gives us pause to make two reflective observations.
The first is that the figure in question is a hammer-blow even for those, who like ourselves, imagined that sums would be large, but not of such enormity: this order of magnitude is proof that the universities are not just institutes of learning, but rather a major driving-force in city development; the size of the economic impact warrants a new and more decisive attitude towards Milan’s universities and their population on the part of the entire city, from its administrators to its service providers and its entrepreneurs.
The second is that within the Working Party that has in fact come to be set up in Milan, on the one hand the university component now gains full recognition, and on the other it needs to act as a spur to provide stimulus and vision for a Milan of tomorrow that will have to be able to vigorously promote all its outstanding points of excellence and bring the two worlds of research and entrepreneurship around the table. |
