Climate-focused regeneration breathes hope into a long-neglected Rome suburb

ROME, July 20 - On the outskirts of Rome, an EU-funded regeneration project is seeking to improve the lot of 4,500 people living in a 1970s housing development, betting that protection from climate change and social inclusion can go hand in hand as rising temperatures put pressure on urban communities.

An ambitious social housing experiment, the 1-km-long Corviale site has long been associated with neglect and decay. With Italy's post-pandemic recovery plan now approaching completion, the district, nicknamed 'Il Serpentone' (The Big Snake) for its sprawling Brutalist design, has become a test case for climate adaptation in vulnerable city areas.

"We are working to combat climate change, which is transforming a city with a Mediterranean climate into one with an objectively tropical climate," said Giuseppe Battaglia, Rome's councillor for the peripheries and the city's recovery programme, which is backed by European Union funding.

The city's latest Climate Monitoring Report found that in 2025 there were more than 40 days above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and 101 tropical nights, when temperatures did not fall below 20 C. Overall, it was Rome's third warmest year since 1991, after 2024 and 2022.

In Corviale, a €58 million investment includes the refurbishment of squares and an open-air theatre, as well as the renovation of public buildings to improve energy efficiency and provide comfortable spaces even during the hottest summer days.

For instance, the local library was turned into a "bioclimatic shelter" using recyclable materials which keep out the heat, according to municipality architect Alessia Peghini. The indoor temperature was more than 10 C cooler than outside during a Reuters visit in mid-July.

The project also involved a redesign of green spaces. While the reclaimed West Park, once scarred by illegal dumping, aims to reconnect the suburb with the surrounding countryside by planting up to 9,500 trees and shrubs, the East Park is intended as an area for leisure and sporting activities.

"A bench placed in the shade, or a new tree that will provide more shade make all the difference in an area where there used to be nothing," Peghini said.

The work is focused on communal areas rather than individual apartments.

ANTICIPATION AND FEAR

Most of the redevelopment in Corviale was finished before the June 30 deadline for Italy to finish work funded by its €195 billion pandemic recovery package. Some open-air facilities and green infrastructure are scheduled for completion by the end of August.

Alessandro Fornaci, a master craftsman and long-time resident, is eagerly awaiting the inauguration. His printmaking studio - which also runs projects for local young people - will move into new premises in a square next to the renovated amphitheatre.

"It was a shame to see facilities intended for public use in a state of total neglect," he said. "Creating a mechanism that can encourage interaction and citizen participation is essential."

Not everyone is optimistic about the project, fearing that yet another visionary plan for the neighbourhood, southwest of the city centre, might fall into abandonment and decay. "There is a great deal of scepticism, but that is only right, because for so many years nothing was done," said resident Massimo Vallati, who founded Calciosociale, an educational project combining soccer and social inclusion.

Breaking through mistrust, he said, is still possible. "The right way to overcome that scepticism, that fear and that resignation is through commitment and concrete actions." REUTERS