Europe’s first SITES-certified landscape project is a green heartbeat in the center of Milan

CityLife supports biodiversity as well as providing a green space for public enjoyment.

In downtown Milan, Italy, a sprawling mixed-use district of residential units, offices, shopping, services and public spaces is connected by nearly 70 acres of publicly accessible green space. After the migration of the city's fairground and trade show complex to a new location, its 90-acre former location downtown has become an ambitious urban regeneration project: the SITES Platinum CityLife.

Today, it hosts several buildings designed by well-known architects. Open to all, CityLife offers one of the largest public green spaces in Milan and the largest car-free zone in the city. The district is both the first SITES-certified project in Europe and the first to achieve SITES for Existing Landscapes certification.

Designing a sustainable district

The design process for the CityLife district began in 2008, when sustainability certifications were not yet widely adopted in Italy. Despite this, sustainability was a core focus for the project, as the project team envisioned it as an accessible green space in the highly urbanized downtown of Milan. The project is led by CityLife S.p.a. with sustainability consulting from Manens S.p.a. and landscape architecture from Gustafson Porter + Bowman.

"To achieve [our sustainability goals], we focused on both the energy and environmental performance of the buildings, but also on developing a resilient, inclusive and integrated community with a strong identity that can positively impact people's physical and psychological well-being," explains Andrea Cottone, sustainability manager at CityLife S.p.a.

Deep into development, the team began considering the use of sustainability certifications to confirm existing project standards and identify new strategies to improve. It began with the massive park that was already open to the public.

"It was from the park that we started to plan how to tell the community about the sustainable plan for the neighborhood. The SITES rating system turned out to be the most suitable to meet our needs, being perfectly aligned with the objectives of the project and our client," says Michela Tedeshi, sustainability consultant at Manens S.p.a.

Photo credit: Alberto Fanelli.

Valuing the environment and the human experience in SITES

CityLife began by pursuing and achieving SITES Platinum certification using the SITES for Existing Landscapes pilot. Owned and operated by GBCI, the Sustainable SITES Initiative promotes sustainable and resilient land development and can be used on sites with or without buildings to enhance biodiversity, foster resilience, conserve resources, improve public health and support an overall nature-positive design. The Existing Landscapes pilot program offers a way to recognize built projects through site design, on-site education, and operations and maintenance practices.

The project team carefully designed the park to uphold high sustainability standards that elevate quality of life. This began with a decision to make the district car-free through an underground transportation and parking system, with walking paths, shaded areas and lots of seating aboveground. Today, it is the largest car-free zone in Milan.

Photo credit: Alberto Fanelli.

Further enhancing biodiversity and the visitor experience, the landscape hosts nearly 100% native plants to enhance habitats, reduce urban heat island effects and reduce water needs.

In fact, water management was top of mind for the project. Key strategies included using pervious pavement, natural bioretention through drainage trenches and a 100% decrease in potable water use. Irrigation is done naturally; the only water used in the process is the byproduct of the water-to-water geothermal heat pumps on-site. As a result, CityLife is prepared to manage stormwater to the 95th percentile without negative downstream impacts.

As for maintenance, the project committed to using non-pesticide-based pest management, based on the Integrated Pest Management program of the European Union regulation, and committing to only using manual and electric-powered equipment during landscape maintenance to reduce on-site carbon emissions and protect public health.

"As population and development continue to increase in urban areas, park spaces like at CityLife are a necessary refuge for the public and a means to address urban issues, foster resilience and enhance habitat," explains Danielle Pieranunzi, SITES director.

Photo credit: Alberto Fanelli.

Beyond designing CityLife's green space to support biodiversity and manage water usage, the Manens and CityLife teams were also excited about its for community use. CityLife is now one of the largest pedestrian precincts in Europe, offering a large public gathering space for all citizens to enjoy. Green space, particularly on a scale like CityLife's, is cherished in the highly urbanized city.

"SITES spotlights open spaces, analyzing biodiversity and its benefits for the community, favoring an integrated design that not only considers the environment, but how it is perceived and experienced by the users every day," says Tedeshi.

Pursuing LEED and WELL certifications

Photo credit: Alberto Fanelli.

The SITES entry point offered a pathway to achieve Platinum-level certifications under the LEED v4.1 for Cities and Communities: Existing Communities rating system and WELL Community Standard. The complementary nature of the programs allowed for the Manens team to track sustainability key metrics, like water usage, across their outdoor and indoor spaces.

The district includes several buildings designed by well-known architects. These buildings include LEED Platinum Generali Tower; designed by Zaha Hadid; LEED Platinum Allianz Tower, designed by Arata Isozaki; and LEED Gold PWC Tower, designed by Daniel Libeskind. The neighborhood will also feature a building designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, called CityWave, set to open in 2026. Combining these LEED certifications with SITES, WELL and LEED for Cities and Communities certification allowed the project team to track the district's carbon emissions and community impact more holistically and accurately, and to include elements like transportation and waste management.

"A LEED- and SITES-certified district means healthier spaces to live or work in, and therefore greater comfort and safety for visitors," Cottone explains. "We strongly believe that a LEED- and SITES-certified project gives tangible form to a developer's values and environmental awareness, thanks to the adoption of strict environmental standards certified by an independent third party."

The future of cities: Regenerating existing spaces

As the ambitious CityLife district eyes the completion of its final building in the coming years, the project team reflects on the impact that cities can have on climate change mitigation, citizens' quality of life and the natural environment.

"The future of cities depends on how administrations can regenerate, redefine, reconfigure and innovate existing spaces," notes Cottone."Urban regeneration projects provide additional value, as they enable developers to adopt a new approach, working on a portion of land rather than individual buildings."

"The application of protocols such as LEED and SITES to urban regeneration projects, therefore, represents a fundamental shift towards sustainable and efficient practices, but also towards the concept of developing a sense of community, of living and coexisting together," he says.

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