Lord Rogers belongs to this category and in fact he is affectionately disappointed with his birthplace which he visits regularly because of his family and of his many projects for the city, which regularly keep freezing them, probably the only place in the world to do that.

How have you found Florence recently?

Some improvements have been made: attempts to control traffic in the city centre, better pavements in roads and squares, renovated buildings, no more hidden under scaffoldings, Uffizi well organized, but it is not enough.  Traffic congestion, increased population, pollution, tremendous tourism need more attention.

Moreover, Florence has sprawled beyond its boundaries without control, it is expanding in a hidden way, that is the worst way to expand. Permissions are given to build all over the place without a plan, where once a farm shed was now there is a house, then a garage becomes another house etc. They are aware of these awful suburbs but they are not willing to plan them.

And if someone does…I have been involved in a number of projects but Italy is the most difficult country in Europe to work with. Italians are wonderful people, but the government is impossible, not only the central one but the local one. In terms of strategy about building and planning people have a negative attitude. The problem is that to spoil some ugly industrial city is less important than cities like Florence: here you have a heritage which lasted 1000 years so it must be preserved and also it must grow in the right way. Take the Castello project . We have been asked by the major to be his advisors and we produced a scheme, a compact development which was a mix of working, leasure, living plan for the 20,000 people who would be taken advantage of it.

This was supposed to be the first big expansion for Florence and we took into account everything from the water supply to the direction of winds to avoid noises from the near airport. We focused on creating an environment encouraging people to walk, providing them with all the facilities and pedestrian links to the city centre, focusing on public transportation.  We produced the work 2 years ago, it was accepted but nothing has happened.

I suspect the pieces of this plan have been eroded because political or business pressure and it is very sad. It is typical of a society which has no leadership. Take the walks along the river Arno. I started planning them 15 years ago and it was always a stop and a go; in fact nothing has be done. In a civil society you should be able to seat at a table and discuss a project, then to come to an agreement and then to go on with the decision. Here they have the tendency to stand up and simply say NO. It is a serious situation  because you have to protect your heritage but you also have to live in the city if you don’t want to live in a museum.

People should trust the leadership which must listen to the people, not fighting each other. Take Le Cascine. It should be a proper park, but it has not been looked after properly, so it is an abandoned spot  good for petty criminality and prostitution. People avoid the area, instead they should be put in the position to feel proud of this beautiful space.

About traffic, it is good to have no cars in Piazza Duomo or Piazza Signoria, but you have to connect the city centre with a perfect public transportation and to build more parking lots. Now you have the traffic concentrated on the Viali di circonvallazione which are a nightmare during rush hours. The solution is not building more roads but discouraging people  from using their cars, but you have to offer a proper public service. It is not a matter of lack of solutions but of lack of organization and decision. No wonders people tend to live, to work, to shop out of town . But what as an architect I am working on for the British government is just about how can we make cities attractive in order to make people to come back instead of escaping to the country. Florence, Italy has the same problem. So you have to project community centres and compactness. Florence has a nice scale, you can reach everything by walking. We are not talking of banning cars but of discouraging their use, to create a better relationship between citizens and transports. We have to recuperate civic pride, to feel responsible for our cities, but if the ones in charge do not give the first example is a problem. You have to keep the city as clean and safe and civilized as possible, the way Florence taught the world . But this happened a long time ago and she has to wake up in this century.

Would you run for major of Florence?

It is a wonderful job but you have to give up everything else. They also offered me to run for major of London, but  I’d rather be an architect. And I would love to work for Florence but they make me not.

Is there anything that London could teach Florence?

Government.