The City of Health and Research (CdSR) is a strategic project of great relevance in many respects: environmental rehabilitation, redevelopment and valorisation of disused industrial areas (former Falck in Sesto San Giovanni) according to the principle of “no land consumption”.

Rehabilitating space and environment as care is the goal of the design and implementation of the City of Health and Research, the focus of which is the person. Starting from this highly specialized reality, spaces are designed on a human scale with the aim of providing an environment that contributes to decreasing anxiety, stress, sense of fear and loneliness. To this end, indoor and outdoor greenery plays a key role.

In the former Falck industrial area of Sesto San Giovanni, the Città della salute e della Ricerca is spread over about 197,000 square meters, transforming the industrial past into a modern center of excellence for healthcare and scientific research. The redevelopment of this area is not only a functional intervention, but promotes a profound environmental recovery, allocating 125,000 square meters to public green space, a new urban lung that offers a space of connection between past and present, integrating harmoniously with the city fabric. The ambitious project aims to improve the quality of life and landscape, enhancing the link with local history and making greenery a key component of the regeneration process.

The urban park, designed to encourage visual and physical contact with greenery, extends between the various buildings, offering patients, staff and visitors immersive spaces of quiet and well-being. Pedestrian paths and rest areas are designed to facilitate mobility and offer moments of regeneration, making greenery an integral part of the treatment and healing journey. The goal is to give greenery a therapeutic role, an essential element that positively influences users’ mental and physical well-being.

The facility is divided into five blocks, alternated by green courtyards, outpatient clinics and emergency departments. The courtyards and all the hospital greenery, have been designed following the “Ten Informing Principles for a Hospital with High Technological and Care Content,” applying the principle of healing gardens, which consider the garden as a recuperative space for improving the quality of life of those who frequent it.
Here, the green space inside the multi-level hospital structure takes on an important and at the same time delicate role as it acts as an element of regeneration by communicating safety, orientation and harmony.