BOLZANO. Originally, there were four student housing projects that participated in the Municipality’s call for proposals, but in the end, only two remained. A total of 580 beds: a major breath of fresh air for those who enroll at the University of Bolzano and today encounter enormous difficulties in finding affordable accommodation. Even though the university’s request would provide for 150-170 more.
580 beds
The municipal council has given the green light to the signing of two agreements (pursuant to the provincial law Territory and Landscape 9/2018) for the construction of two student residences in the production area.
One with the company Habitat spa, which is part of the Tosolini group, for the building in viale Druso/piazza Adriano for the construction of 210 beds; the other with the company Demeter srl for a building to be built in via Siemens/via Volta for another 370 beds.
In Piazza Adriano they will be ready for the 2025-26 academic year, because the building already exists and it is simply a matter of adapting it to the new needs. While in Via Siemens there is talk of a new construction, so the beds will not be available before the 2026-27 academic year.
The agreements in question provide for the prohibition of changing the building’s intended use for at least 20 years with the relevant restriction being noted in the land register. Maximum price per bed: 600 euros per month. The council has formally acknowledged that the proposals for the creation of student residences in production areas by the companies Straudi spa and Decor srl are to be considered null and void due to the unavailability to proceed with the stipulation of the relevant agreement.
Clarity on the numbers
The announcement of the green light to the two agreements was the occasion for the mayor Renzo Caramaschi and the deputy Stephan Konder, who also has the competence on Urban Planning, to ask the University and the Province that the Municipality be involved more and above all in advance in the choices regarding the opening of new faculties. Not only that: they are asking to have an exact quantification of the beds that will be needed in the future in order to plan the territorial development of the capital.
“We – said Caramaschi – are not the waiters of the Province, in the sense that at Palazzo Widmann decisions are made and we have to execute. As happened with the student residences. The Province had originally taken responsibility for itself; only to then – when it realized the difficulties – pass the buck to the Municipality. And we found ourselves racing to be able to respond to the need for student beds”.
Foreign students
Deputy Mayor Konder then touched on a sensitive issue: it concerns the students who enroll at the University of Bolzano and the added value for South Tyrol. “Given the enormous difficulty that everyone in Bolzano has in finding a home, also due to the limited availability of land, we must ask ourselves what added value they bring to our territory, students who, for example, come from Germany and leave once they graduate. In my opinion, it is right to do everything and more – given the enormous need for diploma and degree holders – to provide them with housing, as long as they remain here, once they have completed their studies”.
There is not only Bolzano
But Konder went even further: «If you want to open new faculties, which also presuppose the provision of additional beds – which is the most complicated part for a city like Bolzano – perhaps it is a good idea to start considering the possibility of building outside Bolzano. You can’t always concentrate everything in the capital».
2024-09-26 15:13:39