Mapping spatial and housing dynamics in Milan
The MAUD Laboratory (Mapping and Urban Data Lab) and the CRAFT Center (Competenze Territori Antifragili) within the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Politecnico di Milano have developed the most comprehensive tool for quantitative analysis of Milan for the 2019-2023 period. It is an interactive dashboard: a map that allows users to compare neighborhoods, filter data in real time, explore specific details, and identify trends through dedicated menus and summary charts.
The dashboard is organized into five analytical areas: sociodemographic, migration, residential real estate, economic, and urban. It connects public data: it integrates information from various sources (ranging from simple files to complex databases) to provide a comprehensive overview.
The dashboard is designed for citizens and journalists, as well as for professionals and decision-makers: for the former because it promotes the democratization of data and builds shared knowledge through data visualization and analysis that is accessible even to those without technical expertise; for the latter because it facilitates the monitoring of trends and speeds up decision-making. In addition, the dashboard allows users to export data and work with it in other softwares.
This is a scalable prototype that can be applied to other contexts. The dashboard’s data provides an initial overview that can be further refined in the near future by incorporating new indicators and expanding the scope of the analysis to areas outside the city.
Fabio Manfredini and Nilva Aramburu Guevara, MAUD Laboratory
The results presented in the dashboard paint a picture of a vibrant Milan characterized by a high level of economic activity, yet one that is unbalanced: some areas – particularly the north and northeast – are young and growing rapidly, while the south and west exhibit signs of an aging population and structural fragility. There also remains a clear division between the city center (within the ‘90-91 ring road’) and the outlying areas, where the suburbs serve as entry points and initial settlement areas for the most vulnerable groups, while the central areas remain more accessible to educated residents with high incomes.