Gallarate is placed on the line of the Sempione route, intersecting the road to Varese.
This strategic position used to be clearly identified and distinctive. But nowadays, due to the high development of settlements, for housing, industrial, handcrafted and commercial purposes, this feature has quite dampened. Actually Gallarate seems to build, together with Busto Arsizio, Castellanza, Legnano and the other townships close by, a unique big urban area. This brought remarkable advantages for the industrial development and consequently for the employment. The industrial manufacturing system represented (and somehow still represents) a first market opportunity for the single companies that created satellite chains as well as real supply chains. Behind that, the creation of an industrial district allowed to create job opportunities for the inhabitants of the townships of the area, not only regarding quantity but also quality. As a matter of fact, the skills and the productive culture brought about and diffused in the District produced a job qualification effect. Skills and job culture that put the foundations for flourishing of hand-crafted and industrial activities as “spin off” of other companies.
The building up of this enlarged urban area has anyway signified for the single townships, and especially for Gallarate, a risk of identity loss. This risk involves in larger measure the historic center of the town and, consequently, the social and entrepreneurial activities here located. Retail activities and public business of the historic center that play a role and are a qualifying part of the urban context are heavily risking to loose competitiveness because of the loss of identity values in favour of new external offer hubs that have their own identities, actually created from scratch.
The evolution of the territorial context brought anyway some elements of potential benefit for Gallarate. The town is actually placed in a strategic position, even more than in the past, as it is situated on the cross point of railway and road arteries (the so called “corridor 5”, above mentioned , the motorway A8 - known as Lakes Motorway - that connects Milan to Varese, the lakes area and the Sempione road) and at the same time in focal position compared to hubs with concentration of request and offer opportunities of several kinds, such as housing, working, entrepreneurial and commercial services: the city of Milan, the Malpensa airport, the new International Fair Center of Rho Pero. From this point of view it’s clear the synergic and at the same time competitive relashionship with Busto Arsizio.
Gallarate, with 50.156 residents on January 1st 2008, is the third town for inhabitants number in the province after Varese (82.037 inhabitants) and Busto Arsizio (80.633 inhabitants) (figure 1).
During the last five years the population increased at an average rate of 1,5% (of 8% considering the whole period 2002/2007) showing a kind of vitality in the regional demographic situation and also in the Northern Italy one (figure 2). As far as the population age is concerned, in the township of Gallarate the distribution is similar to the one of the Varese province (figure 3), differently from the foreign constituent that, quite obvious, presents higher amounts of young people proportionally both in local and provincial rates (people in working age and very young, probably children of foreign residents). For sure a contribution to this demographic development has been given by the foreign people that today have an incidence of approx. 11% on the total residents in the township (figure 4), a percentage that goes up to more than 23% by calculating children (under 4 years of age) and more than 20% by calculating young people between 25 and 34 years of age.
Considering the sale surface, the commercial network of Gallarate presents a whole supply of 168.000 square meters. The share of modern commerce is obviously higher than the numerical one. The big structures are more than a fourth of the total, while the medium ones approx. for 35% (tables 3a and 3b).
It’s quite a relevant offer most of all if compared with the one of the province and of the medium and big townships of the area and even more if compared with the request.
The commercial density (number of point of sales for 100.000 inhabitants) is just a bit lower than the one of Varese and definitely higher than the provincial and regional average, as well as higher than the one of Busto Arsizio and Saronno, the two townships that can be compared with Gallarate, due to dimension and geographic position (figure 5).
The peculiarity of the commercial offer of Gallarate is anyway the modernization level. The supply of modern commerce - that means the presence (the supply of sale surface square meters) of medium and large commercial structures in Gallarate compared with the residents - is definitely higher than the provincial and regional average, but also higher than the one of other medium and big townships of the province, including the chief town. In Gallarate there are more than 2000 square meters of modern commerce every 1.000 inhabitants, against 1.300 of Varese and only 425 of Busto Arsizio.
Vision and guidelines of town development and commerce role
Gallarate is living a significant growth moment, that the town would rather live like a main character and not like a simple spectator. In the last five years the actions developed in the Territory Governance Plan opened a new growth period, following the manufacturing system downfall that had been the driving element for the town development since the 19th century. In this perspective the final goal is to give a clear identity to Gallarate in order to avoid that it becomes a “small center of the province” and to give it the possibility of recovering a key role in the provincial and regional system. All this through:
promotion of the social, economic and cultural development of the community promoting the balanced use of the territory and preserving resources and environment;
strengthening of the facilities system, recovering the existing ones, in order to sustain mobility;
The final goal is after all to raise the life quality standard improving the satisfaction of people already living in the town (actually, of both people and activities) and of the oens who would like to stay here.
Gallarate would like to be, today and in the future, this kind of place:
- a town with high life quality standards for its citizens in several aspects (environmental quality, relationship among people, relationship among people and institutions, service and culture offer);
- a town that grows thanks to the fact that the above mentioned standards are attractive both for residents and economic activities;
- a point of reference as far as commercial and no commercial services are concerned for the surrounding territory;
- a “commercial and cultural salon”.
The context where this vision should be inserted presents a series of elements, previously explained, that should be taken into consideration as they represent potential opportunities or threats that can bear on the positive outcome of the vision development itself, above all referring to the goals on commercial level
First of all it’s necessary to mention the economic crisis that lasts since some years and that recently worsened because of the well-known events in the financial and credit area. This situation can strongly limit the purchasing power of people and therefore cause a decrease of consumptions. Actually, if at the moment the crisis effects on the durables do not seem to be too heavy, it should be considered that they could affect the orders of the local manufacturing companies, causing employment or income loss of the working people.
A second point to consider is the change involving the population, both regarding the demographic aspect and the socio-cultural one. The residents are growing, what means a potential enlargement inside and close to the District and therefore an opportunity. Moreover, by growing of the average age of people, there area more and more “senior” people who, by requiring commercial services, look for “comfort” services, first of all the nearness (and on this matter the center and neighborhood shops stay in a strength position). Also the reduction of the average dimensions of families causes other changes in buying behaviours. As far as consumer goods are concerned there is a reduction in buying big quantities of goods, replaced by purchase of smaller quantities, more frequently.
Malpensa Airport
Sky City
A relevant role for the commercial development could be the realization of a Business Park along the state road SS 336 (the above mentioned Superstrada Malpensa 2000), the so called “SKY CITY” that should be finished within 2012. It’s a multipurpose center for services of every kind (sport, leisure, tourism, culture, business). The realization of this hub forecasts different kinds of interventions: environmental requalification, conversion of existing settlements, road system improvement. It concerns strategic areas for the town development, because of the airport nearness and the easy road and railway accessibility. Such a center, that could attract towards Gallarate residents of the province/region also using Malpensa airport, could have positive effects on the town. There could be a relevant growth of jobs, that could bring in certain measure a growth of the residents of Gallarate, of the global income and therefore of the potential inner request. On the other hand this kind of hub would reflect on the system of the urban commerce, risking to become a competitor.
Among the elements of structural character that could bring new opportunities for the commercial offer of Gallarate we could also mention the realizations of new houses and the recovery of areas close to the historic center. The new buildings could create the necessary conditions for supporting the growth of the population in town, while the recovery works could help bettering the town quality life: the commercial offer, the parking areas and the accessibility of the urban context,
all assumptions for the revitalization of the town appeal. Moreover: the most recovering works should be quite close to the historic center. This fact would highlight an area of Gallarate that could represent an offer system in which the Commercial District of Gallarate could be developed.
Downtown
Palazzo Borghi City Council
Condominio Theatre
Techincal Institute Falcone
Corso Italia
Maga Museum
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