History

Since the 1990s, the Pian Faloppia area in the municipality of Balerna has been the subject of cantonal interest from an industrial and promotional point of view. At that time, it was called the Pian Faloppia Technology Park.

It all started with the 10 March 1987 revision of the first Municipal Regulatory Plan of ‘74, where for the first time there was a reference to the redevelopment of the industrial areas of Pian Faloppia. Since then, the municipality, thanks also to the support of the Canton, has strongly believed in the project to re-qualify this area.

An external mandate was first issued in May 1991 for the study of an Urban Plan and an Implementation Programme, which set the basis for the elaboration of the Pian Faloppia Detailed Zoning Plan, approved by the State Council on 19 September 1995 and still in force today. From the very beginning, the main institutional and private stakeholders were involved in the project with the aim of aligning their respective interests, optimizing the use of resources and space. With these objectives in mind, and in order to generate added value in the area, the establishment of innovative companies has been encouraged, creating qualified jobs and a positive economic spin-off.

Thanks to these efforts and to the skills of forward-thinking entrepreneurs, who were able to consolidate various plots of land and give rise to building initiatives, the area – after initial difficulties – has developed rapidly and now has more than 40 established businesses.

In the meantime, at the cantonal level, the need to find available space suitable for productive activities (especially those in the secondary sector) led – with the development of the 1990 Director Plan (PD90) – to the birth of the Industrial and Artisan Activity Zone policy, through the planning of Industrial Zones of Cantonal Interest (ZIIC) or Regional Interest (ZIIR). In this sense, the ‘Final Report on the Feasibility of the Technology Park Project and Related Operational Proposals’ of 26 July 1999 led the State Council to recognize the area defined by the Pian Faloppia Detailed Zoning Plan as a ZIIC.

Subsequently, between 2008 and 2011, the concept of Economic Development Poles took shape in Ticino, i.e. industrial districts with high potential to attract new companies, to be promoted by investing in services and infrastructures also through an appropriate urban planning. In 2009, Sheet R7 of the Cantonal Director Plan identified the Pian Faloppia ZIIC as a PSE, recognizing its clear strategic positioning and value at both the cantonal and regional level.

Most recently, the Mendrisiotto and Lower Ceresio Regional Development Agency (ERS-MB) became a stakeholder, working alongside the municipality and the Ticino Canton, with the support of the federal government within the framework of the New Regional Policy (NPR). The ERS-MB’s task is to coordinate strategic decisions concerning the PSE in cooperation with the Balerna municipality and a specific management commission that oversees its proper development. In September 2023, to ensure active management of the innovative industrial-tertiary sectors, an area manager has been employed to mediate between the various stakeholders, gathering their respective requests and finding mutually beneficial solutions.