From November 14-20, 2010 the German Marshall Fund’s Urban and Regional Policy Program led the first of what will be three annual study tours bringing civic leaders from Detroit, Michigan to Turin, Italy as part of the Kresge Foundation funded Detroit-Turin Partnership initiative.  The inaugural delegation of Detroiters was led by Mayor David Bing and included high-level city staffers; an urban planning consultant; leaders from the academic, business, and non-profit sectors; and journalists.  Study tour delegates were selected based on their professional achievements, ability to engender lasting change in Detroit, and their potential for establishing strong bilateral relationships with counterparts in Turin.  In addition to the Kresge Foundation, GMF worked closely with the Compagnia di San Paolo, the City of Turin, and Torino Internazionale in organizing the tour.

Turin was chosen as the destination for this study tour, because of the parallels between its industrial history and Detroit’s.  The economic strength of both cities at one time depended largely on the automobile industry.  Both suffered significant industrial collapse, population loss, and urban disinvestment.  Turin’s ultimate collapse preceded Detroit’s.  As a result, its regeneration efforts began in the early to mid 1990s. In 1993, as part of the first-ever popular election for mayor, the people of Turin elected Valentino Castellani, a university professor outside of the traditional political class.  Castellani recognized the need to reposition Turin as a player within the global economy.  By the mid-1990s, Turin was well on the road to redefining itself.  The city enacted a comprehensive strategic development plan in 1998, and with the aid of the European Union was able to transform large swathes of former industrial urban landscape into new opportunities for growth.  In conjunction with the city’s changing image, city officials also undertook strategies to diversify the economic base, including promoting local food production and a new information and communications technology sector, for example.  Turin’s strategic repositioning was recognized internationally when it was awarded the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.  The Olympics cemented Turin’s post-industrial reputation as an international city of culture and a tourist destination. Detroit is looking to embark upon its own journey from declining mono-industrial auto-town to vibrant 21st century city. 

The purpose of the study tour was threefold:

1)      to expose a broad cross-section of Detroit leadership to the regeneration strategies undertaken by Turin officials and citizens.  

2)      to create bilateral connections between individual members of the delegation and their counterparts  working on similar challenges in Italy.  To this end, meetings and site visits were tailored to address the individual professional backgrounds and interests of the delegation.  

3)      to establish strong, on-going bilateral relationships between representatives of city government and civil society in Detroit and Turin.  Despite its successes, Turin still has many challenges to confront, and new ones continually arise.  Detroit, the city Turin once aspired to emulate, is uniquely positioned to become Turin’s primary international partner due to their shared industrial and economic heritage.  Working together, both cities can benefit from sharing experiences and best practices. 

The Detroit delegation engaged in a full slate of activities during their week in Turin. They included:  

• Background presentations on how the initial strategic planning process was envisioned, implemented, and maintained over time.  This included a welcome at City Hall from Mayor Sergio Chiamparino and an overview of the strategic planning process by Elisa Rosso, director of Torino Internazionale, the organization responsible for crafting and implementing Torino’s strategic plan.  Ms. Rosso also serves as GMF’s local representative for the Transatlantic Cities Network project.  With this foundation, the group was able to comprehend the various programs and projects Turin implemented to catalyze its regeneration.  
• Presentations on the urban transformation strategies employed by Turin city officials as illustrated through a tour of the city’s “Spina Centrale,” a central boulevard that now connects parts of the city that were once separated by an industrial railway line.  Many former factories and industrial buildings along La Spina have now been re-purposed, including former railcar maintenance buildings now house the Politecnico di Turin or will serve as the main exhibition halls for Turin’s upcoming nation-wide celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of Italy’s unification.  Other urban transformation sites related to the Olympic Games were also showcased. 
• A tour of FIAT’s historic Lingotto factory site  The repurposing of the Lingotto site was the subject of an international competition won by famed architect Renzo Piano.  The facility now houses a shopping mall, a museum, a concert hall, an up-scale hotel, restaurants and FIAT’s global headquarters. 
• An overview of the Piedmont-born Slow Food movement and a trip to the world-renowned Eataly supermarket, which is set in a converted warehouse.  The Slow Food movement emphasizes the sale and consumption of fresh, local produce and has played a key role in attracting both tourists and new business opportunities to the city and region. 
• A panel discussion between the primary shapers of Detroit’s strategic plan and professors from the Politecnico di Torino, one of whom was Mayor Castellani’s deputy while the first strategic plan was developed.  The delegation was also treated to a public panel discussion between Mayors Bing and Chiamparino, moderated by Mario Calabresi from Italy’s La Stampa newspaper and attended by over 100 people.
• A series of meetings that focused on Turin’s rebuilt economic foundation, including a meeting with officials from FIAT’s international business development unit where the discussion focused on the relationship between Michigan-based Chrysler and FIAT and potential for the sharing of technology and global market space. 
• Meetings with top-level representatives from the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Center for the Internationalization of the Piedmont (CEIP), both of which play important roles in attracting new business and industry to the region and in forming international business partnerships across different sectors.
• Tours and overviews of various business incubation centers designed to cultivate the growing information and communications technology industry in the city.  Among the incubators and technology centers were the I3P business incubator and the Institute Superiore Mario Boella, both housed at the Politecnico di Turin.  Through these site visits and a meeting with the Rector of the Politecnico, the delegation explored the university’s integral role in the economic development of the region.
• Opportunities to understand the impact of Turin’s renaissance more viscerally, for example through a tour of the Porta Palazzo market, Europe’s largest outdoor market.  The market is surrounded by social or “public” housing blocks whose residents are tied culturally and economically to the market below, demonstrating the city’s commitment to integrating immigrant and other lower class communities into the wider strategic framework.  The delegation also attended a concert performance by the jazz duo of Emanuele Cisi and Chris Collins, co-founders of the “Detroit-Turin Urban Jazz Project.”  The artists hope to foster student and musical exchanges between their two cities in addition to conducting a yearly concert series.

Among the key messages the Detroit delegation took away from the trip was that Turin’s renaissance has been the result of a true collaborative effort.  Turin launched its revitalization strategy with input not just from government, but also from business, academic, and community leaders.  All aspects of Turin’s redevelopment, whether spatial, economic, academic, or special-project related, were linked to  each other, creating a unified, coherent urban development strategy.