Fiumicino town centre gets a makeover

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make an urban centre more liveable and attractive. A case in point is the town of Fiumicino, where the municipality has resurfaced and pedestrianised the busy central street Via della Spiaggia. Commissioned by mayor Esterino Montino and coordinated together with the councillor for public works and urban maintenance Angelo Caroccia and the head of the public works department Massimiliano Cafaro, the project focused on an approximately 300-metre-long street running perpendicular to Via della Torre Clementina. The area is very popular with residents and tourists, especially during the summer, and is renowned for its many high-quality traditional seafood restaurants. When deciding on the most suitable material for the new road surface, the mayor and the councillor opted for Grestone extra-thick porcelain stoneware from Saxa Gres. With their 10×10 cm size and 6.5 cm thickness, these blocks are reminiscent of historic Roman cobblestones known as Sanpietrini, although the ceramic version is a tougher, more sustainable and more environmentally-friendly alternative to the original natural stone.
Sustainability was the guiding principle behind the entire project. White ceramic cobblestones from Saxa Gres were chosen for the pedestrian crossings as a maintenance-free alternative to asphalt due to their exceptional wear resistance, durability and ease of cleaning. Moreover, the fact that they are coloured indelibly using the double-loading production technique means that they never need repainting, which reduces the municipality’s road maintenance costs.
This resurfacing and pedestrianisation project has injected new life into the city centre and brought a big improvement in terms of liveability and aesthetics. The street is now the perfect place to enjoy an evening stroll in an attractive urban context that has been redesigned with futuristic new materials while maintaining the historic appeal of traditional-looking cobblestones. The newly pedestrianised Via della Spiaggia is more human-friendly and has become a popular meeting place for both locals and tourists. The project has also given a boost to social activities and businesses, much to the delight of local restaurateurs, and is extremely environmentally friendly thanks to the choice of Grestone porcelain stoneware from Saxa Gres. Along with its high foot traffic resistance, this solution has outstanding green credentials due to its content of up to 30% inert materials originating from urban waste which would otherwise be sent to landfill, allowing it to make a positive, eco-sustainable contribution to cities.