Bologna, September 20, 2026 – The latest maneuver to “continue investing.” The project ‘Bologna supports you’, a flagship for “families who don’t make ends meet,” starting with microcredit with “a fund worth millions of euros.” Bonuses and discounts for the shopping cart. One million per year to support students. And then mobility: from the “halving of the subscription for parking with blue lines” to “further discounts” for public transport.
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Self-criticism on Città 30
Because, for the head of Palazzo d’Accursio, the much-discussed measure that raised the bus ticket price (from 1.50 to 2.30 euros) “worked and gave results.” What he is “most proud of is the work done on schools,” while he hints at self-criticism on Città 30, which “helped save lives, but should have been better told and explained.”
The government program at the Festa dell’Unità
Here are the first ingredients of Matteo Lepore’s recipe in pursuit of a second term. The outgoing mayor begins to outline the key points of the upcoming program at the Festa dell’Unità, where he channels the pieces of the future coalition: “I would like to remake the mayor’s civic list and open it more to civil society, to those not registered with any party and who want to help, not without criticism, but convinced that the center-left must move forward.” Hundreds listen to the mayor at Cevenini Park in Borgo Panigale, amid applause and smiles. Few criticisms, actually none, in front of his electorate who cheers and shouts “bravo” even when Lepore claims “a city that must remain student-friendly.” Meanwhile, on Monday at Cevenini Park, a dinner with the mayor and “many who will support him” in 2027 promoted by the ‘Scelgo Bologna’ project.
The stadium and the future of Dall’Ara
The stadium, then, between the new facility at the Fair and the future of Dall’Ara (“A fascinating adventure on which we must decide what to do”). The mayor also announces having met groups of fans to talk about the future of the structure on via Andrea Costa, on which “European funds could be tapped,” but remains firm when asked if the Municipality intends to financially contribute to the new facility on via Michelino: “The main infrastructure to be done in the new term is housing.” The 40 million taken from the Dall’Ara restyling, in short, will flow as already said into the ‘social shield’ for vulnerable groups. Room for a discussion on the Sfm6, the metropolitan railway line designed to connect the station and the Fair.
2027 Municipal elections and civic lists
In the race for the 2027 Municipal elections there is also room for a look at the other side of the field, where civic lists proliferate (from Giovanni Favia to Alberto Zanni, up to Andrea De Pasquale and the Mauro Felicori hypothesis) and where the center-right has yet to find agreement on a single name, whether civic or political. “I see a big shuffle on the other side and little more – the mayor lashes out –. So far I have seen few ideas. I am proud of the work done because now, thanks to investments, Bologna can look to the future and commit itself, without dealing with the past.”
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On the center-left leadership
It will therefore not be “an election campaign where we will hear about trams, Passante, Civis,” the mayor jokes. On the national center-left primaries, however, he is sure: “Leadership is not the problem, but the radicalism of some proposals. We must gain strength and courage and say important things, for me the priority remains social issues. The debate is tiresome: if someone does not want Elly Schlein let them say it clearly and discuss it, period.” On CPRs, instead, he concludes: “I am in favor of the repatriation of those who have no right to stay in this country, but the right is not doing this. Italy needs a minister of immigration.”
The tram and urban planning
The mayor also focuses on the achievements of his five years: tram and regeneration of disused areas, such as the former Perotti and Stamoto barracks, on which something is finally moving: “This week a letter will be sent to all Pilastro residents because we have finally unlocked the impasse on the San Donnino bridge with the Passante agreement. From next year we want to finish the construction sites and bring the tram to Pilastro. Then we want to renegotiate urban plans: from the areas around Caab, where there is a need to discuss with private parties who have legitimate interests, to Lazzaretto, where the plan is no longer current, up to the agreement with Cdp on the former Sani: here we do not want a large residential neighborhood, where speculation is made near the fair and the Tecnopolo, but regeneration of buildings. And no more data centers should arrive.”
Social hate and the escort
Social hate is not overlooked either: from the case of Vincent Plicchi (suicide live on TikTok) to the death threats received that led to the escort, up to the latest case of far-right influencers. “I would like to be mayor without the escort because my job is to be among the people and no one wants to be escorted to throw out the trash – Lepore cuts short –. Hate runs on social media and we must not ask if Bologna has become harsher, but if individual citizens have become harsher to assert an idea. I also wonder why the right, in the last term, instead of competing on good things, accepted the logic of insult. And I am sorry that they speak badly of Bologna and rejoice when we don’t finish construction sites or citizens suffer.”
All evening he moves between stands and restaurants, takes photos, shakes hands. And in the end he concludes: “We want to continue changing Bologna because, rest assured, we will win.”
