Special ECoC district to bind Nova Gorica and Gorizia together
Nova Gorica/Gorizia, 19 April - A techno-cultural urban quarter will be built between the neighbouring cities of Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy before their joint project of the 2025 European Capital of Culture (ECoC) title in what is an upgrade of the initial plan to strengthen ties between the two cities.
Nova Gorica
Europe Square, known in Italian as Transalpine Square.
Photo: Rosana Rijavec/STA
File photo
The investment that will bind the two cities together in the spirit of the shared project has expanded from the initial Europe Square idea to a bigger area between Nova Gorica and Gorizia along the Slovenian-Italian border.
The ECoC district is the start of a major upgrade of the border area from the cultural centre Mostovna in the north to the University of Nova Gorica in the south. This border zone, about three kilometres long, is the area that will begin to connect the two cities, the Nova Gorica Municipality said in a press release.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with local communities, local businesses and a research team from the university. The district will provide what is currently missing in Nova Gorica and will be dedicated to the environment, education, science, technology, culture and new forms of mobility, the municipality added.
The district will host the Green Technology Centre, a hub of laboratories and activities that will support in particular SMEs in the development of products and services derived from green technologies. The project also envisages construction of new facilities for the university.
"We propose to make the best use or reuse of this space," said BoĊĦtjan Vuga with the architectural firm Sadar+Vuga as he presented the concept. Nova Gorica also aims to upgrade its train station by 2025 and build an overpass street over the tracks that will help link the city centres of Nova Gorica and Gorizia through Europe Square, which is also expected to be renovated by 2025.
That year, the two cities will jointly host the European Capital of Culture with slogan Go! Borderless after winning the designation in December 2020.