Milan

Welcoming New Residents in Milan

CitiesMilanWelcoming New Residents in Milan

Bloomberg Associates and Milan created materials to help immigrants to the city navigate the processes of getting settled and gaining residency.

Immigration is the lifeblood of a city and needs to be celebrated and welcomed.

Linda Gibbs, Bloomberg Associates

Relevant Expertise

Enhance City Communications and Resident Engagement

PSAs and Marketing Campaigns

Support Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations

Family Reunification and New Resident Support

Challenge

Milan is home to a large – and growing – immigrant population. Serving their needs, from employment, to language, housing, education, healthcare, and more, is an increasing challenge for the Mayor’s Office. Agencies working to support new residents were not well coordinated, and the information provided to these arrivals regarding municipal services and residential requirements were often conflicting. To address these challenges and further the Mayor’s goal of making Milan an open and welcoming city to all, Bloomberg Associates was called upon to help create a comprehensive program to improve internal mechanics and better serve new residents.

Approach

To start, Bloomberg Associates helped establish a data sharing agreement that allowed the national government to share crucial information about new arrivals. The City is now alerted when immigrants are approved to apply for a family reunification visa to Milan and is able to monitor the number of applicants and tailor services.

To embrace and assist people through all the steps needed to establish residency in Milan, Bloomberg Associates also supported the development of a comprehensive welcome kit. This kit, the Milan Welcome Guide, provides new arrivals access to all the necessary information and tools for life in Milan. The Milan Welcome Guide replaced an older, incomplete version with a dynamic website and printed booklet that is available throughout the city in multiple languages: English, Arabic, Italian, Mandarin and Spanish. The guide provides both short-term and long-term support for all newcomers to Milan, from families to students.

Impact

The Milan Welcome Guide represents the first time that all the necessary information for a new arrival to Milan is compiled into one easy-to-access document. Thousands of immigrants have received or downloaded the welcome guide, which has also drawn interest from the European Union’s Approach Project, which helps EU citizens who have moved to another EU country get to know their new city better. The Approach Project has provided funding for the Welcome Guide to be translated into French, and supported printing of the guide in all EU languages.