Press conference, "Città dei Motori". From left to right Jean Todt, General manager Ferrari; Lucia Bursi, mayor of Maranello and President of "Città dei Motori"; Leonardo Domenici, mayor of Florence and President of Anci (Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani); Danilo Moriero, editor of Anci magazine.

Lucia Bursi, mayor of Maranello, has been elected by the assembly of the members, as the new president of the "Città dei Motori" association (CdM) at Maranello. CdM is an association - promoted by Anci - uniting the local authorities with high-class companies in the automotive sector, sports associations and cultural institutions. Attilio Fontana, mayor of Varese, has been elected vice-president. Part of the board are Riccardo Mariani (mayor of Mandello del Lario), Renzo Bartoli (Pontedera) and Aurelio Pravatà (Termini Imerese).

Three committees will be responsible for the specific programs: a) Promoting territory, culture and events (head of division Sandra Galazzo, mayor of Scarperia); b) Research, innovation and safety (head of division Vincenzo Pellegrini, assessor Atessa); c) Comunication, external and institutional relations (head of division Massimo Casotto, assessor Noale).

Sixteen local authority districts are part of the "founding members" of the CdM: representing ten regions and 1.207 million inhabitants. Atessa (Chieti), Casteldario (Mantova), Fiorano (Modena), Imola (Bologna), Mandello del Lario (Lecco), Maranello (Modena), Misano Adriatico (Rimini), Monfalcone (Gorizia), Noale (Venice), Pesaro, Pontedera (Pisa), Samarate/Cascina Costa (Varese), Scarperia (Florence), Termini Imerese (Palermo), Torino, Varese. According to the statute of the CdM the attendance is open for all districts. Soon Bologna and Monza will be part of the CdM, while Arese, Cassino and Melfi are weighing up the reasons of the project.

Città dei Motori tried immediately to include the districts where cars, scooters and motorbikes are manufactured, but also wants to include other types from the automotive industry, thus adding representative parts of the automotive Made in Italy in Italy and all over the world. This is why Varese and Samarate/Cascina Costa are part of the association, with their aeronautic industries, while Monfalcone is part because of its ship production.

Introduction

The idea of "Città dei Motori" was born in February 2007. The project started to get shape in Maranello, at the offices of mayor Bursi. The foundation of the association took place on 18th December 2007 in Rome and with today's meeting of its members. The CdM was founded with the same idea that has brought the Anci to form the association of districts called "cities with identities". Those districts are characterized by the existence of a certain product on their territory (until today almost always food related), or of an additional value of transformation. The associations of the districts are part of the "Res Tipica" project.

The CdM's mission

1/Valorize the territories - The CdM's main goal is promoting and valorizing the territories, thanks to the great attraction of the automotive Made in Italy in the world. But it is also a synergy between districts, companies, circuits, museums, public and private collections.

2/Scientific research - Beyond the synergies between districts and companies the CdM networks intends to sum up a third indispensable interlocutor - the universities and the sector of research. Here it is important to find and promote the already existing structures to attract and add new ones.

3/Environmental compatibility - It is one of the association's priorities, written down in the four goals of the statute and connected to research. The districts, and especially the big municipalities, are trying their best to lower environmental pollution, especially as far as the traffic is concerned. This issue has to be introduced in the dialogue between Anci and CdM, representatives from the field of research and other affected parts. The goal has to be reached also through the quality of architectonic projects as far as the industrial settlements are concerned.

4/Road safety - The districts and the local police, together with the national police, are engaged in making everybody respect the Highway Code especially as far as life and the physical integrity of people are concerned. The Anci promotes and is a partner in numerous campaigns for raising awareness of the need for road safety. Anci will continue working in this field also through synergies with the CdM. Another issue as far as road safety is concerned is the condition under which road circulation is accomplished: roads, illumination, signalling equipment. Resources are necessary, while the financial situation of the districts is problematic. The CdM will study "open" initiatives, elaborate and propose, in the interest of the people/users of the roads, starting with young people.

Institutional partners & offices

The state police are the main institutional partner of Città dei Motori, who play an important role in the area of road safety. CdM and Anci also want to include other institutional partners to reach the goals of "Città dei Motori" as soon as possible. CdM's offices - The offices of the CdM are in Rome, at the new Museo delle Auto della Polizia di Stato (Via Tommaso Campanella, former PS and currently being restructured). The technical office is already working at the Anci, in Via dei Prefetti 46, 00186 Rome. Head of the technical office is Dott. Danilo Moriero.

General manager Jean Todt declared: "As Ferrari we are glad to host the 'Città dei Motori' association today, because we share their goals, which are of general interest. Ferrari, although it is an international company, is extremely connected to the territory, which you can tell by the investments in new structures for our production, which are avant-garde also in their design, just like the success of the Galleria Ferrari, receiving more than 200,000 visitors in 2007 and today one of the main attractions in Maranello."