Consorzio Zip
In Veneto a public company has promoted development, new jobs and economic growth for 50 years- Mission
- Main activities
- Strategy
- Governance
- Staff
- Quality certificaton
- History
- Projects for the future
- Communication
- Environmental commitment
- Social commitment
History
The preservation of historical memories concerning the development of the industrial area of Padua is one of the tasks which Consorzio Zip has taken on from the very begining, by establishing archives rich in documents and images which testify the transformation of this large part of the Paduan territory.
As regards historical photos from 1961 to 1981, an overview of this collection can be found in the link below. There are also many publications and studies about the present, the past and the future of this area, published by Consorzio Zip.
During its fifty year-long history, Consorzio Zip has commendably provided for the preservation of the monuments existing in its territory; suffice it to quote the convent of S. Orsola, whose few remains are in the Roncajette Park, Villa Barbieri, Villa Mistrello, San Gregorio Church, Villa Miari and, finally, the Church of San Clemente in Granze which houses, among other things, a historical–photographic permanent exhibition about the origins of the industrial area.
The preserved cultural heritage includes also a few buildings which are of no particular architectonic value, but are examples of rural buildings of the past.
Archives of Zip historical photos 1961-1981
The Consorzio Zip Presidents
- Mr Cesare Crescente 29.04. 1957 – 23.03.1973
- Mr Ettore Bentsik 23.03.1973 – 27.08.1985
- Mr Giulio Tosato 27.08.1985 – 01.12.1988
- Mr Renato Troilo 01.12.1988 – 25.01.1994
- Mr Roberto Ongaro 25.01.1994 – 03.05.2004
- Mr Gianfranco Chiesa 03.05.2004 – 20.04.2006
- Mr Angelo Boschetti 20.04.2006 – currently in office
The Directors of Consorzio Zip
By statute disposition the directors of Consorzio Zip are appointed by the Assembly. The director has executive powers and deals with the management and promotion of the Body. He substantiates documents referable to Consorzio as well as facts whose existence can – and must – be asserted by him.
- Mr Francesco Pavanello 09.03. 1957 – 27.07.1958
- Mr Dino Gamba 28.07.1958 – 01.08.1990 (from 02.08.1990 to 04.02.1991 the vicedirector Mr Carlo Alberto Arengi, chief of the Technical Office, holds this office)
- Mr Giuseppe Burlini 05.02.1991 – 30.09.1999
- Mr Alberto Danieli 01.10.1999 – currently in office
1946
Preliminary studies are carried out by the Padua Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Crafts (Cciaa) in order to create a new industrial area.
1949
After obtaining the approval of both the reconstruction provincial Committee and the provincial economic Council, Cciaa asks the engineers Mr Rinaldo Gennari and Mr Alberico Putti to draft a project with the professional advice of the professors Mr Guido Ferro and Mr Francesco Marzolo.
1953, 20th January
The Cciaa president, Mr Ettore Da Molin, during a meeting held in Rome between the presidents of the Chamber of Commerce of Veneto, maintains that special helps for the reconstruction of a new industrial area are necessary to get over a serious unemployment and underemployment situation.
1955, 15th June
The Chamber Council decides to join the Consorzio Zip, and approves its position and boundaries, a 4 million lire capital share as well as the outlines of its statute which sets out its objects as follows:
a) to foster any public and private initiative aiming at creating the industrial area and the river port of Padua;
b) to ask for the expropriation of properties;
c) to promote and supervise the planning and carrying out of public works necessary for the functionality of the industrial area and river port of Padua;
d) to carry out any activity which might improve the efficiency of the industrial area and develop the river navigation;
e) to manage the expropriated areas;
f) to institute a stock book of boats in the river port of Padua.
1955, 31st July
By the resolution n. 159, the Town Council of Padua adopts a General Town Planning Scheme, the second one to be adopted in Italy.
The Plan defines the use of each plot of land and the industrial sites within the development area of the future Consorzio Zip.
1956, September
The Consorzio Zip statute consisting of twenty articles is approved (in 1970 the prefect Mr Matteucci will approve a new statute by decree).
1956, 11th December
The Municipality of Padua with the mayor Mr Cesare Crescente (first president of Consorzio Zip from 29th April 1957 till 1973), the Province represented by Mr Alberto Marcozzi, and the Chamber of Commerce whose President was Mr Ettore Da Molin, set up the Consorzio Zip, with a 15 million lire start-up capital - each body giving 5 millions - and a 200 million lire bank guaranty at Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo (Savings Bank of Padua and Rovigo).
The establishment of the Consorzio and the approval of its statute are carried out by the decree n. 45999 of the prefect of Padua issued on 11th December 1956 pursuant to the article 156 of the municipal and provincial Act in force at the time.
1957, 9th March
The Consorzio Zip Board of Directors, consisting of 9 members, is appointed and assisted by a financial committee and a technical committee.
1957, 29th May
The deputies Mr Luigi Gui and Mr Giuseppe Bettiol present the bill n. 2910 "Rules concerning the expropriation of lands and the carrying out of works in the industrial area and river port of Padua". By this bill, which is presented a few month after the establishment of ConsorzioZip, they lay down the rules to expropriate lands and carry out works necessary for the industrial area and the river port, whereas they renounce the financial and tax concessions which are granted to the industrial areas of other towns (the so called Vanoni Plan).
1957, 29th July
The Act n. 635 concerning incentives to be granted to depressed areas is approved; it provides for small enterprises locating in the indicated areas to be exempted from the payment of any income tax for ten years (however, the Act n. 635 tended to enhance the presence of tertiary activities in the capital, while increasing the number of industries in the town suburbs).
1957, 6th October
For the first time the Consorzio Zip Board of Directors debates what criteria are to be followed in order to draw up the budget.
1958, 4th February
The bill n. 2910 presented by the deputies Mr Gui and Mr Bettiol becomes the special Act n. 158. This Act provides Consorzio Zip with the power of expropriating lands and buildings existing in the choosen area, by detailed plans decided by the Consorzio Assembly and enforced by the prefect of Padua. Consorzio Zip can give the expropriated lands to enterprises on payment of an extra charge which must be sufficient to pay the considerable costs to organize and furnish the area back to the Consorzio. Furthermore, according to the art. 4 of the Act n. 158, "... the compensation for expropriation will be equivalent to the selling value of the land considered as a farmland regardless of its possible suitability for building or the fact that its value has increased or might increase directly or indirectly because of public works...".
By approving the Gui-Bettiol Act, the Municipality renounces a sizeable amount of its revenues in the period 1958-1970, and decides that the enterprises locating in the industrial area will benefit from an exemption equal to 85% of both the municipal consumption tax on the materials used to build plants, and the municipal taxes on signs and on industries and trades.
1958, 24th February
The Consorzio Board of Directors decides that the areas where roads are to be built must be expropriated first.
1958, 24th March
The Consorzio Assembly entrusts Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo (Savings Bank of Padua and Rovigo) with the Consorzio treasury until December 1963.
1958, 31st March
The Consorzio Board of Directors unanimously decides to submit the budget for the fiscal year 1958 to the approval of the Consorzio assembly. The budget is financially balanced.
1958, 24th May
According to the enforcement of the Act n. 158, the Consorzio Assembly decides to ask the prefect:
1) the compulsory purchase of 323,767 sq. m. within the boundaries of the Consorzio territory;
2) to define a detailed plan with a list of firms to be expropriated including the compensations to be given to each firm. These compensations are fixed according to the criteria under the art. 4 of the Act n. 158;
3) to submit this plan to the prefect's enforceability endorsement, provided for under the art. 3 of the Act 4 February 1958, n. 158, with a change concerning the publication of the list of firms to be expropriated for 30 days instead of 15 days, as it was previously envisaged by the detailed plan;
4) to fund the expropriation by a treasury overdraft. Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo (Savings Bank of Padua and Rovigo), as Consorzio treasurer, agrees on this transaction.
Of the total 323,767 square meters, 76,700 sq. m. are for roads, facilities and services, whereas 247,100 sq. m. are for the construction of industrial plants according to the specific requirements of 40 enterprises.
1958, 17th July
Rules and Regulations are set to sell areas in the Consorzio territory.
1958, 1st October
The Consorzio Assembly asks for the expropriation of 97,312 sq. m. in an area south of the river Piovego in order to meet some enterprises' request for industrial plants.
1958, 20th October
In compliance with the art. 6 of the Act n. 158, Consorzio gives the expropriated areas to single firms, by raising the expropriation value according to what is decided by the Board of Directors subject to the prefect's agreement (the expropriation value consists of the compensation for the expropriation and the compensation for the firm's relocation and reconstruction, besides a percentage equivalent to 8% of the compensation, which is to be considered as a refund of expropriation tax burdens).
The Gui-Bettiol Act has, however, downsides, especially for those families (about 400) who lose their lands unexpectedly. In order to remedy these families' problems, the Town Council of Padua pledges to find the majority of the expropriated people a job in the first factories locating in the industrial area. In order to tackle the expropriated people's housing problems, some building sites are parcelled to build new houses.
1958, 3rd December
A prefect's decree is issued: on behalf of Consorzio Zip, 49 owners located north of the river Piovego are expropriated. A 323,767 sq. m. total area becomes the property of Consorzio.
Subsequently, 40 enterprises submit their applications for obtaining the expropriated areas to locate their industrial plants: 36 applications are accepted, 4 are put off until the moment when the areas south of the river Piovego are sold too.
1958, 10th December
The Consorzio Zip president, Mr.Cesare Crescente, acknowledges that, owing to the prefect's decree, "some small farmers will undergo serious economic problems, to the detriment of the supporting of their own families..."
1959, 8th January
At San Lazzaro a crowd of men, women and children keep the Consorzio Zip engineers from marking the boudaries of the lots to be expropriated.
1959, 11th January
Demonstrations take place again in the following days. On 11th January, some people living at San Lazzaro and the police clash.
1959, 17th January
The expropriated people set up a consortium whose president is Mr Armando Rossetto. At the instance of the lawyers Giulio Schiller and Dino Cortese on behalf of 14 of the 49 expropriated firms, Mr Colucci, a magistrate of Padua, orders to immediately suspend the enforcement of the prefect's decree of 3rd December 1958, under the articles 700, 689 and 690 of CCP, and tells Consorzio Zip to promptly stop any activity concerning its entry into possession of the expropriated lands. Furtermore, the same lawyers take legal action against Consorzio Zip for "...having the expropriated lands of 15 firms revalued, and raise, in an interlocutory phase, an objection about the unconstitutionality of the Act 4th February 1958, n. 158, on the grounds of an alleged conflict between art. 2 and art. 4 of the same Act".
1959, 22nd January
The Assembly of Consorzio Zip decides to object to the magistrate during this civil suit and tells its president to appoint a counsel in order to have the magistrate Colucci's suspensive decree revoked.
1959, February
In order to settle this controversy quickly, Consorzio Zip work out a settlement to be submitted to the consortium of the expropriated people. The main points of this settlement are the following:
1) the compensation for the expropriation must be set through an arbitral report which is to be considered final and binding;
2) the art. 4 of the Act n. 158 is to be interpreted as follows: the compensation for the expropriation must be estimated by considering the actual selling value of the real estates to be expropriated under a system of free negotiations, regardless of any change of value of this real estate owing to public works to be carried out to build the industrial area.
1959, 16th March
The Attorney General's Office, on behalf of the prefect of Padua and the Ministry for Domestic Affairs, appeals to the Supreme Court for regulation of jurisdiction in order to prove the lack of power of the magistrate - as a ordinary judge - in the controversy raised by the consortium of the expropriated people, and, at the same time, cancel the order to suspend the expropriation decree.
1959, 18th March
The settlement made by Consorzio Zip is rejected by the majority of the members of the expropriated people's consortium. Zip replies by maintaining that, at the explicit request of a single expropriated firm, besides the compensation for the expropriation, Consorzio Zip might also give it an area as large as the expropriated one or suitable for the construction of an equal building; in case of partial expropriation of small properties exceeding half of their surface, on the request of the expropriated firm, Consorzio Zip will buy the rest of the property; workers and employees who must leave the expropriated buildings will be helped to move to new houses; the board of arbitrators immediately proceeds to assess and reckon what the expropriated properties consist of, and gives its final report to Consorzio Zip; the board will give its arbitration within 3 months.
1959, 6th May
In order to sell the available areas in the Consorzio territory north of the river Piovego, the Board of Directors fixes the selling unit price of the areas before proceeding to sell them. This price is 1,011 lire per sq.m.. Subsequently it will be changed depending on the position of the areas: it will be higher (1,075 lire/sq.m.) for the areas along the main road, lower (575/sq.m.) for the others.
1959, 25th June
The civil divisions of the Supreme Court - appealled by the prefect of Padua and the Ministry for Domestic Affairs defended by the Attorney General's Office, and by the Consorzio Zip defended by the lawyers Francesco Franchi and Aldo Perissinotto – sentence in the controversy against the expropriated people. They declare that the ordinary judge does not have the jurisdiction to suspend the prefect's decree of 3rd December 1958; the consortium of the expropriated people is sentenced to pay the costs and the deposit is returned to Consorzio Zip.
1959, 17th October
The Board of Directors adjusts the budget for the fiscal year 1959, which is balanced at 68,041,980 lire.
1959, Autumn
Expropriated areas start to be given to enterprises. The aim is to expropriate and use about 200,000 sq. m. a year in order to complete the work within 30 years, increasing the value of the whole 6,300,000 sq. m. area up to a total of 12,500,000 lire by 1988; actually this annual average has been exceeded since in one decade Consorzio bought and used 3,500,000 sq. m., namely an average of over 300,000 sq.m. a year.
1959-1960
In this two-year period the first enterprises locating in the industrial area belong especially to the machine and iron and steel sector. In order to meet the requests of these industries and allow them to develop, Consorzio Zip build an over 20 km long complex network of inland roads; two motorway tollgates, one North of Zip (Padua East), and the other one South-East (Padua – industrial area); an over 6 km long railway junction with its freight depot built to connect the industrial area with the railway station of Padua. The old state canals Piovego and San Gregorio are used as waterways and equipped to be connected to Venice by over 300 ton boats; and a range of other services are created including: a telephone system, a water supply system linked to the municipal waterworks, a system to supply electricity for industrial and lighting use, as well as gas and methane. A service centre including a café, a tabacconist's, a coffee bar, a restaurant, and a social and welfare service centre. Finally, branch offices of trading banks, a post office, the Red Cross provincial offices and a branch office of the Fire Brigade.
1961, 14th May
The first toponymic signs appear and signpost "Viale dell'Industria", which divides the Zip north area into two parts and is the arterial route for services; three flyovers and a bridge over the river Piovego are built. North of this area dozens of industrial sites belonging to "Meccanica Monteverde", "Meccanica Padana", "Ferrotubi", "Cingolani Legnami", "Itala Pilsen" appear.
The visit of the Prime Minister, Mr Amintore Fanfani, is to be considered within this framework: "The industrial area of Padua – he maintains – is the first industrial area which has been built in Italy without any State support. Its success derives from its very start-up, from the courage and the wisdom of its promoters and creators. It will be a great enterprise; we can not predict how it will develop also because of its location, since it lies at the junction of some major European routes".
1962
The occupation of the industrial area continues towards east, towards the river Piovego and San Lazzaro; besides Zedapa, Distillerie Italiane and Officina del Gas, also Italcementi, Torpado, Sade, Carburanti, Rizzato, Cisa Viscosa locate in these territories.
1963
The parcelling of the North industrial area - concerning over one million square meters - is completed. The South area starts to be parcelled. In order to link these two areas it is necessary to cross the river Piovego; therefore, Corso Argentina, a road similar to a motorway, is built, which, subsequently, is extended with the name of Corso Kennedy up to the Piovese Main Road, and, later, is included in the General Town Planning Scheme as ring road east.
The main roads of the South area are Corso Stati Uniti, Corso Andorra, Corso Lussemburgo, Corso Olanda, Coso Spagna. The South industrial area is characterised by the fact that there are very large industrial sites - each one covering up to 200,000 square meters - including: the machine shops Stanga, the Cnr (National Research Council), General Warehouses, Customs, Acciaierie Venete (Steel Plants of Veneto), Centro Grossista (Wholesalers'Centre), Amniup (Padua city-owned enterprise for street-cleaning services and sanitation), Interporto spa (Freight Village plc).
1963 - 1965
Over these two years there is a slowdown owing to a period of economic crisis, so only few enterprises locate in the Zip South area. After this period of uncertainty, industrial plants start again to be built. The number of working manufacturing enterprises increases up to 200 units.
1969, 1st October
The deputies Luigi Girardin and Costante Degan draft and introduce the Act n. 739, which replaces the first article of the Act n. 158 establishing Consorzio Zip, and changes other articles. Thanks to this Act, enterprises belonging to the tertiary and quaternary (services) sectors are allowed to locate in this territory. The whole industrial area expands from 6,500,000 sq. m. to 10,800,000 sq m.. The Act n. 739 decrees that the works are to be finished by the year 1985 - this term will be postponed until 1995 -, introduces the practice of two-year plans – which the Assembly approves and executes every two years – with a list of expropriated people, and removes any uncertainty caused by the Act n. 158, which did not state any term by which the expropriation should occur. The Act n. 739 also eliminates any obligation imposed by the Act n. 158, which prohibited any activity but the industrial ones, actually holding back the commercial development of Padua.
1970
The Cnr (National Research Council) locates in the industrial area. Its premises cover an area of 170,000 square meters where there are six laboratories: Itef (dealing with refrigeration techniques), Lasdeb (dealing with studies on system dynamics and bioengineering), Geo (dealing with geology applied to road planning and subsurface use), Ipelp (dealing with polarography and preparatory electrochemistry), Ictr (dealing with chemistry and technology of radium elements) and the ionized gas Institute (this institute, set up in 1983, will be relocated within the Zip territory in June 1988).
1970, 16th July
The ring road which goes through the industrial area is opened. Subsequently, it will lead up to the building of the Interporto spa (Freight Village) of Padua - on 6th June 1973 -, thanks to the intervention of the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Mario Volpato.
1970, 20th August
The Consorzio Zip statute, approved in September 1956, is conformed to the Act n. 739. Consorzio Zip is run by an Assembly of fifteen members appointed on equal terms by the Municipality, the Province and the Chamber of Commerce; the board of directors consists of 9 persons – each body being represented by three persons – and among them the board itself chooses its president and managing director. The financing system relies on self-financing; assets and liabilities are balanced, since the strategy is to plan the building of infrastructures and the expropriations according to incomes.
1972, 6th June
Consorzio Zip entrusts the office of Sir William Halcrow and Partners Consulting Engineer in London and the office Casara-Cevese-Polimeno in Padua with the joint task to plan the development of the river port of Padua.
1974, 20th December
Cerved, an IT company which manages the automation services of some institutional bodies, moved into a new building: everybody can get information through a cable link from the data bank of the enterprises' register and the report of protests kept for five years.
1975
The Magazzini Generali spa (General Warehouses), covering a 190,000 sq. m. area, of which 40,000 square meters are indoor and equipped with refrigerating station and multivalent cells, start to work within the Zip territory. The General Warehouses develop a considerable intermodal activity.
1980
The Centre of mail mechanization (Cmp), equipped with up-to-date facilities, starts to work; every day it produces 1,300 quintals of printed matter, 50,000 packages, about 400,000 letters, 5,000 registered letters and 70,000 recorded delivery letters; it is characterized by continuos daily connections with the whole north-east area and the rest of Italy by articulated vehicles and freight trains. All the mail is sorted within a mechanization system, consisting in a machine, called Sari, made by Elsag thanks to a totally Italian technology, which reads the address and stamps the code.
It covers the area between Corso Stati Uniti and the inland port, namely about 103,000 square meters.
1982
Consorzio Zip increases its capital share of Interporto Merci spa of Padua up to 14,246%, and becomes its second shareholder after the Chamber of Commerce. Furthermore, the fact that new shareholders enter into this partnership implies an increase of capital from 3,5 billion lire up to 20 billion lire and turns the Freight Village of Padua, which was a simple centre for sorting out goods, into a state-of-the-art integrated logistics centre.
1983, 10th May
Passage of the Act n.191, which postpones the end of the Consorzio Zip works until 1995.
1984
According to the Act 245/1984, the waterway system is considered as a fundamental part of the Transport General Plan, where the navigable routes are regarded as a very important organised system. In the same year, the IT company Cerved sets up Engineering, an IT design company.
1985
Centro Grossisti Tessuti (Textiles Wholesalers Centre), one of the most important Italian wholesale trade centres, is set up and builds its premises in the Zip area.
By the resolution 41195 of the year 1985, the regional council of Veneto decides to complete the waterway which connects Padua to Venice, and entrusts the Company Interporto Merci spa with the tecnical assistance in the construction of the inland port, and the Company Idrovie spa with the excavation works from the river Novissimo to the river Brenta.
1986
Interporto is awarded the top-level qualification in the Transport General Plan and is considered as one of the best freight villages in Italy. Interporto receives this qualification as a result of both the construction of the waterway Padua-Venice and, above all, the development of the Zip area. In 1990 Interporto will have 21 tracks.
In the same year, the IT company Cerved sets up Ecocerved, a company working for ecology; its aim is to provide enterprises with new services necessary for an up-to-date entrepreneurial activity.
1987
On behalf of Consorzio, the engineer Mr Mario Zambon makes the working plan of a new arterial route which is the extension of Corso Brasile and leads to the Office District; it is a road planned as a clearway, with four 3.75 meter wide traffic lanes, a two meter large bicycle path and a one meter large emergency lane. This new major road must gather and distribute the inner traffic and connect the North area with the South one, without any slip-road to the ring road, as well as the whole industrial area and, especially, the freight village with the Office District; it joins viale della Navigazione Interna and then continues along viale dell'Industria and via Friburgo.
1988
One of the first four container centres in Italy is established. Consorzio decides to build a feeder line linked to the central station, which goes through the whole area from north to south and supplies enterprises, which can ship or receive their goods directly by vans. In 1988 about 10,000 vans are used.
In the same year, Cerved establishes Consorzio Tramite (Computer Initiatives for Transport of Goods); it is a databank concerning road haulage supply/demand, which helps to rationalize this activity by reducing the number of times when vehicles run in vain.
1990
The planning and execution of the Roncajette Park is approved. It concerns a one million sq. m. large area and aims at providing the town with a green space by preserving the historical banks of the river Roncajette.
1994
The industrial area expands by including productive activities located along the river Piovego and the railway behind the station. The enterprises located here are now 900.
1995
By a provision included in the Financial Act, the government extends for five more years the expropriation power of Consorzio Zip, which will lapse on 31st December 2000.
1996
Zip and Olivetti spa set up Telerete Nordest, a service company in the telecommunications and IT sector. At Zip's expense, the fibre optic wiring of the industrial area starts to be carried out.
1998, 12th September
Consorzio Zip joins the Territorial Pact of the Paduan Lower Territory; a Pact is an instrument whereby development and employment are promoted according to the EU regulations fostering projects presented by coordinated bodies. Besides Consorzio Zip, 43 municipalities within the same area, 11 entreprenuers'organizations, 5 guarantee cooperatives, the Region and the Province join the Pact.
1998, 1st November
The President of Consorzio Zip, Mr Roberto Ongaro – who will stay in office until January 1999 -, asks if Consorzio can use part of the 270,000 square meters of land, which are worth 50 billion lire and are tied up for the construction of the waterway (a project which has never been accomplished), so that they might be sold to some logistics enterprises wishing to invest in Padua.
1998, 5th November
The Veneto Regional Council does not enforce a regulation concerning the project of a railway connecting Padua with Chioggia, which was promoted by Consorzio Zip, the professor Mr Mario Bonsembiante and the green party regional councillor, Mr Ivo Rossi. The project of the railway line Padua-Chioggia should have made up for the non-construction of the waterway Padua-Venice.
1999, 8th January
Tim (Italian mobile telecommunications) locates within the Zip territory and leaves Mestre to move into the premises built by the company Sirio in VII Strada.
1999, 27th January
The mayor of Padua, Mr Flavio Zanonato, endorses the appointments falling within the Municipality's competence at Consorzio Zip. Thanks to the mayor's endorsement, the following people are appointed: Mr Roberto Ongaro - outgoing president and reappointed to the chair -, the entrepreneur Mr De Stefani, the president of Atp (Paduan Transport City-owned Company) and Albergatori (Hotel owners), Mr Gian Ernesto Zanin, Mr Eugenio Zaggia from Coldiretti (Federation of Small Farmers), Mr Ferdinando Bertotti, secretary of Cisl (Italian Federation of Trade Unions).
1999, 3rd February
The minister of Transport, Mr Tiziano Treu, asks to give up the waterway project, since the canal will never be finished and the hydraulic works carried out during the last years must be done all over again. He suggests to take into account the opportunity to build a waterway along the river Po which would connect Chioggia, Rovigo and, going upriver, Ferrara, Mantua and Cremona, almost reaching Milan.
1999, 4th May
The employees working in the Tim premises in Mestre start to move to the industrial area of Padua. The first offices to be relocated are those of the customer service.
1999, 3rd June
In the year 1999 Consorzio Zip will urbanize 250,000 square meters of land, which will be given to new enterprises. At this point there are 1200 enterprises.
1999, 22nd February
In 1998 the traffic of lorries in this area involves 216,013 vehicles (+ 7,3% compared to 1997). According to forecasts, in the short run there will be almost 400,000 lorries a year. Thanks to the intermodale system, however, the number of lorries is decreased by 200,000 vehicles. Furthermore, within the Zip territory, computerized services start to work allowing to connect all the 1,200 Zip enterprises with one another and create an integrated system of videoconferences.
1999, 22nd October
After starting up several joint-ventures with Hungary, Slovenia and Albania, Consorzio Zip begins a project aiming at establishing a group of enterprises at Nablus, in Palestine.
1999, 25th November
The Commodity Exchange, set up by the Chamber of Commerce of Padua and necessary to assess the trend of the Paduan agricultural market, is moved from Corso Australia to the industrial area, in via Portogallo 11.
2000, 10th May
Zip covers an area of 10 million and 500 thousand square meters, about 1,050 hectares, where there are over 1,300 enterprises. A new project aims at doubling the Freight Village area - whose indoor surface will be increased from 90,000 to 180,000 square meters - and building another terminal station by extending tracks from 400 to 750 meters.
Of the total 10 million and 500 thousand square meters of the area indicated by the Act of the year 1969, Zip can still sell 150,000 square meters for produtive activities and 300,000 square meters to be used for freight village services. However, some enterprises have requested far larger areas, namely a total of about 800,000 square meters.
