€900 million strategic plan approved for Pompeii and Herculaneum

Italy's Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini chaired the management committee of the Strategic Plan for the socio-economic development of the UNESCO site areas, approving a total investment of €900 million for the archaeological areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata. Of this sum, €594 million is already financed and €337 million is yet to be funded. The plan includes mobility and infrastructure projects such as a railway hub in Pompeii (€30.6 million), conversion of the Torre Annunziata–Castellammare di Stabia–Gragnano railway into a light tram (€33 million), and a new EAV line for Pompeii Santuario (€67 million). Rehabilitation works include €49 million for the Villa Favorita complex with the Bourbon pier in Herculaneum and €275 million for environmental and landscape restoration of the coastal strip. The former Royal Arms Factory in Torre Annunziata will also be valorized. Sewage systems in the UNESCO area will be completed, and the Sarno river rehabilitation budget increased from €217 to €402 million. New proposals include a Vesuvius cable car (€53 million) and completion of the Royal Site of Portici valorization (€71 million). Franceschini stated that Pompeii has become a model recognized by UNESCO and the EU for resource management, and the plan aims to boost tourism and urban regeneration in southern Italy.