August 29, 2025
Milano Wellness City 2030: the future of health is built today
With Milano Wellness City 2030, Nerio Alessandri’s Wellness Foundation is promoting a new urban health and prevention model based on culture, lifestyle and innovation.
Looking at it from the outside, Milan appears to be a fast-paced city, a dynamic metropolis, Italy's economic capital, a meeting point for trends, ambitions and innovation. But looking at it from the inside, something beats beneath the superficial numbers: the growing awareness that health, real health, starts well before diagnosis. It starts with lifestyle, a shared culture, a city that knows how to look after its citizens. This is where Milano Wellness City 2030 comes in; the project promoted by the Wellness Foundation aims to make the Lombard capital an international model for prevention and wellness, in line with the global objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This vision is guided by Nerio Alessandri, entrepreneur and innovator, founder of Technogym and someone who has always been convinced that “wellness pays”. After the experience of the Wellness Valley in Romagna, Alessandri has chosen Milan to bring the concept of wellness to a new urban setting.
This vision is guided by Nerio Alessandri, entrepreneur and innovator, founder of Technogym and someone who has always been convinced that “wellness pays”. After the experience of the Wellness Valley in Romagna, Alessandri has chosen Milan to bring the concept of wellness to a new urban setting.
“Milan has all the credentials for important challenges; it is the country's economic and financial capital and has always been a visionary and modern place. It is the ideal city for promoting a social and cultural model that takes care of citizens' health by focusing on prevention and creating the conditions favorable for making healthy life choices”. Nerio Alessandri
Founder and President of the Wellness Foundation and Technogym Fertile ground, in short. But also a challenge. Because, while on the one hand Milan is one of Italy's most advanced cities in terms of quality of life, with a solid network of public policies – from its Food Policy Pact to the coordination of the network of healthy cities – on the other, it shows alarming signs that cannot be ignored.
“It was definitely a positive surprise when I found out about the city’s commitment to improving quality of life and wellness. However, the ageing of the population and unhealthy lifestyles, combined with the increase in obesity and overweight, and the consequent increase in chronic diseases, are generating an unsustainable increase in healthcare spending, as well as having a substantial impact on quality of life. The data that worried me above all concerned the very young”.
Founder and President of the Wellness Foundation and Technogym Fertile ground, in short. But also a challenge. Because, while on the one hand Milan is one of Italy's most advanced cities in terms of quality of life, with a solid network of public policies – from its Food Policy Pact to the coordination of the network of healthy cities – on the other, it shows alarming signs that cannot be ignored.
“It was definitely a positive surprise when I found out about the city’s commitment to improving quality of life and wellness. However, the ageing of the population and unhealthy lifestyles, combined with the increase in obesity and overweight, and the consequent increase in chronic diseases, are generating an unsustainable increase in healthcare spending, as well as having a substantial impact on quality of life. The data that worried me above all concerned the very young”.
Milano Wellness City 2030 came about to respond to this urgent need. But not with slogans or projects imposed from above. The idea was to build an ecosystem of urban wellness that integrates lifestyle medicine, nutrition, mental health, research, education, tourism and regenerated public spaces. A network of real interventions, with a cultural objective that comes before health.
“It is intended first and foremost as a cultural project; it is only by joining forces, building in existing initiatives and promoting new ones that we can raise the profile of a culture genuinely focused on healthy lifestyles and prevention”.
A culture that also needs to speak the language of the economy, however. Alessandri is well aware of this: wellness is not only a social value, but a driving force behind development.
“I can put it in two words: ‘Wellness pays’. For everyone. Despite global uncertainty, the Wellness Economy shows signs of significant growth, with forecasts indicating a 52% increase by 2027, reaching $8.5 trillion”. Nerio Alessandri – Founder and President of the Wellness Foundation and Technogym
“It is intended first and foremost as a cultural project; it is only by joining forces, building in existing initiatives and promoting new ones that we can raise the profile of a culture genuinely focused on healthy lifestyles and prevention”.
A culture that also needs to speak the language of the economy, however. Alessandri is well aware of this: wellness is not only a social value, but a driving force behind development.
“I can put it in two words: ‘Wellness pays’. For everyone. Despite global uncertainty, the Wellness Economy shows signs of significant growth, with forecasts indicating a 52% increase by 2027, reaching $8.5 trillion”. Nerio Alessandri – Founder and President of the Wellness Foundation and Technogym
Alessandri involved institutions, businesses, universities and third sector bodies in the project from the outset, creating a proper “control room” for the city, one capable of building a system around a shared goal. "The project could only come about with support from qualified partners, combining valuable experience and skills and bringing everything that is excellent about quality of life in t he city together”.
The expected benefits are many: from physical activity initiatives to educational programs, from mindful eating to corporate welfare, from urban regeneration to mental health pathways.
“In a nutshell, we want to help create the conditions so that it's easy to make healthy life choices. Training, knowledge, skills, facilities with equipment, new opportunities for young and old people alike to carry out physical activities and exercise, and available wellness menus are just a few examples”.
The expected benefits are many: from physical activity initiatives to educational programs, from mindful eating to corporate welfare, from urban regeneration to mental health pathways.
“In a nutshell, we want to help create the conditions so that it's easy to make healthy life choices. Training, knowledge, skills, facilities with equipment, new opportunities for young and old people alike to carry out physical activities and exercise, and available wellness menus are just a few examples”.
The intermediate goal is clear: the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, a unique opportunity to unite sport, health and urban vision into a lasting legacy. But 2030 is the more distant horizon.
“The ability to predict diseases before they manifest will be the greatest revolution of our time. Healthness leverages Wellness and takes this vision even further by making health prevention programs tangible thanks to data and AI”.
Milan is just the first step, then. A city as a testing ground, ready to lead the way. The dream? That the wave of urban wellness washes far and wide. And leaves its mark. Or, in Alessandri’s words: “Our hope is that this project can stimulate a positive effect on both a national and international level”.
“The ability to predict diseases before they manifest will be the greatest revolution of our time. Healthness leverages Wellness and takes this vision even further by making health prevention programs tangible thanks to data and AI”.
Milan is just the first step, then. A city as a testing ground, ready to lead the way. The dream? That the wave of urban wellness washes far and wide. And leaves its mark. Or, in Alessandri’s words: “Our hope is that this project can stimulate a positive effect on both a national and international level”.
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