May 31 marks the second day at Expo 2025 Osaka of a two-day event focused on the strategic role of university districts in urban regeneration processes. The event, “4UniverCity Futures – The City of the Future: Designing and Transforming University Neighborhoods”, is promoted by MUSA and places Milan at the heart of an international dialogue on new models of sustainable urban development.

Today’s agenda centers on co-design, with a participatory workshop on university neighborhoods as catalysts for urban change, followed by a plenary session on Europe-Asia collaborations for urban sustainability, featuring representatives from Japanese universities and companies. Milan and Osaka, sister cities since 1981, will engage in a conversation as partner cities committed to transforming their respective urban fabrics.

“With MUSA, we bring to Osaka a concrete and multi-level vision of how universities and cities can collaborate to enhance urban quality of life,” says Giovanna Iannantuoni, President of MUSA and Rector of the University of Milano-Bicocca. “Milan is an open, evolving laboratory and represents a model that can also inspire other global cities.”

PROGRAM – May 30, 2025

CHAIR: Matteo Colleoni (Delegate for Sustainability and Mobility, University of Milano-Bicocca)

2:30 PM – Urban Regeneration and Sustainability
(University of Milano-Bicocca)
Speakers:

  • Maurizio Acciarri (University of Milano-Bicocca)

  • Emily Rose Palm (University of Milano-Bicocca)

  • Tohma Sogabe (The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo)

  • Edoardo Dellarole (ROAD-ENI)

  • Koji Takagi (Bridgestone)

  • Lorenzo Alleva (ROAD-Bridgestone)

3:30 PM – Innovative Healthcare, Well-being, and Urban Quality of Life
(University of Milan)
Speakers:

  • Marta Marsilio (University of Milan)

  • Marco Boffi (University of Milan)

  • Setsuo Tsuruta (Tokyo Denki University)

  • Lei Liu (AstraZeneca)

  • Gabriele Elia (TIM)

4:30 PM – Coffee Break

5:00 PM – Universities as Engines of Urban Transformation
(Politecnico di Milano)
Speakers:

  • Emilio Faroldi (Politecnico di Milano)

  • Maddalena Buffoli (Politecnico di Milano)

  • Yosuke Komiyama (Kyoto University)

  • Ueno Takashi (3L-Ricoh)

6:00 PM – Economic Impact and Sustainable Finance
(Bocconi University)
Speakers:

  • Andrea Beltratti (Bocconi University)

  • Gianluca Manca (Bocconi University)

  • Chiara Locati (De Nora) [online]

  • Davide Rovelli (De Nora) [online]

  • Tamara Viel (De Longhi) [online]