As Milan, Italy, prepares for the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics and embarks on a sweeping urban overhaul, analysts say housing costs are surging and social division is rapidly deepening.
On the 4th (local time), the Washington Post (WP) reported that Milan's southeastern Porta Romana area, where the Olympic Village has been built, has seen rapid development recently. A large office tower near the new village is nearing completion, and the nearby railway depot site is being turned into commercial facilities, offices and luxury apartment complexes through a project involving luxury brand Prada. In recent years, the area has seen a string of new condominiums and upscale houses priced in the millions of euros.
The event is expected to be the most dispersed Olympics ever, but Milan residents are expressing dissatisfaction with the event itself, WP reported. Venues are spread across northern Italy, ranging from arenas near downtown expressways to slopes in mountain villages, but with urban development concentrated in Milan, where the opening ceremony will be held, residents' frustration is intensifying.
Local society says Milan's development policy produces exclusion, not inclusion. Lorenzo Faggi, an activist with the civic group Sustainable Olympics Committee, which opposes hosting the Winter Olympics, said, "The legacy of this Olympics is exclusion, not integration," adding, "Development is widening the income gap and pushing the existing working class to the outskirts."
In fact, the Olympic fever appears to be muted across Italy. Even in major cities such as Rome and Naples, the Olympics are mostly visible on sponsor billboards, and ticket sales are falling short of expectations. With some key facilities, including an ice hockey arena, entering last-minute construction, citizens are said to be complaining about construction noise and traffic congestion. Alessandro Guerrille, an activist with the Milan-based cultural group Famiglia Meneghina, lamented, "Every time an event is held, citizens are punished."
The discontent appears to have built up over a long period even before the Olympics. In 2017, the Italian government introduced a tax benefit applying a flat tax of 100,000 euros (about 173.02 million won) per year on overseas income; until it was raised to 200,000 euros in 2024, the system served as a main factor drawing global wealth. According to investment immigration consultancy Henley & Partners, one out of every 12 Milan residents is an ultra-high-net-worth individual, a ratio that has risen about 24% over the 10 years since 2014.
Global business figures are also flocking to Milan. Richard Gnodde, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs, Persen Lamas Rambranho, partner at GP Investments, and Frederic Arnault, CEO of LVMH's watch division, are reportedly among those who have recently settled in Milan. LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault in 2022 bought a vineyard and residence opposite the Santa Maria delle Grazie church, famous for the painting The Last Supper, for about $130 million (about 190.9 billion won).
Real estate prices are also posting steep gains. According to Italian real estate brokerage Tecnocasa, since the 2015 Milan Expo, nearby dwelling prices have surged more than 54% over 10 years, far outpacing the average of major Italian cities (38%). Riccardo Trudo, a Milan city councilor with the hard-right Brothers of Italy, said the process resembles how San Francisco, with a population of 8 million, transformed into a city only for high-income elites.
Host cities repeatedly experience internal conflict. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, France drew criticism for a "war on the poor" as evictions of migrant workers and clearances of illegal settlements continued in the low-income area of Seine-Saint-Denis. In Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, Greece's Athens and Canada's Montreal, massive venues difficult to repurpose were deemed to have become headaches, and during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, eight environmental groups raised a "greenwashing" controversy over the use of plywood linked to tropical deforestation.
The city of Milan said it would include public rental and subsidized housing in the redevelopment of the Olympic Village and railway sites, but appears to recognize that the projects are pressuring the working class. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said, "Most global cities face similar problems," adding, "Social inequality, especially rising housing costs, has emerged as Milan's central conflict."
Experts say Milan's internationalization has entered an irreversible phase. Roberto Magaglio, a partner at real estate consultancy Engel & Völkers, said, "Milan once acted like a magnet, and the upward trend is already structural," adding, "Even if tax incentives diminish going forward, the capital inflows amplified by the Olympics will continue for the time being."