Campaign For A Living Venice

What We Want from the Next Mayor

May 5, 2026

By Martina Zennaro

Venice must become a living city again, not a shell hollowed out by overtourism. It needs to be a place where people can live, raise a family, work, study, and get around with dignity. A city where the quality of life of its residents once again becomes the fundamental measurement for every administrative decision.

To achieve this, it is essential to rebuild a diversified urban economy that does not depend almost exclusively on tourism. Artisans, small workshops, and neighborhood shops must be given the conditions to return, because they are the custodians of the knowledge, crafts, and community life that made Venice great. Without them, the city loses the deepest part of its identity.

Public space must be cleared and restored to those who use it every day. Venice must be a place where people can walk freely, where its narrow streets and open squares are not held hostage by café terraces and low-quality souvenir stalls that suffocate the space, damage the urban character, and even block the views of iconic landmarks like the Rialto Bridge. Venice also needs more urban green space — benches, public drinking fountains, places to rest and meet.

At the same time, the 2,700 vacant apartments owned by the City and by ATER (the public housing authority) must be reclaimed and made available for occupancy without delay. It is not possible to talk about urban renewal while thousands of apartments sit empty and Venetians — or those who would like to become Venetians — cannot find affordable housing. Residency is not a slogan: it must once again become a concrete right.

Mobility is currently one of the city’s most acute pain points. Dedicated water-bus lines for residents, separate from tourist routes, are needed — with affordable fares and reliable service. It is unacceptable to hold a transit pass and still be unable to board because the vaporetti are packed with visitors. A resident should not have to fight every day just to get to work, school, or the doctor. The city must guarantee regular, fast, and dignified transportation: it is a minimum requirement of a civilized society.

Urban safety must become a real, visible presence rather than merely a stated goal. Reinstating neighborhood police officers — on foot and by water, active around the clock — would be a fundamental tool for maintaining civic standards, quality of life, and for preventing the antisocial behavior that erodes daily life.

It is also necessary to permanently halt the proliferation of short-term vacation rentals and to tightly regulate the ones that already exist. A city that offers more beds to tourists than to residents is not a city — it is a theme park that has already lost its soul. No policy can be called effective if it does not reverse that ratio.

In a city that lives and breathes culture, the role of a dedicated Culture Commissioner must be restored — someone focused on protecting intangible heritage, supporting cultural institutions, and promoting the artistic output of the city’s own residents.

On the question of overtourism, the solution cannot be an entry fee that distorts Venice’s character as an open and welcoming city. The answer lies in limiting the impact, not in charging a toll. Large day-tour groups must be regulated, the boats from Punta Sabbioni capped, and bar-crawl tours and events that exploit the city without giving anything back to the community brought under control. The goal is not to close the doors, but to cut back on the excess.

Major events also need to be rethought. In recent years they have grown in number and intensity to the point of becoming a daily source of pressure. Celebrations like Redentore and the Vogalonga must return to their original spirit: they should belong first and foremost to Venetians. It is unacceptable that a resident should have to reserve a spot outside their own home to watch the fireworks, or book their place on the water to take part in a rowing tradition that was born for the city — not for mass tourism.

Everything that has contributed to Venice’s gradual decline can be regulated, brought back to a human scale, and returned to sustainability. The city deserves management that recognizes it for what it is: a fragile and precious community that can only survive if real people actually live there. Every decision must have as its goal Venice’s rebirth as a real, contemporary, livable city — not as a backdrop.

Venice can change course. But it takes political will, courage, and a vision that puts those who live the city at the center — not those who merely consume it.

Source: Ytali Global

Don’t miss a story! Sign up to receive news from Venice in your email!