The metropolitan area includes the city of Milan. It covers 610 square miles, 133 cities and has a population of 3,236,472. Milan deployed a one stop shop portal in 2008 to accept paperless applications, but the system didn’t manage permits in a geographic environment. Applications were incomplete, and the entire permit review was managed outside the system. It automated fee and tax collection, but many permit types and automated functions were missing. In 2016 Milan decided to replace it.
In 2017 GEO.works was selected because it combines administrative (i.e., automated calculation and collection of fees, taxes, and rentals) and technical procedures into a single platform, tightly integrated with GIS. The initial implementation included utility permits, driveway accesses and temporary encroachments. Outdoor advertising permitting was implemented in 2018. Milan added business analysis procedures to manage unauthorized outdoor advertising and remove illegal structures in 2022. These procedures are considered best practices in Italy and were subsequently deployed in other metropolitan areas.
