Milan's Digital Archives Are Full of Duplicate Images — and the Cleanup Is Coming for Your Neighbourhood

Milan's municipal digital infrastructure holds tens of thousands of photographs — from planning-permission portals to the Comune di Milano's official tourism pages — and a growing portion of them are duplicates: the same image filed under different reference codes, appearing in unrelated records, or attached to outdated project listings that no longer reflect what stands on the ground. The Comune confirmed earlier this year that a systematic audit of its digital asset management system is now underway, with a target completion window set for the end of 2026, timed to coincide with the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics spotlight on the city.

The timing is not accidental. With hundreds of thousands of visitors and press organisations expected to pass through Milan between January and March 2026, city officials have been under pressure to ensure that images on public-facing platforms — from the Portale dei Servizi al Cittadino to the planning maps accessible via the Geoportale del Comune di Milano — are accurate, current, and legally cleared. A duplicated or misattributed image attached to a planning record can delay approval processes, confuse residents filing objections, and in some cases expose the municipality to licensing disputes.

Why Porta Nuova and Navigli Residents Feel It Most

The neighbourhoods most affected are those that have changed fastest. Porta Nuova, where the Bosco Verticale towers and the Piazza Gae Aulenti redevelopment fundamentally altered the skyline in the last decade, is a case study in the problem. Planning records on the city's public portal still carry images from construction phases completed as far back as 2014, sitting alongside current documents filed in 2025. A resident on Via della Liberazione trying to cross-reference a neighbour's planning application can pull up a photograph that shows scaffolding on a building now fully occupied for eleven years.

The Navigli district presents a different version of the same issue. The ongoing debate around the possible re-opening of the Naviglio della Martesana canal, a proposal that has circulated through Palazzo Marino for several years, has generated multiple rounds of feasibility documentation — each accompanied by its own image sets. Campaign groups including Riaprire i Navigli have noted that duplicate images circulating across public and advocacy platforms create confusion about which proposal iteration is current and which has been superseded.

Local architects and urban design studios working along Corso Como and in the Isola neighbourhood, where smaller-scale redevelopment projects frequently require public consultation, have flagged the practical consequences. When a planning notice contains an image that duplicates one already associated with a different, completed project, objectors can waste time disputing a building that was finished years ago.

What the Audit Means in Practice

The Comune di Milano's digital transformation office, operating under the broader framework of the Piano Triennale per l'Informatica, is running the deduplication effort in phases. The first phase, covering the planning and construction permit database, was scheduled to conclude by June 30, 2026. The second phase, addressing tourism and cultural heritage image libraries including those tied to Palazzo Reale and the Pinacoteca di Brera, is planned for completion before September 2026.

For residents, the most immediate practical change will be visible in the Sportello Unico per l'Edilizia, the single online counter for building and renovation permits. Officials have indicated that image attachments to permit records will carry unique identifiers from mid-2026 onwards, making it easier to flag a mismatch between a submitted photograph and the property it is supposed to document. The city processes roughly 35,000 building-related applications per year, according to figures published in the Comune's 2024 annual report on digital services — a volume that makes automated deduplication tools, not just manual review, essential.

For residents who use the Geoportale or the planning portal regularly, the advice from the digital services office is straightforward: if you encounter an image on a public record that appears inconsistent with a current address or project status, use the segnalazione online form — accessible through the Comune di Milano website — to flag it directly. The audit team is actively incorporating citizen reports into its workflow, and a correct image on a planning file is not a bureaucratic nicety. In a city rebuilding its public face for 2026 and beyond, it is the difference between a neighbourhood's past and its present.