By: Kelly-Dee Anderson

Edited by: Jessica Enns

Many of us have heard the pseudoscientific tale of the sunken city of Atlantis. Buildings toppling as the Atlantic waves swallow all that’s left. In today’s age, urban demise is hardly as cinematic, but the stakes aren’t any less substantial. Setting aside the ancient myth, stands an unfinished modern tale illustrated in Venice, Italy—a city teetering towards dissolving into the Adriatic waters. Just 40 minutes away sits another city, Treviso, mirroring much of Venice’s classical charm, but with a trajectory that doesn’t place them in the auditions for sunken-city sequel.

If you wanted to paint a picture of Treviso, you’d start with tiramisù, continue along the canals, and end with tiramisù. Treviso may be the birthplace of the popular dessert, but that is not all it’s known for; in 2025, Treviso became the first Italian city to win the European Green Leaf Award, judged on a city’s urban livability and long-term sustainability implementations.  Although the award is limited to cities with populations under 100,000, this win still turns a new leaf for Treviso and other cities looking on who may take example. Two key acts that earned the win included transforming an abandoned landfill into a solar park and reconstructing the city’s canal system. These initiatives didn’t just sprout overnight, but are instead the result of years of dedication stemming from a 2018 “sustainable mission” launched by the city’s administration. That mission saw the construction of kilometres of new bike lanes along with 6,000 newly planted trees. Both efforts were designed to improve Treviso’s air quality, despite its disadvantageous location in the Po Valley—a region notorious for harbouring pollutants. 

Given that the city is surrounded by water, updating its canal system was essential, but the municipal administration also promoted local use of the “Free Aqua” app to help people locate drinking-water fountains in the area and discourage plastic bottle waste. School administration even went a step further by distributing aluminum water bottles to students. Elsewhere in the city, sustainability efforts manifest in more subtle ways. Visit a fish market in the area and you might find that the lights are being powered by Renaissance water mills, originally used for grain in the 16th century. The mills don’t produce enough energy to power the whole city, but these miniscule changes are what create large-scale results. 

Now remember that picture you were painting of Treviso? Well tiramisù isn’t the only delicacy on the canvas. Outside the city centre, winemakers in the Prosecco Hills have begun experimenting with greener farming methods like green manure and geothermal cooling to combat the harsh effects of climate change. You don’t have to compromise culture or history in the puzzle of urban longevity, and Treviso stands as proof. 

If you journey 40 minutes south to Venice, you will find a very different tale being spun. The early 2000s saw Venice expanding its ports to accommodate cruise ships, but the skyscrapers of the sea are not the only incomers the city made room for; luxury markets that have displaced local businesses have become the cornerstone of the historic centre, where grocery stores and hardware shops are being replaced by souvenir shops. 

To tip the scale of residential crisis even further, lack of housing has become rampant amidst the spread of Airbnb properties catered to tourists. By prioritizing tourist services, Venice has created a reliance on tourism which, in excess, is the very thing hurting its survival. It’s a double-edged sword. 

The gravity of the predicament has not gone unnoticed by Venetian administration; in 2021 officials banned cruise ships from docking in Venice to reduce the large waves they create that weaken the city’s wooden foundation. Other initiatives have been less successful; in 2024, Venice became the first city in the world to charge a day-fee for entrance where officials were hoping to balance the wildly disproportionate tourist-to-resident ratio. Besides the fact that the fee only amounts to €5 ($8 CAD), most of the money it generates is used to fund the system itself. Though the day-fee has made no positive difference in Venice’s economy, other efforts do seem to help, but with a cost—literally. 2020 saw the debut of the MOSE flood barriers in the Venetian lagoon to protect the city from high tides, but the high number of times that they have been used since their installation is becoming costly. 

It is not all bad news though. Just as Treviso has its water mills, Venice has a historical propeller in the shape of the lagoon that made it one of the most formidable maritime forces in ancient history. The city is currently exploring macroalgae farming as a way to mitigate climate change and water pollution. Additionally, Venetian organizations are considering ways to make living in the historic centre attractive again. There is talk of upgrading the transportation system and constructing a subway to make commutes to the mainland easier. The idea is: people who live in a place long-term tend to take care of it. 

For now, Venice hasn’t reached Treviso’s chapter in this dichotomous tale, however, the tides can turn just as easily as they rose.

 

Image Citation: NearEMPTiness. (2017). Venice in May 2017 [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venice_in_May_2017_(136).jpg  

 

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