150 years of history - Part 4

The rebirth of democracy
 

Women were granted the right to vote on February 1, 1945. The Provincial Deputyship, replaced by the Principal during the Fascist era, was restored but it was only in 1951 that the Provincial Council also reappeared.
The “Società per la Serravalle-Milano” was founded in 1951, the first example of a public-owned highway company and directed by the President of the Province. The Milan Deputyship convinced the Province of Varese, the cities near Malpensa, and the Chambers of Commerce of Varese and Milan, to establish the joint-stock Aeroporto di Busto, transformed in 1956 into the now famous SEA: Società Esercizi Aeroportuali.

The 60’s and 70’s were characterised by the influx of Southern Italian immigrants. This was the so-called industrial boom era. With a population of 3,685,000 in 1968, about 750,000 workers were employed in the province of Milan and over half of these were employed in only two sectors, metalworking and chemical. Represented, although to a lesser extent, were the textile, construction and paper industries.

Farming experienced a period of crisis due to the reduction in labour, increased industrialization, insufficient professional training and qualification, the abandonment of some traditional cultivations, the intensification of production processes and the significant “flight” of young workers from the fields to the factories.

The first IBM 360/30 computer was introduced into the administration in 1967 with 32,000 memory positions, 3 disks and 2 tape units to manage personnel, general accounting, extraordinary work scheduling and statistical surveys.

A new administration was founded in 1970: the Region. On the city level, the Red Subway Line was opened in 1964 and the Green Line began operating in 1969. In that period the Province constructed the new Milan-Meda-Lentante expressway and new "Valassina" provincial road to connect Milan with Lecco.

In 1990, the Italian Parliament approved Law No. 142 on the organization of local governments. Municipalities and Provinces adopted their own regulations and bylaws. Since 1993, direct elections by universal suffrage were used to elect the Presidents of the Provinces and Municipality Mayors. With the law on local autonomy, which delegated the government to review the provincial boundaries, the Province of Lodi was established from the separation of the 61 municipalities in the Province of Milan and in 1992 the Province of Monzana and Brianza were established from the separation of 55 municipalities. The Province of Milan currently has a population of 3,084,000 inhabitants divided in 134 municipalities.