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Stefano Lo Russo

A geologist and university professor, a city councillor since 2006 and deputy mayor for urban planning, he has been mayor of Turin since 27 October 2021.

Image from a publication by ANSA Piemonte
From a publication by ANSA Piemonte, 2026-09-16

Stefano Lo Russo is a geologist, university lecturer and politician, mayor of Turin and, ex officio, of the Città metropolitana di Torino. He was declared elected on 27 October 2021, after the run-off vote of 17–18 October against the centre-right candidate Paolo Damilano.[1] Before his election he had spent fifteen years in the Sala Rossa, as a city councillor, deputy mayor for urban planning and leader of the Partito Democratico group.[2]

Education and academic career

Born on 15 October 1975, in 1999 he graduated with honours in Geological Sciences from the Università degli Studi di Torino and in the same year qualified as a professional geologist; in 2004 he completed a PhD in Environmental Geoengineering at the Politecnico di Torino.[2] Between 2002 and 2007 he worked as a technical officer for the Regione Piemonte. At the Politecnico he was a researcher from 2007 to 2014, associate professor from 2014 to 2017 and then full professor of Applied Geology, Hydrogeology, and Petroleum and Mining Geology in the Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering. He has also taught at two Russian universities, MGIMO and Gubkin University.[2]

Fifteen years on the City Council

Lo Russo was elected to the City Council in May 2006 and served the full term, until April 2011. Re-elected, he was leader of the PD group from May 2011 to July 2013, when he joined the administration of Piero Fassino as deputy mayor with responsibility for urban planning, private building and strategic planning, a post he held until June 2016.[2] After the centre-left's defeat in 2016 he went back to leading the PD group, now in opposition to mayor Chiara Appendino, until October 2021.[2]

The 2021 elections

On 13 June 2021 he won the centre-left primary with 37% of the vote (4,229 votes), narrowly ahead of independent candidate Francesco Tresso (35%, 3,932 votes); Enzo Lavolta came third with 25%, and the Radical candidate Igor Boni last. 11,631 people voted, against about 53,000 in the 2011 primary.[3] During the campaign he admitted that, before the 2016 defeat, the centre-left had neglected «more thorough analysis of social and economic hardship» in many outlying districts; his platform focused on small shops, the reuse of disused spaces, simplifying the procedures for allocating public housing, and a «Night Mayor» figure to handle problems of coexistence linked to nightlife, under the slogan «Per Torino, grande, forte, unita» («For a great, strong, united Turin»).[4]

In the first round on 3–4 October he won 43.9% against Damilano's 38.9%; Damilano is an entrepreneur in the mineral-water and wine business. The Movimento 5 Stelle candidate Valentina Sganga stopped at 9% and turnout fell to 47.7%, against 56.6% in 2016. Il Post described a campaign fought district by district, with the candidate turning up with «a couple of folding chairs at markets and other gathering places».[5] The run-off of 17–18 October confirmed his lead and returned the centre-left to the city's leadership after Appendino's five years.[6] The validation of those elected in the 3–4 and 17–18 October votes was approved by the City Council on 8 November 2021.[7]

His term as mayor

As mayor he has kept for himself, among others, the portfolios for communication and city promotion, international relations and cooperation, the municipal legal office, European projects, structural funds and PNRR coordination, the «university city», policies for multiculturalism and integration, and the metropolitan and mountain-metropolitan area.[1] On 13 September 2026 he inaugurated the pedestrianised via Roma, at the end of a year of works costing 12 million euros in European funds.[8][9] In the same month the City denied the Polizia Penitenziaria the use of the main city squares for the Corps' national holiday, a decision contested by the Osapp union.[10]

The VALE hub and the new library

In September 2026 he presented VALE, the cultural hub that links the Parco del Valentino, the Teatro Nuovo, the Borgo Medievale, the Politecnico's new campus, the Orto Botanico and the university premises on corso Massimo d'Azeglio, worth a total of over 200 million euros shared between the City, banking foundations and universities.[11] At the centre of the project is the Biblioteca civica centrale, created by converting Torino Esposizioni, the complex linked to Ettore Sottsass and Pier Luigi Nervi, with over 100 million euros of municipal investment from funds complementary to the PNRR; the design is by Icis, the Turin firm Isolarchitetti and the Madrid studio of Rafael Moneo. The library has 1,400 seats and, in the Sala Nervi, with over 300 seats, what is presented as Europe's largest reading room; the opening is set for 11 December 2026.[12] Its cultural programme is led by Maurizia Rebola, formerly head of the Circolo dei lettori and of the OGR, and the wait for the opening is accompanied by the «La Biblioteca Immaginaria» series, with events dedicated among others to Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino.[13] The series, launched in November 2026, also involves Chiara Valerio, Boosta, Matteo Caccia and Paolo Giordano, with events dedicated to Jorge Luis Borges as well; the hub's full programme is expected from the start of 2027.[13][11][12]

«What is taking shape at the Valentino is one of the greatest urban projects in Turin's recent history.»

Stefano Lo Russo, presentation of the VALE hub, 16 September 2026

On the same occasion the mayor defended the choice to spend on cultural infrastructure: «At a time like this, having made an investment in permanent cultural infrastructure matters: hundreds of thousands of people will use these places», adding that the new library would engage with the city's bookshop network, among the richest in Italy.[11]

The city masterplan and international politics

As a geologist and former deputy mayor for urban planning, Lo Russo has made the new general masterplan (Piano regolatore generale) one of the central themes of his term. In September 2026, at the second co-planning conference, he confirmed the decision to cancel building rights left unused for forty years, despite the appeal filed by Sistemi Urbani, a company of the Ferrovie dello Stato group.[14] A few days later he flew to New York for the Urban 20 Mayors Summit at the invitation of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.[15][16] On 20 September he met Mamdani to discuss housing, climate, mobility, migration, inclusion and jobs, and described his presence at the summit, alongside the mayors of some of the world's largest cities, as «an important result for Turin».[17]

Timeline

  • — Via Roma was inaugurated as a pedestrian street by mayor Stefano Lo Russo, at the end of a year of works funded with 12 million euros from European funds. → La Stampa la Repubblica Torino
  • — The mayor of Turin Stefano Lo Russo denies the Polizia Penitenziaria the use of the city's main squares for the Corps' national holiday, a decision contested by the Osapp union. → TorinoOggi
  • — The City of Turin confirms its position on the new masterplan despite the appeal from Sistemi Urbani (Ferrovie dello Stato), with mayor Lo Russo reaffirming the decision on building rights left unused for 40 years during the second co-planning conference. ANSA Piemonte La Stampa
  • — The mayor of Turin Stefano Lo Russo travels to New York to take part in the Urban 20 Mayors Summit at the invitation of mayor Zohran Mamdani. TorinoOggi TorinoToday
  • — At Palazzo Carignano, the Stati Generali della Cooperazione Internazionale degli Enti Territoriali open, promoted by the City of Turin with the participation of mayors and local officials from four continents. → TorinoClick TorinoClick
  • — In Turin, a demonstration in support of the Tav called in front of the Municipio and in piazza Palazzo di Città draws about two hundred people, in the absence of mayor Stefano Lo Russo. → Quotidiano Piemontese TorinoToday
  • — In the Sala Cortile of Palazzo Carignano, Turin and the Mongolian city of Kharkhorin sign the Letter of Intent that precedes the renewal of their cooperation agreement, signed by mayor Stefano Lo Russo and the governor of Kharkhorin, Bat-Erdene Byamba, as part of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto. → TorinoClick CronacaQui Torino

Related articles: Biblioteca civica centrale, Mission to New York by Mayor Lo Russo for the Urban 20 (September 2026), Parco del Valentino, Pedestrianization of Via Roma (September 2026), Presentation of the Vale Project in Turin, Turin's Participation in the Urban 20 Mayors Summit (September 2026)

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. Città di Torino
  2. Città di Torino
  3. Il Post — 14 June 2021
  4. Il Post — 30 September 2021
  5. Il Post — 16 October 2021
  6. Il Post — 18 October 2021
  7. Consiglio comunale di Torino — 8 November 2021
  8. La Stampa — 13 September 2026
  9. la Repubblica Torino — 13 September 2026
  10. TorinoOggi — 21 September 2026
  11. ANSA Piemonte — 16 September 2026
  12. TorinoToday — 17 September 2026
  13. la Repubblica Torino — 17 September 2026
  14. La Stampa — 17 September 2026
  15. TorinoOggi — 19 September 2026
  16. TorinoToday — 19 September 2026
  17. ANSA Piemonte — 20 September 2026

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