PRIUS is one of the 24 projects across Italy to be funded by the Government. In March 2017, at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Municipality of Prato signed the convention that allocates to the city a sum of 10 and a half million euros. The PRIUS project aims to re-qualify an area of 1.25 square kilometers near the historic center but subject to marginalization and social degradation. The renovation of Palazzo Pacchiani and the restoration of Bastione delle Forche will be the main interventions in the area that embraces Piazza Mercatale and Piazza San Marco. In Palazzo Pacchiani will be moved the Municipal Offices for Urbanism, Private Building and Production activities. Will also be restored the attached night-poorhouse for homeless people managed by La Pira Association and will be developed the already existing project of social reintegration of its users.
The Bastione delle Forche, with its eighteenth-century palace, once restored, will become seat of new public offices and services to the citizens, and will also host a restaurant. Moving or creating in this historic part of the city new offices and services of public interest will counter the tendency to abandonment and the perceptible degradation of this area.
New bicycle paths to improve sustainable mobility, urban furniture and leisure and sport activities will feature the upgrading of the river area from the Ponte Datini to Gonfienti. The implementation of the Riversibility project - the Bisenzio River Park - will provide the city with an ecological infrastructure that can be enjoyed with an increased sense of security and all its potential for wellness and leisure.