Naples 2027: Between Tourism Boom, America’s Cup and Urban Regeneration

In the alleys of Naples’ city center and along the seafront that embraces the Gulf, the festive atmosphere still lingers. SSC Napoli has won its fourth national football championship, a victory that, since the days of Diego Armando Maradona, transforms the city into a grand stage of shared joy.

Alongside the celebrations of the present, the gaze of the Neapolitan capital is already set on the future and on 2027, when the America’s Cup will take place in Naples—its first time ever in Italy.

For Naples, the most prestigious sailing competition in the world already appears as a driving force for the economy, tourism, and urban regeneration—sectors in which the city has been investing for some time through a profound transformation of its image, both in Italy and abroad.

Even before the start of the sailing race, the initial impact of the upcoming America’s Cup on Naples will be economic. According to estimates by the Unimpresa Research Center, hosting the competition could generate an immediate economic return of around 700 million euros, with a potential of 1–2 billion euros over the following 5–10 years.

Approximately 1.7 million visitors are expected over the two months of the event, with estimated spending of nearly 370 million euros. Added to this are 70 million linked to the organization and 22 million for the logistics of participating teams.

Public and private investments—in land reclamation, port infrastructure, and fan areas—would add another 165 million euros in spending to benefit the city, with a specific intervention in the Bagnoli area, the former industrial zone chosen as the event’s main venue. This choice meets the need for urban redevelopment, with plans that could transform it into a major cultural and tourist hub.

Beyond the euphoria of sporting victories and the assured impact of major events, Naples’ urban revitalization is also driven by the development of its infrastructure, particularly in public transportation.

The visitors who will arrive by plane will benefit from the new Capodichino metro station, which will connect the Naples International Airport directly to the city center.

Designed by London-based firm RSHP and built by a consortium led by Webuild Group with Moccia Irme, the subway station features a massive hollow cylinder structure nearly 50 meters deep, with eight central elevators and four helical staircases spiraling along the cylinder’s surface. The metallic cover, inspired by an aircraft hangar, is made of blue and orange tubular steel profiles.

Once opened, the station will serve around 15 million passengers a year, connecting the port, the Naples airport, and high-speed rail network in just nine minutes. This project marks a fundamental step toward sustainable and integrated urban mobility.

Like Capodichino station, the entire metro network is strategic for urban transport in a city where traffic is especially intense. Much of the metro network has been transformed into a work of art, as seen in the 20 “Art Stations” along Lines 1 and 6, now symbolic landmarks that merge function and beauty.

The Neapolis station on Line 1, for instance, serves as a “mini-museum” of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, showcasing archaeological finds discovered during the metro’s construction. These artifacts span multiple eras, from the imperial age of the 3rd century AD to the Byzantine 7th century and the Aragonese 15th century.

Contemporary art also shines along these lines as underground museums featuring about 200 works by world-renowned designers and architects. Many of these spectacular stations were created by the Webuild Group: from the award-winning Toledo to Università, Dante, Museo, Materdei, San Pasquale, and Monte Sant’Angelo which is located on Line 7 and will soon be open to the public.

Toledo station, for example, a tribute to light and the sea, was designed by Catalan architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca and has been named the most beautiful station in the world by CNN. San Pasquale metro station, inaugurated in 2024, was designed by Italo-Slovenian architect Boris Podrecca, who described it as “a dizzying descent into the sea”: the station features a five-level structure, 100 meters long and 35 meters high, envisioned as a shipwreck resting on the Parthenope sea floor. Blue panels by Austrian artist Peter Kogler simulate wave motion.

The construction of these subway stations involved extensive archaeological surveys that helped unearth treasures of the past. At Museo station alone, 4,000 cubic meters of archaeological excavation were carried out; 14,300 cubic meters at Università, and 9,600 at Toledo.

A journey into the past that now intertwines with the future of a city at the center of a true renaissance—thanks in part to major events that continue to accelerate a development process begun years ago.