Italy · Lombardia · Milan
CityLife, Milan — Area Guide & Where to Stay
CityLife is a modern redevelopment district in the northwest of Milan, built on the grounds of the former Fiera Campionaria trade fair. The look is deliberately new. Three skyscrapers and a large pedestrian park define the quarter, alongside the CityLife Shopping District, and its draw is contemporary architecture rather than old monuments. Parco Sempione lies just to the east, toward the historic centre.
About CityLife
Where to stay in CityLife
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Choosing CityLife means staying among skyscrapers and open lawns rather than cobbled lanes. The quarter suits guests who want quiet and contemporary rooms near a metro line, with the CityLife Shopping District close by for meals and errands. It is not a nightlife area.
Its hotel stock is also thin next to the centre, so sightseers bound for the Sforza Castle or Santa Maria delle Grazie ride a few stops east. For a wider choice of beds, central Milan remains the fallback.
About CityLife
What are the main landmarks in CityLife?
CityLife's own attractions are its architecture: the Allianz Tower, the Generali Tower, and the PwC Tower rise over Piazza Tre Torri and the surrounding park. The three towers, nicknamed the straight one, the twisted one, and the curved one, anchor the skyline. Historic monuments sit elsewhere.
The nearest lie east in and around Parco Sempione, where the Arch of Peace and the Triennale di Milano stand, with Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Sforza Castle a little farther on. None of these older sights fall inside the quarter itself.
What is the history of CityLife?
The site began as the Fiera Campionaria, Milan's sample trade fair, laid out here in the early twentieth century. For decades the grounds hosted the annual event that drew exhibitors from across Lombardia and beyond. Its purpose was commerce.
When the fair moved to a larger campus on the city's outskirts, the old pavilions came down. A design competition then reshaped the emptied ground into CityLife, with towers and residences by architects including Zaha Hadid and Daniel Libeskind.
Where is CityLife?
The district occupies the western side of central Milan, roughly three kilometres out from the historic core. Its ground was the old Fiera Campionaria fairgrounds. The Portello quarter adjoins it to the north, while Parco Sempione and the Arch of Peace lie to the east, on the way back toward the Sforza Castle and the centre.
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Updated July 2026