Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri has pledged that the slew of public construction projects underway in the Italian capital ahead of Jubilee Year 2025 will "change the face" of the city. During a meeting at the Vatican last week, Gualtieri told Pope Francis that there are currently 1,400 building sites open across Rome, with construction crews working round the clock to complete the biggest Jubilee projects in time for the Holy Year.

The mayor said the city would become "an open-air construction site" in 2024, acknowledging that the works would inevitably cause inconvenience but vowing that the finished result would make Rome "more livable and welcoming for everyone". The most ambitious infrastructure scheme underway in Rome right now is the pedestrianisation of Piazza Pia, which will link Castel S. Angelo to Via della Conciliazione and St Peter's Square.