Bankers in Milan insist Italy did not have a property bubble in recent years comparable to those of Ireland or Spain. But the idled cranes, rutted roads and unfinished landscaping at Santa Giulia, a mixed-use, residential and office development 4km (2.5 miles) from the city’s Duomo cathedral, suggest that it was not for want of trying.

Risanamento, the developer behind the Santa Giulia project – which includes a proposed 615,000 square metres of built area and a 330,000 sq m public park – has foundered largely for the reasons Irish and Spanish property developers are in trouble: over-ambition, excessive borrowings from indulgent banks, and a tumbling property market.