Ph: Kenji Haruta

From a sub-cultural viewpoint, Rome is a fascinating study in how skateboarding varies as it adapts to different built terrains around the world. Put simply, skateboarding tends to do well in cities that are continually being rebuilt either for sporting mega-occasions (such as Barcelona) or due to the unfortunate effects of conflict (such as Rotterdam).

Rome is neither. Certainly one of the world’s great cities and very much a jewel in Europe’s crown, Rome has more history under its feet than anywhere and so, like Lisbon, skateboarding has grown here despite and not because of the amount of skate-friendly architecture in the city’s built environment.

Now: you might think that there is a direct correlation between the strength of a city’s skate scene and the amount of places there are to skate. Not so. Helsinki has one of the skateboarding world’s most outsized scenes in terms of impact despite limited terrain and largely awful weather. Italy, more generally, and Rome in particular have created dynamic and vibrant skate scenes against a backdrop where little else is as might be found elsewhere.

By way of example: more skateboarding brands have been historically distributed by the fashion industry in Italy than, say, in Germany. That matters, because it shapes how marketing budgets are spent at a national level. Milan is Italy's fashion hub, and so Rome’s first big international skate contest of the new millenium didn’t really happen until 2004/ 2005, when (then) shoe behemoth Etnies staged pared-down versions of their excellent European Open events.

A year later, they would return for a bigger event in the Stadio Marmi- part of the Foro Italico complex, where 16 years later World Skate would spark a post-Covid contest renaissance and one which has fairly flourished, since.

The Street Skateboarding Rome World Championship in 2021 proved to be the pivotal springboard in tee’ing up the Tokyo Olympics which became a watershed moment in skateboarding history.

Since then, World Skate have successfully returned top-flight competitive skateboarding including World Championships in both Olympic disciplines to Rome every year- making the Italian capital a de-facto international skateboarding hotspot in terms of global eyeballs following the WST. 

The benefits of the World Skateboarding Tour making an annual touchdown in Rome have been felt far and wide within the skateboarding community here, from side-mission visits to Bunker Skatepark’s Vert ramp, where Roman skateboarding aristocracy Ale Mazzara cut his big-air teeth, to visitors taking in the awesome Ponte Della Musica DIY skatespot. The elevating of not one but two skateparks (Spot Ostia and Colle Oppio) into the World Skateboarding Tour agenda has had a real impact on the skate facilities available to Rome's next generation of skateboarders- something highlighted excellently in this New York Times article on just that matter. 

No city skate scene ever really gels together without a hub skate shop, and in Italy that place is 7 Hills. More than a retail space, skateshops like 7 Hills act as points of contact between local skaters and newcomers to one of the most tourism-oriented cities in the world, and are able to guide visitors to Rome’s modern architectural marvels- such as The Spot Skatepark.

The creation of The Spot Skatepark in Rome’s waterfront Ostia neighbourhood has been instrumental in the regeneration of that area, and the arrival annually of the world’s best Park skateboarders- for what is always the loudest stop on the WST- brings not only tangible economic benefits to the parish, but buckets of inspiration and terrific social media promotion, too.

So with the new century one-quarter underway and at the start of a new Olympic cycle beginning in Colle Oppio and Ostia over these coming weeks, we are raising up our voices to Rome for the opportunity given to us to be able to play a role in bringing the world’s greatest youth cultures to establish and enjoy a long-term international home-from-home in the eternal city.

If you are ever visiting Rome to skate, be sure to check out some of our suggestions above as part of your stay.

We look forward to greeting any who can make it to WST Rome World Cup 2025 this 1st-15th June- and, if not, be sure to join us live as we broadcast to the world from the launch of the Road To LA28!