Mayor of Turin
In May 2001, Chiamparino was elected mayor of Turin as a member of the Democrats of the Left, succeeding to Valentino Castellani; he oversaw the organization for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, and the city's transition into a post-industrial society. His strategic vision focused on economic development and social cohesion. This included the conversion of Turin's traditional manufacturing and automobile industry with the technical-scientific business sector, as well as the renewal of its industrial areas, and making Turin a centre for industrial innovation and the information and communication businesses. He saw the Olympics as a way for the city to invest in major logistic and infrastructures, increase cultural and tourist initiatives, and promote Turin on the worldwide stage.
As mayor of Turin, Chiamparino supported European integration and the completion of the Turin–Lyon high-speed railway, and said that the city must be a human and safe community, where minorities and vulnerable people are part of its civic society, to ensure its long-term success. He developed several projects to improve the city's quality of life, including housing, education, and the elderly, as well as the integration of first and second-generation non-European Union immigrants, and training-linked employment prospects. Chiamparino enacted a series of measures to combat crime and increase safety. He saw the protection of the environment as inevitable linked to the promotion of public health, and linked a higher environmental quality to bigger economic growth and investment.
In May 2006, Chiamparino was re-elected the mayor of Turin with 66.6% of votes, defeating the centre-right coalition candidate Rocco Buttiglione. During his mayoralty rule, he was among the country's most popular and appreciated mayors. From 2009 to 2011, he was also president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities. In May 2012, he was elected chairman of Fondazione San Paolo.
During the first three ballots of the 2013 Italian presidential election held on 18–19 April, before Giorgio Napolitano reluctantly agreed on 20 April to seek an unprecedented second term as the president of Italy, Chiamparino received 41, 90, and 4 votes, respectively. The Renziani wing of the Democratic Party (PD), the party Chiamparino belonged to, identified him as their flag candidate as opposed to the official candidate Franco Marini, the former Italian minister and president of the Senate of the Republic, who was also supported by The People of Freedom, Civic Choice, and later on by Brothers of Italy. After the first ballot, he emerged as the third most voted candidate after Marini (521 votes), whose candidacy collapsed, and Stefano Rodotà (240 votes), the Five Star Movement (M5S) candidate.
