The borough, however, remained marginal because of the lack of infrastructures, and de Mérode himself paid for the creation of an iron bridge near the Porto di Ripetta, later dismantled after the inauguration of Ponte Umberto I.

Also toponymy is a proof of it, since roads and squares were named after prominent leaders of the Roman Republic and Empire, pagan writers and scholars, heroes of the Risorgimento.

During the construction works, a large amount of ground and fill was carried in the area, in order to create a difference in altitude and to protect the new district from the Tiber floods, that were very common in the past.

Wide roads set up in a geometrical scheme, elegant stile Umbertino buildings and Art Nouveau cottages currently distinguishes Prati: born as a public housing district to host civil servants coming from all over Italy, it now claims to be a bourgeois district, and its thoroughfare, Via Cola di Rienzo, one of the most famous streets in Rome, is consistently ranked among the most important shopping streets in the city.

To the north, the rione borders with quartiere Della Vittoria (Q. XV), from which is separated by the whole Viale delle Milizie, from Via Trionfale to Ponte Giacomo Matteotti.