Speaker
Description
The paper proposes a critical reflection on the first (and partial) outcomes of a research conducted on the phenomena of social inclusion/exclusion in a controversial context, such as the urban regions of Southern Italy.
Specifically, the contribution critically explores the concept/metaphor of the ‘middle-land’ through the focus of social and spatial inclusion/exclusion phenomena, using the case study of the city of Palermo (Italy). The research hypothesis considers the traditional centre-peripheral interpretative model inadequate for the understanding of new geographies, especially when they are related to the phenomena of social and spatial exclusion. In fact, the mainstream discourses and policies leave unexplored relevant portions of urban space, in the belief that they express negligible or minor critical conditions in comparison with the ‘more problematic’ (and well-known) areas that are usually investigated: the urban centre and the suburbs. On the contrary, issues related to the difficulties of accessing to public services, housing discomfort, inadequate social infrastructures and, more generally, the weakness and/or inefficacy of public policies, actually do affect ‘marginal’ tissues of the ‘inner city’, that reveals unrepresented inequalities. In order to discuss such hypothesis, the paper raises the following questions:
1. What are the new boundaries of the phenomena of socio-economic exclusion and spatial segregation in the cities of Southern Italy?
2. How can they be recognized and interpreted?
3. With which kind of planning tools is it possible to govern them?
Assuming the presence of the foreign population as a significant reference focus, the field of observation in particular regards the distribution of citizens of foreign origin. Consequently, the sphere of the phenomena of exclusion is referred to this significant (and representative) segment of the urban population, using in particular quantitative indicators and qualitative analyses, in order to investigate and represent the complex system of interrelations between the socio-economic and the spatial dimension.
Aim of the paper is to highlight elements of weakness in current public policies willing to contrast socio-economic hardship and spatial discrimination, in order to identify more efficient inclusive planning actions.
References
Anand P., Chiappero-Martinetti E., Corneo G., et al. (Eds) (2020), Multidimensional perspectives on inequality: conceptual and empirical challenges, Ufficio delle pubblicazioni dell'Unione europea, Lussemburgo.
Bagchi-Sen S., Rogerson P., Seymour E., Franklin R. (2020), "Urban inequality and the demographic transformation of shrinking cities", Applied Geography, 116, 102168.
Kamalipour, H. and Dovey, K. (2020), ‘Incremental production of urban space: A typology of informal design’, Habitat International, 98: 102–33.
Kunzmann K.R. (1998), "Planning for spatial equity in Europe", International Planning Studies, 3(1), 101-120.
Nijman J., Wei Y.D. (2020), "Urban inequalities in the 21st century economy", Applied Geography, 117, 102188.
| Keywords | Social exclusion; migrants; spatial inequalities |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
