THE FORGOTTEN ITALY
The "inland areas" cover half of the national territory, and are inhabited by a quarter of the population. But neither transportation nor schools nor health care reach them.
There is a forgotten Italy that few people know about. An abandoned Italy to which essential services - health, education, transportation - are not guaranteed, but where 13 million people (almost a quarter of Italians) live. An empty slice of the country that occupies half of the national territory: policy, which has called them "inland areas," does not invest in them and has condemned them to depopulation.
True, Italy's population is declining and by 2030 it is estimated that it will lose 600,000 people, and it is mainly the so-called inland areas that will pay the price. Which are everywhere, from Trentino to Liguria, from the Apennines to southern regions. Symptoms are always the same: difficult mobility, few and poor-quality hospitals, stores closing, and houses costing less and less. "A part of our country in recent years has disappeared from public speech and the political agenda," wrote Filippo Tantillo in his book "Empty Italy": "neglecting it was a mistake, these areas contain more than we think. The causes of crises but also possible solutions."
Publications
National Geographic Italia (Italy) | Newsweek (Japan)
Talk
Museo Guatelli (Parma, Italy)
