Abstract
The third chapter begins by covering the events of November 2014, which brought the issue of the prevailing changes in the Italian suburbs, to the centre of public attention. Despite the initial urban planning to promote development, these residential areas are essentially marginalized, and suffer a gradual distancing from local institutions. The council housing in the area covering viale Morandi, Tor Sapienza in Rome, had been particularly subject to a rapid degradation, with squatting and high levels of crime. The decision to set up a reception centre for asylum seekers in the area, and the subsequent friction with residents, sparked off a riot by the locals, their protest having violent and xenophobic overtones. A feeling of abandonment on the part of the institutions was diffuse.
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Notes
- 1.
To construct events, we relied on direct information gathered from inhabitants. During observation and in interviews. It provided a subjective picture of the actors encountered, then compared with the representations disseminated by local and national media.
- 2.
The centre houses the CPA, First Reception Centre for unaccompanied minors, SPAR, the Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers; a family home and the offices of the cooperative. Founded in 2011 following the “North African emergency” plan, the centre is managed under contract by the Interior Ministry. 90 users were reported during the night of the clashes.
- 3.
Tor Sapienza is the eighth Zone of Rome, located in the V Municipality of the capital (formerly VII).
- 4.
This far-right group started in Rome, originally based in an occupied building in via Napoleone III, next to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, in the centre of Rome, a symbolic place for immigration to the capital (see Chap. 5). A main aim is to fight financial and real estate speculation, particularly in line with fascist social policies inspired by the Verona charter of 1943, during the Italian Social Republic. At the same time, the group is part of the political logic of occupations, generally more associated with the antagonist left and anarchists, especially in Italy. In this regard, see Di Nunzio and Toscano (2012).
- 5.
Familiar figure in the news as a radical exponent of the Northern League Party, a right-wing regionalist group. Since 2014, through its new secretary Matteo Salvini, the League has tried to reposition the party in the national, Eurosceptic context, aligning itself with the Front National (FN), a French far-right party.
- 6.
For media representations of the event, see in particular: Tor Sapienza, Cars and bins on fire, anti-immigrant protest. Corriere della Sera (2014, November 11), and see reportage http://www.la7.it/video/la-rabbia-di -tor-sapienza-17-11-2014-141179 (accessed on 08 November 2014).
- 7.
Street adjacent to Viale Morandi, part of the Morandi quadrant, where the houses of the I.SV.E.UR are located. (Institute for Building and Urban Development), public housing owned by the municipality. Citizens had been complaining for years about the instability of the structure and the need for maintenance work (hydraulic leaks, recurring electrical and heating failures).
- 8.
Our presence was perceived as annoying and indiscreet, only accepted when we showed documented proof we were university researchers and not journalists in search of a scoop.
- 9.
The broadcast “In mezz’ora” broadcast on Raitre on 11/16/2014 hosted the mayor and representatives of the Morandi-Cremona Committee and the Tor Sapienza Committee, committee of the historic central area of Tor Sapienza.
- 10.
Azienda Territoriale per l’Edilizia (ResidenzialeTerritorial Company for Residential Construction), founded in Rome in 2002, is an institution that replaced the Autonomous Institute of Popular Housing (IACP).
- 11.
Also known as “Piano Fanfani”, named after the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Amintore Fanfani. For further information see Di Biagi (2001).
- 12.
“Municipalities with populations exceeding 50,000 inhabitants or are provincial heads are required to designate areas intended for the construction of cheap or social housing, as well as accompanying urban and social services, including public green areas.”, cit. art. 1, Law n. 167 April 1962.
- 13.
As reported in La Repubblica of 6/10/2009, the then president of Ater Petrucci affirmed that the occupation would make “any intervention” impossible: See http://roma.repubblica.it/dettaglio/ater-ecco-il-racket-delle-occupazioni/1740410.
- 14.
A working class area of the Quartiere Alessandrino, presently part of the V Municipality of Rome.
- 15.
The housing was definitively assigned in 1979–1980.
- 16.
According to our interlocutors, entry to a flat was possible by paying a sum of money to the legitimate assignee or illegal occupant/s.
- 17.
According to the testimonies collected among the residents of the Morandi complex, the basement of the Orthodox church accommodated a large number of immigrants, and was also used by prostitutes from Eastern Europe.
- 18.
The intended use was already partly (temporarily) changed with the jubilee, to receive pilgrims. The premises, however, remained occupied and converted into homes much later on, once surveillance of the places was put into place.
- 19.
Department of the Municipality of Rome, Romani Office, data updated to 1995.
- 20.
Romani Office, data updated to 2008.
- 21.
According to a representative of the Tor Sapienza committee, the number of people today in the two camps is estimated to be 800 to 900.
- 22.
A media representation of these events, particularly concerning citizen complaints and judiciary interventions, can be found in the article by Repubblica Rome “Roma camp alarm: ‘Qui Tor Sapienza new Terra dei Fuochi’”, consulted online on 2 March online 2015 http://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2014/11/26/news/allarme_campo_rom_qui_tor_sapienza_nuova_terra_dei_fuochi-101424241.
- 23.
Ibid.
- 24.
According to a survey carried out involving 325 individuals in the Tor Sapienza area, in terms of integration of immigrants, 68.6% believed that priority should be given to Italians with regard to access to social services, while only 7% was agreement with the statement “guaranteeing equal access opportunities” (Battistelli et al., 2016, p. 18).
- 25.
See report of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (1969).
- 26.
Other sociological studies conducted in Tor Sapienza and around have, in turn, highlighted the importance of the appeal to authorities for greater security by local inhabitants, who perceive themselves undertreat or in an unsafe situation due to the hosting of migrants—as seen earlier in this book—in a building of the Quadrante Morandi-Cremona (Battistelli et al., 2016).
- 27.
The Castelli Romani area groups 16 municipalities located in the hills near Rome.
- 28.
High-speed highway connecting Rome to Naples.
- 29.
The original settlement inaugurated in 1923 was founded by the Tor Sapienza Cooperative as part of the colonization of the Agro Romano, through the initiative of a group of citizens led by Michele Testa, a surveyor and farmer, railway employee and socialist activist.
- 30.
See Rita Mattei, “Ecco chi era Michele Testa”, consultato online il 20/08/2016, http://www.abitarearoma.net/ecco-chi-era-michele-testa/.
- 31.
Population census ISTAT (The Italian National Institute of Statistics), 1971, Industry and Commerce.
- 32.
6908 were professionals, according to population census data ISTAT, 1971.
- 33.
Population census ISTAT, 1971, Industry and Commerce.
- 34.
Population census ISTAT, 1981; Census ISTAT 1981, Industry and Commerce.
- 35.
There were 3048 managers, middle managers, and employees; 1471 self-employed workers and assistants; 83 cooperative members; 347 executives entrepreneurs and freelancers. Active population by position in the profession and toponymic subdivision, 1991. Source: ISTAT, Rome 1995.
- 36.
According to a survey carried out involving 324 individuals in Tor Sapienza and around, among the problems that most worried residents of Tor Sapienza were the inefficiency of politics / corruption (20.3%), and immigration (18.5%). The most worrying issue, however, was the socio-economic situation, particularly regarding unemployment (over 55%) (Battistelli et al., 2016, p. 18). In the same survey, the two main problems for the quality of life in the neighbourhood were the presence of nomad camps (45.5%), and the degradation of public spaces (maintenance of roads, sidewalks, public green care, lighting) (45.2%) (ibid., p. 19).
- 37.
Indivisible Services Tax, is a municipal tax relating to the holding of buildings and building areas, except agricultural land and the main residence.
- 38.
Lasting just over a year, from October 2013 to November 2014, Mare Nostrum was a monitoring and rescue sea operation coordinated by the Italian and Maltese authorities. Created as the result of the umpteenth tragedy of migrants at sea trying to reach the shores of the island of Lampedusa in makeshift crafts, this humanitarian mission sought to bridge the limits of intervention of Frontex (European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union). According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, Mare Nostrum rescued 100,250 people and carried out 558 interventions. See http://www.interno.gov.it/it/notizie/conclude-mare-nostrum-triton visited on 12 March 2015.
- 39.
Data Aler-Azienda Lombarda Edilizia Residenziale (Lombard Residential Building Company) taken from Corriere della Sera di Milano (visitato online il 15//2016), See http://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/17_gennaio_16/periferie-case-popolari-riparte-l-assedio-abusivi-aler-emergenza-san-siro-b30bf0ca-dbc6-11e6-8880-ab80bbeec765.shtml.
- 40.
Among the buildings occupied, there were former schools, former factories, former public buildings, former customs offices, farmhouses, former police headquarters and municipal offices, sports centres, commercial premises, hotels or former hotels, garages and social housing.
- 41.
See Gibney (2004).
- 42.
This is a splinter group of Action, a very active political movement for housing and the right to housing in Rome. Other housing action groups operating in Rome are the Citizen Coordination Action Group for housing, the Popular Committee Action Group for housing and the Obiettivo Casa Committee.
- 43.
- 44.
At the end of October 2014, the Metropoliz housed the Self Master Urbanism Rome (SMUR) event, which discussed possible new forms of urban self-organization and self-production. SMUR is an international research project, bringing together architects, urban planners, researchers, artists and political activists. See Cellamare (2014).
- 45.
The University of Tor Vergata was the actor / partner of this urban project. On this subject, see the document relating to the project: Elisei et al. 2014 (accessed online on January 5, 2015) http://docplayer.net/2578167-2-the-morandi-tor-sapienza-regeneration-project-the-case-description.html.
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Farro, A.L., Maddanu, S. (2021). Tor Sapienza. In: Restless Cities on the Edge. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91323-6_3
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