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In recent times, widespread reflection on the destiny of inner areas has arisen. New approaches, particularly in the economic, social and "territorialist" fields tend to consider fragile areas – it matters not if they are mountain or hilly areas, rural or urban peripheral areas, monumental sites or areas whose values are to be found in memories and stratifications which time had transcribed onto "what remains" – as strategic places for the care of the territory, to hinder civil and economic inequalities, and those which stem from climate change. The prevailing idea is that fragility or marginality of the so called "places that don't matter", which conserve important cultural capital but where more and more often very worrying social and political demands mature, can become an important resource if only we try to reconstruct the connections between places and dwelt-in communities, which with time, for diverse reasons, have been frayed.In the wake of this new vision, the main objective of this essay is to investigate not so much the fragility which regards the physical degradation of buildings and settlements, which is the consequence of the marginalization of territories, but, more in general, and with more ambitious aims, to investigate how the crisis of the system of relationships between man and his habitat, which underlies every kind of fragility, has a consequence on the lack of memory and significance of architectural heritage.The paper also analyses a perspective that has already been studied in other fields, but which has been less studied in the field of architectural restoration. According to this perspective, the programme of reconstruction, more than on the tangible aspect of this heritage and on the possibility of re-use, should intervene on the relationships that over time have transformed these places and buildings in important "reserves for meanings". Starting therefore from this reflection on the concept of fragility and trying to focus on the relationship between fragile heritage and lack of ...

The present chapter introduces the concepts and the issues about Italian inner areas, as defined by the Strategia nazionale per le Aree Interne (National Strategy for Inner Areas – SNAI). In particular, it focuses on a new enterprise model called Community-based cooperatives; they play a fundamental role in the regional development process, from economic, social and environmental points of view. Finally, the key elements of these new cooperatives are highlighted.

The book focuses on the impact of climate change on the Italian inner areas as a privileged place to observe the ongoing environmental crisis. In the first chapter, the main stages through which sociology has approached climate change are discussed. Assuming loss as a dimension inevitably linked to climate change, the concepts of vulnerability and adaptation are established as the main research interests. A specific focus on the socio-spatial effects of climate change is needed in the inner areas: fragile territories showing vulnerabilities but also an important "green" capital. The Emilia-Romagna inner areas are then studied through a quantitative analysis at a municipal scale, identifying social, demographic and economic factors shaping fragility. The last section of the book focuses on the Delta del Po area in the province of Ferrara, and its conflictual relation with nature. Emphasizing the unstable human-environment relation that characterizes the area, the main features of the adaptation strategies adopted there to face the transformation caused by climate change are then analyzed.

A discussion of urban/suburban politics examines Charles Merriam's call for the creation of city-states out of the nation's metropolitan areas. These city-states would enjoy the same sovereign powers as states themselves, but would be better equipped to deal with urban & suburban problems & needs. Suburbanization as an escape hatch from urban blight & excessive taxation is discussed, arguing that expansion of the welfare state is the principle ulterior motive among those -- such as the current Secretary of the US Dept of Housing & Urban Development, Henry Cisneros -- who would eliminate the suburb as a political force. Issues related to race & suburbanization are treated, & several arguments against the dissolution of the suburbs as a political & economic entity are articulated. It is concluded that the making of suburbia into a scapegoat for the urban crisis is egregiously misguided. W. Howard

The present essay includes the main results of the research project on community-based cooperatives, promoted in 2018 by Fondosviluppo and FEDAM, and implemented by researchers of University of Molise. The volume highlights the potential and the modes of operating of community-based cooperatives, which carry out a mix of productive and socially useful activities for local community well-being. The research, through a new methodological and operational path, reaches the following results: a) devise a strategy to detect the degree of social, economic and environmental vulnerability levels of Italian inner areas; b) outline the needs of local communities; c) define the role of community-based cooperatives in bridging regional gaps, also identifying their possible policy support.

This study explores the evolution of the global governance of refugees in light of studies on depoliticisation. Following theories on governmentality, it emphasizes the centrality of the concept of de-politicisation when examining the narratives and practices implemented to establish an extraterritorial asylum system of humanitarian containment, detached from any ideals of inclusion and rehabilitation. At the same time, we recall diverse empirical evidence in order to stress the importance of considering the divergent effects of depoliticisation in geographically and culturally distant contexts. The survey in Ca-labria, Italy, presents in fact the political attempt by its inner areas to foster autonomous practices of in-clusion that contrast the securitarian shift of the global asylum system, as well as its national implications, recognising refugees as a strategic factor of economic growth and social innovation. In particular, we re-veal the mechanisms through which new forms of local citizenship have emerged here, along with institu-tional solutions specifically connoted by a bilateral and place-based approach to forced migration. These efforts persist despite the breakup of the current European refugee crisis which, however, now opens new dilemmas by diminishing the viability of refugee relocation within the internal areas as a truly sustainable process.

ABSTRACTThis article explores conceptual and empirical aspects of the social exclusion/inclusion debate in later life, with a particular focus on issues of place and space in urban settings. Exploratory findings are reported from two empirical studies in Belgium and England, which sought to examine experiences of social exclusion and inclusion among people aged 60 and over living in deprived inner-city neighbourhoods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with an ethnically diverse sample of 102 older people in Belgium and 124 in England. Thematic analysis of interview data identifies four issues in relation to the neighbourhood dimension of social exclusion/inclusion in later life: experiences of community change; feelings of security and safety; the management of urban space; and strategies of control. The results suggest that neighbourhoods have a significant influence on shaping the experience of exclusion and inclusion in later life, with a number of similarities identified across the different study areas. The article concludes by discussing conceptual and policy issues raised by the research.