Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 1
·
May 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
32
point of collection and dissemination of information, thus facilitating communication,
contributing to a better understanding of the issues and providing a framework within which
members could find an explanation and make sense of the process involving them. As the
bearers of organized interests, groups and associations could influence the opinions and
preferences of their members and contribute to consensus-building. Yet, the associations do
not seem to produce these results, nor do they seem to have much influence on the
participation of their members and of the citizens in general in the activities related to the
implementation of the project. In the end, their impact in mobilizing and organizing the
participation of citizens has been weak. The restoration project of the area is currently
managed by the Urban Transformation Society (STU) ‘Bagnolifutura’, which was established
in 2002; local authorities (predominantly the City of Naples) are the major stockholders, but a
small proportion of private stockholders are also involved. However, the main institutional
actors responsible for the actual implementation of the plan, the City Council and the STU,
are unable to overcome the negative attitude of the citizenry, based on previous experience.
The view is widespread, across the local community, that the work of the local institutions is
an additional constraint to the advancement of the development path outlined above, as
opposed to being a stimulus for its realization. During a meeting organized about ten years
ago by the municipality of Bagnoli, an old man, who had been a worker of the steel plant,
gave a speech about the bad condition of the territory and of the life of residents. He was very
angry and at the end of his speech, he said to the participants ‘I think that I’ll die before
something will change in Bagnoli. The true problem of Bagnoli are the politicians, not the
lack of financial resources’.
A few months ago I met the son of this man, who was then
unemployed. He recalled the words of his father, remarking that he did indeed die without
having seen any change in Bagnoli. The changes brought about by deindustrialization have,
on the other hand, generated hardships for lower social classes, and the future prospects of
the area have influenced the housing market making house prices rise dramatically.
So, the urban policy pertaining Bagnoli is still far from having been implemented and,
after countless announcements about the change it would bring, local people’s living and
working conditions have not improved, instead they have worsened. A most critical point is
that citizens’ participation has badly weakened. The promises made by the various municipal
councils about the change that would be brought about by the closure of the plant are now
seen as empty rhetoric, a view that also applies to the urban policy concerning the historical
