Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 1
·
May 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
33
centre. Although the actors involved are partly different, the results appear to be the same:
empty rhetoric and no substantial change.
The Regeneration of the Historical Centre
Much has been written on the Historical Centre of Naples, the most frequent target of local
government interventions. Here I will
focus on a few key issues. The fact that in 1995 the
Historical Centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site implies that its protection
must be internationally accountable. The traditional perimeter of the Historical Centre
includes both the districts of the Aragonese city protected by UNESCO (720 hectares) and
those derived by the Variant of Safeguard of the territory approved by the City government in
1996 as a modification of the regulatory Plan of 1972, which covers an area of about 1972
hectares. The first delimitation (Piano Regolatore 1972) included, in whole or in part, 12 of
the 30 districts of Naples. In spite of the interventions implemented during the nineteenth-
century, these districts have remained almost unchanged. The districts have lost part of their
population due to the process of decentralization experienced by Naples since the 1990s.
Between 1981 and 2001, the historic centre lost more than a quarter of its population in
favour, first, of the suburbs and, then, of suburban areas at the periphery. Just under 320,000
inhabitants live now in this part of the city (about 30% of the total population, as opposed to
almost 70% in 1951).
As is the case with many other world metropolises, in this relatively small area are
concentrated the city’s core economic and cultural activities: the University, important
commercial activities and more than half of the services of the entire city. However, the
commercial vocation of the old centre is counterbalanced by the reduction of manufacturing
activities, especially along the waterfront (just under 20% of residents are employed in the
industry, 20% work in commercial activities and over 50% work in the tertiary sector). The
districts of the old centre can be grouped in two categories. On the one hand, those with a
predominance of professional groups, attracted by gentrification; on the other hand, the oldest
neighbourhoods, marked by the deterioration of housing and by economic decline. The City
government has attempted to improve the economic, urban and social conditions of the
historic centre through various plans and programmes. Last among these measures is the
Urban Integrated Programme, involving 80% of the area declared by UNESCO as an
historical site. The best known, however, are the Urban Project and the Project Siren. The
