Policies and regulations in the process of change of the historical city centre of Cosenza

Abstract

The article presents the main results of a research project concerning the social change of the historical neighbourhoods of Cosenza and the life conditions of its inhabitants. In particular, the attention focuses on the role played by the local political élites, investigating their choices, their capacity of social regulation by the allocation of symbolic and material resources and by the mediation of forms and contents of tradition with those of modernity. The process of change of the historical city centre is interpreted trough out the category of peripherization, both by a geographical and social points of view. The city developed towards the North and the historical areas have been progressively abandoned by a large part of their inhabitants, first of all by urban èlites. Also the main urban political–administrative and economic functions and structures have been transferred in the new city centre. In general, with the exception of some period of the urban political history, we observe a decreasing of institutional attention on the historical neighbourhoods and their inhabitants and the absence of an integrated strategy contrasting phenomena of marginalization.