IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A

Abstract

Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, is the fifth largest city in Italy. Over the last 20 years, it has been affected by a process of urban redevelopment which has progressively changed its appearance, and the ways people experience its multiple spaces. This process has not been uniform and has developed especially affecting some areas of the historic center. The gentrification process accompanying urban redevelopment has partially redefined the urban and cultural fabric of these areas, without anyway changing it drastically. In more recent years, a vast urban redevelopment project has affected a large part of Palermo’s waterfront, starting from the areas close to the port. The redevelopment of the waterfront has also focused on a smaller marina, Sant’Erasmo. The neighborhood includes interesting urban fabric which has a small port as its focal point, nowadays in a phase of gentrification following the redevelopment of the area including some places, attended by young people, and a promenade overlooking the sea. However, the transformation processes affecting this area are neither uniform nor homogeneous: (i) a few hundred meters from the marina, there are a city park, a botanical garden, some university departments attended by hundreds of students, a reception center for homeless people and at least two hotels; (ii) at the same time, there are nearby several spaces of social, economic, and cultural marginality integrating in very uneven ways the area. Using a mixed approach, both anthropological and geographical, this contribution intends to explore the case of Sant’Erasmo to study forms of resistance that shape the life of the inhabitants. It is of great interest to understand how they, living in the neighborhood, perceive this process and would like to change it. Our research, a work still in progress, uses a qualitative approach (participant observation and targeted interviews), since our objects of study have to do with the experiences of inhabitants.