The Self-Made City - Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City - page 191

least because it has its roots in circumstances going far back (martinelli 1986;
insolera 1993, 2001). it was already occurring when Rome became the capital of
italy in 1870. but it was in the 1930s, during the fascist period, that the birth of the
periferia, or outer suburbs, and the run-down areas in particular was noted. it
was an era of demolition in the historic center, of moving people into settlements
of very poor quality in rural areas a very long way from the center and the estab-
lished part of the city. The colonization of the countryside and the expansion of
the city evolved from these developments (see also mudu, chapter 4).
The process became more aggressive and dramatic during the postwar peri-
od and finally exploded in the 1960s and 1970s. after 1945, the devastation caused
by war and the weakness of the production system forced huge numbers of peo-
ple to move to the cities in search of a job and adequate public services. This state
of affairs caused Rome, certainly not an industrial city, to experience a number
of issues simultaneously: a marked population increase, generally of those with
a low income; insecurity and low levels of employment and productive activity;
widespread employment of new immigrants in the building trade; and very rap-
id growth of settlements and a significant increase in demand for housing. The
public administrations that succeeded each other in governing the city were not
capable of responding adequately to these developments or to the housing prob-
lem. although Rome was the italian city that built the largest volume of “public
housing,” this had turned out to be insufficient. hence, the progressive and wide-
spread development of unauthorized building that moved from the construction
of makeshift shacks, often extremely unhygienic and unhealthy, to the building
of small blocks of flats for one, two, or three families according to their needs and
the prospects for their children. all this took place entirely as self-construction,
outside the rules laid down by the urban master plans, often involving neighbors
and other families in a system of exchanges of services and mutual assistance.
for many new residents, this phase was experienced as an epic period.
at the same time, unauthorized building was closely linked to speculation
and to the deeds of the landowners who divided up and sold their own land,
tricking the new residents while knowing that these operations were illegal and
covering themselves legally in every possible way. The operations of these land-
owners were unquestionably systematic and intentional and these individuals
therefore have a great deal to answer for. Vast areas of the countryside around
Rome, some of it valuable land and furthermore where building was not allowed,
were broken up into plots, partially urbanized, and then sold.5 such a glaring
case of speculation, together with the low (sometimes very low) housing density,
involved an enormous use of land and irremediable damage to large parts of the
countryside with serious consequences for the environment.
all this put the residents in a complex situation. on the one hand they were
lawbreakers, engaging in illegal behavior that was often damaging for the city;