Soggetti, effetti e pratiche urbane delle popolazioni temporanee : Il caso di Roma

Abstract

This volume addresses the issue of temporary living connected with voluntary forms of mobility, where transience is a choice, such as for tourists, off-site students, temporary labour migrants and lifestyle migrants. The effect these groups have on urban systems has been analyzed by various strands of study, which have only recently begun to dialogue with each other. In this research, a joint analysis is proposed through the concept of temporary populations. Despite specificities - particularly evident in terms of length of stay and motivation for displacement - there are several common features among these collectivities, for example in terms of purchase power, consumption orientation, housing practices and use of public space. Their presence also impacts urban contexts, in terms of social composition and cohesion and development policies. Beyond the definitional and conceptual issue, I propose a review of methods and sources useful for description, quantification and localization at the sub-municipal scale, with specific data for the case of Rome. In addition, the results of an ad hoc mixed-methods survey are presented to explore the motivations, practices and implications of choosing to live in Rome for a period of one's life. The implications are relevant both at life course level of those involved and for understanding the dynamics of transformation that are shaping especially some of the capital's neighborhoods. Transiency reveals itself as a useful explanatory category for understanding and describing influential dynamics of change at the urban level. The resulting short-term city conceals power dynamics among social groups, with difficulties in creating widespread welfare, involving more speculation and rent extraction than sustainable development.