From global to local: Human mobility in the coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis*

Armando Montanari Barbara Staniscia Sapienza University of Rome

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the way problems caused by global changes overlap with local problems in coastal zones. It verifies the existence and dimensions of the global-local phenomenon by examining the impact of the recent international economic crisis on the core and ring administrative subdivisions of the coastal zone of the from 2008 to 2010. In particular, it compares housing market trends with available statistics on tourism and migration to provide an indicator of the economic crisis. The results of the research show that to some extent, there is a connection between a drop in house prices and a decreased flow of human mobility.

KEY WORDS: coastal zone, Rome metropolitan area, human mobility, tourism, migration, housing market

RÉSUMÉ DU GLOBAL AU LOCAL: LA MOBILITÉ HUMAINE DANS LA ZONE CÔTIÈRE DE ROME SUR FOND DE CRISE ÉCONOMIQUE MONDIALE Cet article traite de la façon dont les problèmes causés par des changements globaux interfèrent avec les problèmes locaux dans les régions côtières. Il vérifie l’existence et la taille du phénomène local-global, en examinant l’impact de la récente crise écono- mique mondiale sur le noyau et les franges des zones côtières de la région métropoli- taine de Rome durant la période 2008-2010. En particulier, il compare l’évolution du marché immobilier avec les statistiques disponibles sur le tourisme et les migrations pour fournir un indicateur de la crise économique. Les résultats de la recherche mon- trent que dans une certaine mesure, il y a une relation entre une chute des prix des loge- ments et un flux plus faible en termes de mobilité humaine.

MOTS-CLÉS: zones côtières, région métropolitaine de Rome, mobilité humaine, touris- me, migration, marché immobilier

* Acknowledgement The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 244251.

BELGEO • 2011 • 3-4 187 INTRODUCTION

wo apparently unrelated phenomena – mutual implications. Coastal zones tend Thuman mobility and the economic cri- to be particularly affected by global sis – began to overlap in certain areas of changes. This paper examines the com- the world towards the end of the first bined impact of the two phenomena on a decade of the third millennium. Both phe- specific coastal area where problems nomena are global in terms of size and caused by the economic crisis have impact, and both are now affecting spe- spread through the territory as a result of cific aspects of local communities, cul- human mobility (the term is used here to tures and environments. Although each of encompass the flow of people, goods and these phenomena has been extensively information). The first part of the paper researched, they have rarely been stud- reviews theoretical considerations on the ied together. Examining the areas where two subjects, while the second focuses they overlap complicates the analytical on a particular case study – the coastal framework, but allows us to gain a better, stretch of the Rome metropolitan area more detailed understanding of their (RMA) in .

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND: HUMAN MOBILITY, COASTAL AREAS AND ECONOMIC CRISES

Over the past few decades, researchers in Organization (UNWTO) figures, interna- various branches of social science have tional tourist arrivals have topped one bil- extensively analyzed many aspects of lion, and this figure is expected to double migration and the way it shapes social, over the next two decades. UNTWO also economic and cultural change in coun- estimates that domestic tourism repre- tries of origin as well as host countries. sents four to five times the volume of inter- These studies have been undertaken in national tourism. Population geography the wake of large-scale migration flows studies have so far largely used “push- starting from the early 20th century, when pull” theories (Dorigo and Tobler, 1983) the foreign-born population made up 12.5 based on empirical evidence of domestic per cent of the total U.S. population. By and international migration in industrial the last decade of the second millennium, and rural societies. Individuals migrate to the number of foreign-born citizens and areas offering better employment second-generation immigrants in America prospects than their normal place of resi- had grown to 20 per cent of the popula- dence. Such flows, traditionally generated tion, and it is estimated that they will com- by bilateral agreements between govern- prise more than 30 per cent of the total ments, were followed by migration for rea- U.S. population by 2025. In the European sons of family reunification and to join net- Union, on the other hand, foreign-born works of relatives and friends. Research residents, including people born in other has essentially focused on flows between member states, accounted for less than 9 countries, paying little attention to flows per cent of the total population in 2005. between specific places. This occurred Tourist flows, another component of since there were not relevant differences human mobility, are also showing an in terms of composition, organization and upward trend. According to World Tourism objectives of migration flows between two

188 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis countries, from place to place. Any contin- equacy of research into social mobility, uation of the process – with well-defined which has deliberately ignored the way forms of return migration – followed the social classes, gender and ethnic groups same logic in the opposite direction, from intersect with regions and towns. the destination country back to the origin Research has remained anchored to a country. The connection between local static concept of human society by and global was, therefore, hierarchical, neglecting the study of new factors such conditioned by decisions taken at central as horizontal networks, mobility and fluidi- government level. ty. The new approach can be interpreted While the various branches of social sci- on the basis of the parameters of a sociol- ences take a substantially similar view of ogy of fluids, where there are no points of the nature of migration, there is no shared departure or arrival and no specific refer- multidisciplinary approach in the research ence scapes, and where particular direc- about migration. Brettel and Hollifield tions and speeds are more important than (2008) point out that geography focuses purpose. Hence, factors such as viscosity on motives and methods to explain the and temporalities come into play. Fluids spatial pattern of migration, using macro, can escape through the wall of the scape meso and micro-level approaches and into capillaries. Power is diffused and predominantly drawing on relational, exercised through capillary relations and structuralist and transnational theories on the intersection of fluids. Cresswell (2006) migration (Jackson, 1989; Bonnet, 1996; provides a further interpretation. He Silvey, 1999; Liu, 2000; Bailey, 2001; argues that human mobility implies the Walton-Roberts, 2004; Montanari and presence of complex beings – pedestri- Staniscia, 2009; Staniscia, 2009). ans and dancers, pilots and athletes, Hardwick (2008) reviews the use of socio- refugees and city dwellers, tourists and spatial, transnational and social network businessmen, men and women – and theories in population geography examines the interfaces created between research in recent decades. Wright, Ellis physical bodies in movement and repre- and Parks (2005) offer a comparative sentations of mobility to understand situa- analysis of conventional and modified tions that otherwise would be impossible spatial assimilation theories. Alongside to interpret (Adey, 2010). the study of these themes in population Since the 1970s, when migration engen- geography research, other branches have dered by bilateral agreements between begun to examine the concept of human governments came to an end, it has been mobility – comprising phenomena that increasingly difficult to measure and eval- have grown to such an extent that they uate the phenomenon from an exclusively can no longer merely be assimilated with quantitative viewpoint. International migra- migration or tourist flows. Cresswell (1993, tion has become a largely spontaneous 1997) introduces a geographical reading phenomenon over the past several years, of mobility, which in his view is, in social even though it can be traced to clearly science research, a concept as important identifiable economic, political and social as the themes of place, space and soci- causes. Using traditional statistical tools, it ety. In particular, Cresswell (2006) distin- is only possible to register the number of a guishes between movement and mobility, specific category of immigrants – those arguing that movement is mobility who have decided to reside in a place dif- abstracted from contexts of power (Adey, ferent from their country of origin and are 2010). “legally” entitled to do so for a period of Two geographers (Hall and Williams, over one year. It is also possible to regis- 2002) and a sociologist (Urry, 2000) have ter tourist arrivals, i.e. the number of peo- emphasized the need for research into dif- ple who reside in an officially recognized ferent “mobilities” – of people, goods, accommodation establishment in a place images, information and culture; their other than their usual place of residence interdependency and their consequences for periods extending from one day to one for society. Urry (2000) points to the inad- year. In either case, there is little informa-

BELGEO • 2011 • 3-4 189 tion on the motives for movement and the environmental conditions of the coast and characteristics of the people who move – the preferences of use of the local popu- for example, an employee of a multina- lation, can be extremely useful in helping tional company spending a few days or a administrations and businesses, espe- few weeks in a hotel or apartment com- cially in the building and tourism sectors, plex would typically be considered a to plan future development sites for a vari- tourist. A distinction is made between ety of uses such as housing, shops and migratory and tourist flows, which are reg- leisure centers. Climate change has influ- istered on the basis of arbitrary criteria enced environmental parameters – e.g. a such as border crossings, period of stay rising sea level – and complicated mat- in the new place of residence and motives ters by leading to increased risks of flood- related to income generation and hence ing, the spread of pollution and the dis- the payment of taxes. These parameters, placement of large numbers of inhabi- which were sufficient a few decades ago tants. The need to control and reduce the to identify the bulk of human mobility, are undesirable consequences of climate now totally inadequate to evaluate the change can lead to increased conflicts phenomenon. Human flows no longer among stakeholders. An integrated move according to simple linear patterns approach to the ecosystem incorporating in contemporary society; they use com- the social, economic and natural disci- plex network systems. The result is a plines is therefore key to understanding direct connection between global and and resolving the complex and changing local, with no intermediary filters. There is problems specific to coastal towns. no longer any need for an immediate Coastal zones have traditionally been cause and effect relationship; an considered hard-to-manage areas upheaval in the political, economic or cul- because of the overlapping of i) weather, tural situation of a country is all it takes for tidal and seasonal problems; ii) a particu- network routes to be directly impacted. lar physical environment in which the spe- While the sensor of permanently unsettled cific features of physical geography are situations has become obsolete as a pri- superimposed on those of hydrography; mary vector, networks organized in fluid, iii) jurisdictional problems, iv) the concur- hierarchical patterns have acquired rele- rent responsibilities of individual public vance. administrations and v) diversified inter- Following the economic crisis of the ests among various social groups. 1970s, urban settlements underwent Longhorn (2005) points out that local, regional and urban restructuring in order regional and national administrations are to acquire a new international image. often in charge of different aspects of the Renewed economic growth led to new same physical area and the same use of flows of human mobility – whether perma- coastal areas, e.g. fishing, environment, nent, semi-permanent, temporary or daily, agriculture, ground and sea transport, for purposes of consumption (leisure and urban planning and the land registry and tourism) or production (economic migra- the national cartography centre and tion). With global competition between hydrographic service. In the Medi - metropolitan areas emphasizing the terranean, where mountains press close importance of natural and cultural to the sea, the coast is generally a narrow resources, research into the effects of strip of fertile plain where infrastructure, human mobility on the growth of urban services and economic growth are con- settlements and restructuring in coastal centrated. Before the advent of industrial- areas takes on strategic importance ization, mobility essentially occurred because: a) the environment is more frag- between the mountains and the sea, and ile and the space limited; b) urban densi- was therefore orthogonal to the coast. ty and activities are very high and c) the Braudel (1995) reminds us that poor human impact on the environment is mountain people motivated by the hope stronger than elsewhere. Awareness of of a better life and the appeal of higher these effects, as well as knowledge of the wages moved down to the coast and

190 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis never went back up again; this one-way ing market, and that they would be able to flow is summed up by the Catalan repossess houses and sell them at a prof- proverb “baixar sempre, mountar no” it. To quote Presacco and Seravalli (2009): (Always go down, never up). In countries “[...] what happened was that the financial like Italy, the growth model in the early institutions that granted large numbers of stages of industrialization did not envis- this kind of mortgage went bankrupt and age intensive use of coastal areas, the insolvency spread to other financial although there was a predominantly institutions through contagion or indirect orthogonal flow of mobility towards the involvement since, once the crisis had sea. With manufacturing, tourism and begun, the banks ceased lending money leisure infrastructure being set up along to one another [...]”. Another relevant the coast from the earliest stages of aspect is the direct connection made industrialization, the bulk of mobility flows between the financial and the real estate occurred along the coast, parallel to the markets, as if they were indistinct fields sea. Coastal zones are vulnerable areas, following the same rules. Duca, as myriad natural disasters such as hurri- Muellbauer and Murphy (2010) criticize canes, floods and landslides in coastal models that consider housing markets to areas all over the world have proved. be as cash-rich and efficient as markets Haque and Etkin (2007) differentiate for standard financial instruments. Real between natural events and natural disas- estate markets are characterized by very ters (hazards): the former are naturally important local specificities. Their under- occurring events, while the latter are estimation can lead to wrong assess- defined as such in areas with a strong ments and expectations about house human presence. Coastal areas are also prices. In the G7 countries, with the vulnerable to the risks of global warming exception of Japan, house prices went up and the much-feared sea-level rise, which by 5 per cent between 1999 and the early would have a direct impact on the quality months of 2007, with peaks of up to 9 per of life of inhabitants and could even make cent in the U.K. (Beltratti and Morana, these areas inhabitable. 2010). Economic growth and low inflation Another global event – the economic cri- rates led to a sharp increase in excess liq- sis – has been superimposed on this situ- uidity over the same period. ation since the tail end of the second mil- An analysis of international migration lennium. Leiser and Rötheli (2010) affirm trends shows that the business cycle and that global economic crises are now as net migration rate are correlated (OECD, inevitable as epidemics, resulting in an 2009). Since most migratory movements equally negative impact on people’s well- are production-led, i.e. job related, an eco- being and a similarly widespread state of nomic downturn and a drop in the employ- uncertainty in society. The crisis that ment rate generally leads to a decrease in exploded in 2007 led to a wide-ranging migration flows. The intensity of the debate on the responsibility of those in decrease is not determined univocally: it charge of financial markets as well as depends on manpower specialization lev- global economic and political choices. els and the gap between the unemploy- While some observers consider that poor- ment rates of the country of origin and the ly managed financial markets led to the host country, respectively. These decreas- crisis, others (Krugman, 2008) tend to es are also influenced by migration poli- blame the increasingly unequal distribu- cies. In Italy, for example, in a context of tion of income. Technically speaking, the looming bankruptcy for a number of firms, crisis resulted from mortgage loans the government fixed the immigration repackaged into mortgage-backed secu- quota threshold at 150,000 in 2008, giving rities; banks provided loans to low-income precedence to home help jobs and the households, knowing that they would be backlog of applications. It would therefore incapable of repaying the loans. Banks seem that a decrease in the rate of migra- were confident that house prices would tion is partly due to an economic downturn continue to appreciate in a buoyant hous- and partly to the migratory policies.

BELGEO • 2011 • 3-4 191 The consequences of the recession – a According to Smeral (2010), there are drop in manufacturing and exports, several indicators that domestic tourism unemployment and lack of consumers’ and international tourism in the vicinity of trust – have also affected tourism. The the home country have been less affected main slump – a 10-20 per cent drop in by the crisis, as tourists have opted to international tourist arrivals – was regis- play safe in terms of product cost and tered between January-April 2009. quality.

EVIDENCE OF HUMAN MOBILITY AND ECONOMIC CRISIS AFFEC- TING THE COASTAL ZONE IN THE ROME METROPOLITAN AREA

THE ROME METROPOLITAN AREA shows the RMA with the central city (here- COAST after referred to as the ‘core’), the inner ring suburbs and the outer ring suburbs – The Rome metropolitan area (RMA) was the latter two separated from the central designed on the basis of several parame- city by the Grande Raccordo Anulare, or ters with a focus on everyday and occa- ring road. The coastal zone we focus on in sional commuting needs(1). this paper comprises a succession of The RMA coastline stretches from the towns on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Their land- Tarquinia municipality in the north to the scape is made up of hill ranges in the form municipality in the south. Figure 1 of a large amphitheatre enclosing Rome,

Figure 1. Rome Metropolitan Area.

192 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis with a plain squeezed into the sea by the own vehicles, 18 per cent use public mountains around and transport and the rest go on foot. The res- another plain towards the south, beyond idential decentralization and chronically the boundary of the RMA, at the base of inadequate public transport has led to the Ausoni mountains. The municipality of increased traffic and congested roads. Rome dominates the RMA. The nerve The RMA coast is 170 km long, extending centre of this coastal municipality is the from Tarquinia in the north to Nettuno in historic centre of Rome, which is less than the south. For a better understanding of 30 km from the sea as the crow flies. demographic changes along the Roman The resident population of the RMA coastline over the past two decades increased by over 10 per cent in the (Table 2), we have examined the coastal 2001-2009 period, but an analysis of pop- municipalities in relation to their location ulation growth in the area’s various territo- within the RMA: (i) core, Rome (Municipio rial subdivisions shows that growth is con- XIII) and ; (ii) northern inner ring centrated in the inner ring, where new set- (Civitavecchia, S.Marinella, and tlements – mainly residential districts for ) and southern inner ring (Ardea, people working in the core – have come and ) and (iii) outer ring up around medieval towns. Over the past (Tarquinia and Nettuno). decade, the outer ring towns have also started growing faster than the average POPULATION AND PROPERTY growth rate for the RMA. The public administration has not been able to keep The Rome municipality’s urban sprawl, up with the pace of residential decentral- especially in the 1950-1970 period, to ization to build a sufficiently large public areas far from the sea has led to under- transportation system. Municipality of development in the rest of the Rome figures (2011) show that there are region and, to some extent, the coastline 2.5 million vehicles in circulation: 76 per as a whole, including parts of the Rome cent cars and 15 per cent motorcycles, municipality. Development has been sac- with lorries and buses making up the rest, rificed to the demand for holiday homes i.e. a total of 934 vehicles per 1,000 and second homes for Romans who ben- inhabitants. Of the seven million of daily efited from the economic boom of the movements, 90 per cent are done by res- 1960s and 1970s. Property developers idents in the municipality of Rome. Fifty- involved in land speculation in the coastal six per cent of the commuters use their towns have lured these people to the

2001 2009 Core 2,597 2,791 Inner Ring 915 1,110 Outer Ring 314 358 Total RMA 3,826 4,260

Table 1. Rome Metropolitan Area (RMA), resident population (thousands), 2001-2009. Source: Tagliacarne Institute and Municipality of Rome, General Registry Office, various years.

2001 2008 Core 246 283 Inner Ring (North) 123 145 Inner Ring (South) 109 152 Outer Ring 51 61 Total 529 641

Table 2. Coastal Area of the RMA, resident population (thousands), 2001-2008. Source: Tagliacarne Institute and Municipality of Rome, General Registry Office, various years.

BELGEO • 2011 • 3-4 193 coast with promises of a new lifestyle. The TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE MARKET opening of the Roma-Civitavecchia motorway in 1967 and new stations such The analysis of house prices is based on as Ladispoli along the rail line in the data from different sources: (i) BIR, Borsa 1970s have accelerated the process. An Immobiliare di Roma (the Rome Real intercity train service started in 1994 with Estate Exchange) set up on the initiative trains every 30 minutes between Roma of the Rome Chamber of Commerce (data and Ladispoli, and was extended to supplied over several years), (ii) the Civitavecchia in 1998. Seating capacity is Osservatorio Mercato Immobiliare (OMI), 30,000 places per day on trains on the or Property Market Observatory of the Roma-Civitavecchia line and 40,500 Agenzia del Territorio, a government land places per day on the Roma-Nettuno line. registry and appraisal organization and However, this public transport offer too (iii) Ufficio Studi Tecnocasa, a network of has proved to be insufficient. As a result, property brokerage agencies. the number of cars owned by households According to Tecnocasa data, price in the coastal municipalities (excluding growth for residential properties in the city Rome) has grown from around 150,000 in of Rome oscillated between 4 and 8 per the early 1990s to around 300,000 in cent per six month-period from 2000 to 2007. The phenomenon is even clearer 2010, peaking at 9 per cent between when we compare the dynamics of the 2000 and 2006 and subsequently drop- northern and southern parts of the coastal ping to zero per cent in the first half of inner ring (Figure 2). The population of the 2008. In the second half of 2008, prices northern coast grew from 104,000 to dropped reaching a minimum of minus 4 123,000 inhabitants in the 1991-2001 per cent, subsequently stabilizing from period, climbing to 142,000 inhabitants the first half of 2010. Prices are expected from 2001 to 2007. In the same periods, to remain permanently stable in 2011 as a the population of the southern coast grew result of economic recovery, with a 2-3 from 87,000 to 107,000 and subsequently per cent increase in the number of trans- to 145,000. The people-car ratio was 2 actions. The events in North African and people per car in 1991 in the northern Middle Eastern countries, which began section and settled at 1.8 persons per car early 2011 and are still ongoing, are a from 2001 onwards. In the southern sec- reminder that global economic phenome- tion of the coast, the ratio was 1.7 persons na can impact local property markets and per car in 1991, settling at 1.6 persons transactions. Rises in crude oil and raw per car after 2001. material prices raise the specter of infla- According to 2001 census figures, less tion, as the European Central Bank (ECB) than 10 per cent of houses in Civita- warned in early March 2011. The subse- vecchia are unoccupied, compared to 30 quent increase in the cost of money would per cent of houses in Ostia (Figure 3). The create a rise in average mortgage rates, number of empty houses was higher than which are often indexed to Euribor rates. the number of occupied ones in the towns It is possible that the 2008 scenario, when of Cerveteri, Ladispoli and Anzio. In the ECB rates (4.25%) and the Euribor rate towns of Ardea and S.Marinella, the num- (over 5%) were far higher than the current ber of empty houses was more than dou- rate (approx. 1.1%), could be replayed. ble the number of occupied ones. Until a Figure 4 compares 1998 and 2008 prices few decades ago, housing in the coastal in selected towns and administrative divi- towns was almost exclusively made up of sions of the Roman coastline, from north second homes owned by households liv- to south, with prices in Trevi in the historic ing in Rome, used only occasionally. From centre (home to the famous Trevi the 1970s and 1980s onwards, there has Fountain) and the upscale EUR business been a gradual trend towards renting and residential district located between those houses in the winter months to new the historical centre and the sea. While immigrants, often without a proper rental prices rose across the board, prices for contract. coastline properties are markedly lower

194 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis Figure 2. Resident population and car ownership change, per thousands, 1991-2007. Source: Istituto Tagliacarne.

Figure 3. Occupied and unoccupied dwellings, 2001. Source: Istat.

BELGEO • 2011 • 3-4 195 Figure 4. Max. house prices (euros per sq. m.), 2008-2010. Source: BIR.

than in the more prestigious areas of cen- THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND HUMAN tral Rome (with the exception of MOBILITY Civitavecchia), which confirms that the coastal area is still viewed as being sub- We have used population register office urban. Price trends were examined for the statistics, the presence of foreign resi- crisis period – average prices of each dents and tourist flows to analyze the semester of the period 2008 to 2010 – for impact of the global economic crisis on the core areas (Figure 5) and the southern various forms of human mobility. The very section of the inner ring using OMI data, nature of human mobility means that it which do not necessarily correspond to also – and often predominantly – occurs BIR figures. Nevertheless, the analysis in the form of irregular and informal flows, confirms previous hypotheses regarding which are either not officially registered, or the RMA. House prices in the core are cannot be registered by the various data markedly superior to prices in the inner collection tools. The data used in this ring suburbs, and prices remained stable chapter are official statistics, so any small or tended to diminish in the 2008-2010 changes may indicate a trend, but not its period (except for 2009), lagging slightly full extent. behind average prices in Rome. The mar- A large number of Italians and foreigners ket recovered in the first half of 2010, with registered as new residents in the inner significantly higher prices in prestigious ring coastal towns, both northern and districts. Although all the prices shown southern, in the 2002-2009 period. The come from official sources, they are mere- number of these in-migrants was only par- ly indicative. Tecnocasa’s September tially balanced out by the number of peo- 2010 list prices for the most sought-after ple who applied for their names to be part of Ostia are € 200,000-€ 260,000 for removed from the register. Figure 6 shows a two-bedroom house, € 240,000- that incoming registrations declined € 300,000 for a three-bedroom house and sharply in 2008-2009. We have not includ- up to € 400,000-500,000 for a 100 sq. m. ed the core, where the phenomenon is of loft with a 30 sq. m. terrace. a similar size to the two inner ring areas

196 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis Figure 5. Max. house prices (euros per sq. m.), 2008-2010. Source: OMI.

Figure 6. In-migrants and out-migrants (per thousand), 2002-2009. Source: Istituto Tagliacarne.

BELGEO • 2011 • 3-4 197 and is therefore a negligible percentage modation establishments. The Jubilee of the total reference population. The celebrations were watched throughout stock of officially registered foreign the world and continued to positively influ- nationals in the coastal municipalities ence demand for some years after the increased constantly in the 2000-2009 event. Public and business policy has period, with a slight slowdown from 2008 been geared towards filling up establish- to 2009 (Figure 7). The 13 largest foreign ments at a reasonable distance from communities in the coastal towns in 2009 Rome rather than building new hotels in came from: Romania, Poland, Ukraine, the city centre. As part of new tourism- Egypt, India, Albania, the Philippines, related initiatives, Civitavecchia port start- Morocco, Sri Lanka, Peru, China, ed operating as a cruise ship terminal in Bangladesh, Ecuador. All these nationali- 2000. The specialization has grown over ties at least doubled in size in the period time: starting with approximately 300,000 2003-2009. Romanians were the first for- cruise passengers in 1999, Civitavecchia eign nationals to arrive on the coast in will handle an estimated 2,000,000 pas- 2003, and their numbers have increased sengers this year. Leisure cruises in the at least five-fold to more than 20,000 area were barely affected by the global inhabitants in 2009. There are also large economic crisis, with only a 0.9% drop in communities of Romanians in Rome- the number of cruise passengers Municipio XIII, Fiumicino, Ladispoli and between 2008 and 2009. The marked Pomezia. downturn in international tourism at the The tourist flows of the past decade end of the decade (Hall, 2010) had little should be considered within the context effect on tourism to the historical centre of of tourism supply and demand in a region Rome because of the city’s exceptional overshadowed by the presence of Rome, offer; Rome’s problem was quality rather where the coastal area with its focus on than quantity (Montanari and Staniscia, holiday home tourism and leisure is of lim- 2010). Rome hotels offset the effects of ited interest. The Great Jubilee of the year the crisis by cutting prices to become 2000, the key event of the decade, trans- more competitive with other European his- formed the regional offer with a host of torical centers (Montanari, 2010). new services, infrastructure and accom- However, tourist overnights showed a dif-

Figure 7. Foreign population, per thousand (2000-2009). Source: Istituto Tagliacarne.

198 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis ferent trend in the coastal area. The num- 2007 and then dropping to 931,000 in ber of overnights increased from 140,000 2008. The decrease in arrivals of a specif- in 1998 to 337,000 in 2007 in the northern ic nationality was counterbalanced by an section of the coast and dropped to increase in new flows, especially middle 298,000 in 2008. In the southern sections, class visitors from emerging countries. the figure of 514,000 overnights in 1998 The coastal areas, which have traditional- remained stable until 2004, when they ly attracted only local and domestic increased to 524,000, subsequently tourists, have felt the impact of the eco- repeatedly increasing to 1,039,000 in nomic crisis more keenly.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper has analyzed the effects of the tralization along the coast. The crisis has global economic crisis on the coastal negatively impacted households with zone of the Rome metropolitan area, tak- increased monthly mortgage repayment ing three categories of human mobility into rates, and therefore caused a slump in account: (i) residential mobility, including demand for new housing and reduced the an analysis of the property market, (ii) number of transactions. This has made it migration, including an analysis of foreign harder to buy and sell property, which has communities and (iii) tourism, through an become a more long-drawn-out process, analysis of the dynamics of the sector. The with house prices decreasing as a result. analysis confirms the trends that interna- Finally, despite the lack of availability of tional research has brought to light. data about tourism and migration as In this case study, the economic crisis has sophisticated as the ones concerning the moved through the banking system to the economic system, it is clear that the vari- financing of new constructions, which pre- ous forms of human mobility tended to viously contributed to residential decen- decrease between 2008 and 2010.

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(1) The following variables were considered: C – Cultural links: 5. Number of second A – Economic activities: 1. Average daily homes occupied by Rome municipality resi- flow of people going to/from Rome to work; dents; 6. Changes in residence from/to B – Social services: 2. Average daily flow of Rome in the period 1976/1981; 7. Changes people going to/from Rome to university; 3. in residence from/to Rome in the period Average daily flow of people going to/from 1987/1988. Rome to attend high school; 4. Annual flow D – Territorial characteristics: 8. Level of of people going to/from Rome for a hospital accessibility to Rome, measured by trans- stay. portation costs.

Armando Montanari and Barbara Staniscia Sapienza University of Rome Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies armando.montanari@ uniroma1.it

manuscript submitted in April 2011; revised in January 2012

200 From global to local: Human mobility in the Rome coastal area in the context of the global economic crisis