As visitors at levels reaching critical mass pummel the paving stones, housing for local residents is disappearing. The central city’s population has fallen to 54,000. While the winter months can be calm and even delightful, as my colleague David Dudley recently discovered, the city has still become an economic monoculture. Shops and businesses that provide services for residents instead of tourists struggle to survive; years of political corruption and what some locals see as official indifference have also taken their toll. Then, of course, there’s the gravest threat of all: the rising sea itself. But while Venice may be facing brutal obstacles, its peril is energizing local residents who are fighting tooth and nail to keep the city alive. CityLab talked to some of those activists who are fighting to keep Venice afloat. [...]
It’s not just a case of alienation. Day-to-day life has become more complicated, says Di Giorgio. “When I was a kid, Venice was full of historic, local shops, but now there are loads of stores selling mass-produced junk to tourists. Small silly things, like finding someone to sew buttons on to a shirt that’s lost them, are becoming impossible.” [...]
Venice’s population isn’t falling simply because people are tired of the crush. Many people who would love to live here can’t do so because apartments are in extremely short supply. Competing with tourists for finite sleeping space has long made Venetian rents on the high side, but the rise of short-stay vacation lets is making things even more difficult. This is a common refrain throughout Europe of course, but while Airbnb may stand accused in Berlin or Barcelona of pushing up rents and making available apartments scarce, some activists fear that in Venice, they’re drying up the supply altogether. [...]
The demands that local activist groups are putting forward are numerous, but sensible. At the end of January, Gruppo 25 Aprile produced a barnstorming manifesto of sorts, laying out the actions they feel the city needs. Among many demands, they want a minimum two-year halt on permits to change residential units into tourist accommodation, as well as strict controls on tourist flows. They want to see funding to diversify local jobs, promoting such sectors as maritime research and traditional artisanry. They also want to use space in the civic hospital for a medical training center linked with the nearby University of Padua.
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