Lombardy, in internal areas in 10 years lost 2.8% of businesses and 4.1% of the population – Corriere.it

The average income of an inhabitant of the internal areas of Lombardy is over 7,000 euros less than that of the inhabitants of the urban centres. Furthermore, in ten years the same internal areas have lost 2.8% of businesses and 4.1% of the population. These are some of the data presented by Cna Lombardia with the research of the Centro Studi Sintesi on the trend of the regional economy, in particular on the preponderant part of the Italian territory which is characterized by a spatial organization based on “minor centres”, often small dimensions which, in many cases, are able to guarantee residents only limited access to essential services.

3.6% of the Lombard population lives in inland areas

There is therefore a clear and evident gap between the inland areas and the so-called poles, which includes per capita income and likewise a demographic decline in the population and businesses, inevitably also weighing on the handicraft industry which occupies 29.8% in the same areas. “We are deeply concerned about the negative consequences of this disparity – says Giovanni Bozzini, President of Cna Lombardia -. Inland areas, which account for 3.6% of the region’s total population, play a vital role in the local economy. In particular, craftsmanship is a crucial sector that creates jobs and preserves traditions. For this reason, we believe immediate action is necessary to support the internal areas of Lombardy and counteract the economic and demographic desertification that is affecting them. Local autonomy needs to be valorised. The Pnrr, with its almost 14 million euros allocated to these areas, can represent a unique opportunity to launch concrete policies to support these local communities, through targeted and structural interventions to encourage entrepreneurial development and improve access to services essential”.

225 Municipalities

In Lombardy as many as 225 municipalities, whose average inhabitants are 1,581, are included among the inland areas (equal to 14.9% of the total) and are almost entirely located in the mountains (97.2%), for a land area of ​​25 .6% of the total, with an extension of 6,117 km2. There are 6 internal areas in Lombardy and they concern: Upper Lake Como/Valli del Lario, Lario Intelvese/Lario Ceresio, Valchiavenna, Valcamonica, Valtrompia, the Lombard Apennines/Alto Oltrepo Pavese. Furthermore, demographically they involve 3.6% of the total population (355,741 inhabitants) characterized by a high old age index which has two people over 64 for every under 15.

The value of companies in the internal areas of 4.1 billion euros

On the business front, in 2022, there were 38,687 located in the internal areas of the region, 3.7% of all businesses active in Lombardy, and produce an added value of 4.1 billion euros, approximately 2.1% on the regional total. The workers, however, are 113,313, about 2.8% of the total, and are divided as follows: 30.2% in commerce, hotels and restaurants, 29.8% in industry, 14.1% in construction, 4, 3% in agriculture and 21.4% in other services. “Cna Lombardia looks at the internal areas, strengthened by this research, as a crucial terrain for understanding how much government policies of the natural trends of the markets can help to contrast material and cultural inequalities, gaps in opportunities and services, entrepreneurial mortality, social crisis and demographic decline”, says Stefano Binda, regional secretary of Cna, who continues “for us, Lombardy must build harmonious balances between metropolises, territories and internal areas, favoring a model woven from the values ​​and pillars of an economy made up of widespread entrepreneurship , care of the territory, sustainability, social inclusion. In our opinion, there should no longer be so-called “places that don’t matter”.

Depopulation

Municipalities in inland areas show a level of current per capita spending that is far higher than that of areas closer to urban centres: in Lombardy the commitment is 1,041 euros against an average of 730 euros in the other areas. The municipal expenses of the territories analyzed are divided as follows: 37.7% road network and territory, 27% general services, 12.4% education and culture, various charges 8.6%, social sector 8% and economic development 6.3%. Also for this reason there is a territorial policy aimed at improving the quality of services to citizens and at increasing the opportunities for economic growth in internal territories and at risk of marginalisation. This is the Snai (National Strategy for Internal Areas) which aims to reverse the current trend of depopulation of internal areas. Snai was defined for the first time in the 2014-2020 partnership agreement, the national programming tool of the European structural and investment funds assigned to Italy, but recently, the 2021-27 partnership agreement confirmed the need to give continuity to the support to the Internal Areas. The interventions are financed through the Regional Operational Programs (POR) of EU funds and with national resources allocated by the stability law: valid for the 2014-2020 programming cycle, the Internal Areas of Lombardy received resources for around 81 .5 million euros. The Pnrr will envisage investments for the development of social services and infrastructures for a value of 13.6 million euros.