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GRAZIA NAPOLI

Housing affordability nelle regioni urbane. Una proposta metodologica per definire il reddito soglia

Abstract

Within context of urban disintegration and social fragmentation, the concept of post-metropolis induces to critically consider the typical dichotomy between centre and periphery. Even in marginal areas where metropolis did not develop according to traditional stages and classical models, the traditional analytical categories are no longer able to interpret the widespread phenomenon of regional urbanization. In any case, the large urban regions are recognized by some authors not only as driving-force of the global economy, but also as the main sources of inequality and of social/environmental injustice; places where the gap between high and low income of social groups has been exacerbated. In particular and in recent decades, access to housing has become a serious problem, not only for the most disadvantaged population, but also for the middle class as a result of the economic crisis and despite the fall in prices in the housing market. The widespread urbanization is rarely associated with the demographic development and more often is accompanied by the increase of soil consumption and of empty houses. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that in large urban regions the population density is high and social groups with low incomes have to face problems of housing affordability, that it means they experience difficulty in finding affordable housing. The location choice for housing, although it depends on other factors, is mostly conditioned by the market price as a good proxy of residential quality, and by the availability of income that can be used for this purpose. The contribution proposes a methodology for assessment of “income-threshold” through a combination between the “ratio income” and the “residual income” approach, which is applied to two contexts: the former Palermo metropolitan area (as defined by L.R. 9/1986) and a polycentric urban region in South-eastern Sicily. A focus on income levels in high residential tension municipalities helps to highlight the distribution of the problem of access to housing. The analysis of housing affordability at the metropolitan scale, through this methodology for estimating the “income threshold”, could allow to know and represent the territorial distribution of the ability or inability of families to access the housing market to buy or rent house. It can provide a cognitive support for developing strategies and planning tools or for implementing actions that are oriented to address the housing issue.