Depopulation, Ageing and Place Memory in Campania’s Inner Areas. A Focus on the Cilento Interno Pilot Area

Abstract

Over the past decade, Italy has faced a “demographic winter”, marked by significant territorial divisions both between the Central-Northern regions and the South and within central and inner areas, as defined by the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI). This study investigates the processes of demographic decline and the geographies of aging in the inner areas of Campania, a region with pronounced demographic-settlement imbalances. The geostatistical analysis, supported by cartographic representations, is complemented by a qualitative field survey, aimed at exploring the contribution of the elderly to place memory and placetelling. Focusing on the SNAI project area “Cilento Interno”, a potential sixth Blue Zone in the world, the survey relies on in-depth interviews where the elderly, as custodians of local memory, recount their experiences and the changes they have witnessed. In our view, these narratives can contribute to a greater awareness of time and space, foster the construction of new imaginaries, and encourage new (self)representations of territories.