Where is scampia italy

B ulldozers have begun tearing down one of the four sail-shaped tower blocks in the Scampia housing estate in Naples, one of the biggest drug-dealing centres in Europe and the setting for the Italian TV drama Gomorrah. For decades these run-down apartment blocks have been the scene of bloody wars between Camorra clans. Local authorities have described the demolition as a historic moment for the city.

Meanwhile, former inhabitants observed the destruction of their homes in silence. For 30 years the residents were forced into silence by the criminal clans, looked upon with indifference by the press and hounded by the police.

He is still too small to understand, but this morning he asked me to take the house we had here and bring it to the temporary house where we live today. Some inhabitants of the so-called green vela that was bulldozed on Thursday have been transferred to new apartments and others have been temporarily transferred to the only one of the four buildings that will remain standing.

That building will be renovated. Well, all you have to do is admire the twin sails of Villeneuve-Loubet on the French Riviera — they are among the most coveted apartments in Europe.

But of course, I hear you say: they are located in a tourist destination, with views of the Mediterranean, inhabited by rather different people. Yet still, the Villeneuve-Loubet project was launched in a degraded area, to which a lot of people had to be transplanted in an attempt to revive an abandoned stretch of land, urged to immediately feel themselves a community.

And they did, and there it worked. So what went wrong in Scampia? A lot of things. But you have to go step by step. Firstly, Le Vele were not built as planned. The green areas were neglected. The proposed school centres, service areas and churches were cancelled.

Common spaces that should have been built every six floors were omitted. The blocks themselves were placed close beside one another, not at the expected distance, in many cases inhibiting natural light in the apartments. But these were not the real problems that made Le Vele symbols of degradation and centre of operations for the Camorra. There was administrative dysfunction: the municipality started allocating apartments that were not yet completed, lacking even toilets, without electricity and without gas.

Then came the earthquake that hit southern Italy in , after which any available housing was occupied by homeless families. The arcades of Le Vele turned into squat dwellings with overcrowded and increasingly degraded apartments. There was not much for a mafioso to do in Scampia: there were few shops La Monica himself kept one, named after his favourite gun ; the inhabitants had little money, commerce was slow.

Above all there was this: Antoniello had to divide the profits of public construction with the leaders of the clan to which he belonged, for reasons of clan hierarchy. He could not keep everything to himself, even if Scampia was his territory.

But La Monica realised that the spaces around Le Vele were not narrow alleys where the police could, with easy raids, arrest everyone. He understood the terrain: that those buildings could become his presidia ; and that he could count on hungry and willing manpower to work for a few lire. La Monica started by transforming Scampia into a department store for smuggled cigarettes which could be sold below cost because they evaded state tobacco tax. Then he divided the zones within the estate by assigning each of his men a territory.

Then La Monica understood that the sale of drugs could be his commercial strength across this large area, with labour at almost zero cost and easy control of the territory.

These were the years of heroin, and Scampia began to import tonnes of it. La Monica was afraid, however, that overreaching himself would upset the leaders of the New Family, and restrained the ambitions of his men, urging them to act prudently. And this is where his godson and apparently loyal underling, Paolo Di Lauro they are only about 10 years apart, but La Monica effectively adopted Di Lauro took over. Di Lauro officiated at his funeral, but has always been suspected of being its architect.

The extreme degradation of Le Vele was thus generating profits from drugs worth billions of lire and then millions of euros. Firstly, the misappropriation of public funds , which prevented the buildings from being completed. Secondly, the earthquake , which demolished some of the poorest houses in the rest of Naples. The result was mass migration to the Sails. The Camorra just had to arrive. The Sails walkways In architectural terms, the Sails were an inhospitable place for the Law.

The labyrinth of connection points between the properties, the number of floors and these walkways, made it impossible to catch criminals. Once in the Sails, the police gave up on any criminals that managed to reach one of these buildings. In addition to the depression caused by the economic climate in the area, was the issue of a style of architecture that did little to assist the authorities.

Lack of public resources in the area Despite all the above factors, the Sails could have stood a chance. The state or municipal government should have invested in an industrial belt, higher education or vocational training centers to provide a way out of the poverty in the area. This was not the case and, unfortunately, the only way out for the poor people in the Sails was crime.

Having reached this point, the deterioration process was unavoidable. This suburb of Naples had entered a downward spiral. The influences of Le Corbusier and Kenz? Tange in Scampia. The Sails of Scampia did not just appear on a canvas. To design them, the architect Franz Di Salvo found inspiration in other earlier state subsidized housing buildings, both French with Le Corbusier and Japanese with Kenz?

In fact, the triangular structure is based on the former and the internal walkways, which helped the Camorra elude the authorities, to the latter. It is interesting that buildings with social centers, areas for children to play, a giant park, community facilities of all sorts and even a public train station, can deteriorate to such an extent that they become magnets for criminal activities. Today we know that this architectural model is not functional , particularly not for public housing.

Higher urban density has proven to be extremely useful in terms of generating value by uniting talent. But what happened in the 60s in Naples was precisely the opposite: those without it were removed and secluded in a small unwanted ghetto. Urban planning became another barrier, and density become a social cost. The influence of police in urban development Making a location defendable, even in internal terms, has been a historic concern for both military and urban planning strategists.

And the Naples of the midth century followed the community policing approach followed by other European cities. As cities grew Naples had around one million inhabitants , there was a need to distribute the law enforcement agencies and another form of urban facilities fire departments, hospitals, schools across the city.

With regard to the Sails, the only feasible response was to establish a police station in front of the buildings. The Commissariato Scampia was completed in and since then, the police pressure on the area has been notable. Others complained about the police pressure from the police station. Without basic work skills, for many residents, petty crime, such as selling contraband cigarettes and clothing, seemed to be the only feasible work options. Although the Sails of Scampia are being demolished, and only one will remain in place as a reminder of what once stood there, the truth is that new mafias and drug sellers are establishing themselves in the municipality.

And there are still families living in the Sails, many of whom find themselves dragged into criminal activities. Naples is a millennial city. There is no doubt that its authorities have made great efforts to purge corruption and to destabilize organized crime.