The ‘blemish of the past': (un)usual paths of gentrification in a Mediterranean city throughout history

Abstract

Contemporary gentrification challenges long-entrenched conceptualizations. In particular, in ‘peripheral’ urban contexts of the Global North, the phenomenon is often interwoven with variegated processes stemming from the specific evolution of their historical centers. This paper scrutinizes the transformations of a marginal central district in a Southern Europe ‘peripheral’ city, Catania, named San Berillo. A series of postwar demolitions and reconstructions, followed by the local community’s forced displacement, fueled socio-economic decline and growing rates of territorial stigmatization. Since the early 2000s, some transformations partially modified narratives about the district. By retracing the evolution of San Berillo I deconstructed the role of the ‘blemish of the past’ in (re)shaping old and current imaginaries upon which the district’s identity is built. The aim is to understand, from an historical perspective, to what extent the Haussmann-like postwar demolition and eviction programme can be judged through the lens of gentrification and urban stigmatization, and if contemporary transformations have been shaping a context at risk of being gentrified (or re-gentrified). In so doing, the paper provides novel theoretical insights about gentrification in Southern Europe by mobilizing the concept of intersection to explain the phantom-like gentrification emerging as a (in)visible repertoire of past memories that loom over the district at different levels: as an operational framework for community-led and/or tourism-based initiatives, as a heterotopic discursive practice, as a buzzword for anti-gentrification counter-narratives.

Keywords:

• Southern Europe
• urban stigma
• phantom gentrification
• blemish of past

Acknowledgements

I would thank the editors and peer reviewers for having improved the paper; Tim Verlaan and Cody Hochstenbach for their useful suggestions and patient work; Valentina Albanese, Caterina Cirelli, Carlo Salone and Luca Ruggiero for their brilliant comments; the editorial and administration offices of La Sicilia for giving me access to the historical archive of the newspaper; and San Berillo people, for sharing with me a piece of their life and memories.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 The web-doc series directed by Maria Arena within Trame di Quartiere activities highlighted these conflictual perceptions of belonging among the different communities (source: YouTube page of the association: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXNZYy02WdT1K6hYpRjbL6g).

2 According to Agenzia delle Entrate, the fiscal agency of the national Ministry of Economy and Finance, the statistical survey unit (‘OMI’, Homogeneous Zone) to which San Berillo belongs to is the B1 zone, that over the years has experienced a gradual decrease in price values, particularly in the aftermath of the 2007–2009 crisis. Source: Agenzia Nazionale delle Entrate – Note territoriali 2006-2019, Statistiche Regionali 2019, 2018, available at https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/web/guest/schede/fabbricatiterreni/omi/pubblicazioni.

3 Phantom derives from the Latin phantasma and the Greek ϕάντασμα, from ϕαντάζω, ‘to show’ and ϕαντάζομαι, ‘to appear’, from the theme ϕαν- of ϕαίνω and ϕαίνομαι. Significantly, the term has the same root of ‘phenomenon’ and ‘phantasia’ that, usually translated as a synonym of imagination, actually in ancient Greek philosophy was regarded as a mirror reflecting the link between dreams, prophecy and sense-perceptions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teresa Graziano

Teresa Graziano is an Associate Professor of economic and political geography at the University of Catania (Italy). Email: [email protected]