Between perception and reality: towards an assessment of socio-territorial discomfort in L'Aquila (Central Italy) after the earthquake

OBJECtIVES: to consider perceptions and narratives of the inhabitants of L’Aquila about their context of life, in order to point out what kind of relationship is present in L’Aquila, between the territory and its inhabitants after the earthquake; to evaluate how and where symptomatic attitudes about a widespread discomfort in social interactions have been generalized. DESIGN: since 2010, the joint work by the research team of the “Cartolab” laboratory and pedagogy area (Department of Human Studies, University of L’Aquila) has developed and applied a participatory research methodology. This methodology is both an inquiry used by experts to increase the participation of people who experience the everyday life in L’Aquila, and a tool to draw moral, ethical and political considerations in order to activate change in social and political dynamics at the urban scale. During 2013, the methodology of Participa tory-Participating Research Action (PPRA) was implemented through cycles of territorial meetings involving citizens and municipal administrators. These meetings have been promoted and organized with the Office of Participation of the Municipality of L’Aquila. SEttING AND pARtICIpANtS: the PPRA aimed to assess: 1. the social, political and economic quality of the territory evaluated by people involved in the survey, with reference to life conditions, living context, and future projections of self and of the territory; 2. the perception of the security. Through a qualitative/quantitative approach, the data collected through questionnaire and public meetings have involved 309 young (16-30 years old) and 227 adults (31-85 years old) for the first aspect, and 314 citizens (16-80 years old) for the second aspect, respectively. RESULtS: the results highlight a socioterritorial discomfort emerging in L’Aquila for a relevant part of the population. This discomfort is shaped by a negative rating on life conditions and context: adults provide poor quality evaluations about the present and cannot figure out some kind of vision for the future. From the point of view of young people, even though the spatial projection into the present appears more objective and pondered over real data, the projection into the future turns out even more pessimistic then the adults’ one. Finally, the discomfort is shaped by a deterioration in the state of coexistence; and a high perception of insecurity, especially among those who live in the new residential earthquake-proofing complex called CASE. CONCLUSIONS: the quality of the relationship inhabitantterritory has important consequences about the comfort of the population in the present and in the future. Such relationship may have an influence on individual and collective behaviours. Therefore, territorial and local governments are required to provide for measures preventing such discomfort. This implies to bring attention on topics that target individuals such as fear, loneliness, alcohol abuse, as well as communities, such as vandalism of public goods and spaces.