Fragile Territories Around Cities: Analysis on Small Municipalities Within Functional Urban Areas

Although many disadvantaged areas are remote and isolated, the others are close to dense urban areas. Then, these peri-urban areas are both peripheral and fragile and, often, they are fringes from urban areas, where the well-known urban-rural mix occur. In recent years, the most fragile urban areas have experienced growing attention. Through the years policymakers have tried to face territorial disadvantages with the help of funds. Law 158/2017 is one example. The Law proposes twelve criteria to identify and then select small municipalities to support. In 2020 a research proposed to convert Law’s criteria into indicators. Combinations of indicators can identify different conditions of fragility. These combinations are useful starting point for further studies on small municipalities. The present work uses data from the mentioned research for focusing on peri-urban areas. The case study is composed of small municipalities within three Functional Urban Areas (FUA) in Central Italy: L’Aquila, Perugia and Terni. Then, the paper points out the relationship between indicators of fragility and peculiar features of these areas.