Cohesion at the Margins: Addressing Territorial Inequality in Lazio’s Inner Areas

The contribution examines the challenges facing the Lazio Region within the framework of the Cohesion Policy, focusing on national and local initiatives aimed at addressing the disadvantages of marginal areas left behind by dominant economic trends. Unlike old-industrialized regions that have experienced significant job losses and rising unemployment since the 1970s, Lazio has not seen a substantial decline in its workforce. This relative resilience is largely due to the expansion of the tertiary sector and a unique development trajectory – what might be termed “unfinished modernity” – in which new industrial models coexist and intersect with the region’s traditional economy. Nevertheless, large stretches of Lazio beyond the gravitational pull of the capital city have faced long-term trends of aging and depopulation. These areas are consistently excluded from prevailing narratives on production and settlement models, which revolve around either growing dependence on or autonomy from Rome. This geographic opportunity gap is not unique to Lazio but national in scope, affecting nearly a quarter of Italy’s population, spanning 60 percent of its territory, and involving more than 4,000 municipalities, most with fewer than 5,000 residents.