A Portrait of the North-Western District: An Italian Bronx?

Abstract

This chapter focuses on district 8 of Milan and attention is particularly drawn to these neighbourhoods: Quarto Oggiaro, Certosa, Vialba and QT8.

The findings provided by the analysis of social observations (both online and real) show us interesting sociological factors to have a resilient and efficient terrorism preparedness. Attention must also be turned to “the other side” of collective interactions and social phenomena, such as those that emerged after the talks with the experts: the drug trafficking, the matter of public housing, the potential connection between terrorism organizations and Italian organized crime, local extremisms, migrants flows and its (often suspicious) management, urban planning policies and its practical results in the daily life of the residents and their impact on the societal framework.

The portrayal of these districts and its selected neighbourhoods shows us another key factor in terms of public and urban resilience: the high level of interoperability between all the previous sociological factors, which can facilitate, amplify or even oppose potential terrorism organizations.

The level of social conflicts, the absence of recognition of institutional authorities and the lack of social control due to an invisible criminal force, controlling many of the public spaces (especially at night) make the necessity of a reassessment of social, public and urban policies, for the resilience of the city itself, real.