Doubtless, Italy has lived through better days. From the “Golden Age” in the 70’s, when its economic growth was one of the highest in the world, along with the richness of the country’s history and architecture, a lot has changed since Italy’s unification in the 60’s. Now, facing one of the biggest economic crises of the century, lead by a controversial and polemical prime minister, the country is more divided than ever. The chaotic south remains poor and illiterate, run by an influential mafia. The rich north now sees its biggest industrial companies falling apart and jobs rapidly vanishing.
No city portrays Italy’s controversy better than Turin, a town of one million inhabitants in the Piedmont region, nestled among the exuberant south of France and the Swiss and Austrian Alps, the city in many ways reminds one much more of its neighbors than its own chaotic country. The roads are well signed, the drivers relatively respectful and the population less passionate.
Turin was the first capital of Italy after the unification as a Republic and was built by the Roman Emperor Augustus as a camp for soldiers two thousand years ago. It was later occupied by France, which explains the mix of architecture. Today it’s hard to find a real Turinese: most of the city’s residents are originally from the south, a massive migration that happened in the “Golden Age” period, after the country’s successful post war reconstruction back in the 60’s.
These migrants were attracted by Turin’s automobile industry that grew rapidly with the stabilization of companies like Fiat - still the biggest of Italy – and, at that time, responsible for “The Largest Migration Wave” of the country, that brought almost 1 million people to the city. Turin was not prepared to receive so many in such a short time, and ontegration was difficult between the natives and the new arrivals. Nevertheless, for those who came, jobs were given and life improved in an unimaginable way. Turin became richer and better. By 2006, the city was the successful host of the Winter Olympic Games, proving it a stable economic power.
All of the success didn’t prevent the town from suffering the damages of the 2008 economic crisis. The signs are obvious, according to residents. The glamorous street Via Roma, with stores like Louis Vuitton and Hermes, is now emptier than ever. “ Lunch time is busiest” says a resident from Albania, a very strong immigrant community. The numerous Kebab shops and the street markets grow, while other restaurants and shops are closing. It’s visible: homeless people are everywhere, while small tents are the new houses for many. Poverty increases quickly nowadays in Europe, and Turin is a privileged viewer of Italy’s decadency.
The country’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is a powerful businessman, owner of the biggest telecommunications company in Italy and a popular politician. Although his recent scandals involving eighteen-year-old girls shocked the world, his popularity doesn’t seem to have lost any strength back home. In Turin (and most of the North) people are still trying to understand what happened to their country in the last decades. “We have so much to offer, but this is what we’ve become” says a student from the University of Turin. Here, Berlusconi is an enemy that needs to be combated, but in a populous illiterate south, the Prime Minister finds it easy to get elected.
The prospects could be better. Italy is still one of the countries with the highest debts in the world, with over 100% of its GDP compromised. The Centre Right government, besides corrupt, plays a controversial economic and political game, that opposes the liberal north. “Unfortunately, or fortunately, we are united and it’s worthless to blame just the south. I mean, why are they still so iliterate? Maybe we have to blame ourselves too” says a Philosophy student at Turin's University.
What’s left for the next generation is still a mystery. The last European country to unify, Italy still needs to learn how to work together as a united country. Meanwhile Turin, the so-called “Third Southern City”, remains the biggest example of what a successful unification can represent to a divided country.
Carolina Mazzi - I'm a Brazilian journalist with experience in newspapers, magazines and websites.I've lived in Italy, New York City and Buenos Aires and ...
