Preserving authenticity: a manifesto for a living Rome

What remains of a city if it is stripped of its inhabitants?

It is the age-old debate over the difference between peoples and nations, which also applies at the urban level. A city, like a nation, is certainly not merely the boundaries drawn on a map. It is much more than that: it is the people, who in a city are called citizens. In Rome, they are called Romans.
This wonderful part of Italy, to which we have devoted considerable space in this issue, is, like others, undergoing a veritable silent colonisation known as ‘overtourism’.

Tourism and tourists are welcome, bringing wealth and jobs to the local business community, but, like any phenomenon, excess becomes an aberration. This is evident in the property speculation bubble: the unchecked proliferation of guesthouses and B&Bs, which are devouring every available property, is transforming the city into a shabby version of a sprawling hotel complex. Not only that, but worse still, house prices are skyrocketing. And so, slowly, Rome is becoming depopulated, with Romans being forced to migrate to the countryside and the provinces.

In the streets of the historic centre, where the sweet Roman dialect once echoed, all that remains is a jumble that conveys neither culture nor authenticity: a place like any other, an open-air museum that could be anywhere in the world. Without the spirit of its inhabitants, Rome too loses its soul, and nobody would want that – not even the tourists, who would soon grow tired of it.

How can this be remedied? By putting the brakes on with stricter regulations and more dissuasive taxes, encouraging young people to stay in the city through housing and mortgage policies, and creating resident passes to access heavily discounted rates at local businesses. Small, common-sense measures to restore authenticity to a place that has built its success on authenticity.

And for our readers visiting Rome, a tip: stay in the beautiful surrounding areas, a short distance from the centre, to save money and discover some wonderful places!