The seventh edition of the Mondo Eco literary festival, as promised, is a widespread festival that captures the needs of places, people, and environments.
The proposed event, scheduled for March 1, 2026, at 5:00 PM, at Casa Sarritzu (Via San Biagio 10 in Quartucciu), stems from this need. It addresses a distress expressed by many small businesses operating in the Quartucciu area and seeks to understand what drives them and where they fit into the broader context, which cannot be ignored and which requires a dialogue with a vision of the near future.
The evening is divided into two parts: a roundtable discussion on the topic “Ghost Towns or Lively Neighborhoods? The Social Role of Local Commerce,” presented by Antonello Podda, Environmental and Territorial Sociologist at the University of Cagliari. The roundtable discussion is chaired by the minority councilors of the municipality of Quartucciu, Michela Vacca, Franco Pareri, Giovanni Meloni, and Paola
The closure of over 140,000 shops in Italy since 2012 and the risk of a further 20% by 2035 threaten to transform urban centers into “ghost towns.” Local commerce, in fact, plays a fundamental social role in the livability of neighborhoods, serving as a safeguard of safety and social cohesion, well beyond its economic function.
Here are the key points of the social role of local businesses:
Local protection: Neighborhood shops, especially in peripheral or historic areas, keep neighborhoods alive, preventing abandonment and decay.
Social and relational role: Shopkeepers offer social interaction, becoming points of reference for the community, especially for the elderly and vulnerable.
Impact of desertification: The disappearance of businesses (especially in sectors such as cultural goods, clothing, and hardware) makes streets less safe and less attractive.
The second part of the evening is dedicated to the presentation of a book that analyzes this fact and visualizes future scenarios, “Breve manuale per una gentrificazione carina” by Giovanni Semi.
Craft breweries where once there were ethnic convenience stores, luxury hostels in place of delocalized factories, elegant lofts nestled in former working-class neighborhoods. The future is already here, it’s called “gentrification,” and while it rhymes with “redevelopment,” it’s a phenomenon that aims to sweep poverty and hardship under the carpet of cities that are increasingly disconcertingly similar. An enlightened dystopia promoted by banks, multinationals, and real estate groups with the approval of local governments incapable of imagining a reality that can put the public good back at the center of the conversation. The short manual (parody) written by Giovanni Semi may make you laugh, but it will certainly be bitter, because this enlightened dystopia is everywhere, more real and disturbing than any other parody.
