The social housing dilemma. The neoliberal management of public assets in Mirafiori (Turin)

The social housing legacy represents an intricate issue across Italian cities. Often in degraded buildings, managed by under-funded public bodies, and inhabited by population with precarious socio-economic conditions, they still embody a fundamental social asset within the welfare city. However, the political trend is going towards the progressive privatization of the social residential units, mining the already shortage of social accommodations. The paper displays the case of a social housing complex built in the 1960s in the former industrial neighbourhood of Mirafiori in Turin (Italy). The residential complex presents social and structural problematic conditions, the socio-economic fragility index in that area results higher than the rest of the city in terms of the unemployment rate and of incidence of families with potential economic hardship (ISTAT Census, 2011). The social housing management body (ATC – Agenzia Territoriale per la Casa) is nowadays evaluating the possibility of activating a process of demolition-reconstruction, replacing the old buildings with a new development project including the regeneration of the surrounding area and considering the almost total privatization of the units. The project foresees also to displace the actual recipients in other social residential units around the city to contrast the social distress present in the area. Such condition is both controversial and paradigmatic of the current debate over the management of the social housing stock around the country. This case study intersects the problematics of social housing management, the unsolved social stigma around the marginal spaces, and the processes of privatization of the social residential units dictated by the neoliberal management structure. The discussion is oriented towards a reflection over the management of such a complex condition, both socially, economically and spatially. To what extent does the public housing stock represent a welfare legacy of the city to be preserved, maintained and renovated?