ROME (ITALPRESS) – Between 2012 and 2024, nearly 118,000 retail stores and 23,000 itinerant trade activities disappeared in Italy; accommodation and catering activities are on the rise (+18,500). In the same period, in trade, hotels and public establishments, there is a strong growth of foreign businesses (+41.4 percent) while Italian-owned businesses mark only +3.1 percent. And of the total new foreign employment in the entire economy (+397 thousand employed in the last 12 years), 39% is concentrated in trade, lodging and catering (+155 thousand); more stores are closing in the historic centers than in the suburbs, both in the Center-North and in the South.
In the municipalities in the center of the analysis, nearly 31 thousand fixed-site retail establishments have disappeared over the past 12 years, a reduction that goes hand in hand with that of bank branches, which fell from 8,026 to 5,173 (-35.5 percent) between 2015 and 2023. Among the commodity sectors, traditional activities (fuels -42.1%, books and toys -36.5%, furniture and hardware -34.8%, clothing -26%) are shrinking in the historic centers, while services (pharmacies +12.3%, computers and telephony +10.5%) and lodging activities (+67.5%) are increasing, within which there is a real boom in short rentals (+170%), due to the strong acceleration in the last year, while traditional hotels are dropping by 9.7%. These are the main results of the analysis “Business Demographics in Italian Cities,” conducted by the Confcommercio Studies Office in collaboration with the Guglielmo Tagliacarne Studies Center, presented today.
At the territorial level, the northern regions show the greatest losses of retail stores, while the Central and South show greater resilience: of the 122 municipalities surveyed in the analysis, in the top 5 places are Ancona (-34.7 percent), Gorizia (-34.2 percent), Pesaro (-32.4 percent), Varese (-31.7 percent) and Alessandria (-31.1 percent); in the last 5 positions, the municipalities with the best resilience are Crotone (-6.9 percent), Frascati (-8.3 percent), Olbia (-8.6 percent), Andria (-10.3 percent) and Palermo (-11.2 percent).
Commercial desertification continues, therefore, to represent an element of economic and social impoverishment of urban centers that, also taking into account the concomitant reduction in the number of bank branches, risks turning into a real decline of cities. It is a phenomenon that must be countered with urban redevelopment projects to maintain services, livability, safety and attractiveness, and in this direction goes the Cities project of Confcommercio, which has drawn up the first local proposals for the regeneration of cities.
Overall, the data of the analysis make the phenomenon of commercial desertification of our cities increasingly worrying, but physical commerce remains vital and still produces positive externalities that public policies should take into account: livability of cities, garrison against decay, tourist attractiveness. And precisely on the subject of public policies, countering the phenomenon of commercial desertification is one of the goals of Confcommercio’s Cities project to improve urban centers and strengthen proximity economies by promoting the role of the tertiary market sector as part of a new model of urban development based on sustainability, community and identity. These, in brief, are the main Cities proposals developed by Confcommercio’s territorial associations.
Regeneration of public space and neighborhoods: strengthening the involvement of neighborhood economies and their representations in the regeneration of public spaces and blighted areas, implemented through interventions in physical infrastructure transformation, climate change impact mitigation, tactical urbanism, and placemaking. In these pathways, structured collaboration between institutions and associations can generate supportive ecosystems to make progress tangible and promote a stronger neighborhood identity.
Sustainable mobility and logistics for the city of proximity: Urban Mobility and Logistics Plans (PUMS and PULS) are proposed that integrate transportation, urban planning, and the local economy. Plans characterized by concrete measures that include, among others: freight marshalling platforms with urban proximity warehouses to reduce traffic and congestion, low-impact logistics systems (including zero-emission vehicles and cargo bikes) to reduce pollution.
Local pacts for the reopening of vacant stores: it is proposed to activate agreements between municipalities, associations, and landlords to facilitate the formal establishment of capped rents, particularly in the most fragile neighborhoods and quadrants, and make properties accessible to fledgling or struggling businesses as well. These agreements can also contribute to the redevelopment of places, promote a more efficient use of existing housing stock, and reduce risks for all actors in the field.
Participatory and collective city management: there is a need to promote the city as a “common good,” that model of urban development in which the city is seen as a collective asset to be managed in a participatory, equitable and sustainable way. This approach views urban space, public services and city resources as common goods, that is, accessible to all, with entrepreneurs and citizens active in revitalizing places, creating community services and promoting cultural and commercial initiatives to enhance the urban fabric and strengthen social cohesion.
More effective local commerce policies through the use of digital technologies: the use of Big Data and Urban Analytics can drive more effective policies for local commerce. Cities has developed and field-tested, with key input from Area Associations, a monitoring application (web-dashboard based on mobile phone data) that analyzes pedestrian flows and commercial dynamics in the commercial streets of urban centers. The exchange of data with municipalities and institutions and collaboration with research institutes and universities for their analysis can contribute to the planning of events and marketing campaigns, the improvement of the accessibility of places, and the optimization of street furniture interventions.
“Commercial desertification threatens the livability, safety and social cohesion of our cities,” stresses Confcommercio President Carlo Sangalli. “We need to support neighborhood businesses, and our Cities project aims to redevelop urban economies with the contribution of institutions and businesses. Without neighborhood commerce, there is no community.”
– Confcommercio press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
