Italian villages' strategies to attract new residents

Bormida is a tiny mountain village in Liguria, Italy, with a population of 394 people. Like many villages in Italy, Bromida is finding it harder and harder to keep its people in the village, as most of the young people find the life there too simple and are happy to move elsewhere to enjoy a more exciting daily routine and to access different opportunities.

As recently reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, the Bromida mayor has decided to launch unconventional incentives to anyone interested in moving (or moving back!) to Bromida, in order to prevent this beautiful little spot from becoming a ghost town.

Mayor Daniele Galliano is currently using his Facebook page to advertise two kinds of incentives: very convenient rents that will go from as little as ?50 to as much as ?120 per month, and special gifts up to ?2,000 to anyone moving to the village.

"We're still working out the plan, but anyone is welcome to come and live here," said a local councillor to The Guardian. "We're a small community but very welcoming. We're high up in a mountain area but also not far from the sea - it's a healthy lifestyle, the air is very clean." Believe it or not, the mayor's Facebook "was met with a flurry of responses from potential new inhabitants, with some saying they would renounce the cash gift in return for a job in the town".

For those who are interested in the offer, it is important to clarify how life in Bromida would look like. Stress won't be on the agenda, for sure, and the daily life will be full of nature, time, and good food.

As explained by The Guardian, "a report last year by Legambiente, an Italian environmental association, found that 2,500 villages across the country risked being abandoned owing to depopulation. In January the culture ministry named 2017 the year of the village as part of an attempt to promote tourism in places at risk of becoming deserted".

Follow @castaritaHK