Magliana

Coordinates: 41°49′52″N 12°24′06″E / 41.83111°N 12.40167°E / 41.83111; 12.40167
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Location of Magliana within the Municipality of Rome

The Magliana (Italian pronunciation:

farmland
.

The neighborhood is confined by the Tiber on the east and

Railroad tracks
on the west edge.

In the center of Magliana there are two main areas of congregation: Piazza Fabrizio De Andre and the Mercato Magliana (Magliana Market). The Piazza Fabrizio De Andre is consistently filled with people; in the morning the older generation can be seen sitting on the many benches or strolling through. In the afternoon through early evening it is usually filled with more than 60 children playing on the playground equipment. The Mercato Magliana is open in the morning and early afternoon and offers a wide variety of goods at discount prices.

Piazza Fabrizio de Andre

History

Magliana began as an informal settlement taken over by

underdeveloped state of Magliana and its residents, which enraged the community and resulted in the formation of citizens' action committees (Vomitato dei Quartieri). The neighbourhood became particularly infamous from the late 1970s onwards for its the high levels of crime, particularly by the presence of the Banda della Magliana, a Roman Mafia
-like organization that at one point took control of most of the city's criminal activities, and it was so named by the press because many of its original members hailed from the neighbourhood.

Community activism

Magliana was historically an underserved community that has fought to receive fair treatment from city and

municipal
authorities. Because Magliana was created by speculators in the 1970s in violation of construction regulations, it was not connected to city water, electricity.and sometimes power lines. Open spaces, sidewalks and roads were poorly maintained as well. Neighborhood residents organized, lobbied, protested and demanded for their neighbourhood be incorporated into Rome. The Comitato dei Quartieri della Magliana played a critical role in organising residents. During the 1970s, it even published a community newsletter.

Another area of activism in Magliana concerned evictions. Many of Magliana's residents were unprivileged during the 1970s. Landlords would demand unmanageable rents from residents even though apartments were sometimes not connected to water and telephone lines. Residents organized to halt evictions by developing strong networks and informing each other of pending evictions, and on the day of the intended evictions, they would telephone one another when the police entered the neighborhoods and residents would gather in the streets, and physically prevent police from entering the neighborhood. As a result of the activism, fewer evictions occurred in Magliana over time.

Though the amount of activist activity in Magliana has decreased since the 1970s, there is still a significant amount of community organizing. There are squatter settlements in Magliana which house people who, for whatever reason, are not able to obtain housing. They are primarily run by communist and socialist organizations.

On the more organised end of the spectrum, the

Italian-language
class for immigrants two days a week.

See also

References

  1. ^ (Paese Sera, 1979

41°49′52″N 12°24′06″E / 41.83111°N 12.40167°E / 41.83111; 12.40167

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