Migrants and local development in the Italian Inner Areas: opportunities and critical issues

As a result of the management of the health emergency linked to the spread of the Coronavirus, the debate on the Inner Areas has been enriched with new insights: there is a renewed interest in these territories both in the world of academic research and in public debate. The pandemic phenomenon has led to the emergence of alternative paths to the logic of agglomeration and has led some scholars to theorize that in the future it will be possible a return to the small villages. In this regard, it's worth highlighting that today many administrations of small villages - thanks to the spread of certain processes also facilitated by the pandemic - want to offer services in a new way, different from the city model, through innovative practices. In addition, in recent years a further line of reflection has developed on the relationship between possible rebirths of inner areas and migrations. It is an interesting and at times controversial line of research that attempts to understand the delicate interaction between small places, that were marginalised for too long compared to the great global processes, and immigration. Through various documentary sources, the research aims to provide new insights into the Italian inner areas and the identification of possible case studies. This paper aims to better understand the phenomena related to small villages and their potential for growth.