Environmental planning in harsh conditions: the malignant case of the Land of Fires

The first analytical research on the Land of Fires, a vast area between the Provinces of Naples and Caserta, conducted by the Higer Health Institute, has recently questioned whether this fragile and unbalanced local ecosystem is actually able to recover from the dumping of toxic pollutants by the camorra- mafia during the last decades. The area is not under the pressure of unpredictable disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes or floods; it is threatened by slow and inexorable processes of continuous and extensive decline. Here a powerful mix of dysregulation, political-administrative incapability, rampant entrepreneurialism of organized crime, and socio-ecological fragility plays an important role. Exploring the resilience of this area, whose environment has been devastated by toxic waste, means considering the extreme environmental conditions that are threatening both the health of the local population and the stability of local economies. The “Land of Fires” is undoubtedly a critical area for planners. Governing these processes calls for strategies and tools for planning in stressful conditions. How are institutions and policy makers to cope with this situation? The thesys is that before undertaking the environmental restoration of the area we need to interface with local society and cultures.