Assetti spaziali di Popolazione in Italia, 1951-2011

The paper analyses demo-spatial structures of Italy during the last 60 years through applying two specific measures: the mean (spatial) population centre and the rank size rule. Both measures are calculated on data population censuses from 1951 to 2011. The first one allows us to reconstruct the process of spatial distribution of the Italian population while the second allows us to measure the Italian urban system in terms of level of concentration or de-concentration. The results obtained underline the role played by internal and international migration in recent dynamics of these two indicators highlighting a shift of the mean spatial population centre towards the northeast of the country and a parallel progressive growth of the level of concentration of the Italian urban system as a whole.