Italian inner areas: demographic characteristics, employment and commuting and territorial differentiations

Abstract

The municipalities geographically located in hilly Inner or mountainous areas and quite significantly distant from essential services (collective mobility, health, high-level education, etc.) on the basis of an accessibility indicator calculated in terms of minutes of travel compared to the nearest Pole (centre of offer of services), are identified as Inner Areas (A.I.) by ISTAT. These municipalities, which are characterised by considerable environmental and cultural resources, generally point out issues in employment, demographic ageing, depopulation and commuting. The proposed study aims to outline the profiles of the Inner Areas in terms of socio-economic and economic indicators and highlights which are the main determinants of marginality of these territories.