Genesis of the Volume

This volume is a contribution to the Italian and international debate on marginality, territorial imbalances and public policies that support “inner”, “peripheral”, “declining” and “fragile” territories. This subject has been widely discussed, especially in the field of economic and urban studies, both in the past and in recent times. Therefore, this text has not be written with the presumption of being innovative, nor to deepen an unexplored theme. Instead, it is generated by the need to rework and disseminate the results of this lively debate. This volume was born in September 2019, when a group of PhD students and post-doctoral fellows of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Politecnico di Milano, imagined for the first time a network that would connect young Italian researchers around the theme of inner areas. The reason why this idea was born may be easily explained.