“[…] Venice has always enjoyed strong social cohesion: everyone uses waterbuses, walks in the alleys, we bump into people we know all the time. Today’s all this is more complicated, it’s hard to recognize each other in the crowds”. Overtourism has changed the city.
Jane da Mosto, co-founder of WahV, shared her vision with Famiglia Cristiana on the future of Venice, addressing crucial issues such as mass tourism and housing.
The full article can be read in this week’s issue. English translation is available below.
“Hospitable & authentic. That’s how the Venetians should be. One shouldn’t exit Santa Lucia train station and find a trade fair kiosk for the tourist-access tickets blocking the view of the Grand Canal and the splendid architecture”. JdM, Venice resident of 30 yrs, doesn’t believe in bans & quotas. Scientist & environmentalist, she co-founded We are here Venice ETS to safeguard and develop projects to revive Venice and the lagoon. She protested against large cruise ships in the lagoon “Venice has always enjoyed strong social cohesion: everyone uses waterbuses, walks in the alleys, we bump into people we know all the time. Today’s all this is more complicated, it’s hard to recognize each other in the crowds”.
Overtourism has changed the city. “I often think what it’s like for a tourist: they find a city in disarray, with poor signposting, too many souvenir stalls, not enough useful visitor information and the people who are supposed to check if visitors have their access tickets often seem to be unaware of where they are, let alone making tourists feel welcome. A city that squeezes you even before you arrive.”
The solution starts with residents and then tourists, according to JdM. “To live or work in Venice is a privilege, a chance to be in a marvellous place, it’s unique. The result of generations that have known how to create life and a civilisation between land and sea, in the middle of a lagoon. Tourists have an opportunity to understand this, experience it, only through the daily life of the resident population. While streets and bars are crowded, museums, churches and the spaces of the Biennale are empty”.
She reserves a few criticisms for the local administration, composed of politicians who don’t live in the city & therefore don’t have the capacity to understand the problems or the possibilities. “There is a great opportunity on the horizon: university students. Let’s make them want to stay, to live and work in Venice”. This highlights the large problem of housing: many units, including publicly owned, are empty and unused.