The Sack of Palermo is the popular term for the construction boom from the 1950s through the mid-1980s in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

, Italy, that led to the destruction of the city's

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

and historic villas to make way for characterless and shoddily-constructed apartment blocks. In the meantime, Palermo's historic centre, severely damaged by Allied bombing raids in 1943, was allowed to decay. The bombing condemned nearly 150,000 people to live in crowded slums, shantytowns, and even caves.Schneider & Schneider (2003). ''Reversible Destiny'', p. 14-19

Background

Between 1951 and 1961, the population of Palermo had risen by 100,000, caused by a rapid

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...

of Sicily after World War II as land reform and

mechanization Mechanization is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text a machine is defined as follows: In some fields, mechanization includes the ...

of agriculture created a massive peasant exodus and rural

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, t ...

s moved their investment into urban

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

. This led to an unregulated and undercapitalised construction boom from the 1950s through the mid-1980s that was characterised by the aggressive involvement of the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

in real estate

speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many ...

and construction. The years 1957 to 1963 were the high point in private construction, followed in the 1970s and 1980s by a greater emphasis on public works. The population of Palermo grew from 503,000 in 1951 to 709,000 in 1981, an increase of 41 percent. More significant than the wartime destruction of the old city was the political decision against its restoration in favor of building a “new Palermo”, at first concentrated at the northern end, beyond the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

neighborhood of 19th century expansion. Subsequently, in other zones to the west and the south spreading over, and destroying, the

Conca d'Oro Conca may refer to: Places France *Conca, Corse-du-Sud, a municipality of Corsica Italy * Conca (river), a river that flows into the Adriatic Sea *Conca della Campania, a municipality of the Province of Caserta * Conca Casale, a municipality of ...

orchards, villas, and hamlets, accelerating the cementification of what had been green. Real estate developers ran wild, pushing the center of the city out along Viale della Liberta toward the new Punta Raisi Airport. With hastily-drafted zoning variances or in wanton violation of the law, builders tore down countless

palaces and asphalted many of the city's parks, transforming one of the most beautiful cities in Europe into a dense, unappealing landscape of cement condominia. Villa Deliella, one of the most important works of Sicilian architect

Ernesto Basile Ernesto Basile (31 January 1857 – 26 August 1932, in Palermo) was an Italian architect and an exponent of modernisme and Liberty style, the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. His style was known for its eclectic fusion of ancient, medieval and m ...

was completely demolished in the middle of the night, hours before it would have come under the protection of historic preservation laws.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 21-22

Mafia involvement

The high point of the sack happened when the Christian Democrat

Salvo Lima Salvatore Achille Ettore Lima (; 23 January 1928 – 12 March 1992) was an Italian politician from Sicily who was associated with, and murdered by, the Sicilian Mafia. He is often just referred to as Salvo Lima. According to the '' pentit ...

was

mayor of Palermo The mayor of Palermo is an elected politician who, along with the Palermo's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. The current mayor is Roberto Lagalla, who took office on 20 June 2022. Overview ...

(1958-1963 and 1965-1968) and Vito Ciancimino the assessor for public works.Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 277-288 They supported

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

-allied building contractors such as Palermo's leading construction entrepreneur Francesco Vassallo – a former cart driver hauling sand and stone in a poor district of Palermo. Vassallo was connected to mafiosi like Angelo La Barbera and

Tommaso Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta (; 13 July 1928 – 2 April 2000) was an Italian mobster and a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He became one of the first of its members to turn informant and explain the inner workings of the organization. Buscetta participated i ...

. In five years, over 4,000 building licences were signed, some 2,500 in the names of three pensioners who had no connection with construction at all.Servadio, ''Mafioso'', p. 204-06 Developers with close ties to the Mafia were not afraid to use strong-arm tactics to intimidate owners into selling or to clear the way for their projects. The Parliamentary Antimafia Commission noted: :It was in Palermo in particular that the phenomenon f_ f_illegal_construction">illegal_construction.html"_;"title="f_illegal_construction">f_illegal_constructiontook_on_dimensions_such_as_not_to_leave_any_doubts_about_the_insidious_penetration_by_the_Mafia_of_public_administration._The_administrative_management_of_Palermo_City_Council_reached_unprecedented_heights_of_deliberate_non-observation_of_the_law_around_1960.Antimafia_Commission_Final_Majority_Report_1976,_p._54,_quoted_in:_Jamieson,_''The_Antimafia'',_p._21

_References

*Dickie,_John_(2004)._''Cosa_Nostra._A_history_of_the_Sicilian_Mafia'',_London:_Coronet,_ *Jamieson,_Alison_(2000),_''The_Antimafia._Italy’s_Fight_Against_Organized_Crime'',_London:_MacMillan_Press_ *Schneider,_Jane_T._&_Peter_T._Schneider_(2003)._''Reversible_Destiny:_Mafia,_Antimafia,_and_the_Struggle_for_Palermo'',_Berkeley:_University_of_California_Press_ *Servadio,_Gaia_(1976),_''Mafioso._A_history_of_the_Mafia_from_its_origins_to_the_present_day'',_London:_Secker_&_Warburg_ *Alexander_Stille.html" ;"title="illegal_construction.html" ;"title="illegal_construction.html" ;"title="f illegal construction">f illegal construction">illegal_construction.html" ;"title="f illegal construction">f illegal constructiontook on dimensions such as not to leave any doubts about the insidious penetration by the Mafia of public administration. The administrative management of Palermo City Council reached unprecedented heights of deliberate non-observation of the law around 1960.Antimafia Commission Final Majority Report 1976, p. 54, quoted in: Jamieson, ''The Antimafia'', p. 21

References

*Dickie, John (2004). ''Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia'', London: Coronet, *Jamieson, Alison (2000), ''The Antimafia. Italy’s Fight Against Organized Crime'', London: MacMillan Press *Schneider, Jane T. & Peter T. Schneider (2003). ''Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia, and the Struggle for Palermo'', Berkeley: University of California Press *Servadio, Gaia (1976), ''Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day'', London: Secker & Warburg *Alexander Stille">Stille, Alexander (1995). ''Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', New York: Vintage {{DEFAULTSORT:Sack of Palermo History of the Sicilian Mafia History of Palermo 20th century in Italy 1951 in Italy 1950s in Italy 1960s in Italy 1970s in Italy 1980s in Italy