Le aree interne del Mezzogiorno e il metodo Snai nell’era della pandemia di Covid-19

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) has delivered an unprecedent- ed amount of funds available to overcome the economic and social crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has produced, in Italy, highly differentiated out- comes between metropolitan contexts and internal areas. The regional re-balancing issue, among the objectives of the Plan, raises the question of: how and where chanelling these huge investments. This study, developed as part of the Prin 2017 - Regional policies, institutions and cohesion in the South of Italy, investigates the evo- lution of the remoteness levels of Sicilian municipalities, to understand how certain areas have experienced an increase or decrease in their marginality, depending on the equipment in terms of urban functions and services since the 1950s. This paper, through re-arranging the Snai methodology, shows the evolution of inner areas in Sicily as an often conflicting outcome of policies and programs on health, transport and education, that have led to their marginalisation over the last 70 years. On the other hand, it clearly emerges the centralisation of urban functions and services in a very tiny amount of metropolitan areas and large coastal cities. Being aware of these dynamics is fundamental to better allocate, in the short five- year period 2021-2026, the huge investments of the Pnrr, to implement innovative and more balanced policies and strategies for the reorganization of metropolitan regions and inner areas.