Les petites villes en déclin sont-elles marchandisables ? Le cas des maisons à un euro en Italie

In Italy, many small towns in marginalized areas are putting run-down properties up for sale at token prices, attracting the attention of the media and transnational investors. Is this a sign of the increasing commodification of housing outside the most attractive metropolises? To answer this question, the article reports on recent Italian research into policies pursued in inner-city areas and the risk of commodification they entail. A media corpus is then analyzed to show how one-euro houses are described as an attractive investment. Finally, the article looks at how the arrival of investors and capital is playing out in Troina, Sicily, where a coalition of political and economic players is – for the time being – keeping a firm grip on the area’s development.