Housing policies in Portugal and Italy

a center-periphery discussion?

Abstract

This study analyzes the housing policies enacted in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century in Portugal and Italy to understand whether the comparison between the two countries’ housing domains reflects a divide between the “center” and the “periphery,” or, on the contrary, can be observed as “between peripheries.” This article stems from a comprehensive literature review on the topic, which is divided into a theoretical discourse on housing, a general European housing scenario, and a historical and contemporary framework of housing policies in Portugal and Italy. The literature review seeks to identify the economic and sociocultural singularities of the two countries through official laws and statistical data. Within a fundamentally theoretical comparative observation, this work aims to identify whether Italy and Portugal are contrasting realities within the housing domain—that is, with housing characteristics typical of the center (Italy) or the periphery (Portugal)—or represent two similar realities that integrate the peripheral context of Europe.