Historical Origins and Developments of Italian Cities

Abstract

We analyze the historical origins and subsequent development of the Italian urban system. We show that geography, history, and their interaction crucially explain the distribution of population over space and its evolution over time: Italy was already highly urbanized during the Roman Empire; in the middle ages and in the modern era, the size and location of the Italian cities were heavily affected by the constant threat of military attacks and political fragmentation; urbanization has continued also after the unification of Italy, although the increase of the largest metropolitan areas has lost momentum in the last decades. We argue that these more recent patterns are partly driven by agglomeration dis-economies such as higher congestion and housing costs in the main Italian cities (especially in the Center-North).