For the first Planning lecture in the Cornell in Rome Lecture Series Giulia Andreoli from SPRAR (Servizio centrale del sistema di protezione per richiedenti Asilo e Rifugiati – or Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees) presented to us information about the integration program for immigrants to Italy.
Immigration is always such an important topic in discussing the formation, planning, and restructuring of cities, and Andreoli provided us with a brief of what SPRAR does. SPRAR acts as a linked series of locally governed municipalities that provide empowerment, integrated reception, networking, education, legal help, psychiatric care, and social work amongst other benefits and trainings to local immigrants. Rather than simply providing immigrants with jobs and housing, SPRAR hopes to provide the resources needed for immigrants to be able to seek their own opportunities and living accommodations so that they may become fully autonomous post-naturalization. There has been a huge growth in both the amount of projects taken on, and the amount of SPRAR municipalities spread throughout Italy since 2001, but Andreoli made it very clear the work was far from being done. There is often a lack of education and space available, with especially limited resources towards individuals with mental and physical handicaps. As the projects are voluntarily coordinated, SPRAR hopes more projects will crop up to accommodate the large amount of immigrants coming from Nigeria, Tunis, Gambia, Pakistan, and Mali among other countries. I think it is important to consider what we can do to help support local immigration programs and to understand the benefits of having a large immigrant population in growing cities.
Omar