With an aim to combat the trend of declining population, an Italian region named Calabria has a unique plan to provide €28,000 (about Rs 25 lakh) to individuals who are open to moving to small villages.
However, incoming residents need to also establish a small business, which can be either a new venture or accepting existing offers for specific professions sought by the towns.
Additionally, applicants should be no older than 40 years and must be ready to move to Calabria within 90 days following the approval of their application.
Speaking to CNN, Gianluca Gallo, a regional councillor said, “We're honing the technical details, the exact monthly amount and duration of the funds, and whether to include also slightly larger villages with up to 3,000 residents.”
“We've had so far a huge interest from villages and hopefully, if this first scheme works, more are likely to follow in coming years,” he added.
Named "active residency income," this endeavour seeks to make Calabria more attractive for "south-work," which is the revamped version of remote work specially tailored for southern Italy. Gianpietro Coppola, the mayor of Altomonte and one of the key backers of this initiative, provided this explanation.
While sharing his vision, Gianpietro Coppola said, “We want this to be an experiment of social inclusion. Draw people to live in the region, enjoy the settings, and spruce up unused town locations such as conference halls and convents with high-speed internet. Uncertain tourism and the one euro houses are not the best ways to revamp Italy's south.”
More than 75% of the towns in Calabria, which adds up to around 320 communities, had fewer than 5,000 residents in 2021.
This situation has raised concerns that some of these towns might face the risk of complete depopulation in just a few years if no regeneration efforts take place.
