14,000 residents lost in the last 20 years, including 8,000 in the last ten.
The historic center of Venice’s population has dropped below 50,000 for the first time, according to the municipal council on Thursday. The population of the famed lagoon city, including the Giudecca island, was 49,997 as of yesterday, August 10. The resident population was 50,011 on Monday.
The de-population of Venice’s center has been a source of contention for years, as a result of mass tourism’s hollowing out of the local population.
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According to the council, the situation now looks to be unstoppable. Venice’s population was 64,000 in 2002, twenty years ago. It had plummeted to 58,200 ten years earlier, in 2012. The population of the city began to decline after its peak of 174,808 in 1951.
The needs and rhythms of today’s life make it increasingly difficult to carry out normal work activities. Years of broken promises and speculation have delayed solving the problem. This year, the Venice authorities announced a plan to attract remote workers to the city, but it seems to have had little effect.
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