Those residents have been grievously let down. Some disasters are unforeseeable. This one was all too predictable. Tides high enough to flood Venice were once exceptional events, but the 10 highest tides in its history occurred during the course of the last 20 years. The world’s seas are rising, due to the climate crisis, and Venice has anyway been sinking, by around 1mm a year, into the soft terrain on which its foundations were built.
The local population now stands at around 55,000, down from 175,000 in the postwar period and around half of those residents are 65 or older. More than 1,000 Venetians leave for good each year. The intrusive nature of mass tourism, fuelled by the constant flow of cruise ships which damage and pollute the environment, has led to protests that the city is becoming a theme park.
Numerous properties are rented out to visitors through Airbnb, further hollowing out the center and rendering its labyrinthine streets all but impassable for much of the year. There has been much talk about solutions, but little meaningful action. On 1 December a consultative referendum will be held on whether to separate the administration of Venice from the mainland town of Mestre. The desirability of such a separation is moot, given the level of economic interdependency; that it is being contemplated at all indicates the current level of despair. A mission from the Unesco World Heritage Centre is due to make an advisory visit to Venice early next year. In the wake of last week’s events, that trip should now become a catalyst for action, with international assistance, to save the city for generations to come. This is a debt owed by the present to the past as well as the future.
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