Carlo Stiaccini (CISEI), Andrea Torre (Centro Studi MEDI’), CISEI, Genova, IT
During the last one hundred and fifty years, the City of Genoa has represented the crossing point of arrivals and departures from Italy and, for most of the time, its port has been the main Italian transit structure. More than five million emigrants have departed from its peers to reach the main cities of Latin America, the United States, Australia and the African countries. Conflicts and economical crises have influenced the net balance between departures and arrivals.
From 1985 on, the contemporary migration flows have undergone a structural change from a predominant African origin to a Latin American majority, and the gender breakdown of population has changed from male to female, this modification lasting until present days with minor, albeit interesting, variations. In quantitative terms, after the economy crisis, the effects of motivation for family unification prevail as compared to job search and new births. In economical terms, the predominant occupation for immigrants shifts from the construction sector (strongly damaged by crisis) to novel urban assignments such as health care and assistance to elders. Another important phenomenon to be analyzed is the outward mobility for Italian citizens, often overemphasized by media although not very relevant in numerical terms: in order to fully understand the nature of these movements, the selected destinations are important for analyzing the motivations underlying the decision to leave.