WahV’s report Whose City Is It Anyway?, written by Carolyn Smith and Jane da Mosto, was featured in the US publication The Christian Science Monitor.
Efforts are underway to encourage Venetians to stay in Venice, rather than flee to cheaper housing on the mainland. That means jobs, says Carolyn Smith, a researcher with the nonprofit We are here Venice, who would like to see the city become a hub for high-tech startups and a home for traditional crafts such as boat-building.
“People need to work, so we need viable economic alternatives” to mass tourism, says Ms. Smith, who lives in Venice and co-wrote a recent report on the city’s post-COVID-19 future. “I have friends here who have degrees, but there are no jobs so they earn a living taking tourists to their Airbnb apartments.”
Image by Annie Drew.