Ricerc@Sapienza

In European countries, many territories have experienced and are still experiencing a depopulation, caused by a deficit of births relative to deaths, a negative net migration, or both. At the same time, many of these territories are also facing the population aging process, caused by a decrease in births and prolonged rise in longevity. Depopulation and the population aging processes are strongly connected. The aim of this work is to study the relationship between depopulation and the aging population and the sustainability of the two phenomena.

Population decline is a major issue impacting environmental sustainability, economic growth and social wellbeing. Although earlier studies evaluated demographic factors, social forces and economic aspects associated with population decline in Europe, the role of territorial factors was less considered when investigating the spatial linkages between rural depopulation and the local context.