Profilo geo-sociale del quartiere Castello = The geo-social profile of the Castello district

Located in the historic centre of Cagliari, the Castello district presents some of the most typical socio-demographic characteristics of a declining and ageing urban population. However, these trends coexist with new and complex phenomena of immigration and gentrification. The local population has been declining for several decades, reaching 1,413 inhabitants in 2014, down from 1,640 in 2002 (-13.8%). This drop is higher than the municipal average (-6.5%) and in contrast to the growth recorded by the other three historic districts of Marina (+5.1%), Villanova (+1.6%) and Stampace (+0.5%) in the lower town. However, at the same time, the average age (46.41 years) is lower than the municipal average (48.01), demonstrating a slow but clear replacement of the population. This is mainly due to the inflow of relatively young immigrants and local professionals, often unmarried. The still modest but growing foreign population consists primarily of married Eastern European women, generally employed in caregiving and housekeeping. One of the district’s older churches is currently used as an Orthodox chapel of the Moscow Patriarchate by this community. The foreign population grew from 1.40% in 2002 to 5.80% in 2014, higher than the municipal average (4.66%) but considerably lower than the surrounding historic districts (19.10% in Marina, 13.16% in Villanova, 12.65% in Stampace). According to the census of 2011, the incidence of graduates in the district is significantly higher than the city average, while the unemployment rate is decidedly lower. At the same time, the presence of infants and younger inhabitants is very low and the ageing index is rapidly growing. Overall, due to physical constraints and a real or perceived lack of public and private services, open spaces, comfortable dwellings, commercial activities, easy accessibility and parking places, the district tends to push out the elderly and young families with children and does not attract significant foreign inflows, compared to the other historic districts, though its fascinating architecture and central location are attractive to middle-aged professionals. The area’s socio-demographic features and trends thus appear to be strictly linked to its architectural and urban characteristics and to its perception and representation.