Law and nature. Institutional strategies for the safeguard of the panorama at Naples (1922–1939)
The impact of legislative measures aimed at the safeguard and conservation of sites of scenic beauty remains a question relatively little investigated by the otherwise copious literature on the policies of the institutional organs during the two decades of the fascist regime in Italy; especially if we consider that 1922, the year of the birth of the “new era”, coincided with the year in which the first Italian law on the protection of natural beauties was promulgated. The Law in question was no. 778 of 11 June 1922: “For the protection of natural beauties and properties of particular historical interest”. In this context, the case of Naples in the period 1920–1940 appears particularly significant for understanding the strategy adopted by the Italian state institutions for the safeguard of the panorama, since it is at once exceptional and paradigmatic.
Naples in fact is the one Italian, and perhaps even European, city where the problem of the protection of scenic beauties was strongly felt as early as the first half of the nineteenth century.
In the light of unpublished documentation uncovered during research conducted by the author in the Archive of the Soprintendenza ai Beni Ambientali e Architettonici in Naples, the present contribution illustrates in particular the procedure for the implementation of the environmental constraints imposed by Law no. 778 of 11 June 1922 and evaluates their effectiveness in a city like Naples through the analysis of some significant urban episodes.
The paper also tries to clarify how a decentralized organ of the Ministry entrusted with the task of safeguard tried to manage the unresolved conflicts between public and private interests generated by a law largely based on an abstract principle such as that of “panorama”.
