Inhabiting Venice

– The Squatting and Maintenance of the Casette Neighborhood in Giudecca

Chiara Buratti is an activist with Assemblea Sociale per la Casa (ASC, or Social Assembly for Housing), a grassroots organization that has been fighting for the right to housing in Venice for years. ASC works with residents to restore and maintain abandoned public housing units, offering an alternative to fleeing the city’s soaring rents. We met her at Laboratorio Occupato Morion, a self-governing, occupied community center, where we were joined by Laura Fregolent, professor of urban planning at Università IUAV di Venezia, to discuss the maintenance of public housing, the rental market, tourism, and the right to inhabit Venice.