The coronavirus pandemic has changed the relationship between Urban and Inner areas, posing the focus on the need to redevelop and recover the latter from a social and economic point of view, still protecting their social, cultural and environmental heritage. As highlighted by the National Strategy for Inner Areas, this group gathers 60% of Italian surface, hosting less than 30% of population. Together with demographic crisis, other problems characterize these areas: i.e., unemployment, land use, low levels of public and private service supply, social costs such as geological instabilities deriving from both abandonment and degradation of cultural and landscape heritage. However, the renewed attention towards these areas is an opportunity to boost their socioeconomic recovery, in green and sustainable ways. The policy framework set after the pandemic recognizes these potentials and offers a large set of fiscal, financial and policy instruments to boost these processes. On the one side, the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) lists the enhancement of inner areas among its objectives, based on investments of about one billion on industries (through the SEZ), infrastructures, service provision, connectivity, modernisation and green transition. In this context, the present project aims at studying the potential of inner degraded areas to become the engine of Italian green and digital transition, as well as the flywheel of economic recovery.

The ideal candidate should prove a good level of knowledge of English language and computer skills. Moreover, an at least basic knowledge of econometrics will be considered in the evaluation phase.

The PhD will take place at the Department of Social and Human science of the University of Naples L'Orientale. The student will be integrated in a multidisciplinary environment, with courses and conference addressing different aspects of knowledge. In such an environment, the student will be given the opportunity to develop critical view on different aspects of sustainable development. However, the focus will be on economic aspects, thanks to the participation in the economic research activity of the department, with experience in policy evaluation, investment planning, sustainable investment selection, regional sustainable development, quantitative assessment of sustainability.