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In recent years, the presence of urban wildlife has increased in many cities around the world, with the consequent increase of human-animal relations. The city of Genoa (NW Italy) is a particularly complex case study where such phenomena are associated with rural depopulation of the surrounding countryside and spontaneous rewilding processes that have led several animal species to approach urban areas in search of new spaces. This paper deals with human-wildlife interactions in Genoa in relation to the geography of the city by way of a survey circulated throughout Genoa. Drawing from survey data, the research investigates residents' perceptions and understanding of urban wildlife in relation to their area of residency with a focus on wild boars. People's responses show that some areas of the city have a higher level of interaction with wildlife, and this partly affects the way in which such phenomena are perceived and tolerated by the population. In addition, the results show that there is no clear opposition towards urban wildlife and that people are concerned about sustainable forms of urban planning to the benefit of both residents and wildlife. • Rewilding processes involve both rural and urban areas of Liguria (NW Italy). • In recent times city of Genoa (NW Italy) has seen a progressive increase of wildlife. • Intensity of human-animal interactions varies in relation to people's area of residency. • People are concerned about public safety and good quality of urban environments but also animal welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the spatial impacts and characteristics of the Muslim presence in Italy. The centrality of religion for many migrants has significant consequences on the morphology of the Italian cities. This is especially the case of Islam, which is now the second most important religion in Italy – and the prevalent religion among immigrants. After examining facts and figures about the Muslim presence in Italy, the paper focuses on two aspects of the Muslim urban presence. First, it analyses the residential patterns of Muslims, with reference to the case of Milan. The tendency towards a sprawled pattern is highlighted. The paper then analyses the four main ‘landmarks’ of the urban presence of Muslims in Italy: places of worship, halal butcheries, burial-places, and forms of public life. A discussion of the evolutionary prospects of Muslim spatiality in Italian cities over the next few decades follows these analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an empirical study aimed at evaluating the cost efficiency of 108 Italian major municipalities, and investigating to what extent the municipality efficiency is also associated to the effectiveness of public expenditure, and consequently to quality of services offered to citizens. The study implements Data Envelopment Analysis to calculate the efficiency score and understand if it is influenced by scale economies and determine the type of these economies. For this purpose, every municipality was modeled as a production function using 6 cost item inputs and 2 outputs. Finally, the study implemented a truncated regression equation using the bootstrapped efficiency estimate as the dependent variable, and a selection of indicators measuring the quality of public services offered in the context as the independent variables. Results reveal that there exist important scale inefficiencies in a number of municipalities, but unexpectedly a great amount of inefficiencies are caused by decreasing returns to scale. Additionally, the study suggests that a trade-off between expenditure efficiency and effectiveness, i.e. the quality of public service, seems to exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]