Is Rome (Italy) Undergoing Passive Ecological Gentrification Processes?

Urban greening interventions are intended to improve citizens’ quality of life but often lead to increasing the value of real estate assets, excluding vulnerable residents, and attracting wealthier dwellers. We refer to this process as “active ecological gentrification”. The Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns and social distancing measures, provoked, at least in some cities, an appreciation of the urban green infrastructures, expressed by rising property values in closely located urban areas. We call this process “passive ecological gentrification” because it occurs despite the lack of any noticeable improvements of the green infrastructure. The hypothesis is that the way people interact with their local environment has changed, leading to a higher willingness to pay for living near green and open areas, presumably because of its increasing appreciation by city residents. In this paper we ask whether Rome (Italy) may be experiencing “passive ecological gentrification” processes. Using statistical data about tree coverage and real-estate values before and after the Covid-19 pandemic, we show that there are, indeed, initial signs. However, in order to demonstrate the existence of passive ecological gentrification in Rome, further research using extensive data is required. The paper concludes describing the limitations of the current study and delineating future research paths regarding this topic.