The Urban Development of Campi Flegrei, Italy

Since the Late Pleistocene, Campi Flegrei have been inhabited by humans because of the region's soil fertility, mild climatic conditions, and both commercially and strategically advantageous position in the Mediterranean basin. After a period of frequent eruptions that affected the environment and forced indigenous farmers temporarily to abandon the area after each event, in 740 BC Campi Flegrei were chosen by Chalcidian Greeks from Ischia to establish the settlement of Cuma, which was the first Greek colony in what is today the Italian mainland. Since its earliest colonisation, the Phlegraean area, because of its location and environmental characteristics, has been a cause of conflicts over its control, and has also witnessed a significant increase in population and urban development. Even the threat of ongoing bradyseismic activity, which has caused seismicity and ground deformation, and the AD 1538 Monte Nuovo eruption did not discourage people from living in the area. Campi Flegrei have undergone socio-economic development which for most of its history has been sustainable. Only with industrialisation over recent decades, has it become unsustainable. This unsustainable development has also caused an increase in the vulnerability of the area in terms of its volcanic risk. Knowledge of the history of urbanisation in Campi Flegrei may, therefore, assist the civil authorities in effecting socio-economic policies aimed at disaster risk reduction.