The importance of Indices of Multiple Deprivation for spatial planning and community regeneration. The example of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation and the related Communities First programme for the Italian system.

Abstract

The massive development of indices of multiple deprivation in the UK has provided new data sets which have helped decision makers in shaping innovative and effective strategies and programmes to tackle local deprivation. Territorial planning is one of the more positively affected sectors, together with community regeneration, where the example of the Welsh Government’s programme, “Communities First”, set a new standard of innovation in local government practices. Conversely several problems affect the way indices of multiple deprivation are carried out in Italy and the way they are deployed. They are mostly developed at the regional level and their use is only related to the health sector. Planning and local government systems are still unaware of the potential of a national index of multiple deprivation in their fields, so that the current proposal to create an official national index is backed only by health sector bodies. In this paper the need to create a national, cross­ cutting and fully accessible index of multiple deprivation is highlighted by analysing the features of the Italian indices published in recent years and comparing them with those far more structured, developed in the UK.