The homeless are an emblem of our society, often neglected and forgotten, even in death. They reside in almost 2,198 municipalities but are concentrated for 50% in Rome (23% of registry registrations), Milan (9%), Naples (7%), Turin (4.6%), Genoa (3%) and Foggia (3.7%). In 2024, in Italy, at least 404 homeless people died (mostly men 93%, with an average age of 47.3 years) while society continued its daily activities, often ignoring these tragedies.
to end homelessness by 2030, recognizing the right to a roof as fundamental to a civil society. Yet, just five years from the deadline, Italy seems completely unprepared, the victim of an institutional inertia that borders on indifference. While ISTAT data speak of over 20,000 homeless people in Rome alone, the national panorama is c level executive list bleak: structured plans and long-term interventions remain non-existent, replaced by emergency solutions such as tensile structures and temporary dormitories. These interventions do nothing more than patch up a chronic emergency, without addressing the root causes of the problem.
The capital, a symbol of history and culture, coexists with the paradox of empty buildings left to decay next to streets where men and women live and die in undignified conditions. The principle of “Housing First”, promoted by the EU to offer a stable home as a first step towards social reintegration, is ignored in the Italian public debate. This immobility reflects a weak political will and an inability to transform commitments into concrete actions. The indifference with which institutions treat the phenomenon of homelessness is not only a failure of government, but a sign of a society that prefers to look the other way.