Researchers are increasingly turning to relational approaches to island geography, with special emphasis being placed on archipelagos and land-sea interactions. Islands nevertheless continue to be associated with isolation, peripherality and/or disconnectedness, and fixed links such as bridges and causeways continue to be regarded as factors that decrease the quality of islandness. This does not, however, take into account the diversity of island spatialities and islands' various positions within centre-periphery relationships. This paper sheds light on the complexity of island and archipelago connectivities by considering the transport infrastructure (bridges, boats, channels, harbours, canals, roadways) and relationships between, within and among the numerous islands of Venice Lagoon, Italy.The paper argues that island communities face diverse sets of challenges, and there is no single connectivity-enhancing solution that is applicable to all islands.It furthermore argues that instead of seeing fixed links and intense connectivity as reducing a place's islandness, we should see them as altering the way in which a place's islandness is practised. K E Y W O R D Sarchipelago relationality, connectivity, islands, transport infrastructure, Venice Lagoon

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A city fully urbanized, dominated by heritage, logistically isolated, impervious to physical renovation, Venice must struggle with a massive influx of tourists and the fascinating, yet difficult to manage unique features of its architecture and engineering. Venice is becoming increasingly depopulated as residents move off of the archipelago and to the mainland town of Mestre. The usual narration of Venice's demography is, however, oversimplified. The Venetian people are not migrating from their island city motherland to a foreign mainland out of necessity or for convenience's sake; rather, they are trying to reach a difficult balance between their island and mainland identity. This paper examines Venice's special demographic challenges in light of the laws in place to protect its built heritage, its geography relative to other lagoon communities, and developments in the tourism industry.

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