The Collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa on 14 August 2018: A Collective Traumatic Event and Its Emotional Impact Linked to the Place and Loss of a Symbol

Abstract

The collapse of the Morandi bridge in Italy, which took place in the summer of 2018, has had enormous emotional, economic, and social consequences for the inhabitants of the area, which are felt throughout the world. As seen in the literature, collective traumatic events increase the experience of insecurity and paranoia, thus increasing the perception of vulnerability. The present work aims to bring out the emotions most experienced by the participants connected to the traumatic event in question, paying attention to the possible solutions to be proposed to local stakeholders from a sustainability perspective, this way favouring community empowerment. The research, carried out with the photovoice technique, involved 30 young adults residing in areas near the event. The results illustrate how the participants experienced mainly feelings of emptiness, vulnerability, and fear as well as anger, despair, and mistrust of the institutions. It was also stressed that the economic and structural hardships hit the inhabitants hard. There have been many concrete solutions identified by the participants: creating a support network, supporting the local economy, and keeping the memory alive. The research and application implications underline the importance of using photovoice within community interventions, a tool that facilitates awareness and active citizenship.

Institutional and Non-Institutional Governance Initiatives in Urban Transport Planning: The Paradigmatic Case of the Post-Collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa

“…The collapse of the Morandi bridge on 14 August 2018, as well as being a dramatic event for the loss of 43 people who died crossing the highway along the viaduct, was an event rich in meaning for the Genoese reality. In addition to being an individual and collective pain for inhabitants and visitors, workers, and tourists, Italians and foreigners, it represented a unique moment of reflection for the community [38].Citizenship witnessed, in these days, a quite irresistible show of solidarity and sharing: the rescuers, law enforcement, and the volunteers. Within the spontaneous movement of collaboration and unity, important institutional as well as non-institutional interventions can be pinpointed in this event.…”

A County Town in Ruins: Memories, Emotions, and Sense of Place in Post-Earthquake Beichuan, China

“…For example, survivors living in a state of existential threat after cyclone Yasi experienced panic and fear for their lives [19]. Inhabitants in disaster area felt insecure, vulnerable, and desperate when living near the collapsed Morandi bridge in Italy [27]. Residents forced to relocate after Hurricane Katrina expressed nostalgia and yearning to return to former homes [28].…”

“…The loss of one's home and neighbourhood damages one's social ties and destroys an individual's belonging and place attachment [43]. It also undermines the places' capacity to symbolise central aspects of self [27] and leads to weakening self-perception and place identity [28]. Concepts of 'place attachment disruptions' [44] and 'place identity threat' [45] have been used to explain the sense of place in the environmental catastrophe context.…”

Robustness of steel truss bridges: Laboratory testing of a full-scale 21-metre bridge span

“…These events can cause the sudden loss of local elements and trigger a cascading failure of the bridge, known as progressive bridge collapse [5]. Some progressive collapse events gained significant public attention due to the extent of damage and number of victims, as for example: the classic Ronan Point in 1968 [6] or the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 2001 [7] in buildings, and the I-35 W bridge in Minnesota [8], the Hongqi Viaduct [9] or Ponte Morandi [10] in bridges. The concept of robustness is introduced in present-day design standards to minimise the risk of progressive collapse.…”