Mistral project

Taranto in southern Italy

The case study of Taranto has been chosen due to the presence of the biggest European steel plant since 1960s resulting in heavy burden on environment and population health. The city of Taranto shows relevant inequalities in terms of mortality between the northern neighborhoods, closest to the industrial area (Paolo VI, Tamburi and Città Vecchia-Borgo), with excess mortality highlighted across 10 years described by SMRs always higher than those of the entire Apulia region, with peaks exceeding 50% between 2015 and 2017 both in women and men.

The significant excesses of mortality have increased from 2011 to 2020 and progressively extended across several neighborhoods of Taranto city. The case study in Taranto will be coordinated by the Unit of the University of Bari for Taranto. Professor, Luigi Vimercati, will lead of this study as member of the University of Bari.