Palermo

Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is an historic city very much noted for its rich history, culture and architecture. The city has a population of 670,000 inhabitants, with the metropolitan area of Palermo home to 1,200,000 people. The area attracts significant ammounts of tourists every year. The population is declining, because of relocation to the suburbs and emmigration, mostly to northern Italy. A major problem is the lack of adequate job opportunities for the young generation. Inner city areas have suffered from economic decay, the abandonment of historic buildings and the concentration of poor people. Palermo has put a lot of effort into integrated economic, social and urban development- using European Union Initiative Programs.