Scampìa

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Quarters of Naples - Scampìa is number 22

Scampìa is a modern suburb in the north of Naples with many social problems. The population is about 80.000.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Notes and references
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Location of the province of Naples

The district lies in the far north of Naples. To the south are the suburbs of Piscinola-Marianella, Miano and Secondigliano.

[edit] History

Scampia was built as a bedroom suburb in 1960s. The area was mostly developed in the 1970s and 1980s, with huge, high-rise residential blocks, in particular after the 1980 earthquake with construction of housing for displaced Neapolitans. Huge apartment complexes, wide boulevards and a massive park were built, without commercial districts or entertainment venues.^[1] With 50% unemployment there is a very high crime rate, with heroin and cocaine sold and used openly in the streets.^[2]

Large metal gates on some of the walkways and stairs in the blocks of flats have been put there, not by the council, but by the Camorra, so they can be locked by drug pushers as they flee the police.^[3]

Scampia was the territory of the Di Lauro Camorra clan, which controlled the drug trade and most other activities in the area. In 2004 a bloody a gang war erupted in the area, the so-called Scampia feud (Faida di Scampia), between the Di Lauro clan and a breakaway fraction, the so-called "secessionists" (Italian "scissionisti").^[4]^[5]

The tragic death of an innocent girl, Gelsomina Verde, caused widespread public revulsion and led to a major crackdown by the authorities. She was abducted, brutally beaten in an effort to get her to disclose the whereabouts of a gang member involved in the feud, and finally shot in the neck. Her body was stuffed in a car that was set on fire.^[6]