i ve headed five miles out of the city centre using the newly extended metro line. romans have a reputation for resisting change and the arrival of the subway in 2014 has shaken up old poor neighbourhoods of the city, nowhere more so than centocelle. i m meeting massimiliano who s the editor of italy s most prestigious food journal to find out what s going on. gentrification is moving in on this neighbourhood and food is on the front line. massimiliano: the neighbourhood was born during the roman empire. centocelle is the roman name. 100 jails? jails, yeah, exactly. there may never have actually been one hundred jails here but what this area does have is three new subway stations all within close proximity. massimiliano: these things change up the game, ok?
thriving café and bookshop called la peccora elettrica the electric sheep. on the night of april 25th 2019 alessandra s café was firebombed. she set about rebuilding her business but shockingly, the night before she was due to reopen the attackers struck again. three local businesses have now been attacked like this in centocelle including a pizza place and this jazz bar. the police still haven t found who s responsible. because alessandra hosted community events at the café, including anti-fascist talks, suspicion has fallen on the far right. but others here blame local criminals protecting their old
of the subway in 2014 has shaken up old poor neighborhoods of the city, nowhere more so than centocelle. i m meeting massimiliano, who s the editor of italy s most prestigious food journal, to find out what s going on. gentrification is moving in on this neighborhood and food is on the front line. the neighborhood was born during roman empire. centocelle is a roman name. c cento carceri is 100 jails in english. 100 jails? jails, yeah, exactly. there may never have actually been 100 jails here, but what this area does have is three new subway stations all within close proximity. these things change up the game, okay? yeah. a lot of people came here to try to invest a bit. yeah. is this where we re going?
yeah, it s here. let s go in and see what he s got. centocelle has long had a rough reputation. that s changing fast though and one place that s seen by some as ground zero for the transformation of the neighborhood is a deli. vincenzo. ciao. vincenzo opened this place well before the metro arrived. he wanted to rehabilitate the surrounding lazio region s mediocre reputation for food and bring the best of the countryside back for his neighbors to enjoy at fair prices. right, right. can i taste some?
the electric sheep. on the night of april 25th, 2019, ales sandra s cafe was fire bombed. she set about rebuilding her business, but shockingly, the night before she was due to reopen, the attackers struck again. three local businesses have now been attacked like this in centocelle including a pizza place and this jazz bar. the police still haven t found who s responsible. because alessandra hosted community events at the cafe, including anti-fascist talks, suspicious has fallen on the far right. but others here blame local criminals protecting their old turf or even anti-gentrification campaigners. but is this happening in other parts of rome, too?