WORLD SOCIAL SUMMIT 2008
'WSS: Emanuele, fears are most frequent among inhabitants of metropolises'

"Identify fears, mechanisms and methods with which modern societies will face them": the World Social Summit opened today with this goal. Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, President of Fondazione Roma, explained the starting points and scopes of the debates that will liven up the three-day summit, and in collaboration with Censis, he chose to dedicate the 2008 edition to the theme of world fears.

A category boasting peculiarities that distinguish it from those in the past. The main characteristic is "the pervasiveness that this dimension has taken up by now". When "the lack of development of human capital" compromises "the health of people, marriage, the family and the growth of children" "the individual skill to adapt to unforeseen events is reduced and fear of the future increases" said Emanuele. Therefore uncomfortable conditions "may translate into criminal and deviant behaviours". Emanuele thus recalled the most important results of Censis' research on the main metropolises which will be presented tomorrow at the World Social Summit.

The study "concerned the citizens of ten major cities worldwide, who were asked to fill out a questionnaire in order to discover which are the main fears perceived by them". "Metropolises, compared to small cities - recalls Emanuele - stand out for their high demographic density, higher level of pollution, difficulty with regards to human relations, weakening of social and community protection networks, and for being the favourite destination of immigrants". "Fears are mostly concentrated" here.