Venice B08 IQP - Being Young in Venice

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Our Project

Young people constitute an ever dwindling share of the population of Venice. Our study established the quality of life factors most relevant to young Venetians as well as prevailing trends. It was observed that the relative importance of various factors changes drastically over time. Recreation was the most frequently discussed factor; however it was found that factors such as the social and community life and safety are of higher importance to youth when making migratory decisions. The dynamic interaction of various factors for the Venetian youth was also explored.

Mission Statement

The goal of this project is to assess the opportunities and challenges associated with being young in Venice.

Objectives

To investigate the quality of life of young Venetians
To assess the opportunities available to Venetian youth
To assess the challenges faced by Venetian youth
To establish a strong foundation for future projects based on a thorough understanding of Venetian youth’s way of life

Executive Summary

The goal of this project is to assess how the opportunities and challenges associated with being young in Venice affect its youth. Nine quality of life factors were determined and refined through semi-structured interviews with 15 young Venetians. Furthermore, opportunities and challenges pertaining to each of these factors were evaluated and documented. This identified issues that future Interactive Qualifying Projects can develop. Venice’s population has been decreasing steadily for the last 50 years, and the age group 20 through 30 is decreasing faster than any other. Since this age range is the transition from adolescence to adulthood, the opportunities and barriers perceived by Venetian youth influence the decision to stay or leave. Since youth around the world face similar dilemmas, the generic factors affecting their perceptions of quality of life have been studied in other cities. However, we are aware of no other study similar to ours which focuses specifically on the quality of life experienced by Venetian youth. We informally interviewed 15 Venetians between the ages of 20 and 45 and 16 students between the ages 11 and 13 to determine quality of life factors most pertinent to the youth of Venice. All interviews were transcribed and later coded in order to analyze the quality of life factors. Comments were categorized under these factors and a frequency count of these categorized comments established their relative level of importance. This is represented in the image below; the size of a word is proportional to its importance.

On analysis of our interviews, it became apparent that a distinct combination of factors simultaneously present opportunities and pose challenges to Venetian youth. For example, Venice offers a variety of educational opportunities, especially for Venetians who choose an occupation native to Venice such as tourism. However, given that the job market is narrower than the educational opportunities offered, Venice often educates its youth to leave. A certain opportunity for an individual could also pose a challenge for another. The slow pace of life coupled with the quiet atmosphere is attractive to Venetians seeking to start a family and settle down. This quiet life can be attributed in part to the low profile of the night life in Venice. The lack of rowdy nightclubs and parties keeps the evening noise levels in the city low. However, these same factors pose a challenge to the youth of a city looking for an active social life. The graphic below was made in collaboration with two other groups that study the quality of life factors for adults and for the elderly of Venice. The thickness of the line represents how important each quality of life factor is during a specific age bracket and it clearly shows that some factors that are important when young become less important during adulthood and vice versa.

Our group was able to determine the quality of life factors important to the youth of the city, and showed how these factors can dynamically interact with each other. Understanding the young people of Venice is an integral part of understanding the city, and an important step towards preserving the culture of the Jewel of the Adriatic.

Conclusions

Quality of life factors

Through the course of this project, we were able to collect a list of quality of life factors important to the youth of Venice The size of the words represents its frequency in the interview responses. These quality of life factors that were deemed relevant through the word cloud can be used in future projects specific to Venetian youth.

Double-Edged Sword

Upon analyzing the interviews, it is apparent that there is a central theme which connects them: Venice wields a double-edged sword. There is a combination of factors present in Venice which simultaneously present opportunities and pose challenges to the residents of the city.

Educational and Occupational Opportunities

Venice offers a variety of educational opportunities for its youth. A range of vocational and tertiary concentrations are offered. However, the breadth of the job market does not match up to the educational opportunities offered. For example, the University of Ca’ Foscari offers degrees in Information Technology (IT) even though there are few IT jobs in Venice. Thus the educational opportunities compel Venetian students to leave due to the mismatch of job opportunities. In the past few years there has been an increase in attendance of scientific schools which is a source of concern for Venice given its lack of job opportunities in the technical and engineering fields. Fifty percent of the 16 middle school students interviewed were planning to attend a scientific or technical school. This mismatch could be one explanation for the reason why the 24 to 29 year-old age group has been decreasing at a higher rate than the other age groups; this is the critical point at which people choose career paths. The lack of availability in the job market could be driving young Venetians away.

Recreation and Pace of Life

As became apparent through our interviews, the lack of recreational facilities and nightlife is a source of concern for the youth of Venice. A majority of the interviewees were dissatisfied with the current state of the recreation in Venice, often having to look to other cities. For example, many young adults travelled to Mestre for nightlife entertainment. However, the lack of nightlife contributes to the slow and quiet atmosphere of Venice. This is attractive to young Venetians who are planning to start a family and settle down. “[This life] is perfect when you are a bit older, 30 or 40,” says Tommaso, referring to family life in Venice. The same factor that affects a Venetian at one point in their life may affect them differently in the future. An initial list of quality of life factors was collected and ranked for the youth of Venice, and it was shown how these factors can dynamically interact with each other. However, this study only sets the foundation for future contributors to improve upon.

Recommendations for Further Study

Quality of Life Indices

A study to positively identify the quality of life factors essential to the youth of Venice should be conducted. Although an initial list of quality of life factors important to the youth was established through this project, a rigorous study would concretely establish the factors of concern. A relative analysis of the quality of life makeup for the Venetian youth in comparison to surrounding areas such as Mestre could be conducted. This study would allow us to observe if it would be possible to adapt youth programs from these areas for Venice.

Educational and Occupational Outlooks

A study should be conducted to identify strategies for creating career paths for young Venetians that are matched to the educational opportunities available in Venice. Challenges such as the location of the proposed facilities, companies to support the jobs, and identifying cost benefit to the city would need to be investigated before any such program can be implemented. The repercussions of these studies would need to be explored. For example, a successful integration of an Information Technology job market in Venice could result in an influx of residents to the city, further increasing housing and living costs.

Recreational Facilities

A study should be conducted to determine the demand for the various forms of recreational facilities within Venice. An implementation plan and cost benefit analysis should be outlined to facilitate the establishment of identified facilities. To make information more easily accessible, a website on recreational facilities and youth programs should be established. Improving the state of recreational facilities in Venice could potentially reduce the current migratory trend observed in the Venetian youth; however an increase in recreational and social activity would simultaneously disrupt the peaceful culture of Venice. Achieving an optimal balance would require a close analysis of the interaction between the two factors. Issues such as the location would need to be taken into account. For example, facilities in student populated areas such as San Basilio would affect the balance in a different way than a facility in the heart of Castello.

Daycare Programs for Young Families

An exploration and implementation of the daycare system would be beneficial for young families. From our discussions with young parents, we discovered that the lack of daycare facilities is a common problem faced by working Venetian families. As reported in the July 2008 Venice census, the target population of children who would be in need of childcare programs (newborn up to nine years of age) is 21,244. Even though there is an obvious need for childcare programs in Venice, there is a lack of facilities and programs currently in operation. There is also a lack of collected information regarding the unstructured daycare facilities in operation, such as those run by the churches in Venice. The documentation of all existing daycare type facilities, official or otherwise, would also be extremely beneficial.

Graffiti

A study to identify and implement programs to clean up and deter graffiti in Venice should be conducted. The lack of social and recreational facilities may be causing adverse social behavior in Venice. The graffiti problem in Venice is visually detrimental to the city. Furthermore, graffiti can potentially damage the existing architecture of Venice, destroying elements of its culture. Studying the forms of graffiti could help in identifying root causes to the adverse social behavior. Although individual citizens do help, official programs need to be implemented to get rid of the graffiti and prevent re-occurrence. Possible adaptations of programs from cities such as Sacramento could be utilized here. This project has created a list of quality of life factors important to the young people of Venice and identified areas of future study defined by challenges faced by this demographic entity. Understanding and consequently preserving the way of life of Venetian youth is essential to Venice, as the city is in danger of losing more than the façade of its culture – it is losing its people.

About Us

Being Young in Venice Group

Meggan Birmingham

Akhil Kejriwal

Julie Marquis

Pedriant Peña

Meggan Birmingham

Major: Biomedical Engineer
Year of Graduation: 2010
About Meggan: Meggan was born in Lynn, MA, but curently lives in Salem, MA. Shes played the harp for over seven years.

Akhil Kejriwal

Major: Mechanical Engineer
Year of Graduation: 2010
About Akhil: An Indian national, Akhil got to the US in 2006 to attend WPI. In his spare time, he enjoys working with cars, snowboarding, cooking and rock-climbing.

Julie Marquis

Major: Civil Engineer
Year of Graduation: 2010
About Julie: Julie is a Junior at WPI from Somers, Connecticut. Apart from her studies, Julie is also involved in Phi Sigma Sigma, Habitat for Humanity, Varsity Field Hockey and Lacrosse.

Pedriant Peña

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year of Graduation: WPI class of 2010
About Pedriant: He was born in Dominican Republic, but resides in Lawrence, MA since the year 2000. In WPI he is mainly involved with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Track team.

Youth In Venice

Youth Of Venice

Figures

Figures
Mercer's Quality of Life Factors	ARACY Indicators	Comune of Venice	Topics for Interviewing	Overall Frequency of Topics Discussed in Interviews
Information to Gather for Interviewees	Information for Interviewees	Screenshot of Relative Importance Graph	Screenshot of Interactive Opinions Graph

Graphics

Graphics
Future Population Trends of Venice	2004 Age Demographic of Venetian Population	Job Opportunities in Venice	2004 Crime Rates in Major Italian Cities	Consumer Price Index (Venice vs. National Average)

Links

Final Report

File:Report Young-B08.pdf

All documents

All the documents related to our project (including the complete final report, final presentation, project poster, figures and graphics, excel sheets, and all audio clips and animations) are included in the link below