Opening the gate to bathers’ rights. Community-led process for the coast as a commons

The research fits within the complex framework regarding the relation between commons and care practices in the contemporary city, intercepting the theme in a peculiar context: that of the coasts. Coasts can be considered a particular form of public good: the beaches are part of the category of maritime property and are identified as a public good of collective belonging. In recent decades, Italy’s failure to conform to the Bolkenstein directive and the lack of national indications regarding minimum percentages of beaches dedicated to free enjoyment, have generated profound social inequalities. Specifically, the contribution explores the Naples coastline: an interesting field of investigation according to its condition of great difficulty in accessing the sea. These dynamics have led to growing community awareness and the denunciation of a management model that has become increasingly exclusionary. Starting from the experience of the appeal process to the Regional Administrative Court presented by Comitato Nazionale Mare Libero for the closure of the gate at the Donn'Anna beach, the contribution reflects on the possible spatial impacts of the committees’ movements to regain the right to the sea and on the possibility of including the coast in the emerging legal category of commons.