An Island for Everyone: Poveglia as contested public space in the Venetian Lagoon

This article focuses on the story of proposed privatisation Poveglia, a small uninhabited island in Venetian Lagoon. In March 2014 Italian State Property Office announced that 99-year lease Poveglia would be offered for sale an online auction. The reaction some citizens led to formation association per Tutti (Poveglia Everyone), whose activists and supporters wanted preserved as public space blocked acquisition. firstly frames processes are particular islands Lagoon, from abandonment tourism-related ‘land grabbing’, then contextualises this minor more general discussion regarding broader ‘right island’ narratives practices with reference other European cases. Finally, presents results ethnographically informed analysis discuss capacity potentialities - separate, limited, identifiable spaces part territorialisation dealing active citizenship, resistance tourist monoculture usability space. way, becomes synecdoche whole Venice its lagoon, ‘condensing’, at same time, local global dynamics.