Contaminated sites and environmental justice in Italy. When space as proximity is not enough

Across Europe, Environmental Justice (EJ) scholarship has increasingly emphasised the need to analyse the multiple spatialities through which injustice is produced and sustained. Within this debate, EJ in Italy remains understudied, particularly from a spatial perspective. This paper examines EJ in Italy through the lens of contaminated sites, integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence within a complementary analytical framework. A national-scale quantitative analysis shows that socio-demographic disadvantage often coincides with proximity to environmental contamination, in line with broader European patterns, while also exposing the analytical constraints of proximity-based approaches. The case of the Site of National Interest (SNI) “Napoli Orientale” in southern Italy exemplifies how environmental injustice occurs through multiple spatialities of production, responsibility, recognition, and participation, revealing the relational processes that define contaminated sites beyond proximity alone. In doing so, the paper contributes evidence from wider fields of research in Italy to ongoing debates on environmental justice in Europe.