Italian authorities are
preparing to build "miniature" towns out of wood to house those
affected by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that hit a mountainous
area of central Italy on August 24.
The wooden towns will be based on a plan that includes
services such as churches, newspaper stands and bars, and are
aimed at keeping communities united and making sure that
survivors do not abandon their badly damaged villages.
A mass funeral was held on Tuesday evening for some 37 of
the 292 victims of the earthquake in the village of Amatrice,
which sustained by far the greatest losses with 231 confirmed
dead.
The housing solution, known as "Map", is similar to a
system adopted in the aftermath of the April 2009 earthquake in
the area of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region, which housed about
5,000 people.
Luigi Calvisi, a former mayor of the small town of Fossa
which was hit by the 2009 earthquake, said following the system
helped keep people together.
"My doubt was: if we just build houses, if we do not come
up with something else, where will we all meet? For that reason,
we designed a complete project" he said.
"Our village is different to others: it has a central
square, a playground, a church, a pharmacy… a bar, a grocery, a
football field, and then 150 houses with 150 gardens," he said.
He added that he hoped the system could become a model for
Amatrice. Other towns badly affected by the recent earthquake
include Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto, Pescara del Tronto and
Norcia.
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