• peripheral areas
• Sant'Ermete di Pisa
• urban marginality
• self-organization

Nowadays inequality still increases inside countries and it is possible to observe the phenomenon in cities. There are some areas in the towns where services and wellbeing of the population are very different. Usually areas with lack of services, building degradation and zones where the population have critical socio-economic conditions are considered peripheral. This analysis tries to explore an urban marginalized area in Pisa called Sant’Ermete, exploring factors that allow the birth of a peripheral area, how they change in times and which were the institutional strategies to face the problem and try to relieve the social suffereces of people. In particular that area was targeted by the local administration in 2008 for a project of urban regeneration, a project not finished yet. During my analysis, using participant observation, I have explored the everyday life of people that live in the social housing neighborhood, the solidarity born in the neighborhood and all the relationships that have contributed to increase the social community's welfare. I have also analyzed the relationships between institutions and Sant'Ermete people, tring to understand if the local administration is able to grasp and support the active citizens present in the area, including them to create and implement political strategies that could effectively provide benefits for the zone.