Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi is presenting the redevelopment of Scampia as a break with the neighborhood's long association with Gomorrah and as the start of a future-oriented identity for the area.
The occasion was the presentation of new public housing in front of the Vela Celeste, the building at the center of the Restart Scampia program. According to the reporting, Manfredi described the project as evidence that Scampia is leaving behind the "stigma di Gomorra" and becoming a symbol of development, housing rights, and renewal for Naples.
97 new homes in front of the Vela Celeste
The most concrete element presented this week is housing: 97 new homes built in front of the Vela Celeste.
That building is reported as the only one of the original seven Vele expected to remain standing. The wider redevelopment involves demolition or replacement of much of the Vele complex and its substitution with new residential buildings.
Manfredi has linked the new homes directly to residents' right to housing. In his framing, reported by Il Mattino, the combination of new housing, investment, and the university presence makes this "la Scampia della Napoli del futuro" — the Scampia of the Naples of the future.
The first homes are expected to be delivered between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027, according to ANSA.
A project accelerated after the 2024 collapse
The redevelopment accelerated after the collapse of a walkway at the Vela Celeste on 22 July 2024, in which three people died.
That event refocused political and public attention on living conditions in the Vele and on the long-delayed replacement program. Manfredi has presented the current phase as a response to decades of unfulfilled promises — a shift, in his interpretation, from announcements to concrete implementation.
The mayor has also connected the Scampia project to a broader recovery of Naples' reputation, arguing that delivering housing and public investment in one of the city's most stigmatized districts signals a different direction for the city as a whole.
What to understand about "Gomorrah no longer exists"
"Gomorra non esiste più" is a political and reputational claim attributed to Manfredi, not evidence that crime or social hardship have disappeared from Scampia.
Readers should understand it as shorthand for the city's intended message: that Scampia should no longer be described primarily through the television and literary image of Gomorrah, but through new housing, public institutions, and planned investment.
The sources do not independently establish the long-term effects of the redevelopment on residents' living conditions, employment, or crime levels. Those outcomes will depend on delivery of the homes on schedule, management of the remaining Vela Celeste, accompanying services, and how former and new residents are housed.
What to watch next
Two practical questions matter most for readers following the story.
First, timing: whether the first homes are delivered in the announced window at the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027.
Second, completeness: the final number of homes and the full timetable for removal or replacement of the rest of the Vele complex are not yet established by the available reporting. The full Il Mattino article is reserved for premium subscribers, so some project detail could not be independently assessed.
For now, the verified core is this: 97 homes presented, one Vela intended to remain out of seven, a delivery horizon of late 2026 to early 2027, and a mayor arguing that Scampia is writing another future.