Page 41 - Changing Living Spaces

The Privatization of the Common Real Estate in Lombard Alpine Valleys

cinie were abolished in 1806 and the rights were transferred to munici-
palities. The consent of most families living in the village was no longer
required for the sale of property; it was thus easiest for the local admin-
istration to put ‘commons’ on the real estate market. The French govern-
ment affirmed the absolute priority of its needs over the other collective
institutions; the sale of the beni nazionali showed that collective prop-
erty could be used to improve public finances. The beni nazionali were
the ecclesiastic institutions’ properties which were confiscated and then
sold by the State after the French invasion (on Lombardy, Cova 1963a;
1963b; Farolfi 1967).
The attitude of the new authorities eventually led to the gradual pur-
chase of commons by the richest families in the region or foreigners who
invested in real estate to exploit it or as collateral for loans.5 Some new
landowners, seeking a quick return on their investment, changed the
main cultivation and/or practiced overexploitation of their new proper-
ties without considering the associated negative impacts on future pro-
duction and the environment. They did not invest to improve yields, as
the increase in productivity was small and, moreover, had positive effects
only in the long term. However, in the first years after the privatization
of the commons, the government and the Alpine villagers were deceived
about the positive effects of the new laws. By selling the common real es-
tate, communities received the money they needed to meet their needs,
and they were able to help the poorest families who had lost their rights
to the commons. They also had the prospect of further revenue from a
portion of the taxes on: (a) the former common real estate; (b) the fruits
(wood, hay, etc.) sold by the new landowners; and (c) the rent of the for-
mer common pastures and forests. At the same time, the new landowners
increased their income and amortized the amounts spent. This economic
development finally allowed the Austrian government to increase fiscal
revenues, which was the real goal of the new laws.
However, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the negative
economic trend forced new landowners to save the cost of routine main-
tenance of their new real estate and to increase the exploitation associ-
ated with it. The attitude of the new landowners created significant en-
vironmental costs by encouraging indiscriminate tree cutting and the

5 About the effects on the Lombard economy and real estate market of the new ca-
dastre and new taxes from the second half of the eighteenth century to the end
of the Napoleonic period, see: Locatelli and Tedeschi (2012) and Mazzucchelli
(1984).

39