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The Master’s thesis by Laura Montioni (2nd-level Master’s Degree in Architectural and Landscape Psychology) builds upon experience gained from the Naples’ Municipal Evacuation Plan. Volcanic risk represents one of the most critical planning challenges for densely populated areas, and the Civil Protection agency has encountered significant difficulties in spreading awareness and knowledge of proper evacuation procedures.
Facing this communication bottleneck, a paradigm shift is needed to move beyond top-down prevention logic toward an approach based on active listening and community care. Taking the 6th Municipality of Naples (the neighborhoods of San Giovanni a Teduccio, Barra, and Ponticelli) as a case study, the research proposes enhancing emergency signage to increase public awareness, familiarity, and self-efficacy.
Following an analysis of international best practices, ethnographic-style interviews were selected as the field research methodology to gather qualitative insights from Red Zone residents. This type of investigation allows for collecting lateral perspectives and nuances that support the thesis by broadening the overall vision. The survey, conducted with 21 residents of the Vesuvius Red Zone, highlighted several critical issues regarding risk perception and awareness. Among the questions asked, participants were requested to identify which of three options was the actual sign installed to mark assembly areas. Only one participant correctly identified the proper sign. The analyses—cross-referencing the Plan’s contents with emerging literature data, ethnographic research, and a critical evaluation of existing signage—revealed a structural shortfall in the communication and prevention system for volcanic risk.
The effectiveness of the Vesuvius Evacuation Plan relies not only on its technical precision, but above all on its capacity to be understood and acted upon by the population. The top-down approach has created a communication gap, mistrust, and confusion, as evidenced by the shortcomings of the existing signage and the risk perception recorded during the interviews.
The proposal to implement emergency signage designed during peaceful times—in accordance with Universal Design (Design for All) and environmental psychology principles—represents a crucial tool for translating awareness into action, reducing anxiety, and increasing self-efficacy. Concurrently, establishing a two-way communication channel through a local liaison fosters subsidiary governance that views place attachment as an element of resilience rather than an obstacle. Only by combining engineering precision with ethnographic listening and community care will it be possible to ensure a successful emergency evacuation.