ABSTRACT
The city of Bari is the capital of Puglia, a region of approximately four million inhabitants on the southeastern comer of Italy. The original city centre, a 1.3km2 area known as ‘Bari Vecchia’, has developed during the years in a hemispheric way. Italy is divided in 20 regions, each of which is divided into provinces. The Region of Puglia includes five provinces - Bari, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto. The city of Bari, administrative capital of Puglia, is divided into nine districts and 20 neighbourhoods. Bari’s economy is balanced and diverse. The primary sector of the Province is larger than the national average. However it is undersized compared with that of other cities in the Puglia region. In order to describe the development of criminal activity in Bari it is necessary to make a distinction between ordinary crime and organized crime. While ordinary crime is committed by people operating alone, organized crime is committed by members of a specific organization.
