> “Local authorities know that if someone asks to be registered on a fictitious street, it’s almost always going to be a person who needs social help,” explains Minardi. “They’re worried that this person will be an excessive burden on the town budget.”

> As soon as someone asks an Italian town to be registered on a via fittizia, that town is legally obliged to create one...

I assumed the purpose of this workaround was to provide accurate population numbers to the national government, who would then provide funding for services based on how many people actually needed them.

If that's true, I don't see the advantage to the city in blocking homeless or itinerant people from registering.

If that's false—for example, if no money trickles down to the city level based on population—then why legally require cities to create these fictional streets in the first place?

It may be a requirement without corresponding support. That's certainly a possibility. But it's confusing to me without clarification. It's easy to speculate, but I'd love an authoritative answer.