Urban Regeneration and Local Governance in Italy: Three Emblematic Cases

Abstract

This chapter considers urban renewal policies involving Italian cities over the last 20 years with reference to public and private measures designed to resolve situations of environmental and socio-economic blight in degraded urban areas. Presenting a case-based empirical examination of private initiatives and public policies adopted by local government, the chapter seeks to verify the capacity for management of public funding by local government and to assess the important role played by the private sector in supporting public bodies in the process of urban regeneration and therefore on urban governance. Three case studies are analysed: two medium-sized cities in the South of Italy, Lecce and Taranto, and a large city in the North, Milan. The first two were the recipients, albeit in different periods, of EU funds linked to the “urban” initiative for the renewal of strategic urban areas and urban development. The sharp differences in the results achieved were essentially due to the management capacity of the local administrations and their public and private partners. Taranto was unable to achieve the envisaged urban regeneration, intended to reverse the consequences of poorly conceived industrial and military policies that were responsible for the devastation of the area. This contrasted with the more positive outcome of the urban renewal strategies adopted in Lecce, where public and private actors invested and continue to invest in the rebirth of the old town and the recovery and promotion of the city’s cultural heritage. For Milan, the results are still being evaluated. In many cases, the partnership of public and private sectors facilitated the success of the strategies and measures adopted for the renewal of central and semi-central portions of the city (once occupied by industries or by infrastructure that had become obsolete). Over the last few years, the budgets of local bodies, together with their responsibilities in terms of orientation and monitoring of regional transformation processes implemented in concert with private players, have increasingly highlighted the need for public administrations to base their decisions on solid planning of priorities and management skills that are commensurate with the complexity of the measures to be implemented.