For a New Urban Governance

Abstract

The economic/financial recession that has affected the cities and economy of the west is forcing a rethinking about the current model of development and planning a return to governance policies based on enhancing territorial, local, and urban capital. It is not possible for this to occur in terms of further growth, accumulation, and the consumption of scarce resources. Instead, it is necessary to design polycentric, denser cities, regulating the reuse of land to a multifunctional dimension, reconfiguring spaces, and producing more resilient, adaptive, and quality urban fabrics. Cities, in that they are social organizations created to be functional for humans’ many needs, could become the space in which citizens find answers to their demands for well-being and quality of life. In this sense, cities have found it necessary to address some substantial questions in new and creative ways. These questions relate to:

• Waste reduction and a more efficient use of resources (human capital, land, landscape worth, environmental quality, energy)

• Conservation and the hydrogeological balance of the land

• Greater sobriety and effectiveness in urban planning

• Reorganization of material and immaterial infrastructure networks

• Involving a larger number of subjects and new players in transformation and regeneration processes

• Building ethics of collective goods to ensure real sustainability in enhancement processes and the use of these goods to block their irreversible consumption

• Redefining behaviours, habits, and lifestyles of inhabitants and operators imprinted with a more conscious, responsible use of their territory.