Neighbourhood participation in town planning is far more rooted in the anglo-saxon tradition than in the "public law" countries of continental Europe. This is particularly true of Italy, where "administration" since the building of the nation-state (and before) has traditionnally been the business of a centralised bureaucratic state and "participation" the concern of strong mass parties of socialist and catholic tradition. The increasing popularity of "neighbourhood" or "community" participation with local governments, especially on town planning appears strongly linked to the weakening or altogether the disappearance of these conditions. Traditional party structures and associations have dissolved, while local governments have to face increasing demands and to find ressources for thei policies. In this context, both local administrations and party elites are experimenting these new tools, while from the grass roots an increasing request for inclusion in decision-making processes also seems to find in deliberative procedures a new dirction for bottom-up demands. What are the outcomes of these new and experimental procedures? Moreover, can we really still speak about “neighbourhood communities” in medium and big cities? Or are we not witnessing - under some conditions at least – an increasing gap between “neighbourhood” as physical location and “community” as a virtual cluster, in the decision-making process of urban policies?
Neighbourhood vs. Community: Reframing participation in urban Contexts / C. Sebastiani. - ELETTRONICO. - (2006). (Intervento presentato al convegno ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops tenutosi a Nicosia nel 25-30 aprile 2006).
Neighbourhood vs. Community: Reframing participation in urban Contexts
SEBASTIANI, CHIARA
2006
Abstract
Neighbourhood participation in town planning is far more rooted in the anglo-saxon tradition than in the "public law" countries of continental Europe. This is particularly true of Italy, where "administration" since the building of the nation-state (and before) has traditionnally been the business of a centralised bureaucratic state and "participation" the concern of strong mass parties of socialist and catholic tradition. The increasing popularity of "neighbourhood" or "community" participation with local governments, especially on town planning appears strongly linked to the weakening or altogether the disappearance of these conditions. Traditional party structures and associations have dissolved, while local governments have to face increasing demands and to find ressources for thei policies. In this context, both local administrations and party elites are experimenting these new tools, while from the grass roots an increasing request for inclusion in decision-making processes also seems to find in deliberative procedures a new dirction for bottom-up demands. What are the outcomes of these new and experimental procedures? Moreover, can we really still speak about “neighbourhood communities” in medium and big cities? Or are we not witnessing - under some conditions at least – an increasing gap between “neighbourhood” as physical location and “community” as a virtual cluster, in the decision-making process of urban policies?I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.