LIBRI DI MARCO CREMASCHI

A partire dagli anni Duemila nel repertoire delle idee urbanistiche, ha preso piede la cosiddetta "urbanistica tattica", o transitoria, un’iniziativa svolta su terreni non occupati e edifici vuoti che mira a coinvolgere la comunità circostante prima che il sito sia sviluppato. Un aspetto cruciale nelle analisi sull’urbanistica tattica nelle sue forme istituzionalizzate -e quindi nelle public policy- è relativo alla composizione delle arene locali, la rappresentazione dei diversi interessi, le narrative dei diversi attori, e la scelta dei processi negoziali nelle decisioni condivise. Ovvero quali meccanismi di costruzione del consenso all’interno dell’arena degli attori locali siano presenti nell’implementazione di politiche urbane transitorie, che si muovono tra competizione e collaborazione. Questo breve paper esamina queste dinamiche per esplorare natura e prossimità degli interessi degli attori in due casi: i Grands Voisins a Parigi e il Mitreo di Corviale a Roma.

L’articolo studia l’impatto della prima ondata di Covid-19 su forme urbane e densita topologica nella Valseriana, Bergamo. Dopo un’analisi della letteratura, si affronta il tasso di mortalita in rapporto alla struttura territoriale locale. Ne risulta un’elevata variabilita locale per l’incrocio tra modelli insediativi, aspetti culturali e forme di mobilita; elementi di cui le istituzioni dovrebbero tenere conto per affrontare il necessario processo di adeguamento.

Mafia and communities: notes for research - The essay suggests that the system of formal rules (law and legality) on the one hand and the forms of social regulation on the other enter into a vicious circle because of the overabundance (not by chance) of institutional systems. These fuel infinite reserves of mediation which translate into forms of institutional ‘disorder’, capitalised on in turn for self interest motives by particular groups. The absence of rules is a hypertrophic characteristic of legal systems which is used by self-interest groups to strengthen their powers to mediate. A different approach to ‘disordered’ transformation practices in planning would therefore allow more effective policies and forms of regulation to be imagined, which are not just formally consistent.

The territory of criminal organisations - The criminal occupation of areas has not yet been studied by those responsible for urban planning and development. However, this is not just a question of an ethical and political challenge, criminal power and its territorial rationale pose theoretical problems and an interpretative question. If we consider forms of mafia control, the opposing positions of state and civil society seem sterile and the presumption that the latter should be called upon make up for the failings of the former appears especially excessive. Criminal presence can be interpreted as one of the forms of ‘rulelessness’, regulatory redundancy, which regards institutions and society. Therefore, the entire experience of local policies centred on enhancing the value of social capital is called into question. On the one hand it becomes possible to discuss the ‘dark side’ of social capital and on the other a return to legality and regulation (including urban planning regulation) appears necessary. However, an examination of the policies and urban planning policies in particular, indicates that it is far from obvious to expect that respect for rules and good citizenship practices go hand in hand.

Urbanity and resistance - The research on public space is characterized by four different concepts: first, the equivalence between public space and public sphere, directly impinging upon politics; second, the history and construction of social identities, where memory plays a central role; third, the encounter with strangers that should educate to tolerance; fourth, the practice of living together, at the foundation both of urbanity and civil respect. The first three concepts state that public space is eroded, due to the privatization of the public sphere. The last one criticizes this belief, and suggests instead investigating the field of practices that combine resistance to urban change, and the experimentation of new forms of urbanity.

Key words: public space, urbanity, planning, social practices, cities, inclusion.
Parole chiave: housing, planning, abitare, pratiche sociali, istituzionalizzazione, cornici cognitive.

After neo-liberalism: which policies? - This review considers lines of thought followed in different areas of research and seeks to offer a framework for interpretation of change and innovation in public urban and regional policies. Innovative traits are seen firstly in the specifics which have formed and constitute political neoliberalism and more particularly in those characteristics which have made it a process which not only destroys welfare state institutions and policies, but which also constructs new ones. The outcomes of the hybridisation between new and old institutions and between new and old actors, the social inflection which Donzelot speaks of are also innovative. And finally, so are the reviving, or potential, possibilities of states and actors operating in a (new?) public sphere for manoeuvre. Some indications for indicatively going beyond the neoliberal model are taken from three lines of research: the reconstruction of liberal policies in Italy, thinking on social investment and the experimentation of partnerships.

Limits and prospects for local action - This collection of essays regards thinking expressed at an international convention which took place in Rome in 2007. The questions addressed concern two very closely connected aspects: the centrality of the urban and community dimension in giving shape to social inequalities which Donzelot called quite simply the new urban question; and the limits, the difficulties and the equivocations of public action, hemmed in between old paradigms, new challenges and the narrow door of the local approach. The convention discussed the acquisitions of a season of experimentation of integrated local programmes and showed their serious limitations which are not only practical. It also posed questions through a comparison with France over the model of political action which is unfolding in this rapid transition from the traditional welfare state to neo-liberal reconstruction (and beyond). The interventions which follow focus on various issues: the limits of local action; an interest in new community morphologies of social inequalities; and finally proposals for reorganising these suggestions into a consistent field which defines a new urban question.

La trasformazione dei quartieri in quattro grandi città: Roma, Milano, Torino e Napoli. I casi studio descrivono quattro situazioni esemplari: quartieri in via di gentrification, la cui popolazione si ricolloca o viene espulsa; vecchi quartieri pubblici, che invecchiano e resistono; le periferie dell’immigrazione, dove si concentrano nuove popolazioni povere ma dinamiche; i nuovi ‘borghi’ metropolitani dell’hinterland, in rapida e travolgente crescita.