Abstract
By analyzing the case study of Naples, Italy, the chapter aims at investigating the complex relationship between community-led initiatives and the local government, particularly in the process of regeneration of underused public buildings. I argue that social innovation is a highly contextual social and political process that has the potential to act in changing the relationship among different stakeholders involved in the policy making. Social innovation is a constant creation, transformation, and dynamism triggered by interactions by a diverse set of actors that together transform urban space and service provision. The chapter highlights how conflict and collaboration are more and more becoming mutually reinforcing elements of an ongoing political process, where conflict is not only an unavoidable but also a necessary aspect of participation and engagement.
Spaces of regeneration of underused public building are perfect sites to assess how real-life scenarios of social innovation act both in changing institutions and the functioning of community-based activism. In this framework, the case of Naples seems to be particularly interesting due to the adoption of a specific “Declaration on Civic Uses” as a framework for the protection of urban commons. This framework has been adopted particularly due to the activism of squatting movements in a regenerated space named Ex Asilo Filangieri.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The article is the result of the research conducted within the Project NEIGHBOURCHANGE that has received funding from the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships, Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, project NEIGHBOURCHANGE grant agreement n. 707726.
References
Bailey N, Pill M (2014) The potential for neighbourhood regeneration in a period of austerity: changing forms of neighbourhood governance in two cities. J Urban Regen Renewal 7(2):150–163(14)
Blanco I, Nel·lo O (2017) Can social innovation be the answer? The role of citizen action in face of increasing socio-spatial segregation. Territorio 83:7–16. https://doi.org/10.3280/TR2017-083001
Buonanno R (2018) Beni Comuni Urbani emergenti a Napoli Thesis, Master U-Rise, Università Iuav di Venezia
Caffentzis G (2010) The future of “the commons”: neoliberalism’s “Plan B” or the original disaccumulation of capital? New Formations 69:23–41. https://doi.org/10.3898/NEWF.69.01.2010
Capone N (2017) The concrete Utopia of the commons. The right of Civic and collective use of public (and private) goods. Philosophy Kitchen, 4
Capone N (2019) Usi (collettivi) in Lessico della crisi e del possibile. Cento lemmi per praticare il presente. In: Dubosc FO (ed) Lessico della crisi e del possibile. Cento lemmi per praticare il presente. Edizioni SEB27, Torino
Cassiers T, Kesteloot C (2012) Socio-spatial inequalities and social cohesion in European cities. Urban Stud 49(9):1909–1924. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098012444888
Cucca I (2018) Il caso dell’Asilo a Napoli: quale valutazione possibile?, Thesis, Master U-Rise, Università Iuav di Venezia
DeFillippis J, Fischer R, Shragge E (2006) Neither romance nor regulation: re-evaluating community. Int J Urban Reg Res 30:673–689. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2006.00680.x
EC – Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (2017) Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union, SEC(2010) 1161. https://ec.europa.eu/research/ innovation-union/pdf/innovation-union-communication-brochure_en.pdf
Franzese A (2019) Reading the city through the lens of urban standards. The case of Ponticelli, East Naples, Paper presented at AESOP Conference 2019 “Planning for transitions”, 9–13 July, Venice
Garcia M (2010) The breakdown of Spanish urban growth model: social and territorial effects of the global crisis. Int J Urban Reg Res 34(4):967–980. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.01015.x
Garcia M (2016) Citizenship practices and urban governance in European cities. Urban Stud 43(4):745–765. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980600597491
Gerometta J, Haussermann H, Longo G (2005) Social innovation and civil society in urban governance: strategies for an inclusive city. Urban Stud 42(11):2007–2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500279851
Gonzales S, Healey P (2005) A sociological institutionalist approach to the study of innovation in governance capacity. Urban Stud 42(11):2055–2069. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500279778
Kleinhans R (2017) False promises of co-production in neighbourhood regeneration: the case of Dutch community enterprises. Public Manag Rev 19(10):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1287941
Laino G (2012) Il fuoco nel cuore e il diavolo in corpo. La partecipazione come attivazione sociale. FrancoAngeli, Milano
Martinelli F (2010) Historical roots of social change: philosophies and movements. In: Moulaert F, Martinelli F, Swyngedouw E, Gonzalez S (eds) Can neighbourhoods save the city? Community development and social innovation. Routledge, London
Massari M (2018) Social innovation: from practices to new territorial development models. In: Schröder J, Carta M, Ferretti M, Lino B (eds) Dynamics of periphery. Atlas for emerging creative resilient habitats. Jovis, Berlin, pp 274–281
Mattei U, Quarta A (2014) L’acqua e il suo diritto. Ediesse, Roma
Moulaert F, MacCallum D, Mehmood A, Hamdouch A (2013) The international handbook on social innovation, collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Novy A, Leubolt B (2005) Participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre: social innovation and the dialectical relationship of state and civil society. Urban Stud 42(11):2023–2036. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500279828
Oosterlynck S, Kazepov Y, Novy A, Cools P, Barberis E, Wukovitsch F, Sarius T, Leubolt B (2013) The butterfly and the elephant: local social innovation, the welfare state and new poverty dynamics. Improve working papers, 13(03)
Osborne SP (2006) The new public governance? J Public Manag Rev 8(3):377–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719030600853022
Ostanel E, Attili G (2018) Powers and terrains of ambiguity in the field of urban self-organization today. Ital J Urban Stud. https://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/TU/article/view/14444
Peck J, Nik T, Brenner N (2013) Neoliberal urbanism redux? Int J Urban Reg Res 37(3):1091–1099. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12066
Preterossi G, Capone N (2018) I beni comuni. L’inaspettata riscoperta degli usi collettivi. La scuola di Pitagora Editrice, Napoli
Sandercock L (2004) Towards a planning imagination for the 21st century. J Am Plan Assoc 70(2):133–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360408976368
Servillo LA, Van der Broek P (2012) The social construction of planning system. A strategic relational institutionalist approach. Plan Pract Res 27(1):41–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2012.661179
Swyngedouw E (2005) Governance innovation and the citizen: the Janus face of governance-beyond-the-state. Urban Stud 42(11):1991–2006. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500279869
Swyngedouw E (2009) The antinomies of the postpolitical city: in search of a democratic politics of environmental production. Int J Urban Reg Res 33(3):601–620. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00859.x
Swyngedouw E (2010) Post-democratic cities for whom and for what?, Paper presented in concluding session regional studies association annual conference Pecs, Budapest, 26 May 2010
Voorberg WH, Bekkers VJJM, Tummers LG (2015) A systematic review of co-creation and co-production: embarking on the social innovation journey. J Public Manag Rev 17(9):1333–1357. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2014.930505
Watson S (2018) The challenges of collaboration and democratic participation in turbulent and unsettled times. Ital J Urban Stud 3. https://doi.org/10.13133/2532-6562_2.3.14302
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ostanel, E. (2021). Can Social Innovation Transform Local Governments? The Experience of Naples. In: Fregolent, L., Nel·lo, O. (eds) Social Movements and Public Policies in Southern European Cities. Urban and Landscape Perspectives, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52754-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52754-9_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-52753-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-52754-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)