Spaces for the co-governance of the urban commons. Urban public policies and community spaces: Italian Cities and more

Abstract

The development of collaborative practices in the field of urban commons might represents an observation point for the study of democratic innovations. This issue shall be considered particularly interesting because it arises from the intersection of different fields of study: in addition to studies on democracy, the theory of the commons (Ostrom 1990) and the urban commons, studies on local co- governance, active citizenship (Morlino & Gelli 2010; Bang 2005;). Research efforts on the open government framework, of which collaboration is one of the constitutive dimensions (Lathrop & Ruma 2010; de Blasio & Sorice 2016) also shows how the creation of public-private-civic/commons partnership (Foster & Iaione 2016) as a component of this variable. Finally, the body of scientific knowledge focused on cities is extensive and rapidly expanding, stressing the role and power that cities will exercise in the 21st century, and the challenges that the urban context pose for democracy (UN Habitat 2016; Sassen 2014). The analysis of policies and projects addressing urban commons, involving different actors that aim at building forms of public-private-civic partnerships and ultimately achieving forms of urban co-governance might shed lights on the emersion of a different analytical framework for studying and practicing urban democracy. This topic is also taken into account because it implies the government's action to be directed to the development of a culture of collaboration with citizens, aimed at enhancing their contribution to the general interest, which is not uniformly spread across and within cities. The study of democratic innovations and the quality of democracy has highlighted the role of equality concerns in the institutional design (Font 2014) and the impact of institutional design itself on the dimensions of the quality of democracy, such as responsiveness and equality (Pogrebinsci 2013).The development of collaborative practices in the field of urban commons might represents an observation point for the study of democratic innovations. This issue shall be considered particularly interesting because it arises from the intersection of different fields of study: in addition to studies on democracy, the theory of the commons (Ostrom 1990) and the urban commons, studies on local co- governance, active citizenship (Morlino & Gelli 2010; Bang 2005;). Research efforts on the open government framework, of which collaboration is one of the constitutive dimensions (Lathrop & Ruma 2010; de Blasio & Sorice 2016) also shows how the creation of public-private-civic/commons partnership (Foster & Iaione 2016) as a component of this variable. Finally, the body of scientific knowledge focused on cities is extensive and rapidly expanding, stressing the role and power that cities will exercise in the 21st century, and the challenges that the urban context pose for democracy (UN Habitat 2016; Sassen 2014). The analysis of policies and projects addressing urban commons, involving different actors that aim at building forms of public-private-civic partnerships and ultimately achieving forms of urban co-governance might shed lights on the emersion of a different analytical framework for studying and practicing urban democracy. This topic is also taken into account because it implies the government's action to be directed to the development of a culture of collaboration with citizens, aimed at enhancing their contribution to the general interest, which is not uniformly spread across and within cities. The study of democratic innovations and the quality of democracy has highlighted the role of equality concerns in the institutional design (Font 2014) and the impact of institutional design itself on the dimensions of the quality of democracy, such as responsiveness and equality (Pogrebinsci 2013).LUISS PhD Thesi