The Role of the Social Entrepreneur in Bottom-up Enhancement of Italian Public Real-Estate Properties

Recently in Italy, new enhancement forms of real-estate property based on grass-roots participation came to light. The development of these initiatives enabled bottom-up valorization to become a viable alternative to the current forms of reuse of the public assets promoted by the public authorities. On closer look, some experiences are more successful than others that fail in a short time. This seems to depend on the presence of the social entrepreneur, a specific actor able to efficiently coordinate and manage the bottom-up, value-creation process. The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of the social entrepreneur and the way in which he/she promotes the public real-estate properties\u2019 enhancement through grass-roots participation. Comparing two emblematic case studies in Italy, distinguished by the presence-absence of the social entrepreneur, the paper points out the role and the importance of this actor, a catalyst able to seize the economic and the social opportunities gathering around the initiative; to design an overall business strategy; and to involve the citizenry to strengthen these bottom-up initiatives

Are bottom-up enhancement processes just a temporary trend? empirical evidence in italy

The experiences of urban regeneration promoted through social innovation are counted in hundreds in Italy and often significantly contribute to the new use of assets and parts of cities otherwise underutilized or abandoned. In many areas of the country, in particular those most affected by the real estate crisis, assets have changed their function: public property has ceased to represent a reserve of financial value and has become a strategic resource for bottom up social and cultural projects. The research question we intend to face in this paper concerns the lasting or transitory nature of such processes. It is at stake the ability to change permanently the status of public property, no more a deposit of rent available for administrations financially distressed, but resources enabling new forms of local development. We investigated in depth some Italian case studies to better highlight the economic, social and cultural traits of bottom-up regenerations experiences. Some initial results of the research suggest that the ability to transform social and human capital into economic and financial value seems therefore uncertain and, in the absence of a national provision on the matter, depend on the choices made by local authorities