Local Authorities and Pandemic Responses in Perspective. Reflections from the Case of Milan

While in general the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have been analysed in academic literature frommany points of view, such as themedical, occupational, social, economic and psychological ones, much less attention has been paid to the systems of norms which, in an emergency situation, have been elaborated and applied, and to their relationship with space. In order to explore this gap, the paper will propose to open a discussion on the role and effects of systems of pandemic regulation at local level, proposing a research framework and some very first applications to a specific case, the City of Milan in Northern Italy, an area badly hit by the pandemic. The paper thus moves from three research questions, related to questions of framing, governance, and timescale of the effects, as the main interpretive perspectives to understand and conceptualise the relationship between norms, actors, and decision-making processes, with a specific focus on the spatial realm. While the case in point chosen is the City of Milan, the research questions open to a wider debate, and to possible cross-context comparisons with other urban areas

In search of territorial cohesion: An elusive and imagined notion

Territorial cohesion has figured in the lexicon of the European Union for some years. However, there has never been a clear definition of the notion, not even after its inclusion in the Lisbon Treaty. Moreover, within the European Union Cohesion Reports and, more generally, within European Union documents, along with the other two dimensions of cohesion (economic and social) it has been treated separately without any serious attempts to reconcile them and develop a coherent interpretation of cohesion - the result being the creation of a contested and ill-defined understanding of territorial cohesion and its relationship to the other two dimensions of Cohesion Policy. Given that the approach advocated by Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy aims to embed the different dimensions and how they interact in specific spatial configurations (created by the confluence of a range of different 'flows' that can create multiple overlapping assemblages with 'fuzzy' boundaries), this raises important questions about how we understand these relationships. Moreover, the policy discourses in which each dimension of cohesion is situated create their own frameworks that are conducive to developing the conditions, including appropriate policy strategies, to supporting these individual cohesion formations. The rather arbitrary separation of these approaches in 'official discourse' impedes addressing cohesion in a coherent and integrated manner. Thus, after reviewing the relevant key policy literature, the article will seek to consider how territorial cohesion relates to the other two dimensions of cohesion taking into account the role of the place-based approach. However, it is argued that the search for territorial (social and economic) cohesion has been subordinated to neoliberal notions such as competitiveness and economic growth

New working spaces. Policy perspectives before and after the COVID-19 pandemic

This chapter maps the debate of new working spaces (particularly CSs) on the level of European policy making. It explores how new working spaces have been interpreted by the European Commission and how this debate has evolved from its origins up to the recent COVID-19 period. For these purposes, two diferent ideas of CSs will be presented and discussed: CSs as innovation drivers boosting economic development; and as opportunities for territorial regeneration, such as brownfeld redevelopment or local hubs promoting social cohesion. Specifc attention is devoted to identifying the evolution of policies supporting these spaces with a focus on place-based and urban planning measures before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter empirically investigates this debate analyzing EU policy reports and case studies. Finally, remarks and suggestions for policy learning are presented

an empirical analysis

Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) - understood as the formalised analytical activities initiated or carried out by central government administrations when designing specific policy instruments - is currently receiving high levels of political attention. It is seen as a tool to improve regulatory quality and to promote cross-cutting objectives such as sustainable development. Often conceived as an economic analysis of costs and benefits, RIA tends to be depicted as ‘neutral’ assessment process that informs decision makers about ‘facts’. This does not explain, of course, why RIA often becomes an arena for political conflict involving both government departments and stakeholders. Based on empirical research on the design and practical application of RIA across the European Union, this paper explores the relationship between RIA, policy-making and politics. The aim is to shed light on what knowledge is produced, how it is used by different actors and what role it plays in decision-making. Based on this analysis, we explore to what extent and under what conditions RIA can serve as a tool for more evidence-based and sustainability-oriented policy-making processes

Emerging work patterns and different territorial contexts: trends for the coworking sector in pandemic recovery

Objectives: The paper aims to explore and unpack the complexity of coworking's users and supply (i.e. coworking spaces), based on the recent trends caused by Covid19. It is discussed whether and how coworking's environment increases its diversification in terms of users and the spatial and policy implications linked to this shift. Methodology: The study embraces a qualitative approach exploring the existing literature on the emerging dynamics in the field of work, moving from an overview of recent trends across Europe based on existing international surveys. Results: New possible scenarios may be based on different forms of proximity, not just in the dense metropolitan cores, but also in other types of territories, where the population may decide to selectively re-distribute, and the question will be how to supply all these areas with effective, efficient and equal opportunities in terms of jobs and services. The study highlights the diffusion of shared workspaces in different forms: traditional coworking spaces catering for freelancers and knowledge workers, but also workspaces in which employees from large organisations (public and private) will spend part of their working week, hybrid spaces based on peculiar combinations of locally required services (related to both jobs and care), third-spaces based on some form of everyday recreational activities, and many others. Limits and implications: The pandemic is still ongoing and, since the paper focuses on the review of existing literature and surveys in a changing context, its main limitation is the ability to collect verifiable and up-to-date data. Originality: The paper's uniqueness lies in the prefiguration of a range of development directions concerning the relationship between work practices and collaborative spaces in different territories, exploring how local and diffused dynamics might be the opportunity for a potential transformation of work patterns

School segregation in contemporary cities: Socio-spatial dynamics, institutional context and urban outcomes

Social and social-spatial inequality are on the rise in the Global North. This has resulted in increasing segmentation between population groups with different social and ethnic backgrounds, and in differentiated access to cultural and material assets. With these changes, the relation between segregation in the educational sphere and segregation in the residential sphere has become crucial for understanding social reproduction and intergenerational social mobility. However, knowledge about this relation is still limited. We argue that the institutional and spatial contexts are key dimensions to consider if we want to expand this knowledge. The institutional context regards the extent of public funding, the degree to which parental choice and/or geographical proximity drive school selection, the role and status of private schools and the religious and pedagogical pluralism of the educational system. The spatial context refers to the geographies of education: the ethnic and social composition of school populations and their reputations; the underlying levels and trends of residential segregation; and the spatial distribution of schools in urban space. In this introduction to the special issue we will address these interrelated dimensions, with reference to theoretical and empirical contributions from the existing body of literature; and with reference to the contributions in this special issue. School segregation emerges from the studies included in this special issue as a relevant issue, differently framed according to the institutional and spatial contexts. A comparative typology will be proposed to illustrate how school segregation is peculiarly shaped in different national and local contexts

Epistemological critiques to the technocratic planning model: the role of Jane Jacobs, Paul Davidoff, Reyner Banham and Giancarlo De Carlo in the 1960s

During the 1960s, different critical voices emerged with regard to the main gaps of technocratic planning (what Jacobs calls ‘modern, orthodox city planning’), voices highlighting the oversimplifying epistemological approaches that had been characterising planning in the first half of the twentieth century. Jane Jacobs’ thought has been of paramount importance in influencing planning and urban discourses worldwide, but she has not been isolated: in the same years, other critical voices have been shaping a critical thought and fostering debate, on both sides of the Atlantic. Among them, Paul Davidoff, appealing for advocacy planning in NYC, Giancarlo De Carlo, proposing a sharp critique of architectural and planning education in Italy and Reyner Banham and his group, advocating the (paradoxical) possibility of non-planning in the UK. This article proposes to identify a relevant common feature across their positions in the connection between epistemological and political critique; as Jane Jacobs, many critics of traditional technocratic planning underline the inappropriate and ineffective mechanisms of knowledge production and use in urban planning: if cities are characterised by organised complexity (‘intricate social and economic order under the seeming disorder of cities’, as Jacobs puts it), then it is not possible to reduce them to ‘simple problems’. These authors develop their interpretative discourses in different ways, and advance different proposals to bridge this gap, combining in original ways the epistemological dimension with a political and a cultural one

L'impatto del Virus Corona-19 sul diritto della crisi

A causa dell'esplosione del Covid-19 e del conseguente blocco, terribili problemi hanno colpito le aziende. Il governo italiano, come gli altri, si è adoperato per limitare i danni e scongiurare lo spettro di tanti fallimenti immediati. Quattro decreti legge (denominati Cura Italia, Liquidità, Rilancio, Semplificazione), adottati lungo una linea relativa all'andamento della situazione sanitaria, hanno introdotto misure con impatto diretto sulle aziende e sulle opzioni gestionali del amministratori. Gli obiettivi di questi quattro interventi differiscono: mentre il primo è una misura di contenimento dei danni, il secondo è sostenere la crisi di liquidità, il terzo per la riattivazione del sistema imprenditoriale e il quarto per favorire gli investimenti pubblici e la ripresa delle attività. l'economia. L'articolo illustra i principali interventi per aiutare le aziende colpite dal blocco