Actors, imaginaries and policies of urban regeneration in Southern Italy

This article critically analyses mobile models of urban regeneration, such as smart city, and interrogates their role in Italian southern urban policy. First, it recalls some elements of neoliberal relationship between urban regimes and regeneration policy models. The focus is then directed at Italian southern context, considering the specific and contradictory transition from Keynesian to neoliberal urban regulation. Finally, through the lens of regeneration processes, the paper discusses critically the influence of smart city model on territorial imaginaries, governance arrangements, and policy practices.