Urbanesimo attivo e governance urbana

Neo-liberal approaches to urban governance have increasingly been criticized, especially because theorisation of innovation and creativity is limited at the promotion of economic growth, accumulation and consumerism without addressing the satisfaction of basic needs. These critics also suggest a theoretical and practical rethink of the possible paths of urban strategies and policies, urban creativity and local governance models. New local participatory initiatives approaches have in common the idea that participatory practices are not the best solution per se , but only if they promote the redistribution of local social powers, the legitimization of civil society, the self-management of communities and achieve their potential for enhancing collective experiences and the everyday practices of mutual help, social economy and self-planning, as well as qualifying a new institutional order: changing “the rules of the game”. This paper describes some practices of active citizenship in Catania which involve the social re-appropriation of urban spaces and contribute to social inclusion and territorial regeneration, producing innovation in the social relations between citizens, groups and institutions. These active urbanism practices are presented as resources for the social innovation of urban governance. Particularly in a period of financial scarcity at the local and national level, public administration has to accompany them with a new socio-institutional creativity, exploiting those components of civil society which, having forms of self-organization, from below, produce urban services, collective goods, social innovation and a wider vision of civic participation and spatial development.