Dal Capitale sociale alla Risorsa Civica: da un analisi critica a una nuova proposta

The research was born from the need to explain the contribution of the researches and the empirical experiences, regarding the social capital, in the town-planning field. They defined a practical and methodological tool for the intervention in the urban ambit both concerning the design (urban but also public policies design) and the management of local urban phenomena. Within this study the social capital is considered as a subset of the often abused abstraction of Urban Life Quality. After demonstrating the relation between social capital and urban regeneration/requalification the next step is to explain how this contributes to the creation of public development (both in a qualitative and quantitative sense). The research proceeds with the analysis of the definitions given to “social capital” by the various disciplines (political science, economics and sociology) in order to underline the multiform genesis which has been caused and highlighting, moreover, the great presence of contradictions between disciplines and authors. After ascertaining that the concept of social capital results worn-out and not much usable in the urban field, there is the proposal of a new concept such as that of “Risorsa Civica” (Town Resource). As it deepens its roots in the original conception of “social capital” and recovers its function, the “Risorsa Civica” places the social capital in a revised role of the town and of its organization and equipment.