Governance e processi partecipativi nel governo urbano: due esperienze a confronto

This thesis focuses on urban governance, or the act of governing through involving various public, semi-public and private stakeholders in policy-making, whereby such actors, albeit with different functions and at different levels, are all interested in urban development. In this respect, the practice of governance responds to the idea of voluntary coordination, agreed through a horizontal approach, which is based on mediation and consensus. The first part of this thesis examines the tools of territorial government, upon which the candidate builds her analysis of two cases, which, albeit different in terms of size and institutional level, are emblematic of specific planning processes and their social outcomes: territorial planning in Sardinia and urban planning in Barcelona. The city of Barcelona, following years of traditional planning based on strong government, has adopted a more strategic governance approach. On the contrary, Sardinia has always been characterized by a strong government approach to territorial policymaking throughout its modern history, since the 1950s - 1970s and until recent years. However, it is now possible to detect some forms of territorial governance, encouraged by the European Union, within which the regional government loses its strong decision-making authority and becomes part of a multi-level system, whereby the process of listening and the creation of partnerships demand consensus building and a horizontal redistribution of responsibilities.