Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Which Agenda for the Italian Suburbs? Debating a Marginal Condition in Few Steps

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
New Metropolitan Perspectives (NMP 2020)

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 178))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

At a time when the seek for a broader understanding of contemporary suburbs is finding a reasonable global consideration, a specific attention to the suburbanisms, i.e. suburban ways of living, is still a slightly unexplored issue in the governance agenda. Despite the significance of insightful researches, studies and theories of Italian urbanization, Italian suburbs look wedged between urban and rural agendas, without finding a reasonable framework on which to build further strategies aimed at tackling the increasing socio-spatial inequalities that are unevenly shaping Italian in-between urban edges. According to these viewpoints, the paper employs a theoretical discussion of the marginal condition experienced by Italian suburbs, framing such marginality in few steps. First, the paper runs into the complexities of “suburban Italy” in a post-suburban framework. Second, moving from these first insights, the existence of Italian suburbs is questioned in analytical terms. Third, the paper set out the conditions from which to observe the lack of strategies for the Italian urban edges, entrenched between rural and urban agenda. To conclude, a body of final remarks for further studies is introduced towards an operational setting of suburban studies with reference to Italy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Globalization and World Cities research network at Loughborough University: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/index.html. The ranking is constructed upon four strategic sectors: insurance, advertising, banking and legal. For the latest classification and for more info regarding how the index has been created: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2018link.html.

  2. 2.

    More info about the international research “Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st century”: https://suburbs.info.yorku.ca/.

  3. 3.

    Città Metropolitana (“Metropolitan City”) is the institutional level established by the Law 56/2014, “Legge Delrio” to replace the Provinces of fourteen Italian cities: https://www.camera.it/temiap/documentazione/temi/pdf/1104880.pdf.

  4. 4.

    PON Metro 2014–2020: http://www.ponmetro.it/.

  5. 5.

    Strategia Nazionale per le Aree Interne: http://www.programmazioneeconomica.gov.it/2019/05/23/strategia-nazionale-delle-aree-interne/. http://old2018.agenziacoesione.gov.it/it/arint/.

References

  1. Hanlon, B., Vicino, T. (eds.): The Routledge Companion to the Suburbs. Routledge, London, New York (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  2. De Vidovich, L.: Suburban studies: state of the field and unsolved knots. Geogr. Compass 13(5), 1–14 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Balducci, A., Fedeli, V., Curci, F. (eds.): Post-metropolitan Territories: Looking for New Urbanity. Routledge, London, New York (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Balducci, A., Fedeli, V., Curci, F. (eds.): Ripensare la questione urbana. Regionalizzazione dell’urbano in Italia e scenari di innovazione. Guerini e associati, Milan (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Paba, G., Perrone, C. (eds.): Transizioni urbane. Regionalizzazione dell’urbano in Toscana tra storia, innovazione e auto-organizzazione. Guerini e associati, Milan (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Vaughan, L., Griffiths, S., Haklay, M.M., Jones, C.K.E.: Do the suburbs exist? Discovering complexity and specificity in suburban built form. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 34(4), 475–488 (2009). https://www.jstor.org/stable/40270732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Clapson, M., Hutchison, R.: Suburbanization in Global Society. Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley (2010)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  8. Phelps, N., Wu, F. (eds.): International Perspectives on Suburbanization. Palgrave Macmillan, London (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hamel, P., Keil, R. (eds.): Suburban Governance: A Global View. University of Toronto Press, Toronto (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Hamel, P., Keil, R.: Governance in an emerging suburban world. Cadernos Metrópole 18(37), 647–670 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1590/2236-9996.2016-3702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Keil, R. (ed.): Suburban Constellations: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century. Jovis Verlag, Berlin (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Moos, M., Walter-Joseph, R. (eds.): Still Detached and Subdivided? Suburban Ways of Living in 21st Century North America. Jovis Verlag, Berlin (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Keil, R.: Suburban Planet: Making the World Urban from the Outside In. Polity, Malden (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Harris, R., Lehrer, U. (eds.): The Suburban Land Question: A Global Survey. University of Toronto Press, Toronto (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Filion, P., Pulver, N. (eds.): Critical Perspectives on Suburban Infrastructures: Contemporary International Cases. University of Toronto Press, Toronto (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Güney, K.M., Keil, R., Üçoğlu, M.: Massive Suburbanization:(Re) Building the Global Periphery. University of Toronto Press, Toronto (2019)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Harris, R., Larkham, P.: Changing Suburbs: Foundation, Form and Function. Routledge, New York, London (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  18. McManus, R., Ethington, P.J.: Suburbs in transition: new approaches to suburban history. Urban Hist. 34(02), 317–337 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1017/S096392680700466X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Harris, R.: Meaningful types in a world of suburbs. In: Clapson, M., Hutchison, R. (eds.) Research in Urban Sociology, pp. 15–47. Emerald Group Publishing, London (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Forsyth, A.: Defining Suburbs. J. Plan. Lit. 27(3), 270–281 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412212448101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Teaford, J.C.: Post-suburbia: Government and Politics in the Edge Cities. Johns Hopkins University Press, New York (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Phelps, N., Parsons, N., Ballas, D., Dowling, A. (eds.): Post-suburban Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Pagliarin, S., De Decker, P.: Regionalised sprawl: conceptualising suburbanisation in the European context. Urban Res. Pract. 1–20 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2018.1539513

  24. Sieverts, T.: Cities Without Cities: An Interpretation of the Zwischenstadt. Routledge, New York, London (2003)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Roy, A.: The 21st-century metropolis: new geographies of theory. Reg. Stud. 43(6), 819–830 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400701809665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Couch, C., Petschel-Held, G., Leontidou, L.: Urban Sprawl in Europe: Landscape, Land-Use Change and Policy. Wiley, Hoboken (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Indovina, F.: New urban forms: the distinctive character of the European Metropolis. In: Nel-lo, O., Mele, R. (eds.) Cities in the 21st Century, pp. 90–98. Routledge, New York, London (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Bontje, M., Burdach, J.: Edge cities, European-style: examples from Paris and the Randstad. Cities 22(4), 317–330 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2005.01.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Garreau, J.: Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. Anchor, New York (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Phelps, N., Parsons, N.: Edge urban geographies: notes from the margins of Europe’s capital cities. Urban Stud. 40(9), 1725–1749 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000106573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Sassen, S.: On concentration and centrality in the global city. In: Knox, P.L., Taylor, P.J. (eds.) World Cities in a World-System, pp. 63–76. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1995)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  32. Sassen, S.: Global Networks, Linked Cities. Psychology Press, Hove (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Hallk, P., Pain, K.: The Polycentric Metropolis: Learning from Mega-City Regions in Europe. Sterling, Earthscan, London (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Lanzani, A., Zanfi, F.: L’avvento dell’urbanizzazione diffusa: crescita accelerata e nuove fragilità. In: De Rossi, A. (ed.) Riabitare l’Italia: le aree interne tra abbandoni e riconquiste, pp. 123–140. Donzelli, Rome (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Lanzani, A.: Urbanizzazione diffusa dopo la stagione della crescita. In: Letture di Paesaggi. Guerini, Milan (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Indovina, F.: La debolezza della città. Democr E Dirit. 4–5 (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Fregolent, L.: Governare la dispersione. Franco Angeli, Milan (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Indovina, F., Matassoni, F., Savino, M.: La città diffusa. Daest, Venice (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Lanzani, A.: I paesaggi italiani. Meltemi Editore, Milan (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Indovina, F.: La nuova dimensione urbana. L’arcipelago metropolitano. In: Marcelloni, M. (ed.) Questioni Della Città Contemporanea, pp. 49–75. Franco Angeli, Milan (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Indovina, F., Doria, L., Fregolent, L., Savino, M.: Dalla città diffusa all’arcipelago metropolitano. Franco Angeli, Milan (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Indovina, F.: Nuovo organismo urbano e pianificazione di area vasta. Arch. Studi Urbani E Reg. 85/86, 49–71 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Calafati, A.G.: Città e aree metropolitane in Italia. GSSI Working papers (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Fedeli, V.: Metropolitan governance and metropolitan cities in Italy: outdated solutions for processes of urban regionalisation? Raumforsch. Raumordn. Spat. Res. Plan. 75(3), 265–274 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13147-016-0430-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Brenner, N., Schmid, C.: Towards a new epistemology of the urban? City 19(2–3), 151–182 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Glaeser, E.L.: Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier. Penguin, London (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Burdett, R., Sudjic, D. (eds.): Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project. Phaidon Press Ltd, London (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Soja, E.W.: Regional urbanization and the end of the metropolis era. In: Bridge, G., Watson, S. (eds.) The New Blackwell Companion to the City, pp. 679–689. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  49. Balducci, A., Fedeli, V., Curci, F. (eds.): Oltre la metropoli: l’urbanizzazione regionale in Italia, 1st edn. Guerini e associati, Milan (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Walks, A.: Suburbanism as a way of life, slight return. Urban Stud. 50(8), 1471–1488 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098012462610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Keil, R.: Extended urbanization, “disjunct fragments” and global suburbanisms. Environ. Plan. Soc. Space 36(3), 494–511 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775817749594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Scott, A.J.: Globalization and the rise of city-regions. Eur. Plan. Stud. 9(7), 813–826 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1080/09654310120079788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. De Vidovich, L.: La governance dei contesti suburbani: approcci e traiettorie di ricerca. In: Atti della XXI Conferenza Nazionale SIU | Confini, Movimenti, Luoghi. Politiche e progetti per città e territori in transizione, pp. 375–383. Planum Publisher, Rome, Milan (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Oliva, F.: L’urbanistica di Milano. Quel che resta dei piani urbanistici nella crescita e nella trasformazione della città. Hoepli, Milan (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Maranghi, E.: La frammentazione territoriale dell’abitare metropolitano nell’area della Tiburtina. In: Cellamare, C. (ed.) Fuori Raccordo. Abitare l’Altra Roma, pp. 95–110. Donzelli Editore, Rome (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Soja, E.W.: Regional urbanization and third wave cities. City 17(5), 688–694 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2013.827854

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Laino, G.: The Neapolitan urban kaleidoscope. In: Balducci, A., Fedeli, V., Curci, F. (eds.) Post-metropolitan Territories: Looking for New Urbanity, pp. 139–160. Routledge, London, New York (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  58. Donolo, C.: Questione meridionale come questione nazionale. Parolechiave 23(2), 5–20 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  59. Calafati, A.: Che cosa sappiamo di Napoli? CRIOS, 17 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3280/CRIOS2019-017001

  60. Monte-Mor, R.: Extended urbanization and settlement patterns in Brazil: an environmental approach. In: Implosions/Explosions, Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization, Jovis, Berlin, pp. 109–120 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  61. Brenner, N.: The hinterland urbanised? Archit. Des. 86(4), 118–127 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.2077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Filion, P., Keil, R.: Contested infrastructures: tension, inequity and innovation in the global suburb. Urban Policy Res. 35(1), 7–19 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2016.1187122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. De Vidovich, L., Tricarico, L.: Innovazione sociale ai margini: contesti e strumenti per una politica regionale. In: Ecosistemi digitali, pp. 63–80. Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Milan (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  64. Ekers, M., Hamel, P., Keil, R.: Governing suburbia: modalities and mechanisms of suburban governance. Reg. Stud. 46(3), 405–422 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2012.658036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Roy, A.: Urbanisms, worlding practices and the theory of planning. Plan. Theory 10(1), 6–15 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095210386065

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Klausen, J.E., Røe, P.G.: Governance and change on the urban fringe. Urban Res. Pract. 5(1), 1–5 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2012.656445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Andreotti, A., Mingione, E.: Local welfare. In: The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies, pp. 1–3. American Cancer Society (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  68. Bifulco, L.: Social Policies and Public Action, 1st edn. Routledge, New York (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  69. Cochrane, A.: Restructuring the local welfare state. In: Towards a Post-Fordist Welfare State? pp. 126–144. Routledge, New York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  70. Kazepov, Y., Carbone, D.: Cos’ è il welfare state? Carocci, Rome (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  71. Oosterlynck, S., Kazepov, Y., Novy, A., Cools, P., Barberis, E., Wukovitsch, F., Leubolt, B.: The butterfly and the elephant: local social innovation, the welfare state and new poverty dynamics. ImPRovE Working papers (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  72. Sen, A.: Social Exclusion: Concept, Application, and Scrutiny. Social Development Papers No. 1, Office of Environment and Social Development Asian Development Bank (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  73. Rodríguez-Pose, A.: The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it). Camb. J. Reg. Econ. Soc. 11(1), 189–209 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Thomas, J.M., Dillard, A.D.: Redevelopment & race: planning a finer city in postwar Detroit. Urban Hist. Rev. 26(1), 53 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  75. Doucet, B.: Why Detroit Matters: Decline, Renewal and Hope in a Divided City. Policy Press, Bristol (2017)

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, via Bonardi 3, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Lorenzo De Vidovich

Authors
  1. Lorenzo De Vidovich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo De Vidovich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Carmelina Bevilacqua

  2. Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Francesco Calabrò

  3. Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Lucia Della Spina

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

De Vidovich, L. (2021). Which Agenda for the Italian Suburbs? Debating a Marginal Condition in Few Steps. In: Bevilacqua, C., Calabrò, F., Della Spina, L. (eds) New Metropolitan Perspectives. NMP 2020. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 178. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48279-4_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation