Introduction

In Chapter Three, it was argued that the political paradigm on which the large estates were built – characterised by dirigiste state-led provision of many public goods and services, including housing – had been superseded by a new paradigm characterised by the participation of a wider array of stakeholders – government, business and civil society – between whom power was (unevenly) distributed. In other words, the system of ‘government’ that evolved during the certainty engendered by economic growth following the Second World War had been displaced by a new, flexible form of multi-agency ‘governance’ more attuned to the uncertainties of a period of social, economic and political change.

The focus of this chapter is a comparative study of contemporary urban governance practices – that is, the multi-agency, decision-making dynamics that provide the context within which the large estates currently develop – taking into account four different local scenarios in Spain and Italy. These scenarios are: Community Development Plans (CDPs) in Sant Roc and Trinitat Nova (Barcelona, Spain), the Villaverde-Usera Investment Plan (VUIP) (Madrid, Spain) (see Pareja Eastaway et al, 2003, 2004 for a complete description of the Spanish case studies) and Paolo Pini Hospital in Comasina (Milan, Italy) (see Mezzetti et al, 2003, and Zajczyk et al, 2004 for a complete description of the Italian case study). This chapter presents our analysis of the main issues, the implications, conditions, and difficulties in building the praxis of urban governance, with the main focus on the players’ involvement in the process of partnership in the case study estates.

Our analysis provides a set of variables that could account for the positive or negative outcomes of certain partnerships. In spite of the specific characteristics of these four scenarios, the comparison of different models of partnership has allowed us to identify some of the explanatory variables and mechanisms underlying the process of the players’ involvement.

Two features have to be taken into account in the comparison of these projects: first, Spain and Italy belong to the South of Europe; second, the four programmes are on different local scales. Sant Roc and Trinitat Nova form part of a regional programme at neighbourhood level; VUIP covers two districts of the city; and a local micro-project has started for the revitalisation of the neighbourhood of Comasina.