Where Territorial Political Culture Makes Urban Institution: The ‘Metropolitan City’ of Bologna

Abstract

After national legislation in 1990, Bologna decided to equip itself with an area-wide government. Seen against the background of Italian administration and politics which has, for many decades, been characterised by the reluctance, even opposition, of local governments to the country's many territorial planning reforms, the very existence of this institution represents an innovation which merits explanation. The formation of the institution is examined through its process of legitimisation. This involves highlighting the collective representations and social codes activated, even created, by certain political figures with a view to legitimising this public action. The authors insist on the fact that the process of legitimisation can only be understood within the context of the political and social relationships which structure an urban area such as Bologna and which have evolved considerably in recent years, particularly as a result of social segmentation and differentiation, hitherto limited in a region where the Italian Communist Party has been the preponderant influence since 1946.