48
L. Sdino et al.
allowed interventions on the existing urban area that could be based on significant
increases in real estate value, the economic conditions after the early 2000s changed,
reducing the economic profit for private investors. This was caused by the crisis in the
real estate markets, mainly caused by excess of supply (De Gaspari 2013), repeated
crises, economic stagnation and the state’s fiscal crisis which has led to a drastic
reduction in public and private investment.
So if initially, the urban transformation projects could be self-sustaining financially through the implementation of the changes of intended uses and the exploitation
of agglomeration economies determined by the “positional income”, with the passing of time and the change of economic conditions, these possibilities gradually are
failed.
In this context, only big cities included in the large circuits of the flow economies
and high finance are really attractive to financial capitals (Sassen 2001, 2018; Dicken
2003). In addition, the reduction in public investment makes local contexts increasingly dependent on private and international capital.
The location preferences for these “seeking value” capitals are extremely selective,
as well as time-varying. The medium-sized cities have been pushed to the edges of
the major processes and urban renewal projects. The strategies adopted by them are
based on becoming as attractive as possible on the international markets of urban
transformation (Ombuen 2018).
The transformation and urban redevelopment projects move within a framework
characterised by actors who have, at least potentially, objectives and requirements
that are opposed to one another:
– Public Administration, pursuing the maximum competitive advantage from the
new regional planning and the improvement of environmental quality and the
lives of citizens (Palermo and Ponzini 2012);
– Private Investors, which through real estate investing seek the maximisation of
profits (Brenner and Theodore 2002).
The mission of the governance of urban transformation in this context therefore
resides in the development of strategies to bring together other resources, more and
more often by private investors, from which is possible obtain economics resources
for creating infrastructure and services for the community.
2 From the “Blueprint” Project to “Levante Waterfront”
in Genoa
The “Levante Waterfront” project is one of the most significant operations that lie
ahead for the city of Genoa. It was conceived in the early twenty-first century to
restore the sea area overlooking the city along the coastal stretch from Porto Antico
(designed by Renzo Piano for the 1992 Expo) to the Corso Italia promenade.
Currently, the whole area is taken up by different functions (exhibition, production
and port) and is in fact separated from the rest of the city.
L. Sdino et al.
allowed interventions on the existing urban area that could be based on significant
increases in real estate value, the economic conditions after the early 2000s changed,
reducing the economic profit for private investors. This was caused by the crisis in the
real estate markets, mainly caused by excess of supply (De Gaspari 2013), repeated
crises, economic stagnation and the state’s fiscal crisis which has led to a drastic
reduction in public and private investment.
So if initially, the urban transformation projects could be self-sustaining financially through the implementation of the changes of intended uses and the exploitation
of agglomeration economies determined by the “positional income”, with the passing of time and the change of economic conditions, these possibilities gradually are
failed.
In this context, only big cities included in the large circuits of the flow economies
and high finance are really attractive to financial capitals (Sassen 2001, 2018; Dicken
2003). In addition, the reduction in public investment makes local contexts increasingly dependent on private and international capital.
The location preferences for these “seeking value” capitals are extremely selective,
as well as time-varying. The medium-sized cities have been pushed to the edges of
the major processes and urban renewal projects. The strategies adopted by them are
based on becoming as attractive as possible on the international markets of urban
transformation (Ombuen 2018).
The transformation and urban redevelopment projects move within a framework
characterised by actors who have, at least potentially, objectives and requirements
that are opposed to one another:
– Public Administration, pursuing the maximum competitive advantage from the
new regional planning and the improvement of environmental quality and the
lives of citizens (Palermo and Ponzini 2012);
– Private Investors, which through real estate investing seek the maximisation of
profits (Brenner and Theodore 2002).
The mission of the governance of urban transformation in this context therefore
resides in the development of strategies to bring together other resources, more and
more often by private investors, from which is possible obtain economics resources
for creating infrastructure and services for the community.
2 From the “Blueprint” Project to “Levante Waterfront”
in Genoa
The “Levante Waterfront” project is one of the most significant operations that lie
ahead for the city of Genoa. It was conceived in the early twenty-first century to
restore the sea area overlooking the city along the coastal stretch from Porto Antico
(designed by Renzo Piano for the 1992 Expo) to the Corso Italia promenade.
Currently, the whole area is taken up by different functions (exhibition, production
and port) and is in fact separated from the rest of the city.