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- Urban and environmental policy, Ethics, Bioethics, Environmental Ethics, Political Philosophy, Political Science, and 16 moreEnvironmental Studies, Human Geography, Political communication, Urban Geography, Education, Architecture, Gender Studies, Organizational Behavior, Cultural Geography, Environmental Policy and Governance, Urban Policy, Architecture and Urban Planning, A new approach in Environmental Policy and social justice, Ecofeminism, Mobility politics vs. Mobility policies, and Sociologyedit
- Corrado Poli, an editorialist and author, is also a licensed university professor of GEOGRAPHY. He has taught Urban G... moreCorrado Poli, an editorialist and author, is also a licensed university professor of GEOGRAPHY. He has taught Urban Geography and Planning at several Universities in the U.S. (mostly at Johns Hopkins University), Australia, France, and Italy. Corrado has designed and directed an International Master's program in Sustainable Urban Management. From 2004 to 2012, he has taught Economics and Environmental Ethics at the University of Bergamo, Italy.
From 2008 to 2011, Corrado served as President of the International Urban Fellows Association (IPS-IUFA) established at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, Baltimore, Md. This association includes more than 300 scholars, professionals, politicians, and members of central and local governments from Europe and the US. The IPS-IUFA Annual Conferences, held in a number of European cities and in Baltimore since 1970, have been a significant source of information for Corrado’s essays.
After having studied and taught at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, Baltimore, in the '80s ′s and early '90s, in 2003, Corrado was appointed in the IUFA-IPS Board and came back to Johns Hopkins in academic years 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 as a Senior International Urban Fellow. In 2007/2008, he was also a visiting lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University Department of German and Romance Languages (where he gave a course on “How to write about cities”) and at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In 2008/2009, Corrado came back to Northern Arizona University and gave a course on “Traffic Revolution and Mid-size European Cities”. In the spring of 2011, he has been a visiting lecturer at Universitat Autonoma Barcelona. In 2013-2014, he was a visiting professor at Université Toulouse II-Le Mirail (France).
Corrado chaired and managed public Bodies. He serves on journal boards and consults for international organizations and governmental institutions. He taught official courses at European and foreign universities such as the University of Trieste (Italy) from 1999 to 2003, the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia), and Ovid University, Constanta (Romania). He also lectured and offered short courses in Poland (University of Lodz), Brazil (Universidade do Vale, Itajai), Argentina (Santa Fe), and in several American Universities such as the University of Colorado, Boulder (Co.), U.C. Berkeley (Ca.), New York University (NY).
Corrado consults on urban and environmental policy and is an editorialist for newspapers and TV networks.
From 1987 to 1994, Corrado directed the Ethics and Environmental Policy Program at Fondazione Lanza, Padova (Italy), introducing Environmental Ethics studies in Europe. He chaired and organized two International Conferences on Ethics and Environmental Policies in Borca di Cadore (Italy) and Athens (Georgia, U.S.A.). The Conference Acts and Proceedings were edited by Corrado and published in two volumes.
Corrado has applied these pioneering studies (in Italy and Europe) to several environmental impact assessments and analyses commissioned by central and local governments. He has also consulted in risk analysis and communications, which eventually became the primary focus of his work.edit
Desarrollo sustentable: de falacia a fraude Resumen Hasta principios de los noventas, algunxs académicxs y la opinión pública occidental estaban progresando en el desarrollo de una ética medioambiental que podría derivar en una plataforma... more
Desarrollo sustentable: de falacia a fraude
Resumen
Hasta principios de los noventas, algunxs
académicxs y la opinión pública occidental estaban
progresando en el desarrollo de una ética medioambiental
que podría derivar en una plataforma política
medioambiental activa. El Compromiso por el
Desarrollo Sustentable de la ONU en 1987 inhibió este
proceso transformando el problema medioambiental
de un problema político y ético a un problema técnico,
económico y científico. El discurso del Desarrollo
Sustentable se ha vuelto una pseudo-ideología que
ha eliminado el posible potencial revolucionario del
pensamiento “verde” radical. Para combatir el triunfante
orden neoliberal es necesario avanzar en una
nueva alternativa dialéctica que sustituya la estrategia
medioambiental radical por el derrotado proyecto
Comunista.
Palabras clave : política medioambiental, ética
medioambiental, filosofía de la ciencia, movimientos
« verdes », Islam
Resumen
Hasta principios de los noventas, algunxs
académicxs y la opinión pública occidental estaban
progresando en el desarrollo de una ética medioambiental
que podría derivar en una plataforma política
medioambiental activa. El Compromiso por el
Desarrollo Sustentable de la ONU en 1987 inhibió este
proceso transformando el problema medioambiental
de un problema político y ético a un problema técnico,
económico y científico. El discurso del Desarrollo
Sustentable se ha vuelto una pseudo-ideología que
ha eliminado el posible potencial revolucionario del
pensamiento “verde” radical. Para combatir el triunfante
orden neoliberal es necesario avanzar en una
nueva alternativa dialéctica que sustituya la estrategia
medioambiental radical por el derrotado proyecto
Comunista.
Palabras clave : política medioambiental, ética
medioambiental, filosofía de la ciencia, movimientos
« verdes », Islam
Una raccolta di saggi sulle tecniche e sui principi che favoriscono la transizione dalla città moderna alla città immateriale. Un tempo la ricchezza delle città era espressa soprattut- to dagli edifici, dai monumenti e dalle... more
Una raccolta di saggi sulle tecniche e sui principi che favoriscono la transizione dalla città moderna alla città immateriale. Un tempo la ricchezza delle città era espressa soprattut- to dagli edifici, dai monumenti e dalle infrastrutture a cui si aggiungevano un buon governo, l’organizzazione e cittadini cooperativi. Anche la produzione di informazioni è sempre stata una caratteristica della città nel corso dei se- coli. Nella “città immateriale”, conoscenze e informazioni diventano ancora più preziose e specifiche di un ambiente urbano che da una parte si estende, come mai prima, in un immenso spazio virtuale dall’altra riscopre quella dimen- sione di vicinato che la città moderna aveva cancellato qua- si ovunque. Succede così che l’economia della conoscenza si fonda con le pietre e i manufatti aumentandone il valore e contribuendo a creare contesti territoriali originali, mai visti prima.
La pandemia ha reso ancor più evidente l’importanza della dimensione immateriale delle città. Nonostante le li- mitazioni agli spostamenti fisici, una società civile resilien- te ha saputo salvaguardare, grazie alle tecniche disponibi- li, quei collegamenti fra cittadini che ne costituiscono la vera essenza e la base per il continuo progresso. Per rende- re operativa questa nuova forma di conoscenza diffusa e di- sponibile sono necessarie le tecniche e i progetti presentati in questo volume assieme alle teorie urbane che li ispirano.
I contributi raccolti in questo volume sono stati scrit- ti da studiosi e operatori provenienti da diverse discipline e professioni con il risultato di offrire sia un quadro critico sia riferimenti utili ad elaborare nuovi progetti in sintonia con le strategie che le Istituzioni europee consentiranno di finanziare e realizzare. L’attenzione, perciò, non si è limita- ta alle sole tecniche e analisi urbanistiche ma anche alla le- gislazione e alle fonti di finanziamento.
La pandemia ha reso ancor più evidente l’importanza della dimensione immateriale delle città. Nonostante le li- mitazioni agli spostamenti fisici, una società civile resilien- te ha saputo salvaguardare, grazie alle tecniche disponibi- li, quei collegamenti fra cittadini che ne costituiscono la vera essenza e la base per il continuo progresso. Per rende- re operativa questa nuova forma di conoscenza diffusa e di- sponibile sono necessarie le tecniche e i progetti presentati in questo volume assieme alle teorie urbane che li ispirano.
I contributi raccolti in questo volume sono stati scrit- ti da studiosi e operatori provenienti da diverse discipline e professioni con il risultato di offrire sia un quadro critico sia riferimenti utili ad elaborare nuovi progetti in sintonia con le strategie che le Istituzioni europee consentiranno di finanziare e realizzare. L’attenzione, perciò, non si è limita- ta alle sole tecniche e analisi urbanistiche ma anche alla le- gislazione e alle fonti di finanziamento.
Research Interests:
Un saggio-racconto per una scuola radicalmente diversa, ma possibile
Sintesi La gestione urbanistica del variegato territorio del Comune di Venezia può costituire un esempio per le altre città europee in transizione. La peculiarità insediativa di Venezia può servire da esempio per altre città e centri... more
Sintesi La gestione urbanistica del variegato territorio del Comune di Venezia può costituire un esempio per le altre città europee in transizione. La peculiarità insediativa di Venezia può servire da esempio per altre città e centri storici in Europa. È necessario passare dalla pianificazione all'innovazione. La creatività è oggi una delle parole chiave dello sviluppo economico e urbano. Per liberare la creatività è necessario abbandonare vecchi metodi e modelli superati che impediscono il mutamento. Abbiamo bisogno di innovazione se vogliamo affrontare due gravi problemi contemporanei: il degrado ambientale e la stagnazione economica. Anche nell'urbanistica non bisogna temere di liberare l'iniziativa dei cittadini anziché sognare la città razionale imposta da tecnici e operatori visionari. I modelli "partecipativi" tradizionali rispondono a logiche che è opportuno superare. Un aiuto in questa direzione può essere fornito da una particolare forma di "disintermediazione" dei tecnici e dei politici nel recepire le istanze dei cittadini. Questa impostazione supera sia l'idea del piano razionale sia quella di una partecipazione conflittuale (Advocacy) assegnando ruoli diversi agli attori sociali. Il Comune di Venezia ha intrapreso questa strada e in questo saggio si presentano le linee teoriche nell'ambito del quale si può sviluppare e applicare un nuovo modello di gestione del territorio. Interpretazioni e paradigmi In Alice nel Paese delle meraviglie, quando il Bruco (Caterpillar) incontra la ragazzina per la prima volta, le domanda senza preamboli: "E tu chi sei?" Alice risponde in modo piuttosto reticente: "Signore, … io a stento so chi sono adesso; al più so chi ero quando mi sono alzata stamattina, ma da allora sono cambiata più volte". La metafora applicata alla realtà socio-territoriale delle città contemporanee è ovvia: il mutamento è costante e riusciamo più facilmente a immaginare come vorremmo che diventassero che a definire come sono al momento. A questa metafora se ne può aggiungere una più dotta che sta alla base dell'interpretazione della storia: la civetta di Minerva vola solo al tramonto e noi riusciamo a rappresentare la realtà solo quando essa si sta già per trasformare in qualcosa di diverso. E tuttavia queste due metafore e impostazioni del mutamento sociale che sintetizzano articolate strutture di pensiero, non bastano ancora. Per creare premesse concettuali idonee a costruire schemi interpretativi nuovi e utili della realtà in cui viviamo, è necessario anche affrontare la questione del metodo per individuare i punti di rottura e i momenti del cambiamento. Se è vero che la civetta di Minerva si alza in volto solo al tramonto, si deve altresì ammettere che si può ancora godere di qualche ora di luce prima che sia fatta notte. Allora torna utile riprendere quanto sosteneva l'epistemologo Thomas Kuhn (1962-2009), vale a dire che la conoscenza dei fenomeni avviene per mezzo dell'applicazione di paradigmi interpretativi. Anche questi, inizialmente utili, si esauriscono con il tempo e rischiano di impedire la comprensione di una realtà cambiata e soprattutto di fare progredire la conoscenza. Kuhn si riferiva più alle scienze naturali che alla società, ma la sua opera fu poi interpretata e applicata anche alle scienze sociali. Ora, possiamo pensare che la storia sia una
Research Interests:
Abstract: Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some signiicant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses breaks the close relationship... more
Abstract: Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some signiicant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses breaks the close relationship between air pollution and trafic; (b) the physical-distancing requirements weakens the competitiveness of mass transportation and imply a different city form; (c) thediffusion of self-driving cars and driver-assistance technologies considerably affects mobility and urban plans. Hence, we need to revise a century-old approach based on the assumption that more mobility is always welcome and accept that coping with our daily urban problems does not necessarily require “going somewhere” and instead it is possible to have “something brought” to where we stay. The approach proposed calls for a “mobility delation”. Keywords: urban mobility, behavioral change, urban settlement
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In questo numero speciale sul COVID dell'Arco di Giano, periodico di Medical Humanities, curato da Corrado Poli e da Bernardino Fantini (Emerito Università di Ginevra) si affrontano in modo sistematico e con una visione internazionale i... more
In questo numero speciale sul COVID dell'Arco di Giano, periodico di Medical Humanities, curato da Corrado Poli e da Bernardino Fantini (Emerito Università di Ginevra) si affrontano in modo sistematico e con una visione internazionale i problemi di gestione di una pandemia a livello globale. Oltre alla curatela, Corrado Poli ha scritto l'introduzione assieme a Bernardino Fantini e un saggio su "Il collocamento degli esperti nei processi decisionali pubblici incondizionati di emergenza".
Tra gli altri autori, oltre al co-curatore, hanno collaborato Giovanni Poggeschi (Università del Salento), Daniela Boresi (giornalista), Jean-Paul Gonzales e Marc Souris (Georgetown University), Carla Collicelli (sociologa), Dale Jamieson e Jennifer Jacquet (New York University), Federica Merlo (Scuola Universistaria Professionale Svizzera - SUPSI).
Tra gli altri autori, oltre al co-curatore, hanno collaborato Giovanni Poggeschi (Università del Salento), Daniela Boresi (giornalista), Jean-Paul Gonzales e Marc Souris (Georgetown University), Carla Collicelli (sociologa), Dale Jamieson e Jennifer Jacquet (New York University), Federica Merlo (Scuola Universistaria Professionale Svizzera - SUPSI).
Research Interests:
In Europe, populist parties are winning plenty of consensus. An analysis of the populist movements’ background and values is presented to evaluate how they may relate to a new political demand. The two traditional political groups –... more
In Europe, populist parties are winning plenty of consensus. An analysis of the populist movements’ background and values is presented to evaluate how they may relate to a new political demand. The two traditional political groups – conservative/libertarians and progressive/welfarists – whose conflict dominated the twentieth-century politics now often ally to contrast the emerging populist movements, no matter how confused and diverse they are. The Italian Five Stars Movement is trying to respond to the people new demands
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Quale Europa avremo nel 2024 alla fine della legislatura? Sarà prevalsa l’ondata sovranista? Oppure i conservatori avranno salvato le istituzioni di Bruxelles? Nessuno di questi due scenari è auspicabile. La rigenerazione dell’Europa sarà... more
Quale Europa avremo nel 2024 alla fine della legislatura? Sarà prevalsa l’ondata sovranista? Oppure i conservatori avranno salvato le istituzioni di Bruxelles? Nessuno di questi due scenari è auspicabile. La rigenerazione dell’Europa sarà invece possibile se si responsabilizzano i cittadini rilanciando decentramento e principio di sussidiarietà; e allo stesso tempo si procede rapidamente verso una vera Federazione europea.
Research Interests:
Un nome non può cambiare la città e le nostre relazioni con i luoghi. Tuttavia, nuovi termini per spazi ora anonimi aiutano a cambiare la percezione comune e la capacità di vedere cose mai viste prima. L’impegno tassonomico del geografo,... more
Un nome non può cambiare la città e le nostre relazioni con i luoghi. Tuttavia, nuovi termini per spazi ora anonimi aiutano a cambiare la percezione comune e la capacità di vedere cose mai viste prima. L’impegno tassonomico del geografo, che consiste nel ridefinire luoghi e tipologie urbane, comporta una valenza politica e ideologica. Gran parte degli spazi urbani non sono gestibili poiché non rientrano nelle usuali definizioni né corrispondono alla corrente organizzazione sociale. Il disegno urbano richiede nuove interpretazioni e idee relative alla percezione e alla forma degli insediamenti. Elaborare su quanto appreso in passato non basta più per rilanciare creatività e innovazione.
A name cannot change the city and our relationship with places. However, new terms for now-nameless spaces will help to change people's perception and their capability of seeing what they have never seen before. The geographer's taxonomic... more
A name cannot change the city and our relationship with places. However, new terms for now-nameless spaces will help to change people's perception and their capability of seeing what they have never seen before. The geographer's taxonomic effort to re-designate urban places and typologies involves a political and ideological content. Most urban spaces are unmanageable because they fit neither with current technology nor with the social organization. Urban design requires new interpretations of and ideas about the awareness and form of settlements. Elaborating on what we learnt in the past is no longer enough to kindle creativeness and innovation. In the tradition of classic geography, I call for a new classification of urban places, which is meant to find names for places we do not " see " and therefore we cannot catalogue. A new classification of human settlements is a step forward on a new path to perceive, define and eventually plan them. A new perception of metropolitan areas leads to a different relation between area and administration ; hence between urban places and representation of citizens.
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In età moderna i dotti iniziarono a discutere dei massimi sistemi, mentre nel Trecento si dedicavano a precisi resoconti e descrizioni. Questo consentì ai secondi di fare una grande rivoluzione scientifica, culturale e sociale; agli altri... more
In età moderna i dotti iniziarono a discutere dei
massimi sistemi, mentre nel Trecento si dedicavano
a precisi resoconti e descrizioni. Questo consentì
ai secondi di fare una grande rivoluzione scientifica,
culturale e sociale; agli altri di fare uscire l’Europa
dalla povertà del medioevo. Perché faccio questa
superficiale affermazione introduttiva? Perché ogni
tanto viene il momento, nella storia e nella vita di
ciascuno, di smettere di risolvere i soliti problemi e
di crearsene di nuovi oppure di impostare quelli
vecchi in modo radicalmente diverso.
Introduco questo convegno formulando un problema
originale ad architetti e pedagogisti che potrebbe
diventare un punto di partenza innovativo
e interdisciplinare. Uno studio articolato e approfondito
in grado di superare le barriere disciplinari
consentirebbe di trasformare in progetto le suggestioni
e i ragionamenti introdotti dal mio saggioracconto
Rivoluzione a Scuola. Come rendere felici
insegnanti e allievi, che ha dato stimolo e nome a questo
convegno. In effetti, la legge di riforma della
scuola – la “Buona scuola” – che oggi si sta applicando
in tutta Italia, ha accolto alcuni dei miei suggerimenti
e quindi i tempi potrebbero essere
maturi per questa semina.
massimi sistemi, mentre nel Trecento si dedicavano
a precisi resoconti e descrizioni. Questo consentì
ai secondi di fare una grande rivoluzione scientifica,
culturale e sociale; agli altri di fare uscire l’Europa
dalla povertà del medioevo. Perché faccio questa
superficiale affermazione introduttiva? Perché ogni
tanto viene il momento, nella storia e nella vita di
ciascuno, di smettere di risolvere i soliti problemi e
di crearsene di nuovi oppure di impostare quelli
vecchi in modo radicalmente diverso.
Introduco questo convegno formulando un problema
originale ad architetti e pedagogisti che potrebbe
diventare un punto di partenza innovativo
e interdisciplinare. Uno studio articolato e approfondito
in grado di superare le barriere disciplinari
consentirebbe di trasformare in progetto le suggestioni
e i ragionamenti introdotti dal mio saggioracconto
Rivoluzione a Scuola. Come rendere felici
insegnanti e allievi, che ha dato stimolo e nome a questo
convegno. In effetti, la legge di riforma della
scuola – la “Buona scuola” – che oggi si sta applicando
in tutta Italia, ha accolto alcuni dei miei suggerimenti
e quindi i tempi potrebbero essere
maturi per questa semina.
Research Interests:
A change in the way humans relate to nature could be the starting point for a new politics, which will also affect relations among humans. A new approach would help to radically transform the production system, not because it is unjust in... more
A change in the way humans relate to nature could be the starting point for a new politics, which will also affect relations among humans. A new approach would help to radically transform the production system, not because it is unjust in the usually considered social terms, but because it endangers nature and humanity.
So far, the citizens’ grassroots organizations have failed to win broad consensus and political power in the representative institutions. When the time comes to transform the single environmental issue into an electoral platform, environmentalists lose unity and effectiveness since they lack a common political vision and an ensuing strategy. On the other hand European politics is rapidly transforming because the challenge brought by so-called populist movements.
We need to transform activists’ shared emotions and attitudes into political ideologies and platforms. Moreover, a new educational process and a new science politics are necessary to reform environmental policy.
So far, the citizens’ grassroots organizations have failed to win broad consensus and political power in the representative institutions. When the time comes to transform the single environmental issue into an electoral platform, environmentalists lose unity and effectiveness since they lack a common political vision and an ensuing strategy. On the other hand European politics is rapidly transforming because the challenge brought by so-called populist movements.
We need to transform activists’ shared emotions and attitudes into political ideologies and platforms. Moreover, a new educational process and a new science politics are necessary to reform environmental policy.
Research Interests:
Keywords » Civil engineering - Education - Environmentalism - Urban geography - Urban mobility Related subjects » Epistemology & Philosophy of Science - Geography - Sustainable Development TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword.- 1.... more
Keywords » Civil engineering - Education - Environmentalism - Urban geography - Urban mobility
Related subjects » Epistemology & Philosophy of Science - Geography - Sustainable Development
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword.- 1. Introduction: Technicians and humanists in the environmentalist debate on mobility and the city.- 2. Sustainable development: From fallacy to fraud.- 3. Technologies, problems, solutions.- 4. Mobility and the corporatist society.- 5. Traffic planning critique.- 6. Urban space and mobility policies in Europe and in North America.- 7. Northern Virginia Transport Authority ‘Trans-Action 2010’ Plan. A case study.- 8. Ethical aspects in traffic planning.- 9. Education and training of traffic professionals.- 10 Planning approaches.- 11. Some procedures and some content.- 12. What to do?.- 13. Between private and public: mutual transportation.- Bibliography.- Index
Related subjects » Epistemology & Philosophy of Science - Geography - Sustainable Development
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword.- 1. Introduction: Technicians and humanists in the environmentalist debate on mobility and the city.- 2. Sustainable development: From fallacy to fraud.- 3. Technologies, problems, solutions.- 4. Mobility and the corporatist society.- 5. Traffic planning critique.- 6. Urban space and mobility policies in Europe and in North America.- 7. Northern Virginia Transport Authority ‘Trans-Action 2010’ Plan. A case study.- 8. Ethical aspects in traffic planning.- 9. Education and training of traffic professionals.- 10 Planning approaches.- 11. Some procedures and some content.- 12. What to do?.- 13. Between private and public: mutual transportation.- Bibliography.- Index
Research Interests:
Corrado Poli Flexible Cities: A Revolution in Urban Government Is there a future for small and mid-size European and North American cities in the post-global world? Is an urban policy designed to resist the hypertrophy of metropolises... more
Corrado Poli
Flexible Cities: A Revolution in Urban Government
Is there a future for small and mid-size European and North American cities in the post-global world? Is an urban policy designed to resist the hypertrophy of metropolises desirable? In Flexible Cities Corrado Poli raises these questions and presents an innovative report. Finally, he elaborates a forward-looking proposal for urban government.
The author claims that both central governments and local administrations can no longer effectively govern outsized metropolitan areas. On the other hand, small and mid-size city governments prove more successful in enhancing the quality of human life and environmental protection. In small cities, citizens are able to break out of rigid global uniformity and may devise a new urban model.
The core issues of current urban policy and city planning ought to be environmental quality, integration of new-comers and the establishment of new communities. The author suggests an “urban secession” model, namely he calls for the creation of self governed areas within cities and metropolises that may favor the development of alternative ways of life and new forms of local democracy.
Roaming in the gray area between policy studies, geography and ecology, Flexible cities goes beyond the fallacy of sustainable development that prevents the real problems of contemporary urban life from being solved. Corrado Poli advocates an authentic environmentalist inspiration grounded on consistent ethical and political thinking.
*Corrado Poli (www.corradopoli.net), journalist and author, is currently President of the International Urban Fellows Association at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, Baltimore. Since 2004 he has been adjunct Professor of Economics and Environmental Ethics at the University of Bergamo, Italy. He has held political office, chaired public bodies and directed research centers. For several years Dr. Poli has been Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA) and he has also taught Academic years at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia), and at the Universities of Padova, Trieste (Italy) and Northern Arizona University. He has published a number of essays and is an editorialist for newspapers and TV networks.
Flexible Cities: A Revolution in Urban Government
Is there a future for small and mid-size European and North American cities in the post-global world? Is an urban policy designed to resist the hypertrophy of metropolises desirable? In Flexible Cities Corrado Poli raises these questions and presents an innovative report. Finally, he elaborates a forward-looking proposal for urban government.
The author claims that both central governments and local administrations can no longer effectively govern outsized metropolitan areas. On the other hand, small and mid-size city governments prove more successful in enhancing the quality of human life and environmental protection. In small cities, citizens are able to break out of rigid global uniformity and may devise a new urban model.
The core issues of current urban policy and city planning ought to be environmental quality, integration of new-comers and the establishment of new communities. The author suggests an “urban secession” model, namely he calls for the creation of self governed areas within cities and metropolises that may favor the development of alternative ways of life and new forms of local democracy.
Roaming in the gray area between policy studies, geography and ecology, Flexible cities goes beyond the fallacy of sustainable development that prevents the real problems of contemporary urban life from being solved. Corrado Poli advocates an authentic environmentalist inspiration grounded on consistent ethical and political thinking.
*Corrado Poli (www.corradopoli.net), journalist and author, is currently President of the International Urban Fellows Association at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, Baltimore. Since 2004 he has been adjunct Professor of Economics and Environmental Ethics at the University of Bergamo, Italy. He has held political office, chaired public bodies and directed research centers. For several years Dr. Poli has been Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA) and he has also taught Academic years at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia), and at the Universities of Padova, Trieste (Italy) and Northern Arizona University. He has published a number of essays and is an editorialist for newspapers and TV networks.
Un saggio/racconto che contiene una critica alla scuola media superiore di oggi e alcune proposte per quella del futuro. Non più riforme, sono necessarie, ma una profonda rivoluzione. Solo apparentemente questo saggio esula dagli usuali... more
Un saggio/racconto che contiene una critica alla scuola media superiore di oggi e alcune proposte per quella del futuro. Non più riforme, sono necessarie, ma una profonda rivoluzione.
Solo apparentemente questo saggio esula dagli usuali temi trattati dall'autore poiché in buon parte il testo riprende questioni urbanistiche e sociologiche soprattutto in relazione allo studio delle organizzazioni e delle amministrazioni.
Solo apparentemente questo saggio esula dagli usuali temi trattati dall'autore poiché in buon parte il testo riprende questioni urbanistiche e sociologiche soprattutto in relazione allo studio delle organizzazioni e delle amministrazioni.
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La contaminacion y los problemas del medio ambiente, delitos menores, la congestion del trafico, la democracia y la justicia social son preocupaciones constantes en grandes ciudades contemporaneas y areas metropolitanas. Este articulo... more
La contaminacion y los problemas del medio ambiente, delitos menores, la congestion del trafico, la democracia y la justicia social son preocupaciones constantes en grandes ciudades contemporaneas y areas metropolitanas. Este articulo argumenta la necesidad de innovar en la politica y la gestion urbana para hacer frente a estos problemas con eficacia. La innovacion tecnica, politica y cultural implica un analisis critico de la influencia de las organizaciones sociales —incluyendo los colegios profesionales— en los procesos de toma de decisiones de los gobiernos y en la asignacion de la inversion. La crisis economica actual hace que un cambio significativo en la rutina cotidiana sea mas factible que en el pasado. La introduccion de nuevas tecnologias implica un replanteamiento de las prioridades en obras publicas y construccion de infraestructura. Un cambio profundo en la geografia urbana dependera de una revolucion cultural y tecnologica; por ello, este analisis aborda temas como: l...
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This paper describes multimedia based manufacturing tutors currently under development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The purpose of these tutors to assist the user in better visualizing and understanding the relationship... more
This paper describes multimedia based manufacturing tutors currently under development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The purpose of these tutors to assist the user in better visualizing and understanding the relationship between part design and the ease or difficulty of creating the tooling needed to produce the part. Evaluation of these tutors by both freshman and junior engineering students is discussed as well. A finite element analysis tutor, also under development, is briefly described.
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This chapter discusses three types of communication: written, oral, and graphical. Some of the major principles of good communication are pointed out here and it also provides some practical tips as well as guidelines that will help young... more
This chapter discusses three types of communication: written, oral, and graphical. Some of the major principles of good communication are pointed out here and it also provides some practical tips as well as guidelines that will help young engineers get their communication efforts off to a better start. Because so many design and manufacturing courses involve project work in which students are required to submit written reports along with drawings, and to present the results of their work orally, the readers are strongly urged to practice for effective communication.
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La contaminacion y los problemas del medio ambiente, delitos menores, la congestion del trafico, la democracia y la justicia social son preocupaciones constantes en grandes ciudades contemporaneas y areas metropolitanas. Este articulo... more
La contaminacion y los problemas del medio ambiente, delitos menores, la congestion del trafico, la democracia y la justicia social son preocupaciones constantes en grandes ciudades contemporaneas y areas metropolitanas. Este articulo argumenta la necesidad de innovar en la politica y la gestion urbana para hacer frente a estos problemas con eficacia. La innovacion tecnica, politica y cultural implica un analisis critico de la influencia de las organizaciones sociales —incluyendo los colegios profesionales— en los procesos de toma de decisiones de los gobiernos y en la asignacion de la inversion. La crisis economica actual hace que un cambio significativo en la rutina cotidiana sea mas factible que en el pasado. La introduccion de nuevas tecnologias implica un replanteamiento de las prioridades en obras publicas y construccion de infraestructura. Un cambio profundo en la geografia urbana dependera de una revolucion cultural y tecnologica; por ello, este analisis aborda temas como: l...
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The environmental crisis is an epochal event to the extent that some have argued that Earth has entered a new geological era. There are several interpretations about the relation between humanity, nature and environment that range from... more
The environmental crisis is an epochal event to the extent that some have argued that Earth has entered a new geological era. There are several interpretations about the relation between humanity, nature and environment that range from conservative to radical. After having framed the philosophical and epistemic foundations of the approach adopted, I propose four stages of people’s sensitivity to the environmental problem and identify a clear divide between the progressive and the conservative political approaches. This is meant to be the interpretative foundation of part two and three of this essay.
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This essay: (a) criticizes the current political strategy of most environmentalists, radical and moderate; (b) proposes the intellectual terms of a political alliance that could overcome the traditional political separation between... more
This essay: (a) criticizes the current political strategy of most environmentalists, radical and moderate; (b) proposes the intellectual terms of a political alliance that could overcome the traditional political separation between conservative and progressive when dealing with the environmental question; (c) reports on a case; (d) suggests how to shift from a non-political situation into political and institutional action. My goal is to create a political-cultural background which brings environmentalists together with people inspired by new economy, cultural creatives, wikinomics, organic farming, cultural and immaterial consumption models, etc. The alliance will be grounded on a new covenant between humans and nature, and on a non-materialist interpretation of politics. Therefore, I call for new research that helps to radically change the political and the production system, not because the system is unjust in the usually- considered terms, but because it endangers nature and soc...
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To contest the currently triumphant neoliberal order it is necessary to advance a new dialectical alternative which substitutes an environmentalist radical strategy for the defeated Communist project. We should deeply revise the Marxist... more
To contest the currently triumphant neoliberal order it is necessary to advance a new dialectical alternative which substitutes an environmentalist radical strategy for the defeated Communist project. We should deeply revise the Marxist heritage of some radical leftist literature about environment (surveyed in this chapter) in order to open a viable intellectual and political radical change in contemporary domestic and international politics. It is assumed that the environmental issue is the most likely catalyst of a feasible radical change. The chapter also includes considerations about current international politics and science policy/politics.
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To make a new radical environmentalist policy viable it is necessary to create a political-cultural background which brings environmentalists together with people inspired by new economy, cultural creatives, wikinomics, organic farming,... more
To make a new radical environmentalist policy viable it is necessary to create a political-cultural background which brings environmentalists together with people inspired by new economy, cultural creatives, wikinomics, organic farming, cultural and immaterial consumption models, etc. The alliance will be grounded on a new covenant between humans and nature, and on a non-materialist interpretation of politics. Therefore, new research helps to radically change the political and the production system, not because the system is unjust in the usually- considered terms, but because it endangers nature and society. The criticality of social justice and individual freedom in everyday life is not denied. Rather, meaningful political reforms, and consistent political platforms, will be possible if we include as a priority the relation between humans and nature in the political debate.
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New technologies and extensive environmental impacts require a reassessment of interpretation paradigms both in history and in political geography. Established ideologies and shared values no longer shape the way people organize facts and... more
New technologies and extensive environmental impacts require a reassessment of interpretation paradigms both in history and in political geography. Established ideologies and shared values no longer shape the way people organize facts and ideas. Local communities have lost the power-structure that created a consensus based on a long lasting communication and education process. Environmentalist movements are rather successful in almost all countries, but not enough to win a majority and to contrast populist movements because they are perceived as a branch and a natural ally of the traditional left wing (Socialist) parties rather than a brand new alternative political proposal. Radical approaches fail either to prove themselves completely separated from the traditional political system or to be effective in producing change.
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European urban regions are becoming more similar to American low-density metropolitan areas in the organization of space and in people mobility. On the other hand, in North American cities, high-density neighborhoods and renewed... more
European urban regions are becoming more similar to American low-density metropolitan areas in the organization of space and in people mobility. On the other hand, in North American cities, high-density neighborhoods and renewed European-like downtowns have become popular. Everywhere in the Western world, it is difficult for any politician to refuse further development. Therefore, although the most innovative planners in the most environment-concerned cities focus on issues such as neighborhood life and go for mixed-use zones, they are not quite successful in limiting urban and traffic growth. Contemporary society is actually formed by several social groups with preferences, experiences, and values often radically diverse. Thus, we cannot offer one single option for urban mobility to respond to a variegated demand. Nonetheless, the mass-society/mass-transportation paradigms still dominate planning and transportation policies in most urban areas in the world. Because of the major public works funding system, it is difficult to avoid the approval of mobility infrastructure, no matter how detrimental, helpful or useless they are. The public finance problem of how to pay for mobility infrastructure is related to: (a) the production system and technologies; (b) basic political values; (c) administrative geography. According to a common planning approach different scenarios for future city and traffic developments are designed. Then, one of them is selected. Another solution is possible: instead of selecting only one of the scenarios, we should respond to citizens’ diverse needs. This approach responds to the opportunity to favor creativeness in administration.
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Up until the early 1990s, scholars and western public opinion were making progress in developing an environmental ethics fitting for an active environmentalist political platform. The 1987 U.N. Sustainable Development compromise has... more
Up until the early 1990s, scholars and western public opinion were making progress in developing an environmental ethics fitting for an active environmentalist political platform. The 1987 U.N. Sustainable Development compromise has inhibited this process by transforming the environmental problem from a political and ethical issue into a technical, economic and scientific one. Sustainable Development discourse has become a pseudo-ideology that has defused the possible revolutionary potential of a radical ‘green’ thinking.
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Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some significant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses will break the close relationship between... more
Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some significant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses will break the close relationship between air pollution and traffic; (b) the social physical-distancing requirements will weaken the competitiveness of mass transportation and will imply a different city form; (c) the diffusion of self-driving cars and driver-assistance technologies will considerably affect mobility and urban plans. Hence, we need to revise a century-old approach based on the assumption that more mobility is always welcome and accept that coping with our daily urban problems does not necessarily require "going somewhere" and instead it is possible to have "something brought" to where we stay. The approach proposed calls for a "mobility deflation".
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Disclaimer: Citations of sources, conclusions, or opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the author and do not reflect the policies or views of staff or others affiliated with the Institute for Policy Studies or... more
Disclaimer: Citations of sources, conclusions, or opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the author and do not reflect the policies or views of staff or others affiliated with the Institute for Policy Studies or Johns Hopkins University.
An ecological and eco-feminist critique may promote an innovative environmentalist urban policy. A new relation between humanity and nature implies a different aesthetic and architecture of the city. In the past, in control of the public... more
An ecological and eco-feminist critique may promote an innovative environmentalist urban policy. A new relation between humanity and nature implies a different aesthetic and architecture of the city. In the past, in control of the public sphere, men built their cities according to their attitudes and values. Traditional (masculine) behavior produced an efficiency based in dominating a resilient nature. This approach is no longer viable given the environmental crisis. Women are the privileged subjects of radical change, assuming a leadership role in the environmentalist movement and proposing cities envisaged according to a new way of thinking and feeling that accords with a reconsidered relationship between humanity and nature.
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In some situations we wrongly use technology and engineering in order to comprehend and solve crucial contemporary social and administrative problems. This is especially true regarding urban traffic and its environmental consequences. For... more
In some situations we wrongly use technology and engineering in order to comprehend and solve crucial contemporary social and administrative problems. This is especially true regarding urban traffic and its environmental consequences. For many decades, civil and transportation engineers were the only professionals substantially in charge of traffic policies. Because of the apparent failures in coping with urban traffic, it is appropriate to analyze if other disciplines and approaches may be more successful than the monopolistic civil engineering approach. The environmental question, which is a priority in European and North American urban policies, includes relevant epistemic issues that need to be considered in decision-making. Hence, it is necessary: (a) to define how professions and professional guilds affect in reality the everyday setting of the traffic problem; (b) to discuss how urban traffic policies are consistent with different basic interpretations of the environmental crisis; (c) to argue about the structure of the contemporary urban settlement and see whether mobility is a solution to the current problems, or a pathology to be cured.
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It was mainly the economic industrial boom of huge countries like China and India that drove the international community to the Sustainable Development compromise between growth and environmental protection. The shift from a compromise to... more
It was mainly the economic industrial boom of huge countries like China and India that drove the international community to the Sustainable Development compromise between growth and environmental protection. The shift from a compromise to a fraud happened when it was adopted as a progressive policy also in the Western countries whose economies were more prepared to accept a more intensive environmental policy. Instead, the conservative groups and the traditional (over-polluting) industries allied with the emerging countries and used the Sustainable Development compromise to slow down and stop a substantial ecological reconversion of the industrial production.
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The paradigm change that this essay calls for requires new professionals and a new educational approach. In traditional bureaucracies, planning methods are to be substituted (or at least integrated) with innovation. A higher education... more
The paradigm change that this essay calls for requires new professionals and a new educational approach. In traditional bureaucracies, planning methods are to be substituted (or at least integrated) with innovation. A higher education program is presented in the chapter, which is designed to readdress public administration policies along the lines identified in this book.
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Up until the early 1990s, scholars and western public opinion were making progress in developing an environmental ethics fitting for an active environmentalist political platform. The 1987 U.N. Sustainable Development compromise has... more
Up until the early 1990s, scholars and western public opinion were making progress in developing an environmental ethics fitting for an active environmentalist political platform. The 1987 U.N. Sustainable Development compromise has inhibited this process by transforming the environmental problem from a political and ethical issue into a technical, economic and scientific one. Sustainable Development discourse has become a pseudo-ideology that has defused the possible revolutionary potential of a radical ‘green’ thinking.
Research Interests:
An ecological and eco-feminist critique may promote an innovative environmentalist urban policy. A new relation between humanity and nature implies a different aesthetic and architecture of the city. In the past, in control of the public... more
An ecological and eco-feminist critique may promote an innovative environmentalist urban policy. A new relation between humanity and nature implies a different aesthetic and architecture of the city. In the past, in control of the public sphere, men built their cities according to their attitudes and values. Traditional (masculine) behavior produced an efficiency based on dominating a resilient nature. This approach is no longer viable given the environmental crisis. Women are the privileged subjects of radical change, assuming a leadership role in the environmentalist movement and proposing cities envisaged according to a new way of thinking and feeling that accords with a reconsidered relationship between humanity and nature.
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In this chapter and in the following, I examine the political case of a controversial polluting cement plant by analyzing both the beliefs of the people involved and the language adopted. The considerations reported are drawn by this... more
In this chapter and in the following, I examine the political case of a controversial polluting cement plant by analyzing both the beliefs of the people involved and the language adopted. The considerations reported are drawn by this specific case and compared with other cases which occurred in several European countries and in the U.S. The goal is to envisage a strategy to shift from a non-political situation into political and institutional action.
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Today, politicians and planners distrust long term visions and rational planning. Instead, they rely on incremental approaches and piecemeal solutions. Politics is both what is currently missing and what we really need. In general, one of... more
Today, politicians and planners distrust long term visions and rational planning. Instead, they rely on incremental approaches and piecemeal solutions. Politics is both what is currently missing and what we really need. In general, one of the goals of modern society has been to get rid of politics and substitute it with automatic self-regulation devices. Urban Mobility Plans should be designed in a completely different way from the current approaches. The difference would be in the planning process and who is to be in charge. As a consequence, choices of plan content could be quite different. Planning is a category of social change. A well-functioning political system should be able to make new opportunities available and open to more possible choices. Scholars and technicians must play a role in elaborating innovative solutions. However, because the commissioners of mobility plans are reluctant to use competent professionals from fields outside traditional engineering, there is little opportunity for economists, sociologists, communicators, traffic psychologists, and so on, to develop new skills in the field. One of the major flaws in urban traffic planning is how communicators are employed. In the planning process, we are no longer asking the following essential questions: (a) why do we need to move? (b) does an increase in mobility imply a certain progress? (c) what are the interpretations of the context in which we operate? If we give answers to these questions, we could envisage more effective mobility policies, at the same time realizing that consensus is part of the effectiveness. The most practical part of the traffic policy is to understand why people need mobility, not how much they now travel, but these questions are not given priority.
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The urban traffic problem embraces ethical evaluations regarding environmental and health risks, environmental responsibility for global warming, social justice, and economic justice concerning the appropriation and redistribution of... more
The urban traffic problem embraces ethical evaluations regarding environmental and health risks, environmental responsibility for global warming, social justice, and economic justice concerning the appropriation and redistribution of public monies. It also concerns an epistemic analysis regarding knowledge, science and the use of professional skills and competence. In Europe and in the US urban settlements and mobility patterns are significantly different and so should the consequent traffic policies be, especially those regarding short term mobility solutions. Particularly in the US, mobility policies may have diverse impacts on social classes and increase discrimination. A possible shifting from traffic policies to housing policies may have redistributive consequences and cooperate in equalizing income differences.
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We need a broader approach to cope with the whole concept of mobility. Social scientists should be encouraged to apply their own disciplines in thinking about the economic, psychological, anthropological, social, political, etc.... more
We need a broader approach to cope with the whole concept of mobility. Social scientists should be encouraged to apply their own disciplines in thinking about the economic, psychological, anthropological, social, political, etc. components of the traffic phenomenon. This is not to say that they should single out these aspects from the general problem. As we have mentioned before, engineers are likely to do just that with a narrowly technical approach. Nonetheless, we commonly ask them for both interpretation of the problem and a complete solution based on that point of view, an error that should not be extended to other disciplines. Scholars in social disciplines should approach the mobility problem comprehensively. At first, this would likely be limited to academic research and education. In the long run, it could provide a new perception of traffic problems and lead to various new applications of social science research. In this chapter I discuss a report produced by economists that demonstrates how civil engineering has “colonized” economics and represents an argument as to how economists should approach transportation policy more directly. In the following paragraphs some clues are given about alternative approaches in other disciplines, especially in psychology. In the future we should prepare new university curricula for traffic planners who approach mobility policies from a social science and humanities perspective.
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The discussion about transportation has been polarized on public vs. private transportation, e.g. bus vs. cars. In this chapter I present an intermediate solution, i.e. using private cars as public transportation. We have called the model... more
The discussion about transportation has been polarized on public vs. private transportation, e.g. bus vs. cars. In this chapter I present an intermediate solution, i.e. using private cars as public transportation. We have called the model “mutual transportation”; developed in 2005, it has been presented in several conferences and proposed to a number of local government and traffic authorities. It is now applied in some cities and metropolitan areas. Besides the technical solutions, which are based on telecommunication technology, the novelty of the system proposed is that it has been devised and designed by humanists rather than by engineers, who have been hired later to solve some technical problems identified by social scientists.
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An urban mobility plan’s preliminary operations and researches are anything but routine as they determine the final recommendations and decisions. As a first step it is necessary to distinguish between dependent and independent variables.... more
An urban mobility plan’s preliminary operations and researches are anything but routine as they determine the final recommendations and decisions. As a first step it is necessary to distinguish between dependent and independent variables. One of the basic questions is: (a) Is it better to analyze first the current situation and then think about how we can deal with the problems and modify the situation? (b) Or is it more convenient to identify the situation we want and then design a plan to make it happen? A further basic question is: When and if we find that groups of citizens have different preferences, should we provide a plan that is reasonably good for everyone or we better design a multiplicity of possible mobilities? Another crucial issue is how to deal with vested and diffused interests. Although different solutions can be equally legitimate and effective, I propose a radical approach based on reduction of mobility needs and on providing citizens with variegated solutions to their specific movement problems.
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We need a broader approach to cope with the whole concept of mobility. Social scientists should be encouraged to apply their own disciplines in thinking about the economic, psychological, anthropological, social, political, etc.... more
We need a broader approach to cope with the whole concept of mobility. Social scientists should be encouraged to apply their own disciplines in thinking about the economic, psychological, anthropological, social, political, etc. components of the traffic phenomenon. This is not to say that they should single out these aspects from the general problem. As we have mentioned before, engineers are likely to do just that with a narrowly technical approach. Nonetheless, we commonly ask them for both interpretation of the problem and a complete solution based on that point of view, an error that should not be extended to other disciplines. Scholars in social disciplines should approach the mobility problem comprehensively. At first, this would likely be limited to academic research and education. In the long run, it could provide a new perception of traffic problems and lead to various new applications of social science research. In this chapter I discuss a report produced by economists that demonstrates how civil engineering has “colonized” economics and represents an argument as to how economists should approach transportation policy more directly. In the following paragraphs some clues are given about alternative approaches in other disciplines, especially in psychology. In the future we should prepare new university curricula for traffic planners who approach mobility policies from a social science and humanities perspective.
Research Interests:
The urban traffic problem embraces ethical evaluations regarding environmental and health risks, environmental responsibility for global warming, social justice, and economic justice concerning the appropriation and redistribution of... more
The urban traffic problem embraces ethical evaluations regarding environmental and health risks, environmental responsibility for global warming, social justice, and economic justice concerning the appropriation and redistribution of public monies. It also concerns an epistemic analysis regarding knowledge, science and the use of professional skills and competence. In Europe and in the US urban settlements and mobility patterns are significantly different and so should the consequent traffic policies be, especially those regarding short term mobility solutions. Particularly in the US, mobility policies may have diverse impacts on social classes and increase discrimination. A possible shifting from traffic policies to housing policies may have redistributive consequences and cooperate in equalizing income differences.
Research Interests:
Today, politicians and planners distrust long term visions and rational planning. Instead, they rely on incremental approaches and piecemeal solutions. Politics is both what is currently missing and what we really need. In general, one of... more
Today, politicians and planners distrust long term visions and rational planning. Instead, they rely on incremental approaches and piecemeal solutions. Politics is both what is currently missing and what we really need. In general, one of the goals of modern society has been to get rid of politics and substitute it with automatic self-regulation devices. Urban Mobility Plans should be designed in a completely different way from the current approaches. The difference would be in the planning process and who is to be in charge. As a consequence, choices of plan content could be quite different. Planning is a category of social change. A well-functioning political system should be able to make new opportunities available and open to more possible choices. Scholars and technicians must play a role in elaborating innovative solutions. However, because the commissioners of mobility plans are reluctant to use competent professionals from fields outside traditional engineering, there is little opportunity for economists, sociologists, communicators, traffic psychologists, and so on, to develop new skills in the field. One of the major flaws in urban traffic planning is how communicators are employed. In the planning process, we are no longer asking the following essential questions: (a) why do we need to move? (b) does an increase in mobility imply a certain progress? (c) what are the interpretations of the context in which we operate? If we give answers to these questions, we could envisage more effective mobility policies, at the same time realizing that consensus is part of the effectiveness. The most practical part of the traffic policy is to understand why people need mobility, not how much they now travel, but these questions are not given priority.
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Even if, year after year, traffic congestion is becoming more and more unsustainable, governments stubbornly commit the solution of the problem to the same people who have caused it. Civil engineering applied to all traffic problems has... more
Even if, year after year, traffic congestion is becoming more and more unsustainable, governments stubbornly commit the solution of the problem to the same people who have caused it. Civil engineering applied to all traffic problems has become the proxy of a missing ideology. Traffic and transportation plans are elaborated only by civil engineers who determine how urban mobility policies are to be conceived. Hence, the problem is set around solutions that are known and chosen prior to any open analysis. It is apparent that civil engineers have not been able to solve the problem in the last 40 years, but in this period they have established and reinforced powerful professional guilds which intertwine with industrial and political lobbies. The solutions they apply to traffic are likely to be the real cause of traffic problems. However, contemporary mobility policy also embraces issues such as: (a) health risks; (b) environmental responsibility for global warming; (c) social justice which regards how mobility-related risks, costs and benefits are distributed; (d) economic justice concerning the appropriation and redistribution of public monies. It also concerns an epistemic analysis regarding knowledge, science and the use of professional skills and competences. If we apply new concepts in cost-benefit analyses assessing the effectiveness of traffic plans, we would be able to achieve better results. We would understand that public and private decision-making is trapped in a vicious circle that involves an escalation of traffic, similar to the inflation process. It is exactly the opposite of what should be done, i.e. preparing a traffic reduction sequence. Traffic inflation is induced by the transportation and infrastructure industry’s need to continuously grow. These considerations support two final proposals on how to approach traffic policy in an alternative way.
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Resumen S'è detto in passato che il processo di modernizzazione terminava inesorabilmente con l'imporsi della modernità. Allo stesso modo altri hanno sostenuto che il processo di urbanizzazione è terminato con la scomparsa della... more
Resumen S'è detto in passato che il processo di modernizzazione terminava inesorabilmente con l'imporsi della modernità. Allo stesso modo altri hanno sostenuto che il processo di urbanizzazione è terminato con la scomparsa della città e l'affermarsi di un ...
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note... more
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site ...
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A few years ago the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority approved the so-called Trans-Action 2030, a transportation plan that included the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This plan is worth being analyzed because it reflects the... more
A few years ago the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority approved the so-called Trans-Action 2030, a transportation plan that included the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This plan is worth being analyzed because it reflects the contemporary state of the art, the current beliefs, and unfortunately, also the desperate invincible conservatism. The plan is clearly the output of the most advanced approach to transportation by civil engineering. Social scientists were employed only in marginalized roles and social research was almost completely neglected. As long as the planners have acted in the civil engineering discipline, they have been consistent with their methods and have proven high-level professional skills, no matter how we may have argued their opportunity. When the planners tried to apply social research and to face environmental concerns, they demonstrated a humiliating incompetence and the plan lost credit. The analytic description of the plan and the detailed criticism from social science and environmentalist approach points of view, is carried on in order to introduce the following chapters in which I propose how professionals other than civil engineers can deal with traffic problems and how different solutions can be employed to mobility problems in the future.
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In Europe, populist parties are winning plenty of consensus. Also in the U.S. protest movements are becoming more and more active. An analysis of the populist movements’ background and values is presented to evaluate how they may relate... more
In Europe, populist parties are winning plenty of consensus. Also in the U.S. protest movements are becoming more and more active. An analysis of the populist movements’ background and values is presented to evaluate how they may relate to the environmentalist movements. The two traditional political groups – conservative/libertarians and progressive/welfarists – whose conflict dominated the twentieth century politics now often ally to contrast the emerging populist movements, no matter how confused and diverse they are. Where does environmentalism fit in this new political framework?
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Abstract Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some significant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses will break the close... more
Abstract
Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some significant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses will break the close relationship between air pollution and traffic; (b) the social physical-distancing requirements will weaken the competitiveness of mass transportation and will imply a different city form; (c) the diffusion of self-driving cars and driver-assistance technologies will considerably affect mobility and urban plans. Hence, we need to revise a century-old approach based on the assumption that more mobility is always welcome and accept that coping with our daily urban problems does not necessarily require “going somewhere” and instead it is possible to have “something brought” to where we stay. The approach proposed calls for a “mobility deflation”.
Covid-19 epidemic is likely to hasten some significant ongoing developments in physical mobility policies. Among them: (a) the shift from internal combustion to electric engines for cars and buses will break the close relationship between air pollution and traffic; (b) the social physical-distancing requirements will weaken the competitiveness of mass transportation and will imply a different city form; (c) the diffusion of self-driving cars and driver-assistance technologies will considerably affect mobility and urban plans. Hence, we need to revise a century-old approach based on the assumption that more mobility is always welcome and accept that coping with our daily urban problems does not necessarily require “going somewhere” and instead it is possible to have “something brought” to where we stay. The approach proposed calls for a “mobility deflation”.
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Edizione italiana del mio ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS. NEW SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSITUENCIES. New York-London, 2015. In questo saggio adottato in numerose università nella versione inglese, propongo un riesame della questione ambientale... more
Edizione italiana del mio ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS. NEW SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSITUENCIES. New York-London, 2015. In questo saggio adottato in numerose università nella versione inglese, propongo un riesame della questione ambientale per superare il vecchio modello delle sviluppo sostenibile che ha rallentato e tuttora rallenta la conversione verso una vera politica ambientale per la quale oggi ci potrebbe trovare un adeguato sostegno elettorale
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This is the non-edited text of my keynote speech at the 2016 IUFA International Conference on CREATIVE URBAN PROBLEM SOLVING, held in Venice (Italy), 19-21 June, 2016. A re-elaborated text is forthcoming soon. ABSTRACT. A name cannot... more
This is the non-edited text of my keynote speech at the 2016 IUFA International Conference on CREATIVE URBAN PROBLEM SOLVING, held in Venice (Italy), 19-21 June, 2016. A re-elaborated text is forthcoming soon.
ABSTRACT. A name cannot change the city and our relation with places. However, new terms for now-nameless spaces will help to change people’s perception and their capability of seeing what they have never seen before. The geographer’s taxonomic effort to re-designate urban places and typologies involves a political and ideological content. Most urban spaces are unmanageable because they fit neither with current technology nor with the social organization. Urban design requires new interpretations of and ideas about the awareness and form of settlements. Elaborating on what we learnt in the past is no longer enough to kindle creativeness and innovation. In the tradition of classic geography, I call for a new classification of urban places, which is meant to find names for places we do not “see” and therefore we cannot catalogue. A new classification of human settlements is a step forward on a new path to perceive, define and eventually plan them. A new perception of metropolitan areas leads to a different relation between area and administration; hence between urban places and representation of citizens.
ABSTRACT. A name cannot change the city and our relation with places. However, new terms for now-nameless spaces will help to change people’s perception and their capability of seeing what they have never seen before. The geographer’s taxonomic effort to re-designate urban places and typologies involves a political and ideological content. Most urban spaces are unmanageable because they fit neither with current technology nor with the social organization. Urban design requires new interpretations of and ideas about the awareness and form of settlements. Elaborating on what we learnt in the past is no longer enough to kindle creativeness and innovation. In the tradition of classic geography, I call for a new classification of urban places, which is meant to find names for places we do not “see” and therefore we cannot catalogue. A new classification of human settlements is a step forward on a new path to perceive, define and eventually plan them. A new perception of metropolitan areas leads to a different relation between area and administration; hence between urban places and representation of citizens.
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The threat posed by populist movements drives traditional parties to form Grand Coalitions. The necessity of a real opposition
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Lecture given at Center for Excellence in Planning, Bucharest, Romania, October 14, 2015 and other seminars and meetings about Urban Policy and Mobility
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The transportation revolution does not simply mean taking a bus instead of a car. It means centering the political debate on the necessity to shift dramatically from a technical to a political culture, and from an economic development... more
The transportation revolution does not simply mean taking a bus instead of a car. It means centering the political debate on the necessity to shift dramatically from a technical to a political culture, and from an economic development oriented policy to an environment centered one. I'll connect the failure of mobility policy to ethical, professional, and educational aspects. This will open a new perspective and will foster new research in unexplored fields. Finally, I'll propose a radical approach to transform the currently existing thought on cities, traffic, planning and environment.
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"A gender analysis of our contemporary city architecture is possible beginning from some considerations elaborated in environmental ethics and in the ecologist and in the ecofeminist critique. In the past, men were in control of the... more
"A gender analysis of our contemporary city architecture is possible beginning from some considerations elaborated in environmental ethics and in the ecologist and in the ecofeminist critique. In the past, men were in control of the public sphere; therefore they built their cities according to their attitudes and values. The male behavior proved efficient since human species aimed at dominating a resilient nature. Now, we wonder if the male approach is still worth practicing vis-à-vis the environmental crisis.
In the lecture, I will focus on the overall city form rather than on the single building to distinguish a woman-conceived city from a man-planned one. Thus, I’ll begin making a distinction between “women’s cities” and “feminine cities”: the first indicates women who take over men’s city power; the latter represents a city envisaged along the lines of different – and thus female – values and attitudes which fit better in a more balanced relationship between humanity and nature. "
In the lecture, I will focus on the overall city form rather than on the single building to distinguish a woman-conceived city from a man-planned one. Thus, I’ll begin making a distinction between “women’s cities” and “feminine cities”: the first indicates women who take over men’s city power; the latter represents a city envisaged along the lines of different – and thus female – values and attitudes which fit better in a more balanced relationship between humanity and nature. "
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In the talk we will paper argue that there is margin for developing counter-hegemonic governance practices to the dominant neoliberal ideology and practice if we develop a new parading thinking that moves the debate from social justice to... more
In the talk we will paper argue that there is margin for developing counter-hegemonic governance practices to the dominant neoliberal ideology and practice if we develop a new parading thinking that moves the debate from social justice to environmental justice. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, thinkers have become conscious of the unprecedented critical change that occurred in the relation between humanity and nature. Nevertheless, in the last decades, the widespread consciousness that we were producing a change never imagined before has grown rapidly as the transformation of the planet has proceeded apparently out of control. The environmental agenda can generate a new alliance that breaks the traditional dichotomy between capitalist and Marxists approaches and create a political ground to contest the dominant neoliberal ideology. New social movements have not yet incorporate into their strategies this political approach. The re-negotiation of the deal between humanity and nature has a great potential to directly affect issues such as the organization of labor and production, the balance of power between capitalists and proletarians, social justice, individual freedom, becoming a political engine for social change.
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"NEW CONSTITUENCIES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Sub-classifications of the working class and capitalists are possible in respect to personal and group values, attitudes, and cultures. New classifications are partly built according to how people... more
"NEW CONSTITUENCIES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Sub-classifications of the working class and capitalists are possible in respect to personal and group values, attitudes, and cultures. New classifications are partly built according to how people react to environmental issues and to other contemporary political challenges. In current local and grassroots politics, when dealing with environmental issues, these new classifications of social groups explain some unusual and surprising alliances with significant political consequences. The question is: is it possible and worth building a theoretical frame which includes a reshuffle of traditional class alliances? Is it likely that new social classes will form according to environmental values and interests? In my presentation, I will (a) propose a critical analysis of some analytical approaches; and (b) report on some European case studies and compare them with the U.S. situation "
Sub-classifications of the working class and capitalists are possible in respect to personal and group values, attitudes, and cultures. New classifications are partly built according to how people react to environmental issues and to other contemporary political challenges. In current local and grassroots politics, when dealing with environmental issues, these new classifications of social groups explain some unusual and surprising alliances with significant political consequences. The question is: is it possible and worth building a theoretical frame which includes a reshuffle of traditional class alliances? Is it likely that new social classes will form according to environmental values and interests? In my presentation, I will (a) propose a critical analysis of some analytical approaches; and (b) report on some European case studies and compare them with the U.S. situation "
Research Interests:
From May 7 to May 11, 2012, I will give a series of lecture at Universitat Autònoma Barcelona on invitation of the Geography Department thanks to a grant awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Research. I will lecture on... more
From May 7 to May 11, 2012, I will give a series of lecture at Universitat Autònoma Barcelona on invitation of the Geography Department thanks to a grant awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Research.
I will lecture on MOBILITY AND ENVIRONMENT and will treat themes concerning innovation and new environmentally friendly industries.
Also, I will speak about professional education of transportation planners.
I will lecture on MOBILITY AND ENVIRONMENT and will treat themes concerning innovation and new environmentally friendly industries.
Also, I will speak about professional education of transportation planners.
Atti del Convegno per la rivitalizzazione del Sestriere Giudecca a VENEZIA. Il mio intervento di apertura del Convegno e gli altri
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Sintesi La gestione urbanistica del variegato territorio del Comune di Venezia può costituire un esempio per le altre città europee in transizione. La peculiarità insediativa di Venezia può servire da esempio per altre città e centri... more
Sintesi La gestione urbanistica del variegato territorio del Comune di Venezia può costituire un esempio per le altre città europee in transizione. La peculiarità insediativa di Venezia può servire da esempio per altre città e centri storici in Europa. È necessario passare dalla pianificazione all'innovazione. La creatività è oggi una delle parole chiave dello sviluppo economico e urbano. Per liberare la creatività è necessario abbandonare vecchi metodi e modelli superati che impediscono il mutamento. Abbiamo bisogno di innovazione se vogliamo affrontare due gravi problemi contemporanei: il degrado ambientale e la stagnazione economica. Anche nell'urbanistica non bisogna temere di liberare l'iniziativa dei cittadini anziché sognare la città razionale imposta da tecnici e operatori visionari. I modelli "partecipativi" tradizionali rispondono a logiche che è opportuno superare. Un aiuto in questa direzione può essere fornito da una particolare forma di "disintermediazione" dei tecnici e dei politici nel recepire le istanze dei cittadini. Questa impostazione supera sia l'idea del piano razionale sia quella di una partecipazione conflittuale (Advocacy) assegnando ruoli diversi agli attori sociali. Il Comune di Venezia ha intrapreso questa strada e in questo saggio si presentano le linee teoriche nell'ambito del quale si può sviluppare e applicare un nuovo modello di gestione del territorio. Interpretazioni e paradigmi In Alice nel Paese delle meraviglie, quando il Bruco (Caterpillar) incontra la ragazzina per la prima volta, le domanda senza preamboli: "E tu chi sei?" Alice risponde in modo piuttosto reticente: "Signore, … io a stento so chi sono adesso; al più so chi ero quando mi sono alzata stamattina, ma da allora sono cambiata più volte". La metafora applicata alla realtà socio-territoriale delle città contemporanee è ovvia: il mutamento è costante e riusciamo più facilmente a immaginare come vorremmo che diventassero che a definire come sono al momento. A questa metafora se ne può aggiungere una più dotta che sta alla base dell'interpretazione della storia: la civetta di Minerva vola solo al tramonto e noi riusciamo a rappresentare la realtà solo quando essa si sta già per trasformare in qualcosa di diverso. E tuttavia queste due metafore e impostazioni del mutamento sociale che sintetizzano articolate strutture di pensiero, non bastano ancora. Per creare premesse concettuali idonee a costruire schemi interpretativi nuovi e utili della realtà in cui viviamo, è necessario anche affrontare la questione del metodo per individuare i punti di rottura e i momenti del cambiamento. Se è vero che la civetta di Minerva si alza in volto solo al tramonto, si deve altresì ammettere che si può ancora godere di qualche ora di luce prima che sia fatta notte. Allora torna utile riprendere quanto sosteneva l'epistemologo Thomas Kuhn (1962-2009), vale a dire che la conoscenza dei fenomeni avviene per mezzo dell'applicazione di paradigmi interpretativi. Anche questi, inizialmente utili, si esauriscono con il tempo e rischiano di impedire la comprensione di una realtà cambiata e soprattutto di fare progredire la conoscenza. Kuhn si riferiva più alle scienze naturali che alla società, ma la sua opera fu poi interpretata e applicata anche alle scienze sociali. Ora, possiamo pensare che la storia sia una
