Who is VUC for
The needs of inclusion and sustainability, the challenges of urban regeneration and innovation, require us to combine forces, skills and competences to the maximum. Companies, organizations, associations, foundations, local committees act on the basis of missions and objectives that are often very different from each other, profit and non-profit, and have different structures and capacities for thought and action. But, on the basis of a shared interest in urban improvement, for a specific project, they can pool significant cognitive, creative, planning, relational, skills, operational, economic, financial, managerial resources, co-creating and implementing urban and truly innovative and positive territories.
Businesses
Economic activities are the least considered subject in an active role in urban and territorial transformations.
A long tradition of Italian urban planning and politics, in the phase of economic boom and in a Fordist vision of society and life, dichotomous between public and private, has considered the private sector as a subject mainly to be contained and regulated, especially from an environmental point of view. But the companies also belong to the territories and structure the places, like the other subjects, directly, through investments, their presence
material and through their social responsibility. Workers live on a daily basis and benefit from local services, public spaces, transport and infrastructure.
The buildings of economic activities are structural elements of places, often not perceived as such because they are closed in on themselves. Economic activities are a very diversified world: they range from large corporate
international, to companies with a local tradition, from manufacturing to advanced services, up to large and small trade, start-ups, professional activities, etc. A new concept of social life of places sees all urban functions in an integrated way and also involves private subjects as active protagonists of change, due to the role they play in transforming territories, and
the resources and skills they can bring.
Public Entities
Public bodies have fundamental levers and resources to produce urban and territorial change, they are historically considered the protagonists. In what
main promoters, interpreters and guarantors of the public interest, have fundamental tools to act on urban change: policies, regulatory tools, services
(educational, welfare, cultural, housing, etc.), strategic projects. They are profound connoisseurs and agents of change in the urban reality, in its complexity, often from a privileged information and action perspective. Their role is therefore a great opportunity, from a level of
symbolic support, to an informative one, up to a very active and planning one to facilitate integrated projects. From a VUC perspective, they can enable participation, resourcefulness,
the generative and transformative role too
of the other subjects, putting themselves at their side, through innovative tools of participation, public-private partnership, shared administration, regulation
temporary uses, calls for tenders and contributions for local innovation, and much more.
Third sector
The communities, the third sector and the inhabitants know in depth the neighborhoods and territories, the needs and the opportunities.
They are the fundamental subjects of local transformation, the plot on which the identity of a place is based. If they are not listened to and involved as protagonists, the projects remain
abstracted from reality, not real measure of place.
But sometimes communities don't know how to organize themselves, how to influence action, they just disagree. Their informality can limit their impact. The third sector, or rather civil economy, is a wide and differentiated world, which can be very locally rooted but also very global. It can be structured or informal.
Often the civil economy organizations deal with some single issues, even with great competence - social, cultural, environmental, aggregative, sports, etc. - but they too do not see the overall picture, they lack information. They have great ability to relate, aggregate and innovate in their mission areas, but
often reduced or inconsistent operational capabilities (financial, management, implementation, communication).
Large urban functions
Large urban functions are the other world, in a similar way to private companies, not adequately considered in the transformation processes of the territories. They are in a certain sense the large para-public functions, also referred to in recent urban literature as "anchor subjects", because the development of the areas is connected to them: universities, public bodies, large services, hospitals, institutions
art and culture, sports facilities, infrastructure, etc. They have enormous local impacts on places and communities: in terms of attraction, induced development of residential activities,
economic, services, impact on spaces
public, on the mobility and vitality of places, but also sometimes unwanted negative impacts to mitigate. These urban functions can also be consciously engaged
to make their resources available,
skills and competences for places and communities, through civic and public engagement strategies and actions, also called third mission for universities.