NEIGHBOURCHANGE · Social innovation and urban revitalization in hyperdiverse local societies
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-11-01 → 2020-10-31
- EU contribution
- €193,355
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-GF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Social innovation and urban revitalization in hyperdiverse local societies
In and beyond Europe today we witness strengthened structural spatial divisions within city neighbourhoods, with increased inequality and sharper lines of division. Neighbourhoods are increasingly diverse in socio-economic, social and ethnic terms, but many differences also exist in lifestyles, attitudes and activities. Continuing immigration and increasing socio-economic and ethnic concentration in neighbourhoods question social cohesion in local societies worldwide. In Europe, high rates of unemployment, austerity and poverty make diverse neighbourhoods and local societies increasingly complex and contested. The polarisation of urban space exacerbates and ethnic concentration in neighbourhoods overlaps with situations of social exclusion and deprivation. Against this backdrop, we witness a stalled urban regeneration investment as well as the welfare state provisions across many European cities and disadvantaged neighbourhoods, with finance enormously inhibited outside core economic areas following the 2007 financial crisis; more importantly, dissimilar top-down revitalisation strategies have resulted in new urban dynamics and urban tensions, gentrification processes and social exclusion. In this context, urban neighbourhoods have become a privileged unit of policy intervention where community-based initiatives have been experimented with the aim to produce social cohesion and transforming power relations and socio-spatial inequalities. Social innovation has become a buzzword often associated to community-led regeneration processes. But the efficacy of community-based initiatives inspired by a social innovative approach needs to be further assessed in a condition when the State is constantly retreating. Given this backdrop, the aim of the project is to investigate whether and how area-based programs inspired by an innovative social approach targeting deprived and hyperdiverse neighbourhoods can intervene on increasing socio-spatial inequalities at the same time promoting institutional learning.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Traditional state-driven top-down revitalisation strategies have resulted in new urban dynamics and tensions, gentrification processes and social exclusion. In the meantime, ethnic concentration in neighbourhoods overlaps with situations of social exclusion and deprivation. The aim of the project is to investigate whether and how area-based programs inspired by an innovative social approach targeting deprived and hyperdiverse neighbourhoods can intervene on increasing socio-spatial inequalities, at the same time promoting institutional learning. Institutional learning is in fact considered as a pre-condition to assure the publicness and sustainability of bottom-up initiatives. The project stands on the assumption that promoting social cohesion in hyperdiverse cities urgently demands a new approach to territorial development. The GF will provide me with new competencies to be transferred in Italy and Europe where the development of coherent contextual strategies for urban revitalization is of utmost importance.The GF envisages: i) an outgoing period to Canada, University of Toronto, where I will be involved in a major research partnership over six Canadian metropolitan areas (NCPR) ii) a return period in Italy at IUAV, based at the SSIIM UNESCO Chair to transfer the skills acquired, develop an additional training to establish a sustainable career iii) a secondment being based at TU Delft, Netherlands, being involved in the ERC Project DEPRIVEDHOODS to develop specific hands-on training activities and strengthen the collaboration among hosting institutions. If funded IUAV will provide me with a full-time research contract to invest in my career development. My profile deeply based on migration studies, policy design and analysis, urban planning and human rights will be reinforced with new inter disciplinary expertise and strengthen skills on community development, urban regeneration, social innovation, segregation studies and neighbourhood research.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
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Data: CORDIS, © European Union