Agende e politiche urbane per l'economia: i grandi eventi a Roma e Milano

The paper deals with the issue of big events in political agendas and public actions for the urban economy in Rome and Milan. The paper considers the period before the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and the current phase of economic recovery. In particular, the paper explores the public discourse on the role of big events as a lever for urban economic development, to reconstruct policy agendas and actual policy actions. The aim of the paper is to provide elements of reflection on the governance of these processes, in connection with the chapter on the governance of urban economies in Rome and Milan of the 7th Urban@it Report. The research analyzes the cases: EXPO 2015, Milan-Cortina Olympics, Rome 2024 candidacy, Rome EXPO 2030 proposal. The paper shows that the difference in the legitimacy and management of major events in the two cities is explained by the different structures of public-public and public-private relationships, by the presence or absence of shared frames of action and by the degree and type of political conflict.