Quality of public space in urban transformation policies. For a political sociology of next generation EU in Rome

The aim of this chapter is to understand how quality(ies) of public spaces are socially and politically constructed within public urban transformation processes in Rome. Two ongoing projects of urban transformation seeking to implement the “Next Generation EU” recovery package are compared: An intervention in the urban periphery, and the renewal of the central archeological and touristic area. These processes are addressed from a political sociology perspective, focusing on actors’ representations of space qualities and ways of enhancing them. The analysis is based on narratives and representations from official documents, media coverage, and interviews with key players. The social exclusion that resulted from private and public urban transformations in Rome from the 1990s to 2010s is being countered through physical changes aimed at enhancing the accessibility, inclusiveness, safety, and design of spaces. Despite the differences between the two urban areas concerned, in both cases the policy frame is centered on the inequalities surrounding space access and use, as well as on the perception of their physical degradation and abandonment. Policymakers’ visions of space qualities converge with those typical of mainstream urban policies and are also based on pre-existing ideas about space quality(ies) introduced by institutions, civil society, and experts in the local political agenda.